a newspaper for the rest of us www.lansingcitypulse.com April 18-24, 2018 BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS 2018-2019 SEASON TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE WHARTONCENTER.COM • 1-800-WHARTON 2 www.lansingcitypulse.com City Pulse • April 18, 2018 Spring Chicken Jewelry from Chickenscratch The work of Scott and Lisa Cylinder Celebrating all that is enjoyable about life. So much fun! ENTER TO WIN TICKETS! DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM MAY 2 – 7:30PM Visit lansingcitypulse.com Photo Courtesy of Wharton Center and Squirrel City Pulse • April 18, 2018 www.lansingcitypulse.com 3 BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS 2018-2019 SEASON TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE WHARTONCENTER.COM • 1-800-WHARTON 4 www.lansingcitypulse.com City Pulse • April 18, 2018 Have something to say VOL. 17 Letter to the editor about a local issue Time to ask hard questions of BWL or an item that appeared ISSUE 36 Opposition to the Board of Water and and solar plants in our pages? (517) 371-5600 • Fax: (517) 999-6061 • 1905 E. Michigan Ave. • Lansing, MI 48912 • www.lansingcitypulse.com Light’s (BWL’s) plans to build a new gas- built from scratch Now you have two ways to fired power plant in Lansing appears to have now offer the cheap- sound off: ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: (517) 999-5061 fallen on deaf ears. The BWL Commission est power available, or email [email protected] approved the bidding unanimously. The even counting old 1.) Write a letter to the editor. PAGE CLASSIFIEDS: (517) 999-6704 • E-mail: letters@ mayor doesn’t have any problems with BWL’s coal, which was long lansingcitypulse.com EDITOR AND PUBLISHER • Berl Schwartz • Snail mail: City Pulse, 1905 13 plans and the city council can’t stop it. So, seen as unbeatable.” E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, [email protected] • (517) 999-5061 unless things change during the bidding pro- BWL should con- MI 48912 Famous bassist comes to MSU cess, Lansing will soon be the proud owner sider new energy • Fax: (517) 371-5800 ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR • Skyler Ashley of a new $500 million gas plant, expected to technologies, while • At lansingcitypulse.com [email protected] • (517) 999-5068 2.) Write a guest column: EVENTS EDITOR • Ella Kramer run for 30 years. making use of some Contact Berl Schwartz for [email protected] • (517) 999-6704 A baby born today will be grown with chil- common cost-saving more information: PAGE PRODUCTION MANAGER • Abby Kelly [email protected] [email protected] dren of his or her own before we retire this programs that avoid or (517) 999-5061 plant. Do we really think that in 30 years, using power during 6 (517) 999-5066 (Please include your name, STAFF WRITERS • Lawrence Cosentino we’re still going to be cracking open the earth peak times, help address and telephone number [email protected] so we can reach you. Keep A walking tour of Lansing’s Baker neighborhood for natural gas (fracking)... at prices we can customers increase letters to 250 words or fewer. Todd Heywood afford? (Note that the $500m is just for con- efficiency, and dis- City Pulse reserves the right to [email protected] edit letters and columns.) struction... that doesn’t include the fuel costs.) tribute energy gen- SALES EXECUTIVE In other places around the country, eration across their service area to make the PAGE Lee Purdy • [email protected] • (517) 999-5064 plans for natural gas plants are coming to grid less vulnerable to outages. 17 Contributors: Andy Balaskovitz, Justin Bilicki, Daniel a screeching halt. Arizona, not a bastion of Lansing residents should be concerned E. Bollman, Capital News Service, Bill Castanier, tree-huggers, just placed a 9-month morato- about this waste of money. Contact Lansing Mary C. Cusack, Tom Helma, Gabrielle Lawrence WKAR’s Backstage Pass gives new music to the masses Johnson, Eve Kucharski, Terry Link, Andy McGlashen, rium on building gas plants. Last June, Los Mayor Schor and the City Council and ask Kyle Melinn, Mark Nixon, Shawn Parker, Stefanie Pohl, Angeles backed away. Colorado is shifting to them to appoint BWL Commissioners who Dennis Preston, Allan I. Ross, Dylan Tarr, Rich Tupica, renewables and actually lowering people’s are independent and willing to ask manage- Ute Von Der Heyden, David Winkelstern, Paul Wozniak bills! DTE Energy, here in Michigan, is under ment the hard questions. Cover Interns: Kelly Sheridan, Shruti Saripalli, intense scrutiny for proposing the same kind www.lansingenvironmentalactionteam. Sherry Min-Wang of gas plant. org for more. Art Distribution manager: Paul Shore • (517) 999-5061 Even the stolid New York Times just issued REBECCA PAYNE, Lansing By Keith Tucker Delivery drivers: Frank Estrada, Dave Fisher, Jack an opinion rather dreamily laying out the (Rebecca Payne is a member of the Lansing Sova, Richard Simpson, Thomas Scott Jr. wonderful new possibilities of alternatives Environmental Action Team.) to fossil fuels. “In parts of the country, wind Correction & Clarification Because of an editing error, the telephone number of the Lansing Mayor’s Office in last week’s column by Mayor Andy Schor was printed incorrectly. The correct number is (517) 483-4141. Also, Mayor Schor said he misspoke in an article last week on efforts to collect the city income tax. Schor said he should have said: “When I was in the legislature, we tried to run a bill that required business owners outside of the city to collect income taxes from residents. Detroit wanted it, and they said it would be able to capture millions of dol- lars, and that went nowhere fast because the Chamber opposed it, because they didn’t want their members to have to collect that.” City Pulse • April 18, 2018 www.lansingcitypulse.com 5 PULSE NEWS & OPINION Commerce “was just livid with me and the Bolstered by faith governor as well,” referring to John Engler, now the interim president of Michigan Restricting State University. DeWeese seeks political comeback “I didn’t even know what prevailing wage Paul DeWeese may be knocking on your your own bootstraps.’ That’s nonsense. I was,” DeWeese recalled, when the House gun rentals door soon for support in his bid to return to had to study hard, but if it wasn’t for private Republican caucus was debating it. But, he the state legislature. scholarships but especially the government said, “I went and talked to union workers Lawmaker takes action Meanwhile, though, the former House providing loans and scholarship grants, I and came to the conclusion to be on the side to close ‘loophole’ member from the Lansing area is knocking would never have been able to go to college” of public policy that supports workers earn- on other doors — to deliver packages for a or medical school. ing a living wage.” in Michigan laws commercial delivery service. DeWeese no longer buys into the quintes- The other issue was an anti-bullying bill If State Sen. Rick Jones gets his way, if you That’s quite a change in circumstance sentially Republican philosophy of the self- to protect gay students. “My caucus refused don’t have an authorization to purchase a for DeWeese, 62. Until three years ago, he made man overcoming obstacles by hard to support that, and I just remember being handgun, a background check or a concealed was a medical doctor operating two private work alone. so disappointed and angry. I said, ‘What pistol permit, you won’t be renting a gun in practices. He was raised a Republican — he said we’re doing here by not supporting this law Michigan. Now, he wears a red knit shirt bearing the his police-officer father belonged to the is saying it’s open season on gay students. Jones, R-Grand Ledge, who chairs the delivery service’s insignia. He drives a used Judiciary Committee, has asked for legis- white van delivering packages for Staples, lation to regulate gun rentals in Michigan Walmart and other companies. He gets $1 after a March 26 murder-suicide in Lansing per package. Some days he loads thousands Township was committed with a gun stolen of pounds. from a gun store. DeWeese, who served in the House from Lansing Township Police Chief Adam 1998 to 2002, surrendered his medical Kline confirmed that Timothy Olin, 30, stole license three years ago as part of settling the semiautomatic handgun after renting it a civil suit that alleged he had violated the from Total Firearms in Delhi Township. He federal Controlled Substances Act in his took the weapon to JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts addiction practice. on Saginaw Highway. Once there he killed DeWeese said he overprescribed opioids his estranged girlfriend, Rachel Duncan, 25, and other drugs because he was too “caring” then turned the weapon on himself. Duncan of patients, who sold their medications on had obtained a personal protection order the street in order to obtain heroin. from a local court against Olin. As a result, “I probably wasn’t the best suited to Duncan was not legally allowed to have a treat people with addiction,” DeWeese said, gun. “because on the scale of wariness vs. care, I Since that happened, City Pulse has report- was way over on the care side.” Skyler Ashley/City Pulse ed that the facility’s rental controls were lax — DeWeese faced bigger legal problems two Paul DeWeese, a former physician and state legislator, at the warehouse in Lansing something an attorney for the gun store has years ago, when he pleaded guilty to health where he loads his van to deliver packages on a route in Brighton. said will be addressed with upcoming securi- care fraud in a separate neuropathy prac- ty measures — and had previously rented a tice.