Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
In the news today- MSU to pay $150,000 to settle suit over unpaid legal fees, MSU women's club soccer wins national championship, Four Spartans earn All-Region honors, Takeaways from MSU welcome week 2025: A look at racial bias within the East Lansing police department and city council.
Creators and Guests
What is The State - A Podcast from The State News + Impact 89FM?
The State is a daily rundown of the headlines that matter to the East Lansing, MI community.
Hi, and welcome to The State. I'm your host, Rebecca McAvoy. Today's date is 12/04/2025. The forecast predicts that the high will be 19 and the low being 11. The state brings you the stories that matter.
Speaker 1:MSU to pay a $150,000 to settle sue over unpaid legal fees. Michigan State University will pay a law firm a $150,000 to settle a lawsuit in which the firm claimed the university failed to fully reimburse it for representing a trustee in connection to an outside investigation in her misconduct. The payment to Rochester based Miller law firm will serve as compensation for its claimed unpaid attorney's fees and costs. A portion of its representation of former board chair, Ramu Vasar, according to the agreement which was signed October 27 and obtained by the state news through a public records request. Miller law's litigation against MSU was essentially a billing dispute centering on MSU's alleged refusal to pay Miller Law $242,653 dollars for representing Vassar in the months after an explosive report, inter misconduct was released.
Speaker 1:MSU Women's Club soccer wins national championship. Games every weekend, practices three times a week from 9PM to 11PM, travel paid out of pocket, a typical college life abandoned. But it's not all hard times for members of the MSU Women's Club soccer team. There are lifelong friendships made, a rediscovery of their love for the game, and most importantly, a national championship secured. The more competitive of the two available Women's Club soccer teams on campus.
Speaker 1:The team holds tryouts at the August, typically meeting 75 to a 100 hopeful players and taking 25 to 30 of varying grade levels. From that moment, it's a nonstop grind. From three late night practices a week to two games most weekends. Players have the opportunity to continue to play high level soccer while maintaining the same balance of the regular life of which many athletes are deprived. Getting to win the national championship not only took tactics and skills on the field, but a special connection of it.
Speaker 1:For these players, everything circles back to having each other's backs. With little player turnover in the past years, many of the juniors and seniors have been able to grow together as teammates and friends, something it has evidently helped on the pitch from kickoff to the final whistle. Four Spartans earned all region honors. Four members of MSU's women's soccer team were named all region with three making the twenty twenty five United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division one Women's All North Region first team and the fourth joining them on the second team. In addition, six players earned College Sports Communicators Academic All District Honors.
Speaker 1:The Spartans tied their 2022 record with three first team all region selections and shared the most players on the first team with Ohio State. The seniors to earn this distinction were senior defender Maggie Illig, junior forward Kennedy Bell, junior midfielder Kayla Briggs, and redshirt junior midfielder Emerson Sargent. Six Spartans excelled in the classroom as well as on the field To be named College Sports Communicators Academic All District Honors, players must be at least sophomore standing to be a starter or significant reserve and maintain a 3.5 GPA. Ilig Bell and Sargent were all named, as well as juniors Bellinargi, Mimi Haller, and Renee Watson. Each school is limited to six honorees.
Speaker 1:Takeaways from MSU Welcome Week twenty twenty five, a look at racial bias within the East Lansing Police Department and City Council. More than a month after the pepper spraying and arrest of two black men, Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods, both men have filled federal lawsuits against the city of East Lansing, specifically police chief Jennifer Brown and officer Anthony Lyon, alleging excessive force and liable for a misleading press release. More than a month after the incident, the city council has not responded to multiple calls for chief Brown's removal. And more than a month after the incident, community leaders and officials worry that they still aren't being heard. On Sunday of MSU welcome week, Lonnie Smith attempted to break up an altercation between his friend and East Lansing resident Mason Woods and several other young men outside of Dave's Hot Chicken.
Speaker 1:After the police were called, officer Anthony Lyon deployed pepper spray within inches of their faces. Both men were arrested that night. Their charges weren't dropped until October 21, and the East Lansing Police Department later issued a press release that has been the subject of scrutiny from community leaders. The release included blurry and shaky body cam footage, no security camera footage, and named both Smith and Woods. Smith's attorney released the security footage supporting that the altercation was not a violent fight, and the lawsuits described that both men neither knew of police presence nor received adequate care for injuries inflicted on them by police.
Speaker 1:Nadia Sellers, Smith's mother, spoke out at the October 7 city council meeting. The leadership chief Brown displayed is dangerous, Sellers said, not just to her officers, to the community, to visitors in East Lansing, and to the badge. Thank you for joining us for The State Today produced by The State News and Impact at a nine FM. You can find us online at thestatenews.com or impact89fm.org. We'll be back tomorrow with more.