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Q & A: Charles Ford Myra Ford
They appeared on “City Pulse Newsmakers” to discuss their votes and the reasoning behind them. (The show airs weekly at 11 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday on Comcast channel 16.) The following has been edited and condensed by Joan Bolander. Berl Schwartz, Andy Balaskovitz and Sam Inglot interviewed the two.

City-sponsored swamps?
Along with other residents of Barnes Avenue, Draper, who has lived at 419 Barnes Ave. for nearly 10 years, said the ditches are an eyesore. They fill up with water after heavy rains and melting snow, and there is usually trash that winds up in the pond from off the streets.

Eyesore of the week
The best, or worst, part of this house is the fact that it rests on a street corner, ruining the view on two separate streets. Venture to the north side of the house and you’ll be confronted by a large wall of burgundy-trimmed windows — eight of them and one boarded door — that dot the faded yellow or stained-white (it’s hard to tell) paint job.

Divided African American field emerging in 68th
Former Ingham County Democratic Party Chairman Griffin Rivers announced in January. Ingham County Commissioner Dale Copedge filed paperwork with the secretary of state. Lansing City Councilwoman A’Lynne Robinson will officially announce April 12.

Smoking debate
Should the proposed Lansing Kewadin Casino allow smoking? Cynthia Hallett, the executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, and Roger Martin, who represents the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians for the local public relations firm Martin Waymire Advocacy Communications, made their cases on the City Pulse radio show last week.

That’s the sound of the men …
“My boss, the director of the department, lives in Lansing and runs the River Trail. He loves it,” said Russ Marlan, Corrections Department spokesman. “He noticed during his runs, parts of it are very overgrown. It’s tough to run in some spots. So he contacted Mayor Bernero and offered to bring a work crew up here.

As Gannett announces a paywall foronline content, MLive moves in
As a young reporter in college, he remembers the typing, gluing, lead slugs, lead pages and other Linotype components for putting a newspaper together. Now he’s overseeing the LSJ’s transition to a more digital-savvy, online-connected newsroom where access to that information is about to undergo a major transition.

Would The Dude abide?
By ANDY McGLASHEN Nowhere else in Lansing would Don Draper look so at home as in the mid-century splendor of the Spare Time Entertainment Center’s cocktail lounge. From the black leather booths to the pendant lighting and starburst bar top, it could easily double as a set for one of those soggy power lunches on “Mad Men.

Meet the design enforcer
The most dramatic recent addition to the interior is a jagged “feature staircase” that rockets through the middle of the museum as if a hand grenade had rolled under it half a second ago. For now, scaffolding conceals its angular thrust, but the sight of the staircase hunching in the dark made Kiner’s eyes flicker.

Still a thrill
The show plays as a tension of opposites between the flawed altruist Jean Valjean and the letter-of-the-law enforcer Javert, with the latter always threatening to make the show his own. Andrew Valera, who embodies Javert as one charismatic mofo, finally succeeds in that attempt.

A musical melting pot
As for her dancers, Diebold said, “We’ve got a wide range of performers. We’ve got high school students, which are the youngest, and of course the college students and then professional people from the Lansing area, and then the oldest are in their 60s.

'Writing well is the best revenge'
Estleman still prefers using his 1967 Olympia and his 1923 Underwood to bang out his novels, including his more than 30 books featuring Detroit private eye Amos Walker.

A musical with a kick
Williamston’s run of the show is the world premiere of the original work, with book and lyrics by Alan Gordon and music by Mark Sutton-Smith. If that last name sounds familiar, it is because he is the brother of “The Usual” cast member and Williamston Theatre Development Director Emily Sutton-Smith.

Pinsonnault’s picks
Editor's note: Raindrops on roses? Whiskers on kittens? No, Evan Pinsonnault, our Top of the Town winner in the Local TV News Personality category, has many favorite things in Lansing — none of which were ever immortalized in a Rodgers and Hammerstein song.

Advice Goddess
He went away on business and called the day he returned, and we hung out and slept together. The next day, he said we needed to slow things down because he wasn’t feeling we were getting closer. (Isn’t that the point of not getting serious?!) The whole thing started making me feel bad.

OUT ON THE TOWN
Schuler Books & Music gives readers the chance to meet author Owen Laukkanen tonight. An alumnus of the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing BFA program, Laukkanen spent three years reporting for a poker website, traveling from plush casinos to seedy cardrooms.

Turn it down
If seeing Foxy Shazam at The Loft was on your Thursday list of things to do, scratch it off: The show is being postponed. “A few of the guys have come down with a serious case of pneumonia and it needs to be treated immediately,” a representative of the band wrote on Foxy's Facebook page on Tuesday.

New in town
“At Lansing Community College, they are charging $10 a day for parking,” Woodyard said. “We have a lot of LCC students coming down here because they can park scooters with the bikes and save money. At $10 a day, the scooter is going to pay for itself.”.

Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Please study this testi- each package as a promotional gimmick. But soon the mony: "Born in a rancid, bat-infested cave at the base freebie became so popular that Wrigley rearranged its of the smoldering Sangay Volcano, I was raised by the entire business.

Rhone retrospective
By MICHAEL BRENTON The Southern River Rhone Valley region in Southeast France is home to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, where some of the world’s great red wine is grown. Thanks to hot summers and strong winds, the rocky soils absorb heat by day and gradually release the heat to the grapes during the cool nights.

Food Finder
WiFi $$-$$$ Additional location at 754 Delta Commerce Drive, Lansing (off of West Saginaw, behind Bennigan’s). (517) 853- 8888. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4–10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 4-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; noon-9 p.m. Sunday..