East Lansing Insider, brought to you by ELi on Impact 89FM

On this week’s episode of East Lansing Insider East Lansing Info editors Anna Liz Nichols and Lucas Day go over the timeline of events that led the City of East Lansing to part ways with City Manager Robert Belleman after a city employee accused him of sexual harassment and abusive workplace behavior.

On this week’s episode of East Lansing Insider, East Lansing Info’s Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols talks about the widespread impact of the March 12 attack on Temple Israel in Metro Detroit. She is joined by Robyn Hughey and Jonathon Koenigsberg of MSU Hillel in East Lansing who share their perspectives on the incident and offer insight on how communities can respond to incidents of anti semitism.

On this week’s episode of East Lansing Insider, East Lansing Info’s Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols takes a closer look at the rapidly escalating conflict in Iran following recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. To better understand what this moment means for people here in mid-Michigan, this week’s episode features two local voices with personal and community ties to Iran. Michigan State University graduate student Farzaneh Holasu reflects on how the conflict is being experienced by Iranians and members of the Iranian diaspora. Thasin Sardar, a leader at the Islamic Center of East Lansing, shares another perspective on how the local Muslim community is processing the news and discusses the global implications of the strikes.

This week, ELi Managing Editor Lucas Day and Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols continue discussion surrounding camping and loitering bans being considered by East Lansing City Council. The bans have drawn considerable controversy as some residents, researchers and housing advocates say the bans would unfairly target homeless people and perpetuate cycles of poverty.

This week on East Lansing Insider East Lansing Info’s Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols talks with Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center Executive Director Khadja Erickson about bans on loitering in parking areas and camping housing advocates are saying would criminalize poverty and ensure individuals remain unhoused.

East Lansing is the only remaining Michigan jurisdiction on President Donald Trump’s administration’s list of sanctuary cities the Department of Justice says violates federal immigration laws. This week on East Lansing Insider East Lansing Info’s Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols talks with staff attorney for ACLU of Michigan Jay Kaplan about the state of immigration enforcement in Michigan in the aftermath of the killing of American citizen Renee Good by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents in Minneapolis earlier this month, which has sparked outrage across the country.

East Lansing Info Deputy Editor Anna Liz Nichols and Managing Editor Lucas Day talk about the biggest stories of 2025 and what readers can look forward to in 2026.