By Gretchen Millich, WKAR News

EAST LANSING, MI – A bookstore on Lansing's east side is looking for volunteers to help convert the store to a member-owned cooperative.

Scott Harris opened "Everybody Reads" on Michigan Avenue three years ago. He carries a wide selection of books geared toward readers outside the mainstream - and offers special projects, including movies, spelling bees, and Spanish and Braille lessons.

Now, Harris wants to turn the store into a non-profit organization, similar to the East Lansing Food Co-op.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – A new Epic MRA poll shows Michigan citizens think funding should be cut for the state Legislature rather than for state police and K-12 schools.

AUDIO:
State legislators will return to Lansing next week and hash out budget disputes after a two week summer recess. On the table for discussion are proposed cuts to the amount of money per K-12 student and the elimination of Michigan Promise college scholarships.

By Gretchen Millich

Lansing, MI – A bookstore on Lansing's east side is looking for volunteers to help convert the store to a member-owned cooperative.

Scott Harris opened "Everybody Reads" on Michigan Avenue three years ago. He carries a wide selection of books geared toward readers outside the mainstream - and offers special projects, including movies, spelling bees, and Spanish and Braille lessons.

By AP

LANSING, MI – The U.S. secretary of agriculture will be in Charlotte Monday for a forum with rural residents.

Tom Vilsack's visit is part of a White House tour sending Cabinet secretaries across the country to hold discussions on how communities, states and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America. The tour kicked off last week.

By AP

DETROIT – The state-appointed overseer of the cash-strapped Detroit Public Schools is meeting with a retired U.S. bankruptcy judge.

School district emergency financial manager Robert Bobb and his team are meeting in an informational session with retired Judge Ray Reynolds Graves.

Bobb wants to get information regarding Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Bobb said late last month the district's financial situation is so bad it may have to file for bankruptcy.

By AP

AUBURN HILLS, MI – The Detroit Pistons have called a news conference to announce their new head coach, who's expected to be Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester.

The announcement will be made Thursday in Auburn Hills.

A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the team was near an agreement with Kuester. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal wasn't done.

Kuester was on Larry Brown's NBA championship-winning staff in Detroit five years ago.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR

EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan State University's "Be Spartan Green" environmental stewardship program has branched out from the usual "reduce, re-use, recycle" to include the fleet of vehicles owned by the school.

MSU has purchased 30 Ford Fusion hybrid cars. The sale makes the university Ford's biggest customer for the new hybrids outside of the federal government and commercial fleet customers.

WKAR's Scott Pohl reports.

By AP

LANSING, MI – Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has returned from an international trade trip with the announcement that a German battery technology company plans to search for a
manufacturing location on the west side of the state.

Granholm's office said Thursday fortu PowerCell soon will begin a site search pending approval of state and local tax incentives.

The company would build a battery pack manufacturing facility.

Granholm met with company officials during a 48-hour trade trip to Germany and Belgium this week.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR

LANSING, MI – LANSING, MI (WKAR) - One of Lansing's earliest and longest-serving television personalities...Martha Dixon...has died.

Starting in 1954, Dixon hosted the long-running local cooking show "Martha Dixon's Copper Kettle", a mainstay on WJIM Channel 6, now known as WLNS. The show also led to the 1963 publication of a popular cookbook bearing the same title.

Martha Dixon had been living in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was in her 90s. Other details, including funeral plans, are not yet known.

By WKAR

DAVENPORT, IA – The scheduled Wednesday night game between the Lansing Lugnuts and the Quad Cities River Bandits was postponed due to rain. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader starting at 7:00 p. m. tonight. The Lugnuts return home to Oldsmobile Park on Wednesday, July 15th, opening up a six-game homestand.