Police Investigate Shooting at Lansing Night Spot
- Posted By: : I dont think we can blame Verg or the Police. It's the responsibility of the owner and the people that frequent that establishment. I know from living and growing up in the South Lansing area, this has always been a problem. I say....SHUT IT DOWN! Blame the irresponsible people that can not control themselves, not the Mayor or Police!!!! Take responsiblity in your own actions!!!!!
- Posted By: Jake: You know it is easy to sit back and say close the club down you don't have any money invested,I do not think this type of crowd would be bad if the bar would bar them for life if they started a fight.I know it is hard to tell who's who because they all look the same start taking pictures of every one that goes into the club give them a membership card with photo no one gets in unless they have a membership,and if they start any kind of problems pull thier membership.To me this would be a start. There are a lot of good people out there that don't deserve to get punished for the actions of a few.The mayor and the little beady eyed city attorney need to think about the other club owners thoughts on this, the council is more like do what I say council rather do for the people.
- Posted By: Sandi: i have spent my share of time going to the bars, however, the Venue is a crime not a bar. They were supose to hire additional security. With all the unemployment why didn't they have at least 2 or 3 guys out there patroling the parking lot at 2 a.m.? They know exactly what their patrons are like. They should have had patrols outside weeks ago. I think the Venue should be closed down, and I like the idea of a good samaritan law,if you see a crime and don't report it, you can go to jail. Lots of people had their pictures on the video lately.
Anyone who goes to a bar like the Venue and thinks even one fight in the parking lot is OK has a problem, and should stay away from the bars. This constant fighting is outragous. What are we waiting for? Someone to be killed?
- Posted By: : The city can pass a good samaritan law in which a person can serve two days in jail for not reporting a crime. It might scare some of these people into witnessing.
- Posted By: sick and tired: put em back on the boat
- Posted By: LegallyRad: Between venue and x-cel the cops are driving like a tennis match from north to south. Everytime there is an incident at a hip-hop club they should have to serve 3 weekends playing nothing but classic rock, country and bluegrass.
- Posted By: Gus: Doesn't surprise me that the Lansing Police couldnt find a suspect or a victim without some outside help. With the leadership that they have with Virg "Little Man" Bernero and Mark "I am an IDIOT" Alley, it is a wonder that they can find their car keys. As for the VENUE, the violence at that location hasn't changed since the city shut down the last night club that was there. Great job Lansing!
- Posted By: concerned: They need to shut down the Venue. Obviously the crowd that is drawn to the Venue is the same that use to frequent the Temple CLub and the LA globe. Unfortunately people do not know how to act and trouble follows these type of establishments. It is waste of resources. SHUT IT DOWN
- Posted By: Chris: I've been to probably close to 100 heavy metal concerts and clubs/events over the years, never a shooting. Their is a completely different mind set with this Venue crowd and the mentality and music it supports.
- Posted By: Concerned Citizen: This is the 3rd shooting at this club since it opened earlier this year. Since South Lansing and Holt is not known for this type of behavior, I can only surmise that the people that frequent this establishment are the problem. I think the time has come to close this place down and keep these hoodlums out out of our community!
- Posted By: Frustrated!!!: I have been a patron of the Venue since it first opened and the "stories" that the MEDIA is hyping up is just that STORIES!!!! Readers need to learn to differentiate the facts from myths...I also attended the party this past saturday night and there were not "several" fights as the NEWS 10 has advised us!!! Heck they weren't even there, but I guess you gotta keep your job somehow!!! I am so so tired of the media making a mountain out of a molehill...and furthermore, from what we could see the perpetrator was directly in front of the police...so you do the math!!! It appears to me that the Venue security do their job to get the patrons out safely, and then it would also appear to me that the police department would attempt to be "proactive" opposed to "reactive"...I have witnessed them sit across the street at Lowe's and do "absolutely nothing" to assist the Venue security when "occurences" do happen in the parking lot of Mark Realty...not the parking lot of the Venue Live!!!!
- Posted By: Tracy: How much violent crime has to happen at this club in order to shut it down? I understand it's someone's business and source of income, but come on... there's got to be some responsibility taken by the owner to protect the public and law-abiding patrons. I'm sure the owner is aware of the riff-raff coming in; use your right as the owner to deny service.
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It might be noted that Rep Wenke made his money in the flower business noted for not hiring seasonal part time employee's, paying piece work and of course no benefits all of which has made him rather wealthy. He appears to not like state employee's for some reason and he does not appear interested in having the benefits provided by most hard working state employee's. Benefits are a target, but not the purchasing requirements that make employee's pay 3 times more for equipments and supplies as a private citizen could pay at a local store off the shelf despite the state's high volume purchase power. There are far more waste, include state employee's in the budget talks and you will discover tons of ways to save the state money.
Maybe the state employees along with their family and friends should not spend their hard earned money at Wenke's greenhouse on Sprinkle Rd. Then maybe he will understand what it is like to live with less income. Also he seems to forget we are taxpayers also and that if we have less to spend Michigan gets less revenue. State employees deal with things that no one else will!!!
Apparently he just wants to fan the fire after the LSJ great idea! Rep. Wenke needs to get his head out of you know where. If his goal is not to get legislation passed but gain the right attention-is he planning on running for governor? What is the right attention?
Maybe Rep. Wenke is paying more for his state funded health insurance and we just don't know it? Maybe Rep. Wenke is reducing his wage as his party is trying to do to mine and we just don't know it. BUT I highly doubt it. Going after state workers wages/benefits is not going to balance the budget. How about a part time legislature? I hear you don't work the same amount of days a year I do right now, but get paid for a full year. Talk about a gravy job! Can I apply?
Why don't we go to a part-time unpaid legislature? That should help ALOT! Also- if they must be paid- why not have their own constituents vote on what their salary should be and whether or not they get a raise and/or benefits? Then we might have some legislators that actually work hard for the people who put them in office! And whomever mentioned raising taxes to cover budget issues is an idiot. Our problem has been all along that we spend way more than we take in. Stop spending so much. The more taxes we have (one of the largest tax rates in the country, one of the highest unemployment rates...I think we rank right up there with Alaska...) the less likely we are going to have successful businesses to provide jobs for people and the less people will have income for them to even tax...It is a vicious cycle and the current Gov and legislature doesn't even get the connection....DUH! Lastly, if you are unhappy with your benefits and salary- find a private job. I left the State for the same reasons you guys are griping about. If you can earn more and get better benefits in "the real world" then DO IT!
I think that us being State employees we should not have to flip the bill for the states budget, in case you haven't noticed we have been hit everytime there is a "budget problem" and then we are suppose to grin and bear it as the public that we serve every day, seems to get better treatment than those of us that work everyday making sure that they don't go "without" and taking their rude comments and then the employer that we have wants to have us take more cuts on our side. If we are going to start making cuts lets start at the top and take away all of the big raises that were given out to people that just make comments about taking away from us that are in the offices and doing the job first hand. Take a closer look at those of us that are in the offices and how short handed we are that we are doing the job of 2 to 3 employees and expected to get out the same amount of work. Stand in our shoes for a few weeks and then tells us, oh and by the way we are going to make more cuts on all of you because we can't find any other way to due it without affecting our employees.
Well the LSJ has gone and figured this all out for us. Just go to their all but "just" website that provides the names and salaries of all state employees. Not only will this show the Private sector just how little salary there is to pay out more of the health care premiums from, but it will also show that it is not the salaries of the employees causing this huge budget crisis. The governor's office and her husband's office expenses most likely will not be included on that website, that is why the prior statement is true. Do not be mislead private sector, state employees do not receive that full salary stated on said website, since the governor is consistently forcing unpaid leave days, "banked leave time" (unpaid hours), unpaid overtime (that is now mandatory), and other such ways to balance her budget. We also have to pay up to 100 dollars a month for parking, and we do not even get free coffee in our offices. But whatever is Fair...
When is the legislature going to take a pay cut? They graciously gave themselves a 36% percent raise and have given nothing back to the STATE of MICHIGAN people.
I'm starting to think our representatives dont live in the real world. As a current State employee with almost 20 years of public service I am disappointed and dismayed that we are of so little value to our politicians. The constant bombardment by our State legislature does nothing but kill the morale of public servants. Obviously Mr. Wenke gives very little value to government services. I think perhaps the people of Kalamazoo should consider if this is the kind of person they want to represent them in government. Do they value having clean air, clean water, good roads, etc? Frankly, if benefits get cut by the percentage Mr. Wenke is proposing, there is really no point for professionals, such as engineers and scientists, in continuing State service. I for one will be looking for a new job - outside of the State of Michigan. Hopefully that will be enough of my blood for Rep Wenke.
How about current and former lawmakers giving back that last raise and taking the lead by going on some unpaid furlough days themselves? Don't ask the people you lead to make sacrifices you are not willing to make.
I guess when I recieve MY next 38% pay raise for part time work and full time pay ill be happy to pay 25% of my health care.
Karen..the state employees do pay a portion of their healthcare (premiums,deductibles). The difference is that the same job I do in the private sector would pay double what I pay working for the State. We pay the same sales taxes, property taxes, utilities, and gas prices that everyone else in the state pays. We do not get rewards or tax cuts for working for the State, all we get is a punch in the face everytime this State has a problem. Everyone thinks that we have all these discounts and gravy jobs because we work for the State of Michigan. The people of this state need to realize that the workers of this state are like every other citizen.
Just another attempt by the state to screw the poor retirees out of more of thier pension money that they have already earned and is due them legally by contract.Any retroactive action taken against retired state employees to make them pay more is sure to end up in a court legal battle costing the state tax payer even more money because of the stupidity of those proposing this change . Save every one money and just quit you sorry s.O.B.s.
Rep. Wenke needs to sit where the state workers sit, then he might feel different. What is wrong with Granholm, she sucks. It's always the state workers who give and give, till what else...........If I were looking for a place to raise my family and work in Lansing, you can bet I would look elsewhere. Lansing sucks also
Just what we all need... one more reason to leave Michigan! When are our illustrious "LEADERS" going to stop turning Michigan into the armpit of the United States and get serious about getting back on the right track... or at least SOME kind of track other than the downward spiral we've been in for 5 years? Pay more for healthcare?!?! My ass! Its time to do something about how much healthcare costs to begin with! Perhaps if we could do anything about the most popular job in Michigan (read: lobbyist for the insurance industry) we'd find some more logical solutions to our problems!