Snacking for the Super Bowl Easy, popular treats to make for biggest game of the year
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Preparing for Penn Wrestling to take on No. 1 ranked PSU Senior heavyweight Mike McClure wrestles Illinois Chris Lopez Betsy Agosta /The State News
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from wheel to ring Lansing resident Ron DeLeon drives CATA route 25 Monday. DeLeon has been working for CATA for 16 years in addition to promoting MMA fights.
Splitting time between bus driving and MMA, Ron DeLeon makes an impact
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n the center of a dimly-lit hotel ballroom in West Lansing, a chain-link octagon loomed over rows of seated onlookers. Two fighters circled each other in the cage, peppered by advice and jeers from the audience surrounding the ring. Stepping lightly, they swung fists in tentative arcs, like swimmers thrashing feet in uncertain waters.
photos by Danyelle Morrow/The State News
In the ballroom’s corner, an open doorway cast a ray of light midway across the room. Just inside, bathed in the harsh fluorescent glare, Ron DeLeon looked on worriedly. As a fight promoter, DeLeon loves energizing an audience with a good fight. He had arranged for 15 bouts that night, but four fighters never showed, and the schedule lost some hometown favorites. The audience grew lethargic. Suddenly, a fighter caught the other’s foot mid-kick. With a sweep of his leg, he brought his opponent crashing to the mat and rained down a flurry of punches. The intensity of the action breathed life into the spectators, who er upted i n cheers as the Ron DeLeon, fighters grappled on the Bus driver and MMA f loor. DeLepromoter on s e e me d relieved. He’s been in the promotion business for a long time. He holds events in ballrooms and conference centers every few months, originally in boxing, but now mostly MMA. DeLeon doesn’t just promote the fights — he serves as ring announcer to crowds of thousands, introducing fighters in
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Ron DeLeon watches as MMA fighters are greased up Jan. 18 at the Ramada Lansing Hotel and Conference Center.
“I love my job because I meet so many different and interesting people.”
a suit and immaculately shined shoes. Two days later, DeLeon is wearing the same unscuffed shoes, pressing the gas pedal on CATA route 25. “It’s just another day,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 16 years, so it’s kind of old hat now. At first you think you’re cool, you’re wearing a suit, and the next day you’re a bus driver.” A family affair For DeLeon, driving buses for the Capital Area Transportation Authority isn’t just a job. He’s gotten to know countless students during the past 16 years, referring to them as “my students.” “I love my job because I meet so many different and interesting people, and when you open yourself up to them … I feel that they’re willing to respond and open up to me as well,” DeLeon said. “They’re telling me about their families, their lives, their goals, their dreams. That’s what I enjoy.” But DeLeon doesn’t describe himself primarily as a bus driver or promoter. “I’d say I’m a very good dad who’s a bus driver that occasionally wants to put on some exciting fights in the Greater Lansing area,” DeLeon said. DeLeon is father to three children: 19-year-old Selena Montoya; Bryana, a senior at Waverly High School in Lansing, and Thiago, who is 4. He’s an attentive parent — when Bryana tells him about the latest high school See DeLEON on page 2 u
To watch a video of Ron DeLeon working at both of his occupations, visit statenews.com/multimedia.
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Parents of MSU alumna seek out Water levels in Great Lakes could rise i-96 shooter Lake Michigan - Lake Huron water levels bone marrow match on campus found guilty of nearly all charges By Michael Kransz mkransz@statenews.com
By Erik Sargent
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Two parents have been making the journey to Wells Hall all week as part of an attempt they hope will save their daughter’s life. Debra Richter and her husband, Mark Richter, have spent a good portion of their week on campus trying to find a bone marrow donor for their daughter, Jessalyn. Jessalyn was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in September 2013. The disease is an aggressive form of blood cancer. The MSU alumna is an English professor at Grand Valley State University. Because the family wasn’t able to get a transplant from Jessalyn’s younger sister, the Richter family decided to come to MSU in hopes of using the large student body to increase the chances of finding a match. “She was diagnosed with AML back in September,” Debra Richter said. “Because her sister had leukemia as a child, she could not donate stem cells to (Jessalyn), so we were look-
ing for an unrelated match. “The reason we wanted to do it at MSU is because there is a large diversity in the population here,” she said. “It’s great that we were able to come here.” T he R ichter family has enlisted Be The Match Registry to assist with their efforts. Eric Trosko, the Michigan
Debra and Mark Richter have spent several days at MSU trying to find a bone marrow match for their daughter representative for the organization, said Be The Match helps organize drives such as the one the Richters are holding. The organization provides materials needed to get people registered and trains volunteers to help. Afterwards, Be The Match processes and stores all the information of those who sign up, which becomes a source for transplant centers. For students who decide to See DONATION on page 2 u
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Trudging through snow and frigid winds might make for grueling travel between classes, but that same freeze might benefit the Great Lakes. Scientists predict the recent Arctic blasts will increase water levels and decrease temperatures in the Great Lakes, temporarily reversing a 15-year slump. Anne Clites, a physical scientist at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, predicts the water levels of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron will increase by 10–12 inches this upcoming summer from this past summer. When cold, dry air sweeps across the lakes, it increases the evaporation rate, which results in more ice cover and lake-effect snow, said John Lenters, the senior scientist at the environmental consulting firm LimnoTech. Although this temporarily decreases water levels, ice lingers into late winter and early spring, capping further evaporation. Lenters predicts water-level gains this year because of
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far below for that period is unusual,” Clites said. “In general, it just doesn’t happen.” Although the weather has felt chillier than average this winter, the freezing temperatures that could cause water levels to increase used to be fairly typical, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration meteorologist Nathan Jeruzal said. Arctic blasts occur every year, but this year, deep freezes permeated farther South and lasted longer than usual, Jeruzal said.
HOWELL, Mich. — Raulie Casteel began his Wednesday in the same blue blazer that he’d worn throughout the entire trial. He ended the day in a jumpsuit in the Livingston County Jail. After about a day of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict found I-96 shooter Raulie Casteel guilty of nearly all charges Wednesday afternoon. The alumnus was found guilty of one count of terrorism, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and five weapons-related charges. He could face life in prison. The judge ordered Casteel to be held at Livingston County Jail until the pre-sentencing report is prepared.
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lingering ice will result in cooler summer waters, leading to a later evaporation period next fall. Extra lake-effect snow also will melt to produce runoff water. For about 15 years, water levels in the Great Lakes have been consistently below average, sometimes by about a foot. Fisheries scientists and shippers alike have been worried the lower water levels combined with increasingly high water temperatures will damage aquatic ecosystems and affect trade. “The fact that (Lakes) Michigan and Huron have been that