Ashlee De Wit
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Ashlee De Wit is a freelance writer and a Lansing native. After starting her career covering high school sports in Iowa, she's excited to be back in her hometown, reporting the stories of her local community — such as the opening of Troost, the informal Lansing pickleball club, a TF South Homecoming game, and Common Ground, Lansing's experiment with healthy race relations.
Olympics in Lansing
Lansing Christian School students and staff celebrate sportsmanship and community with school games
By Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (February 28, 2022) – With much fanfare, Lansing Christian School (LCS) celebrated the Winter Olympics in their own version of the Games, which began on February 7.“We started it as a way...
How sweet it is: Lansing coffee shop finds new home at South Holland creamery
SoHo Sweets brings Troost coffee and vision to cafe and creamery in historic South Holland home
By Ashlee De Wit
SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. (September 4, 2021) – When Troost, the Lansing coffee shop, closed its doors in the spring of 2020, it left a latte-sized hole in the hearts of many...
Common Grounders eye future of program at third-quarter meeting
“We’re just going to keep going,” says participant Laurie Crosby
By Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (May 8, 2021) - Laurie Crosby is white; Valerie McDaniels is Black. Other than that, the two have discovered that they have a lot in common.“She has her white culture, I have my Black...
Eight months of Common Ground
Well into Lansing’s year-long pilot program, partnerships describe their experience
By Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (March 5, 2021) – The year-long Common Ground pilot program is more than halfway over, and the experiences of each group have been as diverse as the participants.
Common Ground, which launched in August 2020 with...
Church in a time of COVID
Amid pandemic changes, churches find a new normal
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (July 28, 2020) — Reserved times for Mass and drive-in services, YouTube live sermons and cardboard congregations, online giving and drive-by prayers: the COVID-19 pandemic has forced churches to be creative.Now that restrictions have been lifting...
Photos: Black Lives Matter in Lansing
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill (June 1, 2020) - A small, sign-wielding group of demonstrators gathered under the Clock Tower Monday evening in Lansing. They received many supportive honks from drivers on Ridge Road.
Lansing pastors, church members gather for prayer
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (June 1, 2020) — Lansing pastors and church members across denominations gathered at Grace Church (2740 Indiana Avenue) on Monday afternoon in an hour of prayer for the country and the local community, a day after the Village of Lansing encouraged residents to remain...
Online drama
When lockdown closes the curtain on Lansing Christian School play, students make switch to radio theater
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, ILL (May 26, 2020) — The show must go on—but what if the show is a junior high play, scheduled during a global pandemic?Then you change it to radio...
Posters, cut-outs, and stuffed animals fill in for congregation at New Hope Church
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (May 17, 2020) — For the past nine weeks, Pastor Dan Roels of New Hope Church in Lansing has walked up to his pulpit and delivered his sermon to a camera and an empty sanctuary.Well, not this week.The church members are still following...
Virtual Reality: Lansing Christian School teachers share challenges, triumphs from taking their classrooms online
by Ashlee De Wit
LANSING, Ill. (May 7, 2020) — Schools are closed, but on a daily basis teachers are still working to help their students learn what they need to know, deal with their emotions surrounding this new reality, and prepare them for the next academic year. Teachers at...