James Polidori (Page 4)

As the executive director of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) prepares to leave her post, the WLSSD fired up a trio of generators that now convert biogas from the operation of its Duluth sewage-processing facility into power. The new equipment is expected to slash the plant’s annual electrical bill by more than $1 million. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-biogas-power-generation

James Polidori

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to Cattaraugus Creek in Cattaraugus and Erie counties, New York, between April 22-May 1 to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom. Read the full story by the Olean Times Herald.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250411-lamprey-control

James Polidori

The Great Lakes’ sea lamprey control program has the OK to rehire three dozen federal employees it needs to combat the invasive fish species. That’s after staffing cuts and hiring freezes from the Trump administration last month threatened the work, which the Great Lakes Fishery Commission said would have led to more than $200 million in lost fishing potential. Read the full story by Michigan Public.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-lamprey-control-rehires

James Polidori

Due to a Wisconsin state law barring privately owned water systems from receiving loan forgiveness, the Superior Water Light & Power Company can’t access the federal loan forgiveness included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that helps financially strapped communities upgrade water systems. Many state lawmakers and city officials want Superior residents to benefit from the federal money, but they’re at odds over how to make that happen. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-funding-access

James Polidori

After being notified that the Line 5 tunnel project will likely be fast-tracked for federal approval, Great Lakes tribes are withdrawing as cooperating agencies in the federal environmental review process. In a letter, tribal leaders explained that the process has lacked meaningful dialogue with Indigenous Nations and other cooperating agencies, as well as undermined the federal government’s responsibility to protect tribal treaty rights.  Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-tribal-review

James Polidori

The executive director of FLOW (For Love of Water), a law and policy center in Traverse City, Michigan, says the partnership between Canada and the United States regarding the Great Lakes has worked well, with critical Great Lakes programs, partnerships, and binational agreements that support the lakes in many ways. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-binational-relationship

James Polidori

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will once again hire several people to monitor the critically endangered Great Lakes piping plover at four state parks. Those jobs are typically federally funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; however, due to cuts to federal programming, funding has only been released to cover two of the five planned hires. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-piping-plover-staffing

James Polidori

Rising temperatures and changing environmental conditions in the Great Lakes are contributing to harmful algal blooms (HABs), and new research suggests that the nearshore regions of Lake Superior could indicate climate change’s effects on the region’s ecosystem. HABs are often associated with warm, nutrient-rich lakes, but recently have been showing up in cold, low-nutrient lakes such as Lake Superior. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-climate-impacts

James Polidori

Farmers in 10 northwest Ohio counties in the Western Lake Erie Basin are now eligible to enroll or re-enroll in H2Ohio’s agriculture incentive program that uses proven, science-based, best management practices to help improve water quality throughout the state. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-incentive-program

James Polidori

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts that water levels for the Great Lakes will continue a seasonal drop until April; all of the Great Lakes this winter are below the 2023-2024 levels due to winter conditions. But now that spring-like weather is starting to show, most of the Great Lakes are predicted to have rising water levels. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-water-levels

James Polidori

Recent moves at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have environmental advocates on alert, as proposed agency layoffs and promises of deregulation raise questions about the impact on the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-deregulation-impacts

James Polidori

A new Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) research vessel, the 66-foot R/V Steelhead II, is currently being built in northern Michigan. The vessel will come equipped with a lab, netting, and solar panels, letting the DNR research the health of the Great Lakes without going ashore. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250326-research-vessel

James Polidori

In the first round of layoffs in the Trump Administration’s effort to wither the federal workforce, more than 1,200 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) staff members were lost due to firings, deferred resignations and retirements. Reports say that another 1,029 NOAA employees will be let go in a second round of layoffs, bringing the combined reduction to 20% of the agency’s workforce. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-federal-layoffs

James Polidori

A Sixth Circuit panel ruled Thursday that a 2023 decree negotiated by the U.S. government and a group of Indigenous Nations regarding fishing rights on the Great Lakes should be adopted, despite one tribe’s protest that the agreement violates its tribal rights. Read the full story by Courthouse News Service.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-fishing-rights

James Polidori

The Poe Lock, and part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will be opened early to all marine traffic by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on March 21 at 8 a.m., marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes shipping season. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-early-lock-opening

James Polidori

The mayor of Lorain, Ohio, joined 29 other U.S. and Canadian mayors from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in Washington last week to advocate for maintaining trade relationships between the countries and to raise concerns about President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs that they fear could devastate the region’s economy. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-tariff-opposition

James Polidori

The Great Lakes Seaway Development Corporation, which manages the U.S. side of operations on the waterway, warned residents on the St. Lawrence River that ice-breaking operations will start around March 15 in preparation for the navigation season. Read the full story by The Cornwall Standard Freeholder.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-ice-breaking

James Polidori

Bipartisan members of Congress from Great Lakes states are urging the state of Illinois to “promptly” end its delay of a $1.15 billion project to prevent invasive carp from infiltrating Lake Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-project-delays

James Polidori

The historic railcar ferry S.S. Badger will begin its 2025 season on May 16 after a dry dock for a propeller shaft bearing repair that is expected to reduce interruptions to the Lake Michigan sailing season. Read the full story by MLive.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-ferry-repairs

James Polidori

A regional assessment study of the St. Lawrence River has now been authorized, after the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake submitted a request for a study in 2020 and Canada’s environment ministry approved the request in 2021. One of the goals of the coming study will be to analyze the extent to which decades of development along the river’s shores have impacted Kahnawa’kehró:non from exercising their rights. Read the full story by The Eastern Door.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-st-lawrence-river-study

James Polidori

For decades, residents of Macomb County, Michigan, have endured the harmful environmental and health effects of combined sewer overflow discharges. The contamination of local waterways like Lake St. Clair and the Clinton River has put the safety and health of our communities at risk, causing problems ranging from skin infections to gastrointestinal diseases. Read the full story by The Oakland Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-sewage-contamination

James Polidori

The Great Lakes Environmental Festival is returning to Manistee, Michigan, for a fourth time on March 22. This date is also World Water Day, and the festival will be focused on exploring the challenges of climate change and water-related issues. Read the full story by the News Advocate.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250314-environmental-festival

James Polidori

Two of the biggest threats to the Great Lakes region’s $7 billion fishery — invasive carp and sea lampreys — will get worse if the Trump Administration’s federal cuts and hiring freezes are not done more methodically, officials said Monday. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-funding-hiring-impacts

James Polidori

Travelling for international meetings or even joining a call with Canadian counterparts has become impossible for some U.S. government scientists, under new directives since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Given that the Great Lakes — and their aquatic life — straddle both sides of the border, having American scientists suddenly barred from meetings has had deep impacts. Read the full story by CBC News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-binational-coordination

James Polidori

U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 to reauthorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through 2031 and increase the program’s annual authorized funding levels from $475 million to $500 million. Read the full story by Record & Clarion.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-great-lakes-bill

James Polidori

Rolling back clean water protection, gutting agencies and defunding science, research and monitoring is a non-starter for the Great Lakes region, said the director of the Healing Our Waters coalition in a recent interview. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-great-lakes-priorities

James Polidori

The patchwork of research that’s been done on microplastics in the Great Lakes has revealed gaps that need to be filled, a scientific panel reporting to the U.S. and Canadian governments stated in a recent webinar. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-microplastics-research

James Polidori

A $110,000 grant will go toward a training program in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District that helps prepare students for the maritime and aviation industries. The grant, approved by the Port of Cleveland, will be given to Argonaut, the nonprofit that provides the hands-on training at Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-maritime-training-grant

James Polidori

In 2024, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued permits to Canadian energy company Enbridge to reroute its Line 5 pipeline, prompting a lawsuit from the Bad River Band. The tribe is asking an Ashland County judge to stay the Wisconsin DNR’s environmental impact statement for the reroute proposal and reverse state construction permits. Read the full story by WDIO-TV – Duluth, MN.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-pipeline-litigation

James Polidori

After barely registering in satellite images during the 2024 winter season, ice coverage has returned almost to the seasonal average across the Great Lakes this year. Read the full story by WJBK-TV – Detroit, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-ice-coverage

James Polidori

Two new cruise lines joined Cruise the Great Lakes this season and will make stops in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-cruise-stops

James Polidori

Citizens for a Safe and Clean Lake Superior is rolling out a new program to protect wetlands in Marquette County, Michigan. The organization is offering $750 to four landowners in the county who are willing to enter into a conservation easement to protect wetlands on their property. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250219-wetland-conservation-program

James Polidori

While the lakes have varying degrees of ice cover, the Great Lakes as a whole are significantly more ice covered than in recent memory, providing ice fishing opportunities that haven’t existed since 2022. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-ice-cover

James Polidori

Hundreds of red-breasted mergansers have been found either dead or sick over the past few days along Lake Michigan in Chicago and into the northern suburbs. Officials suspect that highly contagious bird flu is the cause of the illnesses found in the mergansers, a species of diving duck that winters in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-bird-flu-deaths

James Polidori

Ohio State Representative Jon Cross proposed legislation to ban cities from dumping sewage into Lake Erie and impose stiff fines for violations. The move follows revelations that the City of Maumee has been dumping as much as 150 million gallons of sewage each year into the Maumee River for the past 20 years – far exceeding their allowable limit. Read the full story by WKTN – Kenton, OH.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-sewage-dumping-legislation

James Polidori

Walleye restocking efforts by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and local sportsmen’s clubs have likely contributed to more walleye over the past few decades on the St. Lawrence River. Due to the success of the program, the DEC plans to stop restocking walleye in the river, leading to some concern among anglers and county legislators. Read the full story by WWNY-TV – Carthage, NY.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-restocking-stoppage

James Polidori

Total cargo throughput at the Port of Duluth-Superior declined by 6.8% in the 2024 navigation season, totaling 26.8 million metric tonnes, down from 28.8 million tonnes in 2023. The decline was primarily driven by reduced iron ore shipments. Read the full story by WorldCargo News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-cargo-decline

James Polidori

The film Great Lakes, All Too Clear, was part of the opening night of the Thunder Bay International Film Festival that screened more than 50 films about the Great Lakes and waters around the world at various locations in northeast Michigan. Read the full story by the Presque Isle County Advance.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-mussel-documentary

James Polidori

The Sable Point Lighthouse Keepers Association announced that Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Hamlin Township, Michigan, is tentatively scheduled to open on July 1. The iconic Lake Michigan lighthouse had a short season in 2024 due to construction at Ludington State Park. The 2025 season will include extended hours and five bus days. Read the full story by MLive.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-lighthouse-season

James Polidori

The U.S. Coast Guard has conducted 16 ice rescues on all of Lake Erie so far this year. Officials in Medina County, Ohio, have been training for ice rescues and issued recommendations for people to take precautions when going out on the ice. Read the full story by WJW-TV – Cleveland, OH.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-ice-precautions

James Polidori

A new documentary released to streaming services, THE FISH THIEF: A Great Lakes Mystery, tells the story of the sea lamprey’s rise and fall on the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-lamprey-documentary

James Polidori

As part of a series profiling Michigan neighborhoods, the Detroit Free Press is highlighting St. Clair Shores in Macomb County, a city proudly known as “The Boating Capital of Michigan” and the “Gateway to the Great Lakes,” titles well-earned due to its vibrant boating culture. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250203-neighborhood-profile

James Polidori

As an Ohio senator and co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, JD Vance supported the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Now, as Vice President, Vance should use his powerful perch to enlist Trump and Congress in a noble cause: reauthorizing the GLRI. Read the full story by The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-glri-reauthorization

James Polidori

On Tuesday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the ice coverage on the Great Lakes is currently at 20.8%. NOAA researchers say this is just about average for this time of year. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-ice-coverage

James Polidori

For a second year in a row, a record number of shipwrecks were discovered in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters last year. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, 17 total shipwrecks were discovered last year, thanks to maritime historians and a federal mapping effort in Lake Michigan. The previous record was set in 2023 with 13 shipwrecks found. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-shipwreck-discovery-record

James Polidori

Last year, Michigan Congresswomen Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and Lisa McClain (R-Bruce), introduced a bill to allocate $200 million toward mapping the floor of the Great Lakes. Congress did not move the bill forward in 2024, but lawmakers plan to reintroduce it this year. Read the full story by WCMU – Mount Pleasant, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-lake-mapping-legislation

James Polidori

Shipping is largely at a standstill across most of the Great Lakes, thanks to a rapid increase in ice cover. As of Wednesday, about 25% of the Great Lakes are covered in ice; but just four days ago, that number was at 10%. Read the full story by CTV News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-shipping-stalls

James Polidori

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has released some highlights from its Great Lakes fisheries program in 2024. The DNR has research stations all over the state that monitor fish populations in the lakes year-round. Their work helps shape policies like those that govern the fish stocking program. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-fisheries-review

James Polidori

The 663-foot Canadian freighter Manitoulin got stuck in the ice on Lake Erie with 17 people on board while departing Buffalo, New York. The U.S. Coast Guard arrived with icebreaking equipment Thursday to begin freeing the vessel. Read the full story by ABC News.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-freighter-trapped

James Polidori

In the six decades since Fisharama began in Superior, Wisconsin, the event has only been cancelled a couple of times: the last two years. This year, the third attempt at the 58th annual Fisharama, lake conditions should be good, though a lack of volunteers presents a different challenge. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250124-fish-festival

James Polidori