An art gallery in Evanston, Illinois, has opened a new exhibition focused on the Great Lakes. A portion of sales will go to the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Evanston RoundTable.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250716-art-exhibit
Great Lakes trade has fueled the Midwest for centuries. Today, experts say its future is key to sustaining U.S. manufacturing, farming and economic security. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250716-shipping-importance
Across the Great Lakes, electricity and gas costs are rising, with utilities in Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin seeking hundreds of millions in additional rate hikes. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-energy-bills
For decades the Great Lakes and their natural resources have faced the environmental crises of pollution and degradation, despite the conservation promises of elected officials. Read the full story by Michigan Daily.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-gl-deserve-better
Fluctuations in Great Lakes water levels and ice cover broadly affect coastal communities and contribute to coastal erosion. Coastal resiliency strategies are navigating the best methods to preserve the landscape and the communities from these effects. Read the full story by Northern Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-coastal-resiliency
Lake Erie has warmed rapidly over the past month, with surface water temperatures now sitting about four degrees above average for mid-July. While that swift rise is eye-catching, experts say it’s not unusual. Read the full story by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-erie-temps
Man-made reefs have become a popular way to provide a habitat for fish in coastal communities. The rubble ridges, however, are also designed as a cost-effective tool to prevent erosion. Read the full story by the Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-artificial-reefs
As a result of warming waters, increasingly variable seasonal changes and lakeshore development, walleye numbers in some lakes are dwindling. Losing the species would mean losing a food source for community members, a sovereign right to fish, and a deep connection to tradition and nature for Ojibwe and other Indigenous communities. Read the full story by ICT News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-spearfishing
Barn Sanctuary in Chelsea, Michigan, hopes to make a positive impact on the region to stand as a living model where animal welfare and ecological stewardship aren’t just compatible, but linked. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-barn-sanctuary
Fifty years after the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald sank into Lake Superior, 68 open water swimmers will symbolically complete the ship’s failed voyage. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-fitzgerald-swimmers
The Sail Detroit Festival will showcase tall ships of various sizes and styles. They will arrive to Detroit on August 7 and tie up on the Detroit River for three days of public access. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-sailor-career
The U.S. shipboard maritime workforce is projected to turn over in the coming decades and have more than 35,000 job openings for sailors and marine oilers; 29,000 captains, mates, and pilots; and 9,500 ship engineers. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250714-sailor-career
Great Lakes piping plovers hit a record count of 85 nesting pairs this year, which is four more pairs than in the last two years. Since being put on the Endangered Species Act list in 1984, the plovers are recovering, but only with the protection and assistance of a significant coalition of people and organizations. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-plover-record
Ohio’s two-year operating budget was officially signed into law by Governor DeWine, solidifying a massive cut to DeWine’s own H2Ohio program, a statewide water quality initiative. The cut has resulted in worries about environmental causes across Ohio, particularly those involving Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Akron Beacon Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-funding-cuts
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has added four new K9s to their staff, including Jet, a four-year-old black lab trained to detect and track zebra mussels, an aquatic invasive species. Read the full story by KBJR-TV – Superior, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-invasive-species-detection
The advisory council for the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary will meet later this month amid the specter of massive budget and staff cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is charged with managing the sanctuary. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-marine-sanctuary-council-meeting
The Great Lakes whitefish population is in steep decline, particularly in the main waters of lakes Michigan and Huron. Invasive quagga and zebra mussels are largely to blame for the decline, as they have gobbled up the vast majority of the small creatures such as shrimp-like Diporeia that were critical to the Great Lakes food web. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-whitefish-decline
Several Great Lakes advocacy groups have called for a second Great Lakes icebreaker which could help open up commerce on the Great Lakes during the winter. The funding was briefly included in the U.S. House-passed version of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill – a sprawling reconciliation package – but appears to have been removed from the Senate’s version and what was ultimately signed by Trump. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-icebreaker-funding
The Robinson Bay, a historic tugboat, was donated by the U.S. Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, Michigan, providing cadets with new training opportunities. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-tugboat-donation
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Superior’s water levels are sitting roughly 18 centimeters below the long-term average, and 16 centimeters below the level of a year ago. Read the full story by SNnewswatch.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-water-levels
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contractors resumed the deployment of 8,100 tons of activated carbon used to remediate industrial pollutants along the St. Louis River – Lake Superior’s largest river – in the second phase of the $36 million project. Read the full story by the Pine Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-river-cleanup
The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio, is connecting young people to engineering and education through a hands-on summer program that will instruct participants how to design, build and race mini-boats made from recycled material to teach about buoyancy, balance and sustainability. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250711-summer-program
A lake trout recently caught off Sheboygan, Wisconsin, may offer a sign of the long-term success of Great Lakes restoration efforts. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-laketrout-restoration
It’s been 50 years since a freighter sank in the Great Lakes. But in the summer of 2024, one freighter came dangerously close. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-freighter-final-voyage
Michigan fish and wildlife regulators will receive an expert presentation this week on the troubles facing lake whitefish as populations of the iconic Great Lakes species plummet in lakes Michigan and Huron. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-michigan-fishing-regulator-greatlakes-whitefish-crisis
Coming soon to the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, Michigan, will be a film series featuring stories about underrepresented communities connected to the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-michigan-maritime-museum-film-showcase
The surface temperature in the western basin of Lake Erie is currently 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit), and even higher in some places. Elevated water temperature is a contributor to the formation of blue-green algae, which can produce toxins that are harmful to humans and pets. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-lakeerie-increase-surface-temperature
Local municipalities and environmental partners are coming together in a landmark effort to build climate resilience along the shores of Lake Huron. Maitland Conservation is launching the Southern Lake Huron Coastal Adaptation Strategy, a comprehensive initiative aimed at protecting 56 kilometers of shoreline from the increasing impacts of climate change. Read the full story by CKNX News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-lakehuron-shoreline-climate
Scientists and students at the University of Michigan Biological Station in Pellston, Michigan, will host a public open house where visitors can learn about the station’s ongoing scientific studies, including the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-pipingplover-captive-um-bio-station
A simmering debate over the use of forward-facing sonar to catch fish is heating up on Northwestern Ontario’s Eagle Lake with its world-class muskie fishery. A group of lodge owners on the lake is urging anglers to voluntarily avoid using the advanced technology, out of fear it’s threatening the health of the muskellunge population. Read the full story by Bradford Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-fishfinder-technology-muskie-population
Scientists are trying new strategies to manage invasive mussels in Lake Michigan after decades of ecological disruption caused by the fast-spreading species. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250709-invasivemussels-lakemichigan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing $3.7 million in grants to four organizations to help farmers manage their nutrient applications in the watershed of Lake Erie’s Western Basin. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-lake-erie-funding
The water levels in the Great Lakes are continuing their seasonal rise into the summer months, with predictions for them to peak later in July or August. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-lake-levels
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a bulletin issued Thursday that “patches” of cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae, have been detected via satellite in western Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-lake-erie-bloom
The Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation announced that it will contribute $1 million toward reestablishing Ontario’s Peninsula Harbour Port as a modern, functional transportation hub. Organizers have said the facility, to be constructed on the site Marathon Pulp’s former mill, will be the only commercial port between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. Read the full story by Timmins Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-marathon-port
Microcystin, the toxic chemical produced by Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB), has now been detected in the air as well as the water during HAB season. Researchers are collecting samples and investigating the effects of what this may mean for individuals spending time near Lake Erie during HAB season. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-hab-air
A barge that twice sank in Lake Michigan and sparked environmental concerns has now been moved to a legally authorized site. Read the full story by Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-barge
For the first time in six years, the iconic light from the Two Harbors Lighthouse beacon 25 miles northeast of Duluth will once again sweep across Lake Superior. Read the full story by the Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-duluth-lighthouse
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is hosting the “Get into Your Sanctuary” photo competition, with a new sanctuary to participate in this year after Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary was designated in 2024. Read the full story by CNY Central.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-sanctuary-photos
Each year, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources recruits teams of volunteer lighthouse keepers to staff the Tawas Point Lighthouse in two-week shifts. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250707-lighthouse-keeper
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel belongs in state or federal court. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-line-5
The Detroit River Canadian Cleanup has released its annual report for 2024-25 outlining restoration milestones for the Detroit River, successfully restoring 11 of the 14 beneficial use impairments with expected removal of the Detroit River from the areas of concern list by 2028-29. Read the full story by CKLW – Windsor, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-detroit-river-aoc
Chicago has more lead service lines than other cities in the country, and replacements are not planned to be complete until 2076. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-chicago-lead-pipes
The Ohio Legislature’s attempt to hobble H2Ohio through steep budget cuts is mystifying many given the results have demonstrated noticeable reductions in runoff. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-h2ohio
After nearly four decades and $80 million of cleanup efforts, Muskegon Lake in Michigan is finally on track to being delisted as a Great Lakes Area of Concern after restoration activities concluded in 2022. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-muskegon-lake
Representative Bill Huizenga of Michigan is calling on the U.S. Senate to reinclude funding for a new Great Lakes heavy icebreaker in its reconciliation bill after the provision was left out of the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Read the full story by WorkBoat.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-icebreaker-cuts
An environmental group is suing to stop construction on the expansion of a tailings basin holding back mine waste near Lake Superior. Read the full story by Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-tailings-basin-lawsuit
A group that represents a cross-section of business and environmental interests said in a news release it is “deeply concerned and disappointed” by a proposed $105 million cut to H2Ohio’s budget. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-eriefoundation-h2ohio
The Sauble Beach sign was changed to reflect a court decision last year that solidified ownership of a roughly two-kilometer section of land along the Lake Huron shoreline to the Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. The sign now reads “now reads “Welcome to Saugeen Beach.” Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-sauble-beach
Gabby, the oldest Great Lakes piping plover, had two new chicks at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250702-piping-plover
