Some Great Lakes cities and states are ahead of the game when it comes to ending water shutoffs during the COVID-19 crisis. Others aren’t.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/water-shutoffs-milwaukee-chicago-detroit-cleveland-buffalo-duluth/
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/what-questions-do-you-have-talking-to-your-kids-about-the-great-lakes/
Great Lakes shipping hasn’t been stopped by the coronavirus, even as the industry waits to see how it will be impacted in the long term.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-coronavirus-shipping-freighters-safety-health/
Stay at home orders aren’t stopping people from fishing in the lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-coronavirus-great-lakes-fishing/
Customers who attempt to pay with cash at the Blue Water Bridge will be prohibited from crossing.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-coronavirus-tighter-border-crossing/
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear PolyMet Mining Inc.’s appeal of a ruling that canceled three permits needed for its proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota.
In January, the Minnesota Court of Appeals gave environmentalists a major victory by rejecting some of the most important permits for the planned mine.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-minnesota-supreme-court-polymet-permit-appeal/
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday that the sight of crowds along Lake Michigan despite a statewide stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus has her considering shutting down the city’s parks.
“When we have masses of people out there as I just saw … it’s a problem,” Lightfoot said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-chicago-mayor-thinking-about-closing-city-trails-parks/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/pfas-indiana-wisconsin-new-york-landfill-military/
Here are three new webinars you can join for free to get ideas about how to help kids learn about the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-learning-webinars/
Michigan outdoor recreation-related companies are struggling to stay afloat amid the fallout from COVID-19.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-michigan-outdoor-recreation-revenue/
The public can continue to enjoy aquariums, museums and centers as the facilities close buildings. But starting March 25, Parks Canada is closing all national parks.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/aquariums-museums-online-livestreams-covid-19/
In this Q&A, Central Michigan University Professor Don Uzarski talks about how critical healthy wetlands are for the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/wetland-wisdom-documentary-looks-at-breakthrough-in-great-lakes-wetland-research/
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals sent an air-emissions permit for the PolyMet copper-nickel mine back to state regulators for further review on Monday, giving another victory to environmental groups who oppose the project.
The appeals court found that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency did not adequately evaluate whether the air permit requested by PolyMet was a “sham permit” — meaning one that didn’t accurately reflect the size and scope of PolyMet’s proposed mine.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-minnesota-court-appeals-polymet-permit-mpca/
The eight Great Lakes states and Canada are approaching PFAS contamination in their own ways and setting their own standards.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/pfas-standards-actions-state-canada/
As the author of Great Lakes Now’s collection of lesson plans, educational consultant Gary Abud Jr. is now providing more support for parents, teachers and caregivers who want to incorporate Great Lakes learning into their time with children and students.
Find the lesson plans and the virtual field trip online HERE.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-learning-introducing-resources-remote-teaching/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Hunter Hicks, Great Lakes Now
The lack of ice across the Great Lakes region has business booming for those in the ice fishing industry fortunate enough to have safe conditions, but has left others high and dry.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/warm-weather-ice-fishing-industry/
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Researchers in Minnesota are trying to find an alternative to road salt in an effort to protect the state’s water bodies from contamination.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Saturday that road salt is the top source of chloride in state waters. Scientists have been ramping up warnings that rising chloride levels could harm aquatic life and turn tap water salty.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-scientists-testing-alternative-road-salt/
The tourism that usually rises around this time is on hold, but residents are battening down with ease.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-islands-ferry-coronavirus-covid-19/
With the COVID-19 global pandemic continuing to spread throughout the U.S., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines have stressed the importance of staying hydrated and rigorously washing hands as a preventative health effort.
But for thousands of residents in Detroit, Flint, Benton Harbor, Hamtramck and other cities around southeast Michigan, following these guidelines is difficult when your water is shut off.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/water-rights-advocates-stations-michigan-governor-mayor/
Catch the latest in Great Lakes energy news in Great Lakes Now’s fortnightly energy-related headline roundup.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/energy-solar-low-income-court-appeal/
At the Blue Water Bridge, International Bridge, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Mackinac Bridge, tolls will stop taking cash.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/bridge-tolls-travel-no-cash-coronavirus/
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a challenge by environmental groups against the proposed Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, saying the Interior Department had the authority to reverse itself and renew the project’s federal mineral rights leases.
The Obama administration tried to kill Twin Metals by rejecting the company’s application to renew its leases, citing the risk of acid mine drainage to the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-judge-minnesota-twin-metals-mine-lease-dispute/
Great Lakes Now is partnering with Michigan Sea Grant and the University of Michigan for the now-online “Lake Effects” film series on Thursday evenings.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/lake-effects-university-of-michigan-film-series/
The agencies and businesses running the services, centers and parks are adapting daily, hourly.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-parks-centers-tourism-coronavirus-covid-19/
Anything that says “Flushable Wipes” is not flushable, commissioner says.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/flushable-wipes-coronavirus-covid-19-sewers/
While field research prep is delayed, the science itself hasn’t stopped as universities and researchers continue to work.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-delay-research-coronavirus-covid-19/
Anglers expect decade or more of excellent fishing.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/walleye-populations-2020-increasing-charter-fishing/
Michigan and Wisconsin are currently the only Great Lakes states with an Office of Outdoor Recreation, though Indiana and Minnesota might see one soon.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/outdoor-recreation-industry-great-lakes/
By Brett Chase, Better Government Association, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
More than two dozen Chicago young activists Friday called on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reinstate a city department of environment to combat heavy pollution in black and Latino neighborhoods and increase efforts to fight climate change.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/student-protesters-chicago-lightfoot-campaign-environmental-protection/
Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/pfas-ohio-minnesota-dupont-settlement-milk-ski-racing/
DETROIT (AP) — Thousands of Detroit residents who have had their water service shut off due to nonpayment of bills can have it restored under a plan that aims to allow them to wash their hands at home as a way to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-detroit-restore-water-service-coronavirus/
Great Lakes Now earns three wins from Michigan Association of Broadcasters
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-now-broadcast-awards/
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer campaigned on an aggressive water platform. Now those campaign pledges are being put to the test.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/michigan-governor-whitmer-detroit-water-shutoffs-egle/
DETROIT (AP) — The Great Lakes Water Authority is transferring more than $1.6 million to Detroit and Flint for conservation education and to help customers pay past-due water bills.
Board members transferred the Water Residential Assistance Program funding from uncommitted 2019 bill assistance funds from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-water-authority-transfers-funding-bill-assistance/
By John Flesher, AP Environmental Writer
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Enbridge Inc. said Friday it has hired companies to design and build a disputed oil pipeline tunnel beneath the channel linking Lakes Huron and Michigan, despite pending legal challenges.
The Canadian company is forging ahead with plans to begin construction work next year on the tunnel, which would replace twin pipes that have lain across the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac in northern Michigan since 1953.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-enbridge-hires-contractors-design-build-great-lakes-tunnel/
Judge Zouhary says LEBOR’s too vague to be a law.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/lake-erie-bill-rights-federal-court-unconstitutional/
DETROIT (AP) — Lawyers urged the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday to clear the way for Flint residents to sue state officials over lead-contaminated water.
The case at the state’s highest court is one of many in state and federal courts over the scandal.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-michigan-supreme-court-flint-water-liability/
The One Earth Film Festival kicks off its 9th season in Chicago starting Friday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/one-earth-film-festival-great-lakes-piping-plovers-plastic-cafos/
In major lakeside cities around the Great Lakes, there isn’t a clear answer on who handles oversight of industrial storage facilities.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/seawall-inspections-industrial-storage-pollution-government/
CHICAGO (AP) — Environmental groups in Illinois and Indiana have filed a federal complaint in hopes of forcing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a review that could designate lake sturgeon as a federally endangered species.
Lake sturgeon are a prehistoric fish that were once plentiful in the Great Lakes but have been reduced to extremely low levels by pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-environmental-groups-sue-lake-sturgeon-status/
In this month’s column from Great Lakes Now writer John Hartig, he looks at how climate change is impacting birds around the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/black-terns-michigan-bird-climate-change/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Danielle James, Capital News Service
From ski slopes to dog sled races to snow carving contests, warmer weather this season has forced Michigan’s winter sports and tourism groups to adapt to keep participants and spectators coming.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/02/warm-winter-changes-outdoor-recreation/
WATERTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — More than 2 feet of snow has fallen on upstate New York’s largely rural Tug Hill Plateau and another 2 feet is possible through the weekend.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said he was dispatching 15 additional snow plows to region east of Lake Ontario.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/02/ap-snow-lake-ontario-new-york-4-feet-weekend/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan oversight panel Thursday endorsed drinking water standards designed to limit exposure to a group of household and industrial chemicals linked to a variety of health problems.
The proposed rules would apply to seven compounds in a category known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/02/ap-michigan-oversight-panel-pfas-limits/
