Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/mapping-the-great-lakes-where-do-you-live/
A fishing tournament weigh-in in Cleveland last month, an event most often attended by anglers, family, friends and passersby, sent the Lake Erie walleye scene into worldwide news after several videos went viral.
They appeared to show two consistently winning tournament anglers get caught cheating red-handed after 10 lead weights, tipping the scales at about 7 pounds, were removed from their five walleye at the final 2022 event for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/weighted-walleye-fallout-lake-erie-fishing-tournament/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/pfas-news-roundup-petition-says-epa-loophole-lets-forever-chemicals-evade-review/
By Andy Balaskovitz, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
PIPELINES: Enbridge will pay more than $11 million to settle water quality violations and three aquifer breaches related to Line 3 construction in northern Minnesota; Attorney General Keith Ellison also announced a misdemeanor criminal charge for the company’s alleged taking of water without a permit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/enbridge-will-pay-11m-fine-for-minnesota-water-violations/
By John Flesher, Associated Press
Lifelong Cleveland resident Steve Gove recalls when the Cuyahoga River symbolized shame — fetid, lifeless, notorious for catching fire when sparks from overhead rail cars ignited the oil-slicked surface.
“It was pretty grungy,” said the 73-year-old, a canoeist in his youth who sometimes braved the filthy stretch through the steelmaking city.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/ap-clean-water-act-at-50/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
With a 100% carbon-free electricity target by 2045, Illinois must now grapple with the complexities over how exactly to reach that goal.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/energy-news-roundup-indigenous-communities-clean-energy-solutions/
Broadcasting in our monthly PBS television program, The Catch is a Great Lakes Now series that brings you more news about the lakes you love. Go beyond the headlines with reporters from around the region who cover the lakes and drinking water issues. Find all the work HERE.
This month, The Catch features a new bulk freighter that is making waves in Great Lakes shipping.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/the-catch-new-freighter-in-town/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
Prior to the approximately $12 million project that connected Plumville and Crooked Creek water treatment plants, most residents in the area as well as the school district relied on well water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/drinking-water-news-roundup-new-water-infrastructure-funding-projects-programs/
By Mark Gillispie, Associated Press
CLEVELAND (AP) — The county prosecutor’s office in Cleveland has opened an investigation into an apparent cheating scandal during a lucrative walleye fishing tournament on Lake Erie last week.
A video posted to Twitter shows Jason Fischer, tournament director for the Lake Erie Walleye Trail, cutting open the winning catch of five walleye on Friday and finding lead weights and prepared fish filets inside them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/10/ap-authorities-report-scandal-fishing-tournament/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/remedies-for-harmful-algal-blooms-available-in-law/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Illinois Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/energy-news-roundup-line-3-protests-renewable-energy-efforts-growing/
By Laura Gersony, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/failed-algae-strategy-hurts-poor-communities/
If you catch fish in a Great Lakes state on a river, pond, stream or reservoir and keep any to eat, most likely you’ll have to clean them yourself. But if you get close to one of the big lakes, especially Lake Erie, you could have a fish cleaner do it.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/fish-cleaning-houses/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/farms-michigan-counties-sources-of-lake-erie-toxic-blooms/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Starting this week, the new federal Inflation Reduction Act combined with the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act will bring the average cost for residential solar installations from $25,000 down to approximately $7,500.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/energy-news-roundup-new-climate-laws-impact-states/
“The Erie Situation,” a new documentary about toxic algae blooms will air simultaneously on six PBS stations in four states at 9 p.m. ET on Monday Sept. 12. To see if your station is one of them, click HERE.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/cleveland-water-organization-looking-to-support-business-innovation-beyond-lake-erie/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/danger-looms-where-toxic-algae-blooms/
For the first time in decades, a new bulk freighter has been built on and launched on the Great Lakes.
The Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin unveiled the Mark W. Barker earlier this year after spending nearly three years constructing it. The vessel was commissioned by Cleveland-based Interlake Steamship Company which currently operates about a dozen ships.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/new-great-lakes-freighter-joins-fleet/
Whether you go out on a boat, to a beach or get your drinking water from Lake Erie, you know harmful algal blooms are a problem.
But these mucky, green blooms are not limited to the southernmost of the Great Lakes. The blooms are a bigger threat in the northernmost lake, the connectors like the Detroit River and Lake St.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/09/the-erie-situation-and-beyond/
The total allowable catch (TAC) for yellow perch and walleye went up this year in Lake Erie. The raise is indicative of booming walleye population in recent years as well as a healthy perch population in most areas of the lake.
The walleye TAC rose 18% from 12.28 million fish in 2021 to 14.53 million this year, with yellow perch rising 15% from 6.23 million pounds last year to 7.18 million pounds this year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/08/setting-lake-erie-limits/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Chicago has signed a $422.2 million agreement with Constellation New Energy, LLC to provide renewable power to government buildings, street lights and all other city assets — and a carbon-free footprint — by 2025.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/08/energy-news-roundup-michigan-solar-power-inflation-reduction-act/
Eighty-eight-year-old Hilda Barg hunched her shoulders and rested her forearms on her hardwood dining table, talking fiercely about coal ash contamination in her neighborhood. Barg, a lifelong resident and former supervisor of Prince William County, Virginia, is leading a local fight against how Dominion Energy — the state’s largest electric utility — is dealing with toxic coal ash at its Possum Point plant 3 miles from Barg’s home.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/08/excavate-toxic-coal-ash-question/
Just upstream of Alabama’s Mobile Bay sits a vast region of wetlands known as the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, home to one of the most diverse ecosystems in the United States. As well as 21 million cubic yards of wet coal ash.
The J.M. Barry Power Plant has been a flashpoint between environmental advocates and the state utility, Alabama Power, for years.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/08/climate-change-puts-coal-ash-impoundments-at-risk/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois
Solar, storage projects set to bring jobs, tax revenue to Illinois coal communities — Energy News Network
Six retired coal plants in downstate Illinois will soon receive solar panels and become renewable energy storage sites.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/energy-news-roundup/
A common question for casual observers of Great Lakes vessels is “Where are the big container ships?” The reference is to the massive ocean-traversing ships with containers stacked stories high.
The container ships have been absent from the Great Lakes where cherished lake freighters dominate the waterways hauling bulk cargo.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/shipping-update-great-lakes-container-cargo/
Broadcasting in our monthly PBS television program, The Catch is a Great Lakes Now series that brings you more news about the lakes you love. Go beyond the headlines with reporters from around the region who cover the lakes and drinking water issues. Find all the work HERE.
Want to head out to the Great Lake Erie Birding Trail?
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/the-catch-lake-erie-birding/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/2022-forecast-harmful-algal-blooms-forecast-lake-erie/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Officials in Normal, Illinois, see Rivian’s growth and corporate culture as a key part of the city’s long-term sustainability plan.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/07/energy-news-roundup-prices-hikes-solar-struggle/
A lakeside view and twittering morning avian chorus make for a great combination, and all along the Great Lakes there are plenty of great locations to experience both those things.
Installing a bird feeder is an easy way to enjoy birds right outside your door, but county parks and birding walks are a great way to learn about birds too, Kimberly Kaufman said in an interview with Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/trails-for-best-view-of-birds/
Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/mapping-great-lakes-cities/
A new study completed by international researchers says current efforts to reduce harmful algae blooms by limiting phosphorous in Lake Erie could result in more toxic algae.
“I think it has implications for how we think about cleaning up Lake Erie,” said Greg Dick, director of the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at Michigan State University, and one of the study’s authors.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/phosphorous-reduction-toxic-algae/
June 14, 2022
Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/fresh-research-highlights-gaps-in-federal-air-pollution-data/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Illinois American Water is encouraging customers to view the company’s 2021 water quality reports to learn more about the source and quality of their drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/drinking-water-news-roundup-flooding-risk-epa-grants-ohio/
One of the last known (and most famous) blue pike was landed by hook and line in 1962. In 1983, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the blue pike extinct. Yet, nearly 40 years later, the population remains robust and healthy – in the hearts and minds of countless anglers.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/lake-erie-blue-pike-never-forgotten/
By Diana Kruzman, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.
Joe Mosyjowski has watched a decade-long boom in oil and gas drilling unfold in the region surrounding his 50-acre farm in northeast Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/ohio-residents-radioactive-oil-gas-waste-roads/
One by one, netted fish arrived onto the boat: smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, common carp, gizzard shad, longnose gar.
They lay on their sides, briefly stunned by the electricity that was coursing from rods on the boat’s bow and then scooped on board the 21-foot vessel on a cloudy spring day on Lake Erie.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/african-scientists-great-lakes-international-exchange/
By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
Ohio cities are using new data mapping tools to identify and respond to disparities in energy burdens, climate risks, and pollution impacts.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/mapping-tools-ohio-environmental-justice/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Radio
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/harmful-algal-blooms-lake-erie/
The North American Sea Glass Association held its 16th Annual Sea Glass Festival at Maumee Bay State Park Lodge on Lake Erie – the first time it wasn’t held at a saltwater venue.
“This is probably the crème de la crème of festivals,” said Beverly Vinch, of Washed Ashore Jewelry, based in Avon Lake, Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/great-lakes-sea-glass/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
In September, Illinois lawmakers passed a watershed clean energy law which established the state as a leader for its efforts to decarbonize.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/energy-news-roundup-impending-energy-crisis/
Despite overwhelming public opposition based on public comments received by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the agency approved a water withdrawal and consumptive use permit for Massachusetts-based Aquabounty on March 14.
The permit will allow operators to pull about 28 million gallons from the Michindoh Aquifer to fill tanks at its state-of-the-art Atlantic salmon rearing facility in Pioneer, Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/06/salmon-farm-ohio-dnr/
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of widespread man-made chemicals that don’t break down in the environment or the human body and have been flagged as a major contaminant in sources of water across the country.
Keep up with PFAS-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/pfas-news-roundup-new-york-clothes-ohio-lawsuit-wisconsin-standards/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Illinois American Water is investing over $3 million to replace over 8,600 feet or 1.6 miles of water main throughout the Sterling Water System.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/drinking-water-news-roundup-illinois-water-system-coal-ash-indiana/
I Speak for the Fish is a new monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/trout-feeding-frenzy/
Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Electricity costs will soar beginning in June in central and southern Illinois, due to inadequate power supplies following coal-fired plant closures.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/energy-news-roundup-numerous-great-lakes-outages-rising-rates/
Aiming to better coordinate efforts to restore the Great Lakes, promote related educational opportunities, and boost the region’s economic prospects, an Ohio legislator crafted a bill to create a federal Great Lakes Authority.
Since Rep. March Kaptur, D-Toledo, and several other Democrats introduced the bill in Congress this spring, not much has happened.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/the-catch-great-lakes-authority/
Every year thousands of anglers participate in fishing tournaments across the Great Lakes, with prizes ranging from a couple hundred bucks to tens of thousands of dollars. Some, like the Lake Erie Fall Brawl, offer new fishing boats valued at more than $100,000 as top prizes. Some events are targeted toward professional anglers, while others pair a professional angler and an amateur angler.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/fishing-tournament-trends-kayaks-catch-photo-release/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/drinking-water-news-roundup-first-nation-settlement-wisconsin-towns-chicago-water/
By David A. Lieb, Michael Casey and Michelle Minkoff, Associated Press
Constructed four generations ago, the massive rock and clay dam at El Capitan Reservoir is capable of storing over 36 billion gallons of water, enough to supply every resident in San Diego for most of a year.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/ap-analysis-growing-number-of-dams/
By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
This story was first published on the Energy News Network and was republished here with permission.
Major weather events accounted for more than a third of the time Ohio customers of regulated electric utilities went without power last year, according to an Energy News Network review of data filed with state regulators.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/05/storms-ohio-electric-grid-climate-change/
