Oaktree Capital Management LP and American Industrial Partners are exploring a sale of the Great Lakes marine transportation company Rand Logistics, which could fetch more than $1 billion, including debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Read the full story by Bloomberg.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-transportation-shipping
Students in Careerline Tech Center’s Natural Resources and Outdoor Studies program are exploring the issue of microplastics by collecting samples from six beaches along Lake Michigan in Michigan’s Ottawa County, from Grand Haven State Park to Holland State Park. Read the full story by Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-plastic
Students in Careerline Tech Center’s Natural Resources and Outdoor Studies program are exploring the issue of microplastics by collecting samples from six beaches along Lake Michigan in Michigan’s Ottawa County, from Grand Haven State Park to Holland State Park. Read the full story by Holland Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-plastic
Residents in Pellston, MI can expect another round of water testing as the state Department of Health and Human Services looks to see how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels have fluctuated. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-pfas
Residents in Pellston, MI can expect another round of water testing as the state Department of Health and Human Services looks to see how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance levels have fluctuated. Read the full story by Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-pfas
For the first time since 1983, a U.S.-flagged freighter has been constructed on the Great Lakes. Fincatieri Bay Shipbuilding, based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, built the 639-foot vessel for the Great Lakes’ own Interlake Steamship Company, whose roots trace back more than a century, to 1913. Read the full story by the Northern Express.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-shipping
The popular SS Badger is away from her home for a bit for a long-awaited sprucing up. The U.S. Coast Guard requires the ship to be inspected every five years. The Badger last made the trip to Sturgeon Bay in 2015, but because of her fresh-water operations and seasonality, Interlake Steamship Company, the ferry’s parent company, received an extension for an additional year. Read the full story by Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-ship-inspection
The Viking cruise line has announced new expedition cruises in 2023 that include a two-week cruise on the Great Lakes and a 16-day cruise on the St. Lawrence River and Atlantic coast. Read the full story by Cruise Fever.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211108-cruises
Great Lakes fish and wildlife populations would get a boost under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate. Supporters say the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act will provide critical resources to conserve and restore fish and wildlife populations across the region. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-legislation
Maritime archaeologists with the Wisconsin Historical Society recovered a dugout wood canoe from the bottom of Lake Mendota that is believed to be approximately 1,200 years old. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-canoe
The decades-overdue overhaul of the Soo Locks is moving swiftly as the nearly $1.5 billion infrastructure project is on schedule to be completed by 2030 and will bolster commerce in Michigan and the Midwest, according to maritime industry leaders. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-soo-locks
A piping plover chick named Erie who was born in Michigan’s Maumee State Park this summer, will be spending the winter at the Detroit Zoo with the hopes of release next spring. Read the full story by WTVG-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-piping-plover
High waters have sped erosion along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline, swallowing beaches, damaging public lands, and draining homeowners’ savings. Many residents are installing shoreline barriers, but such structures are temporary and may harm downstream beaches. Read the full story by Wisconsin Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-shoreline
A grant worth $5.1 million was awarded for shoreline restoration at the Point Betsie Lighthouse along the Lake Michigan coast in northern Michigan. Read the full story by Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-lighthouse
Since October, the water temperatures on all five of the Great Lakes have hovered at record-high autumn levels, about five to six degrees above average. The record-warm water temperatures over the Great Lakes fit into a pattern of warming lakes all over the planet. Read the full story by the Washington Post.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-warmer-waters
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive meant to strengthen Michigan’s water laws and policies amid the state’s latest drinking water crisis in Benton Harbor. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-water-laws
Line 5 pipelines are an environmental ticking time bomb pumping oil nearly 20 years past their intended lifespan in raging currents at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac that join Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-line-5
Even though the changing leaves were late this year, towns along Lake Huron still feature trees vibrant with yellows, reds and oranges. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-fall-colors
Lake Erie’s harmful algal bloom season dragged on this year. The 2021 cyanobacterial bloom surpassed scientists’ predictions and ended up measuring moderately severe on a HAB severity index. Read the full story by Fermont News-Messenger.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211105-algal-blooms
While cooler fall temperatures arrive, agricultural field research into the causes of western Lake Erie algal blooms remains a hot issue, with more scientific detective work on the horizon. Teams of researchers are still hoping to fine-tune ways the agricultural community can keep more of its nutrient-laden water on its fields and lose less into creeks and streams whose waters eventually flow into Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-agatha-christie
Between record low waters in January 2013 and a record high in July 2020, Lakes Michigan and Huron water levels collectively swung more than 6 feet. Climate scientists attribute the volatility to the interplay of the region’s rising temperatures and precipitation from more frequent and intense storms. Read the full story by WPR.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-shoreline
A high-tech strategy could help Detroit save $165 million while also pinpointing the number of lead water lines in the city. Read the full story by the Associated Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-software
The first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter built on the Great Lakes in 40 years recently launched at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, shipyard in a maritime tradition marking the first time a vessel is moved into the water. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-freighter
The first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes freighter built on the Great Lakes in 40 years recently launched at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, shipyard in a maritime tradition marking the first time a vessel is moved into the water. Read the full story by The Times of Northwest Indiana.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-freighter
In the Great Lakes, climate change is considered a threat multiplier, meaning it exacerbates other threats to the ecosystem. Read the full story by The Canadian Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-climate
In the Great Lakes, climate change is considered a threat multiplier, meaning it exacerbates other threats to the ecosystem. Read the full story by The Canadian Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-climate
The harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie has largely sputtered out after exceeding early summer projections on its severity. On a severity index of 10, this year’s “moderately severe” bloom hit a 6, according to forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-algae
Sandhill crane migration peaks between mid-October and late November, bringing thousands of these graceful giants through the state from breeding areas as far north as the Northwest territories of Canada. Many of these birds congregate in groups numbering in the hundreds or even thousands as they make their way across the Great Plains and parts of the Great Lakes, creating a breathtaking scene when they fly in at dusk to rest and refuel on their journeys. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-cranes
Addressing environmental impacts in the Great Lakes will require investment programs and federal funding. Read the full story by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211103-advocates
Lurking below the surface of Lake Erie is a ship graveyard that is estimated to include up to 2,500 vessels, with the earliest wreck dating to the 1800s when Lake Erie was part of the water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the upper Midwest. Read the full story by the Daily Mail.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-eerie-erie
For just a few weeks in October, the fish technicians at the Platte River Fish Hatchery in Benzie County, Michigan, do egg takes on over 600 coho salmon males and females a day to eventually spawn new coho salmon. Read the full story by WWUP-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-salmon-eggs
The union local in Chicago representing Environmental Protection Agency employees across the Midwest is asking President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency and take major unprecedented actions to slow global warming. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-climate-emergency
Tough questions are being raised in Benton Harbor, a southwest Michigan city in the midst of a Flint-like water crisis caused by high lead levels in the municipal supply. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-benton-harbor
The Superior Watershed Partnership received a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant in the amount of $216,395 from the USDA Forest Service to create the Northern Tribal and Community Green Infrastructure Collaborative in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Read the full story by Radio Results Network.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-planting-trees
A brownout at a pumping station on Detroit’s east side during heavy July rainfall “played a large role” in basement backups reported upstream, a consultant investigation into the summer flooding concluded in a presentation to the Great Lakes Water Authority board this week. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-power-issues
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, announced $1,777,440 in federal funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support five Great Lakes harmful algal bloom research projects. Read the full story by the Port Clinton News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-habs-research
Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer called on state officials Wednesday to drastically reduce the purchase of products containing a toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. Read the full story by the Detroit Metro Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-alternative-chemicals
National declines of hunting license sales and the need for additional wildlife conservation funding have prompted proposals to fill the fiscal gap, including one that’s stalled in Congress despite bipartisan support. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hunting license sales have dropped in many states, including those in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-habitat-funding
More than $2.5 million was awarded to 19 projects that ranged from green infrastructure to helping spread good land management practices to reduce the amount of contaminants and excess nutrients, such as phosphorous, entering the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-ontario-farms
Overall, the percentage of Michigan children with elevated blood lead levels has been falling for more than two decades, from nearly a third of children tested in 2000 to just 2.5 percent of children tested in 2020. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211029-lead-levels
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) recently discovered three 1800′s-era shipwrecks in Lake Superior in the vicinity of Grand Marais, Michigan. A number of additional shipwrecks have also been located and await positive identification. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-shipwrecks
Canada’s plan to store spent nuclear fuel 1,600 feet below ground in the Great Lakes basin, some 30 miles from Lake Huron, is continuing to ruffle feathers throughout the Great Lake states. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-nuclear-waste
With hundreds of ships stacked up off ports along the east and west coasts, ports around the Great Lakes can’t help alleviate the current supply chain crisis. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-shipping
Heavier rainfall and more frequent droughts are now causing extreme swings in the water levels of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, wreaking havoc on the city and prompting urgent action to find a fix. Read the full story by CNBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-chicago
An invasive species, water lettuce, has recently been discovered in Macomb Township, Michigan. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-invasives
According to Joe Cappel, the Vice President of Business Development for the Port of Toledo, for Toledo to consider handling cargo containers there would have to be a multi-million dollar investment to create a specific space at the port and there would also have to be enough interest from shippers and local importers to use the service. Read and view the full story by WGTV-TV Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-ports
An incident in which an unmapped watermain was struck during construction work, resulting in the death of thousands of brown trout at a hatchery in Kincardine, Ontario, is being seen as a hiccup in what has been an otherwise successful stocking program. Read the full story by The Owen Sound Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-hatchery
The Coastal Lakeshore Economy and Resiliency (CLEAR) initiative, funded by the New York State Department of State, is holding its third and final workshop for Lake Ontario residents, property owners, business owners, and all interested parties. Read the full story by Oswego County Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-resiliency
Great Lakes water levels have fallen since record high values last year but under the right weather conditions, shoreline flooding is still a threat. Read the full story by WJRT-TV – Flint, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-flooding
Work will begin soon at South Hennepin Marsh in the Detroit River to reconstruct its protective island shoals, with the goal of enhancing the area’s fish and wildlife habitat. Read the full story by The News Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20211027-restoration
