Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet is a new book by Geo Rutherford. Below is an adapted excerpt from her New York Times best seller, all about Lake Superior. Follow Geo on TikTok or Instagram for more content on spooky lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/spooky-lake-superior-the-ss-kamloops/
By Max Howard
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
A northern Michigan hunter named Mitch Rompola is sitting in a tree stand waiting.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/points-north-the-biggest-buck-that-maybe-never-was/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/10/michigan-a-top-winner-of-climate-funds-trump-wants-to-revoke/
By Nina Misuraca Ignaczak, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Federal aid is coming to Michigan’s sweet cherry farmers, who lost much of their crops this year due to erratic weather patterns and subsequent pest infestations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/federal-aid-to-rescue-michigan-cherry-farmers-after-devastating-crop-loss/
Retirement is in sight for one of the country’s largest coal plants. Ohio’s James M. Gavin plant, the third most gargantuan in the Midwest and sixth nationwide, will likely be closed or converted to run on gas by 2031, Inside Climate News reported. The two coal plants in the region with more generating capacity — the Gibson plant in Indiana and the Monroe plant in Michigan — are set to retire in 2038 and 2032, respectively, after electric utility Duke Energy proposed a couple of weeks ago to delay the Gibson plant’s closure or conversion by three years from its previous target of 2035.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/energy-news-roundup-retirement-is-in-sight-for-another-huge-coal-plant/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Hurricane Milton made landfall last week in Florida, even as communities across the southeast are still reeling from Hurricane Helene.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/how-northern-michiganders-can-help-people-affected-by-hurricanes/
The 2024 presidential election campaign is in the homestretch and results in the Great Lakes states of Michigan and Wisconsin could determine the winner. Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump covet the electors in both states and polling indicates they could go either way.
Great Lakes Now selected three key topics — Great Lakes restoration, Line 5 and groundwater — and asked veteran policy experts Rob Sisson and Lana Pollack for their views on how a Harris or Trump presidency may deal with them.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/what-a-trump-vs-harris-presidency-might-mean-for-the-great-lakes/
By Phil McKenna, Inside Climate News
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.
LUDINGTON, Mich.— Boarding the S.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/lake-michigan-coal-ferry-transition-to-clean-energy/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/10/a-decade-after-flint-feds-require-nationwide-lead-pipe-removal/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
From a distance, I caught a glimpse of a relatively small elongated furry animal moving along the shoreline of the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/great-lakes-moment-mink-thriving-along-the-detroit-river/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/10/michigans-new-rules-to-protect-water-from-manure-attacked-by-lawmakers/
By Daniel Wanschura
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Kathleen Knight was doing some research in a forest in Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-the-last-to-leave/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Environmental advocates have long focused on how coal harms the climate and environment.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/traverse-city-lawyer-national-recognition-for-making-an-economic-arguments-against-coal/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/09/retirements-by-water-and-wastewater-plant-operators-are-leading-to-workforce-shortages/
There’s a whole lot of energy stuff happening in Michigan.
The push to restart the Palisades nuclear reactor in the southwestern part of the state is gaining steam. So is the opposition. The plant, which shuttered in 2022 amid competition from cheaper energy sources, is now set to receive more than $2.4 billion in public subsidies.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/energy-news-roundup-michigan-michigan-michigan/
By Erica Hobbs, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Wetlands don’t often come to mind when thinking about major metropolitan cities like Detroit. Bogs, marshes, vernal pools, and swamps contrast starkly with the city’s skyscrapers, roads, and industrial plants, and up to 90 percent of the area’s wetlands along the Detroit River have been lost since European settlement.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/who-working-to-preserve-and-restore-wetlands-in-metro-detroit/
By Morgan Springer
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Growing up, Nic Theisen thought farming was a terrible way to make a living.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-labor-mixed-emotions/
By Izzy Ross, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan.
Last year, Michigan became one of the latest states to adopt a clean energy standard, passing sweeping legislation that calls for utilities there to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2040 and sets targets for renewable energy development, among other requirements.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/michigans-ambitious-clean-energy-laws-face-peninsula-sized-hurdle/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/09/palisades-nuclear-relaunch-gets-more-subsidies-in-michigan-more-backlash/
By Brian Allnutt, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Michigan environmental advocates are hailing a “groundbreaking” settlement to a civil rights complaint filed with state regulators over the expansion of a hazardous waste facility in Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/michigan-advocates-hail-groundbreaking-settlement-to-civil-rights-complaint-over-hazardous-waste-facility/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
The Great Lakes Way is an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan (at the head of the St.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/great-lakes-moment-ten-natural-wonders-of-the-great-lakes-way/
By Ellie Katz, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Peter Quakenbush’s big dream in life is a little different.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-a-natural-ending/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Michigan’s new climate laws require utilities to transition to entirely “clean” electricity sources by 2040.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/michigan-aims-to-tackle-clean-energy-goals-in-upper-peninsula/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/08/cleaning-up-pollution-and-removing-crumbling-dams-help-to-restore-michigan-rivers/
For Traverse City’s Bob Otwell, part of Michigan’s allure is its abundance of special places, and primary among them is the Upper Peninsula’s “wild and isolated” Two Hearted River watershed.
That’s where Otwell and family have had a cabin called “Boggy’s Camp” for over 30 years.
In a newly released book, The Real Two Hearted: Life, Love, and Lore Along Michigan’s Most Iconic River, Otwell chronicles his decades of paddling, hiking and mountain-biking along the Two Hearted and meshes those activities with raising a family along the way.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/storied-two-hearted-river-21st-century-update-in-new-book/
By Elinor Epperson, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/08/michigan-joins-federal-program-that-collects-native-flora-and-champions-restoration/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
LAKE CITY, MI – Two facts about Michigan agriculture are scarcely recognized outside the fences and beyond the drainage ditches of the state’s 45,000 farms. The first: farming is among the most technologically sophisticated industrial sectors in Michigan and every other state.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/cattle-production-that-enhances-water-and-environmental-quality/
By Gabrielle Nelson, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal 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/2024/08/michigans-electric-energy-future-could-be-wasting-away-in-a-junk-drawer/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
Manoomin (mah-NOO-mehn) or wild rice was once very common in coastal marshes along the Detroit River and has always been sacred to First Nations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/operation-manoomin-restoring-wild-rice-along-the-detroit-river/
By Kelly House, Morgan Springer and Daniel Wanschura
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Two guys in Michigan are hunting coyotes in the middle of winter.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/points-north-shooting-a-unicorn/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Public, 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/2024/08/on-lake-michigan-a-coal-fired-steamship-and-ferry-eyes-a-clean-energy-future/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Magnolia Montgomery, age 12, peered into a rectangular enclosure covered with white mesh.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/raising-monarch-butterflies-in-interlochen/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/ojibwemodaa-lets-speak-ojibwe/
By Brian Allnutt, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
After a relatively subdued spring and early summer, Canadian wildfires are once again spreading and burning millions of acres, forcing the evacuation of 9,000 residents in Labrador and Newfoundland and threatening operations in the oil-producing hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/canadian-wildfires-are-heating-up-bringing-smoke-to-michigan/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
Although temperatures vary day-to-day, this summer is shaping up to be a hot one in Michigan. Doctors are warning parents to learn how to protect their kids, and how to talk to them about climate change.
It used to be that parents had to talk to their kids about things like ‘stranger danger,’ or ‘don’t take candy from a stranger,’ and ‘be sure to put on sunscreen.’ With climate change, parents are finding they have a lot more to teach their children.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/heat-pollution-and-climate-change-anxiety-are-affecting-children/
For Detroit’s Sen. Stephanie Chang, the long and winding road to statewide drinking water affordability legislation continues with the finish line, hopefully, in sight.
Chang, a Democrat representing Michigan’s 3rd district, first focused on the affordability issue as a newly minted representative in 2015. At the time, she heard stories about the effects of water shutoffs and related health issues.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/detroit-legislator-takes-the-long-view-on-michigans-water-affordability-struggles/
By Daniel Wanschura, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Growing up in rural Brazil, Kiko Silvelet says bikes had a very specific purpose: transportation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/points-north-pedaling-to-the-beat-of-his-own-drum/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Great Lakes Echo
A Detroit-built sailing ship that sank in Lake Michigan during an 1864 storm has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The three-masted Mojave, only 1 year old at the time, went down in heavy weather while northbound on the route from Chicago to Buffalo with a load of grain.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/ship-doomed-on-lake-michigan-now-moored-on-national-register-of-historic-places/
Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.
This month, we spoke with Regina Strong, Environmental Justice Public Advocate at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
For anyone in Michigan, there are two important timely things to note from the interview:
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/waves-of-change-meet-regina-strong/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
A project off the shore of Beaver Island could harness the power of Lake Michigan’s waves to generate renewable energy.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/beaver-island-takes-early-steps-to-test-wave-energy-in-its-waters/
This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.
By Nina Ignaczak, Planet Detroit
Summer is here. Planet Detroit, in partnership with Great Lakes Now, hosted a compelling panel featuring experts from the National Weather Service, Eastside Community Network, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, and the Dearborn Department of Health.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/surviving-a-metro-detroit-summer-in-the-climate-change-era/
By Daniel Wanschura, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Conservation warden Dave Zeug is on edge.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/points-north-to-catch-an-arsonist/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Laurie Stanek shovels hay in front of a group of young, black and white Holstein cows.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/none-of-us-saw-this-coming-michigan-confronts-bird-flu-in-cows/
By Anna Clark, photography by Sarahbeth Maney
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
When Gretchen Whitmer campaigned for Michigan governor in 2018, she took aim at Michigan’s bottled water industry — and the state policy that gave it unfettered access to free water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/michigan-bottlers-still-get-free-water-despite-governors-tough-talk/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan and Lester Graham, Michigan Public
Bill Gurn isn’t sure how he got the mosquito bite that nearly killed him in the autumn of 2019.
He’s an avid fisherman. Maybe on the water? Or it could have happened while he was tinkering in his garage or yard.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/in-warming-great-lakes-region-water-heat-can-be-an-unhealthy-combination/
Hayward, Wisconsin got its first snow of the season on Halloween. But then Thanksgiving came, and Christmas, with no more white flakes. The new year started equally warm and snowless, and the organizers of the iconic American Birkebeiner ski race began to really worry. The February 24, 2024 race would be the 50th anniversary of the country’s most famous (and largest) cross-country ski event, and it would also be a World Cup competition, drawing top competitors from around the globe.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/disappointed-dogs-sad-skiers-frustrated-fishermen/
By Zach Lassen
This article was republished here with permission from Planet Detroit.
This story is from Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab, where community reporters write about health and climate issues in their neighborhood. Neighborhood Reporting Lab is supported by the Americana and Kresge Foundations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/meet-the-man-who-has-been-cleaning-the-rouge-river-for-35-years/
Jerry Dennis wasn’t seeking adventure when as a novice sailor he joined a veteran captain and crew to sail from Traverse City to the Atlantic Ocean. He was looking for a deeper understanding of the Great Lakes, but adventure found him.
Similarly, he wasn’t seeking notoriety when he wrote The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, which was based on the sailing adventure.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/michigan-author-reflects-on-20th-anniversary-of-landmark-book-the-living-great-lakes/
By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Walking around Traverse City, it’s hard to miss the yard signs with a smiling cartoon bee proclaiming “No Mow May.”
The signs are part of a conservation initiative aimed at raising awareness of how lawn care can impact pollinators and plant life.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/no-mow-may-grows-in-traverse-city/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Lake whitefish is an important commercial fishery in Lake Erie and is culturally and economically important to local First Nations.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/great-lakes-moment-detroit-rivers-important-role-in-lake-whitefish/
