(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – An unmanned research submarine — painted yellow — was launched in Lake Superior this week. The vessel is on a two-week test drive that scientists hope will prove the feasibility of using a submarine to monitor the lake more cheaply and reliably than is possible with manned boats.

(MI) The Associated Press – A team studying upper Great Lakes levels has postponed a report on whether they have lost excessive amounts of water through an enlarged river channel so the group can have more time for research, officials said Wednesday.

(ON) The Toronto Star – Growing by as much as a foot per day, it reaches up hydro poles and across transmission wires, eventually collapsing them under its weight. It overtakes and suffocates trees and crops, pollutes watersheds and costs the U.S. agriculture industry a reported $500-million per year. And now, the perennial and invasive kudzu vine has made it to Canada.

(MI) Muskegon Chronicle – Muskegon city planners are preparing for what could be an onslaught of interest in installing wind turbines in the city as the technology advances and state regulation improves the economics.

(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – In a move that would sharply weaken the powers of the governor to manage natural resources, the Assembly voted Tuesday to return authority to appoint the secretary of the Department of Natural Resources to a seven-member citizens board.

(IL) Chicago Tribune – They’re metallic green, can fit on a penny and are now a threat to the thousands of ash trees in the Village of La Grange.

(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – The troubled basin of the Mississippi River is set to receive a $320 million boost from the Agriculture Department.

(IL) Chicago Tribune – Jonathan Boyer, a principal at Farr Associates, said that the house’s photovoltaic (PV) panels, in operation since March 25, have produced more than 9,000 kilowatt hours of energy. The expectation for the first 12 months was about 11,500 kiolowatt hours. 

(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Battered by falling prices for recycled commodities, one of the Twin Cities’ best-known recycling firms is asking the cities it serves to renegotiate recycling contracts to help the company survive.

(MI) Kalamazoo Gazette – Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Ottawa, and Van Buren lead the state in total value of agriculture production  — including sales of crops and livestock.