(MI) Detroit Free Press - Two men have been given jail time and fined for using illegal gill nets to catch fish on Lake Michigan’s Big Bay de Noc.

Jan. 6, 2010
More of our favorite reader comments from 2009
Story: Top Great Lakes trips
Comment: Depends on what you mean by ‘adventure.’ To some that may mean a cold six pack of beer and a lawn chair on Lake Michigan’s beach at sundown in August. To each his own…
Story: For Great Lakes mudpuppies in decline, new Canadian research is a bright spot
Comment: From one mudpuppy to another, thanks for this story.
Story: Find your Great Lakes match
Comment: Lake Huron, I agree pretty much with my results. Growing up a twin I was …

(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune - Can a lake-loving state with snow-cursed highways go on a low-salt diet? Joe Wiita in Prior Lake thinks so, and he’d like your city to mix up a batch of his anti-icing cocktail and try it on a street near you.

(MI) The Detroit News - Michigan could gain a significant economic boost and thousands of new jobs by reducing emissions of gases that cause climate change, according to an analysis released Monday.

(MN) The Minnesota Independent - Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson has added Minnesota’s support to a lawsuit by the state of Michigan against the state of Illinois to force the closure of a canal connecting the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan.

(MI) Holland Sentinel – It’s been almost five years since Robert McDonald, a retired engineer, set out to develop a cheap, effective water filtration and disinfection system. The technology had to be simple, require no power, have no moving parts and be made with available local materials by local people all over the world.

Jan. 5, 2010
A sampling of comments Echo staff enjoyed in 2009:
Story: New Great Lakes quiz
Comment: “My ex is definitely an Asian carp. He’s huge, gross-looking, and he frequently pops up when I least expect him to. I wish there was an electric fence to keep him away from Michigan.”
Story: The bed bugs bit but they won’t spread disease, report says
Comment: “They ARE awful, Thanks to my mother-in-law giving us an infested bedframe, now our whole house is infested. We’ve tried most of the cheaper remedies to no avail, they come …

(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - There are a lot of fish tales going around. Here is a true one that is about more than just the recently famous Asian carp. Once upon a time, many years ago, Chicago was a cesspool.

(OH) Toledo Blade – State environmental regulators are to convene in downtown Toledo on Jan. 14 to hear the public weigh in on the federal government’s latest plan to dredge the Toledo shipping channel this summer.

Jan. 4. 2010
A great thing about journalistic efforts like Echo is that readers contribute to the reports. They aren’t shy about pointing out omissions. They provide valuable context and new story ideas. They are quick to cry foul if they think something isn’t right. Collectively they know more about the Great Lakes environment than any single journalist possibly could.
And they can be funny.
Perhaps our favorite reader comment of 2009 is on a column by Andy McGlashen debating the ethics of hunting. Can a kind man kill? was inspired in part …