How can a state that can’t patch potholes make roads smart enough for self-driving cars? Experts and the state’s transportation director discuss what it will take to prepare infrastructure for a human-driverless future.
Land
Michigan driver education may add bicycle safety lesson
|
At a time when bicycle-vehicle crashes are on the rise, a bill working its way through the Michigan Legislature would require driver ed programs to provide training about bicycle safety.
Capital News Service
More money sought to clean up brownfields
|
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder wants higher dumping fees to raise money to clean up abandoned contaminated industrial sites known as brownfields.
Land
Farmers confront too much milk, low prices
|
Dairy farmers who produce Michigan’s top agricultural commodity — milk — are still being slammed by low prices and overproduction.
Land
After GMO resistance, gene-editing technology is the next new thing
|
The director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development bemoans a lack of science in public decision making, including what she calls unwarranted opposition to genetically modified foods, a consumer push for cage-free eggs and skepticism about new ag technologies.
Agriculture
Wineries rise in Michigan but more grapes needed
|
Michigan’s wine industry continues to grow with number of approved wineries rising from 55 to 138 in the past 10 years, including new ones in Charlevoix, Onsted, Hastings, Baroda and Metro Detroit. An inadequate supply of Michigan-grown grapes, rather than possible oversaturation of the market, might be the major concern for the industry.
Green Gavel
Realtor fined for hiding lead paint information
|
A family bought a house in April 2014. In September 2015, their child was diagnosed with lead poisoning.
dunes
Dune fans include stormwatchers, ecologists, campers, economists
|
Survey is part of attempt to build a dune support community.
Capital News Service
New ways with wood open up building opportunities
|
Steel and concrete would be the classic choices for building a large new laboratory planned at Michigan State University. But experts in the university’s forestry department are asking, “Why not wood?”
Art
Woods, whiskey, women and widow-makers caught in lumberjack songs
|
New edition of 1926 book throws light on lumberjack life, loves and losses collected by an English professor while mostly hiking from Charlevoix, Michigan, to North Dakota.
Capital News Service
Shoulder test near Ann Arbor could come to a highway near you
|
An experiment allowing Michigan drivers for the first time to legally drive on a highway shoulder could lead to similar efforts across the state.