Echo
Michigan looks to expand potato production
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Michigan has always been a good place to grow potatoes, and the traditional crop is expanding.The latest target may be the Northeastern Lower Peninsula, where suitable soil is available.
Echo
Copper thieves hit farm irrigation systems
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As the price of copper rises, thieves turn to farm irrigation systems. Irrigation systems have appealed to thieves for some time, authorities say. They’re often unprotected, in remote areas surrounded by few houses.
Echo
A pay-to-drive tax may be far down the road in Michigan
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As vehicles become more efficient, gas tax rates have remained the same and no longer provide enough money to pay for building and upkeeping roads and bridges. Tracking how much a vehicle drives may be an answer — but only way down the road.
Wildlife
Proposal advances to let public pet bear cubs
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Oswald Bear Ranch in Newberry has allowed the public to interact with bear cubs for 15 years, but Michigan law and animal rights activists would end the practice unless a bill passes to make the activity legal.
Echo
Federal report proposes pipeline safety steps
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office is proposing measures to prevent future oil pipeline spills. They include automated valves, spill modeling software, locating response personnel closer to pipelines and collecting better data on response times.
Echo
Fourth-graders push to make tart cherry Michigan’s state fruit
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If fourth-graders in Canton, Mich. get their way, the tart cherry will become Michigan’s state fruit. Students from Gallimore Elementary School write persuasive essays to legislators and the governor every year, asking them to make it happen.
Land
Pot woes well hidden in Michigan forests
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Drug traffickers have been conducting business deep within the lush canopy of Michigan’s forests since at least 2008. After five years of eradication efforts, police say the problem shows no signs of going away.
Land
Book explores Detroit’s unreal estate
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What do you do with urban territory that has fallen out of the literal economy?
A University of Michigan architecture professor suggests community gardens flourishing in empty lots, artists using fire-damaged buildings as palettes and neighborhood fairs in alleys.
Echo
Hunting, fishing boost Michigan economy
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Despite drought conditions, low water levels and a rash of disease in the white-tailed deer population, fishing and hunting remained a boon to the Michigan economy in 2012.
Echo
Michigan program to resolve water disputes revived
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Budget constraints and a belief that existing legal solutions to the disputes are sufficient nixed an aquifer protection program, but critics of the decision say the program worked well and is needed.