Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/capital-news-service/page/22/)
Capital News Service is a wire service at Michigan State University covering state government - issues and personalities.
Unseasonably warm weather this spring sparked the spread of oak wilt disease in Michigan earlier than expected.
Michigan officials reported that the disease has been found in more than 40 counties already.
Thousands of shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Michigan waters, attracting thousands of visitors to the state. But cultural and economic resources like these wrecks are deteriorating because of human intervention and invasive species.
The demand for fresh, local produce has boosted a statewide uptick in the number of Michigan farmers markets.
And a state grant program aims at ensuring low-income communities don’t miss out.
Environmental experts are urging property owners to get rid of lakefront lawns and stone breakwalls in favor of a new approach to landscaping.
A recent federal study echoes concerns by Michigan health professionals that link the lack of time set aside for physical and health education classes in K-8 schools to increasing childhood obesity.
The Government Accountability Office study of public schools indicates that while sports opportunities for students have generally increased, the frequency of physical education classes has decreased.
Few need help.
Good intentions could spread disease.
Or lead to their death.
By Wei Yu
Capital News Service
LANSING — Two new obesity drugs are awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration, but federal advisers say Qnexaand Lorcaserin should undergo clinical trials to ensure there are no heart-risks. According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, the state has the 10th highest rate of obesity in the U.S. Thirty percent of adults were obese and about one in six children aged 2 to 5 were obese or overweight in 2010. “It is necessary to initiate clinical trials of the new drugs,” said Tom Rifai, medical director of metabolic nutrition and weight management at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, Mich. “Large, placebo-controlled, prospective trials would be ideal for any type of drug like this,” Rifai said.
The Eagle Project mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is facing opposition from the local Native American community which says the mine is being blasted directly into a sacred site.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to allow a controversial chemical to remain in food packaging.
By Jon Gaskell
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan can expect more wildfires this year, officials warn. The state’s Department of Natural Resources is predicting a greater number of forest fires and more acres burned as a result of an unusually warm winter. To make matters worse, long-term shrinking of firefighting resources has reduced the state’s capacity to quell blazes, according to department Director Rodney Stokes. The department’s fire supervisor Scott Heather said Michigan is already seeing blazes much earlier than usual. “Usually for the Lower Peninsula, the season for fires begins around the third week of March,” Heather said.