Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/eric-freedman/)
Getting to work every day can be a pain, but the amount of pain varies depending on where you live and how you get to your job. Traveling by public transportation such as buses often takes twice as long – or more – as driving alone.
Scientists have found a new species of non-native wild bee in Illinois and Minnesota.
Crayfish have personalities—and they can shape how well the critters can escape from their predators, such as largemouth bass.
Four lawmakers want the Michigan House of Representatives to adopt a resolution urging the National Park Service “to establish a moose tag lottery hunt” to help control the island’s growing moose population.
“The Heart of the Lakes” is a new book positioning Southeast Michigan, with its historic water connections and resurgent Detroit waterfront, as the premier freshwater destination.
By Eric Freedman
An old philosophical question asks, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” But a more practical question today might be: “If your neighbor’s tree falls on your roof, who is responsible for the damage?”
A new House bill tries to answer that question. It would make the owner of the property where the tree was growing responsible for any damage “caused by any part of the tree falling on the adjacent property, regardless of whether the tree falling was an act of God,” such as heavy winds or lightning. “Currently, if a neighbor’s tree falls in your yard and smashes your fence, you as an innocent homeowner are liable, and this isn’t right,” said Rep. Ryan Berman, R-Commerce Township, the lead sponsor of the proposal. That may mean the innocent neighbor’s homeowner’s insurance policy may cover the damage, but a claim could lead to higher insurance premiums, he said.
A recent study looked at the intestinal contents of two mastodons preserved in lake sediments in Michigan and Ohio.
The species “is undergoing a dramatic expansion of its breeding range in North America,” the study published in the journal Ontario Birds said.
The National Parks Conservation Association examined air pollution at 417 National Park Service properties and concluded that 96 percent of them “are plagued by significant air pollution problems.”
The prehistoric Hopewell civilization of southern Ohio traveled as far as 750 miles to get copper. That was 2,000 years ago.