Recreation

How many U.S. Olympians are from within the Great Lakes basin?

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How many U.S. Olympic athletes are from the Great Lakes watershed? Well, that probably depends on the map you’re looking at. We know that the eight Great Lakes states are home to 82 of the United States’ 230 Winter Olympic athletes. But accounting for each that also lives within the Great Lakes watershed is open for interpretation. The watershed, also called a basin, is all the land that drains into the Great Lakes.

Energy

Sound of wind turbines could pose health risk

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In an effort to increase the U.S.’s renewable energy portfolio, the wind industry has grown tremendously. Michigan is now home to just under 700 turbines, but not everyone is happy about the growing wind farm industry.

Land

Wisconsin mine proposal stirs local, state politics

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By Alan LeagueGreat Lakes Echo           A proposed open-pit iron mine in the Penokee Range in northern Wisconsin has sparked debate over the state’s mining law. Gogebic Taconite, a mining company based in Hurley, Wis., first proposed the mine in 2011. As the application process continues, debate over whether the mine should open increases. Supporters hope the mine will bring jobs to the state; critics fear the mine’s potential impact on the environment. “We took a strong stand in opposition to the mine in 2011 almost as soon as we heard about it,” said Dave Blouin, chair of the political committee of the John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club based in Madison.

Water

Mr. Great Lakes: Saginaw Bay reefs, a wetland-surveying helicopter and the solar industry

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Mr. Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) reports from Bay City, Michigan’s Delta College Q-90.1 FM. Love Feb 14 2014 – Mr Great Lakes (Jeff Kart) – Delta College Q-90.1 FM by jeffkart

This week, Kart discusses the restoration of two historic rock reefs in the Saginaw Bay, an expansion in the Midwest’s solar energy industry and a small helicopter to help survey wetlands. Text at Mr. Great Lakes

Echo

Convicted sewage dumper loses another court challenge

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By Eric FreedmanGreat Lakes EchoA federal judge in Detroit has rejected a challenge to a former landlord’s conviction for illegally dumping an estimated 107,000 gallons of raw sewage into Southeast Michigan’s Huron River. U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland rebuffed an effort by David Kircher to overturn his 2006 conviction for violating Michigan’s Natural Resources and Protection Act in a way that “substantially endangers” the public. He was sentenced to five years in state prison and fined $1 million. Earlier, the state Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence. The case arose from an October 2004 incident when sewage backed up at the Eastern Highlands apartment complex that Kircher then owned in Ypsilanti Township near Ann Arbor.

Land

Michigan proposes local control of backyard livestock

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An important debate over urban farming in Michigan continues today in Lansing. Officials from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and others will discuss proposed rule changes governing farm animals in developed, residential areas.

Wildlife

Orphaned Alaskan moose finds new home at Michigan Zoo

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A baby moose has moved into Lansing’s Potter Park Zoo. Willow the moose was orphaned in Alaska when her mother died after being hit by a car. When that sort of thing happens, wildlife officials in Alaska arrange to send the orphaned animal to a zoo. Lansing has been hoping to get a baby moose for about a year, and when the call came in, the zoo was ready to act.