Author: Toledo Blade Environment
Nibi Chronicles: Manoomin as medicine
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
PFAS Roundup: Vice President Harris supports Michigan-led plan to provide medical care for military victims of PFAS
Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee introduced The Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act in July of 2023. Recently, Vice President Kamala Harris announced her support for the bill as a part of her presidential campaign. If passed, this would make it easier for veterans who were exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) while serving to access medical benefits and disability.
Climate change isn’t a top issue in this election. Some Wisconsin voters say it should be.
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Outside a September rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Ashland business owner and Democrat Will Pipkin set up signs with a cavalcade of slogans, including “Another cat lady for democracy” and “Without a healthy climate, there’s no freedom.”
Pipkin said he’s backing Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz in the presidential race because they’re the most progressive choice, and he thinks they would continue President Joe Biden’s work on green initiatives and climate change.
Great Lakes most unwanted: Top 10 invasive species
Long after the Halloween season has ended, some of the Great Lakes’ most infamous invasive species remain a scary sight: blood-sucking parasites with suction-cup mouths, thousands of rotting fish carcasses washed ashore and sharp mussel shells that puncture the feet of unsuspecting beachgoers.
At least 188 nonnative aquatic species have been introduced to the Great Lakes, and over a third have become invasive, meaning they can have negative health, ecological and socioeconomic impacts when introduced to new ecosystems.
The climate stakes of the Harris-Trump election | Great Lakes Now
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
Helene and Milton, the two massive hurricanes that just swept into the country — killing hundreds of people, and leaving both devastation and rumblings of political upheaval in seven states — amounted to their own October surprise.




