Great Lakes Echo

E-bike surge sparks safety concerns amid policy changes | Great Lakes Echo

4 min read

By Donté Smith The surge in electric bike (e-bike) sales has been nothing short of “obvious,” according to Rick Teranes, the co-owner of Bikes Blades & Boards in Grosse Pointe, Michigan “Sales of e-bikes have multiplied in recent years,” Teranes said, highlighting the significant shift in Metro Detroit’s cycling landscape driven by their growing popularity. […]

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Great Lakes Echo

Small grants boost businesses, neighborhoods, in cities across the state | Great Lakes Echo

5 min read

By Katie Finkbeiner Capital News Service In Iron Mountain, Michigan, Sandstone Terrace rooftop bar shares an alley with First National Bank and Trust. And hanging over the alley: a sky art installation. In the summer of 2023, the installation consisted of a rainbow assortment of umbrellas. In June 2024, the umbrellas were replaced by rotating […]

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Great Lakes Echo

Energy transition requires fight against disinformation, expert says | Great Lakes Echo

3 min read

By Clara Lincolnhol “Be curious, not judgmental.” This quote from the popular comedy-drama “Ted Lasso” is how a professor of energy law recommends we approach conversations about energy policy and politics. “We can be a force that fights against demonization and the nastiness online and instead ask questions to people who introduce an idea that’s […]

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Great Lakes Echo Water

Wisconsin officials ask the public to report algal blooms in Lake Superior | Great Lakes Echo

5 min read

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is banking on public oversight of the largest Great Lake to help gauge the threat of increasingly common algal blooms. Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, can produce toxins that pose a danger to public health, said Kait Reinl, research coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Lake […]

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Great Lakes Echo

A New Paradigm: How climate change is shaping mental landscapes in the Great Lakes | Great Lakes Echo

12 min read

By Mia Litzenberg In a weekly Good Grief Network session held on July 25, time and space were created for participants to reflect on their feelings of uncertainty in an unstable environment over Zoom. Trained facilitators kept time for each participant to speak while the other participants bore witness as listeners. The overarching rule was […]

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Great Lakes Echo

Michigan is part of multi-state effort to track chronic wasting disease | Great Lakes Echo

4 min read

By Elinor Epperson Researchers at Cornell University are studying whether machine learning can help states and tribes predict the spread of a dangerous disease plaguing North American deer. A recent study done in partnership with Michigan State University showed that machine learning could calculate where chronic wasting disease will spread at the county level. That […]

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Great Lakes Echo Water

Illegal dumping nets probation sentence in Ohio fish kill | Great Lakes Echo

2 min read

By Eric Freedman   A federal judge has sentenced an Ohio business owner to one year on probation and a $5,000 fine for illegally dumping a hazardous ammonia-containing substance into the Scioto River near Kenton. The crime killed more than 40,000 fish. U.S. Magistrate Judge Darrell Clay also ordered Mark Shepherd, 72, to perform 150 […]

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Great Lakes Echo Water

Great Lakes beach closings are no protection from harmful pollutants | Great Lakes Echo

8 min read

By Amalia Medina A green flag flying on a Great Lakes beach does not necessarily mean it’s safe to swim. Checking beach monitoring websites like BeachGuard is not a surefire solution either. These two findings are central to a public health research project, the Great Lakes Microbial Water Quality Assessment, that set out to measure […]

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Great Lakes Echo

State expanding e-waste recycling in the Upper Peninsula | Great Lakes Echo

4 min read

By Elinor Epperson Residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have more options for recycling their old electronics. That’s because of Michigan’s Electronic Waste Take-Back Program. The state program has opened nine more permanent drop-off locations for electronic waste since 2021, more than doubling the number of facilities in the U.P. The program makes sure Michigan residents […]

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Great Lakes Echo

Michigan updates data sharing tool on environmental justice | Great Lakes Echo

4 min read

By Elinor Epperson Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has updated an online tool that maps which communities may be most susceptible to adverse effects from pollution. The department first released MiEJScreen as a draft in 2022, but released an updated version in early August after seeking public comment. It says it hopes […]

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