Conservation

Polluter ordered to jail for illegally discharging untreated waste

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POLLUTER JAILED: The president of a Flint company has been ordered to spend a year behind bars for illegally discharging more than 47 million gallons of untreated waste — enough to fill 72 Olympic-size swimming pools. Robert Massey pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act over an 8½ year period between 2007 and 2015 for illegally discharging leachate from eight Michigan landfills, including ones in Clare and Saginaw counties. By Eric Freedman. FOR DETROIT, CLARE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! AND ALL POINTS.

Agriculture
The Spoonville Peninsula and archaeological site along the Grand River in Ottawa County.

Abandoned food caches offer evidence of Native American survival strategies

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CACHES: You have to look hard to spot the Spoonville Peninsula on a map of Southwest Michigan, but it was an important location for native peoples for centuries before European contact — and may contain the largest collection of cache pits ever excavated in the Upper Great Lakes. Researchers from a Williamston archaeological firm and MSU undertook the project near the mouth of the Grand River in Ottawa County, finding important evidence about how these caches were used to store food as a “risk management strategy” to improve their capacity for survival “in the difficult environment of the region,” according to a new study. By Eric Freedman. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, HOLLAND, BAY MILLS, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Commentary

Mourning roadkill

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ROADKILL COMMENTARY: Does the abundance of roadkill detach us from our compassion for the death of animals? The State Police reports about 48,000 vehicle-deer crashes each year in Michigan. Can these vehicle-deer crashes be avoided? Commentary. By Nina Felicidario. FOR ALL POINTS.

Agriculture

Advocates look to labs for replacements for farm-raised meats

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MEAT REPLACEMENT: The food industry may be getting closer to introducing lab-grown, or cultured meat created by feeding nutrients to animal cells taken from poultry or livestock. Advocates see it as a possible solution to the environmental impacts of raising animals for meat. We hear from an MSU food expert and a vegetarian. For news and food sections. By Jonus Cottrell. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Community News
Two Michigan Humane employees care for a dog at one of the organization’s facilities. The organization had more than 5,500 adoptions in 2020.

Pandemic creates challenges, opportunities for animal shelters

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ANIMAL SHELTERS: As the COVID-19 pandemic closed animal shelters to the public, Metro Detroit pet rescue and adoption organizations had to come up with new ways to connect their dogs and cats to families. How did they do it? We get answers from Michigan Humane based in Bingham Farms, Leuk’s Landing near Ann Arbor and Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center in Pontiac. By Danneisha McDole. FOR DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy

Stay-at-home Michigan residents used 5% less juice in 2020

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ELECTRICITY USE: Meetings at home, virtual classes, computers running, lights on, heat or air conditioning cranked up, it may feel like 2020 was the year of using more energy. But Michigan’s total energy consumption dropped 5% compared to 2019, 1% more than the national average decline, the Energy Information Administration reports. Because people stayed home during the pandemic, residential energy consumption increased 7%, but industrial consumption dropped 16% and commercial dropped 6%. The Public Service Commission chair and Consumers Energy discuss. By Taylor Haelterman. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! AND ALL POINTS.

Community News

Scientist describes first documented meteotsunami in the Great Lakes.

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GREAT LAKES METEOTSUNAMI: Large waves from Lake Michigan struck Ludington on April 13, 2018, in the first documented case of a meteotsunami in the Great Lakes. That event provides an opportunity for scientists to better understand and forecast such events. Will meteotsunamis become more frequent in the summer due to climate change and to assess their danger to the ecosystem by increasing erosion and releasing contaminants from sediments? An expert at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor explains. By Brandon Chew. FOR LUDINGTON, OCEANA, BENZIE, HOLLAND, ALCONA, TRAVERSE CITY, HARBOR SPRINGS, LEELANAU, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, ST. IGNACE, SAULT STE. MARIE, MONROE, MARQUETTE AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Michigan offers funds for alternative energy vehicles

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CLEAN VEHICLES: Michigan is spending $30 million to help public agencies and private businesses buy low-emission freight trucks, buses, tugboats and cargo handling equipment. Beneficiaries of the program can choose electric, alternative fuel or new diesel models. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Clean Fuels Michigan based in Lansing and Mass Transportation Authority of Flint and Genesee County and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority.explain. By Kyle Davidson. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, DETROIT, CORP! AND ALL POINTS.

News

Overdose surveillance system helps fight opiod deaths, experts say.

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OPIOIDS: A 2-year-old surveillance system is tracking opioid overdose incidents and deaths in Michigan so health professionals can work to mitigate the problem in high-risk areas. The hardest-hit counties are Calhoun, Wayne, Ingham, Genesee and Muskegon. We hear from U-M and Health & Human Services experts and the Detroit Recovery Project. By Brandon Chew. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.