By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Maia McDonald and Katrina Pham, Borderless

This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, Borderless, Ensia, Planet Detroit, Sahan Journal, and Wisconsin Watch, as well as the Guardian and Inside Climate News. The project was supported by the Joyce Foundation. 

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Siri Chilukuri, Grist

This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, Borderless, Ensia, Planet Detroit, Sahan Journal, and Wisconsin Watch, as well as the Guardian and Inside Climate News. The project was supported by the Joyce Foundation. 

Jera Slaughter looks at her backyard with pride, pointing out every feature and explaining how it came to be.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Kari Lydersen, Ensia 

This piece is part of a collaboration that includes the Institute for Nonprofit News, Borderless, Ensia, Planet Detroit, Sahan Journal, and Wisconsin Watch, as well as the Guardian and Inside Climate News. The project was supported by the Joyce Foundation. 

This summer’s Independence Day weekend was meant to be a historic moment for Chicago, featuring the first-ever NASCAR street race with cars speeding through the city’s downtown.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

August 8, 2023

Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

The first efforts to stop the advance of invasive carp to the Great Lakes began in the early 2000s when electrical barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System leading to Lake Michigan were thought to be a deterrent.

The fear was that if the voracious carp entered the lake, they could expand their range, wipe out the food supply and eventually devastate the multi-billion dollar Great Lakes fishery.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.

Click on the headline to read the full story:

Illinois

Chicago’s Blacks in Green gets a major boost from a $10 million EPA grant — Energy News Network

Chicago’s Blacks in Green receives a five-year, $10 million U.S.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Keep up with energy-related developments in the Great Lakes area with Great Lakes Now’s biweekly headline roundup.

Click on the headline to read the full story:

Illinois

• When it comes to smog, Cook County is the worst neighbor in the country, EPA finds — Chicago Tribune

Cook County, Illinois, contributes more to smog pollution violations in other states than anywhere else in the country, according to federal data.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Tom Krishner, AP Auto Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — The No. 66 bus is packed on a recent weekday afternoon as it starts and stops its way from Chicago’s near west side to Navy Pier along the Lake Michigan shore.

The seats and windows squeak and rattle just like a regular diesel bus, but no one seems to notice the high-pitched whine of the electric motor that makes it go.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.