GREAT LAKES

NEW ORLEANS — (AP) — A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016. The restoration at Chenier Ronquille, a barrier island east of Grand Isle, was paid for by money from the 2010 BP oil spill. Great Lakes, which was headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, in 2016 but has since moved to Houston, pleaded guilty in June 2021. Prosecutors said Great Lakes agreed to pay nearly $3.2 million and Tassin’s employer agreed to pay it nearly $1.7 million. Great Lakes deposited $2 million for possible restitution when it pleaded guilty, and will get the rest back, according to court documents.

A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through a pipeline during Louisiana barrier island restoration work in 2016.

Illinois officials hope a new name for Asian carp, a prolific invasive species, will gut the fish’s numbers and reduce the threat it poses to the Great Lakes.

The National Weather Service maintained an excessive heat warning through Wednesday evening for most of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, which have been dealing with the sticky humidity and soaring temperatures since Tuesday. And the heat advisory in place for the Midwest and South stretched all the way eastward to the South Carolina shoreline. “There are a lot of vulnerable populations exposed to this heat,” University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd said. In the heat, the sealant stiffens faster than in cooler weather, he said, so the glue becomes less malleable. “With this heat, just like that, it’s done,” Thrasher said, setting a small tile on an open space in the wall.

We got an inside look at the United States Navy's 10-week basic training program. Chief video correspondent Graham Flanagan spent five days inside Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, where he observed different companies at various stages of training at the facility located about 35 miles north of Chicago. Recruits must pass a physical assessment and a swim qualification before they train in seamanship, firefighting, and weapons training. They're also exposed to tear gas inside a confidence chamber where they learn to correctly wear gas masks. Training culminates with “Battle Stations” an all-night event that takes place on a mock Navy destroyer ship designed by companies who have created theme park attractions for Walt Disney World. After completing the event, recruits officially become sailors when they receive their US Navy ball caps.

The sudden reemergence of a once-feared rebel group has raised fears of another wide-reaching conflict in the volatile Great Lakes region.

His remains will be provided to the Field Museum’s avian department to be available for future studies that contribute to the recovery of the Great Lakes piping plovers.

Monty died earlier this month at Montrose Beach while waiting on Rose, who never returned. Imani, one of last summer’s chicks, was seen in the sand not far from where his father took his last breaths.

People gather to remember Monty, a Great Lakes piping plover, at Montrose Beach on May 25, 2022, in Chicago. The endangered bird died on May 13.

The Great Lakes are the world’s largest collective bodies of fresh water, and feature many picturesque nature spots, so it always has seemed like a natural area for cruise ships to venture.

Fanatics, which has an estimated valuation of $27 billion, wants to transform into a $100 billion company that offers online sports gambling.

It’s a good bet there aren’t many bathtubs — if any at all — that could fit this rubber duck.

Severe weather brought a tornado and hail as large as softballs to Arkansas.

A storm system moving through the central U.S. on April 12 will bring a high risk of wildfires along with its potential for destructive weather.

The NFL, other major sports leagues, players unions and team owners are leading the latest round of investment in Fanatics

A study by a team of scientists at Florida International University shows how the fearsome predators hunt together.

They were members of more than a dozen crews from U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies who ventured onto the frozen Great Lakes to gather samples and data. The group as a whole did very well,” said Don Uzarski, director of Central Michigan University's Institute for Great Lakes Research, who oversaw the sampling work by Wheelock and Sand. Their fortunes have risen and fallen over the past half-century amid efforts to help the Great Lakes recover from industrial pollution, habitat loss, nutrient overloading and exotic species infestations. For the recent excursion onto the icy bay, Wheelock and Sand affixed cleats to their boots and lugged a sled and wheeled cart loaded with tools and supplies. The Winter Grab was organized with a sense of urgency: Great Lakes ice cover has been shrinking since the 1970s.

Scientists have fanned out across the Great Lakes' frozen surfaces to learn what happens underwater during winter.

Bridget Wheelock knelt onto the frozen surface of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, reached a gloved hand into the frigid water below and pulled out a large chunk of ice. “Oh, yeah,” said her colleague, Matt Sand, leaning in for a look before holding open a collection bag as Wheelock slid the fragment inside.

Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Lake Michigan shoreline in Ottawa County, Mich., is shown on Feb. 1, 2022. “My greenhouse sits 12 miles from Lake Michigan, one of the greatest sources of fresh water in the world,” the Ottawa County grower said. Some futurists depict Michigan and the Great Lakes as "climate havens" that will lure people and businesses weary of worsening drought, wildfire, hurricanes and other disasters. “This resource is vast but it's finite and the public isn't aware of that," said David Lusch, a geography professor emeritus with Michigan State University. The Grand River, longest statewide, winds toward Lake Michigan past blueberry farms and cornfields mingled with newer subdivisions.

Lake Michigan shoreline in Ottawa County, Mich., is shown on Feb. 1, 2022. “My greenhouse sits 12 miles from Lake Michigan, one of the greatest sources of fresh water in the world,” the Ottawa County grower said. Some futurists depict Michigan and the Great Lakes as "climate havens" that will lure people and businesses weary of worsening drought, wildfire, hurricanes and other disasters. “This resource is vast but it's finite and the public isn't aware of that," said David Lusch, a geography professor emeritus with Michigan State University. The Grand River, second-longest statewide, winds toward Lake Michigan past blueberry farms and cornfields mingled with newer subdivisions.

Michigan would seem the last place to worry about water shortages.

The weather whiplash marked the second time in less than a week that there was a temperature swing of more than 40 degrees in 24 hours.

DALLAS — (AP) — Freezing rain and drizzle is disrupting travel from Central Texas to the Great Lakes, with ice-glazed roads leading to hundreds of traffic accidents. Hundreds of flights were canceled Wednesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas braced for an ice storm. More than half an inch of ice could accumulate in parts of the Ozarks through Friday morning, while another area of freezing rain was expected to hit south-central Pennsylvania and western Maryland, the National Weather Service said. In Arkansas, dozens of schools were closed or switched to remote learning Thursday as another round of freezing rain was expected by midday. About half of them were at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, where temperatures were expected to top out above freezing only briefly late Thursday afternoon.

Freezing rain and drizzle is disrupting travel from Central Texas to the Great Lakes, with ice-glazed roads leading to hundreds of traffic accidents.

President Joe Biden has signed a bill granting a three-week extension of government funding and allowing Congress more time to reach an overdue deal financing federal agencies through the rest of the fiscal year.

Heavy snow from the Rockies will expand northeastward to the central Plains Wednesday night, then to the Great Lakes region Thursday.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — (AP) — What's happening in the Great Lakes during those long, frigid months when they're often covered partially or completely with ice? “We've been ignoring winter on the Great Lakes for so long,” said Ted Ozersky, a lake biologist with the University of Minnesota Duluth, who announced the “Winter Grab” expedition Thursday. Great Lakes ice cover has declined steadily since the 1970s and some projections indicate it could become scarce later this century. The University of Michigan's Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research, a partnership with the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, is funding this month's excursion. He helped establish a research collaboration called the Great Lakes Winter Network.

Winter is changing across the Great Lakes region, and scientists want to know what that will mean.

What's happening in the Great Lakes during those long, frigid months when they're often covered partially or completely with ice? “We've been ignoring winter on the Great Lakes for so long,” said Ted Ozersky, a lake biologist with the University of Minnesota Duluth, who announced the “Winter Grab” expedition Thursday. Crews from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies will make their way onto frozen sections of lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior during the week of Feb. 14.

A project that will boost Great Lakes shipping in a crucial bottleneck and another intended to protect the lakes from invasive carp will get big funding increases under the Biden administration's infrastructure package, officials said Thursday. Marie, Michigan, expanding a complex that enables vessels to haul bulk cargo between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes. The projects have been top priorities for members of Congress from the eight states that border the Great Lakes. The infrastructure measure, which also includes $1 billion to improve water quality, makes “the single largest investment ever in the Great Lakes,” Sens. Scientists say an invasion of the Great Lakes would threaten its $7 billion fishing industry.

The Biden administration's new infrastructure package will pump more funding into two high-profile Great Lakes projects.

A project that will boost Great Lakes shipping in a crucial bottleneck and another intended to protect the lakes from invasive carp will get big funding increases under the Biden administration's infrastructure package, officials said Thursday. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it would pump $479 million into construction of a new navigational lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, expanding a complex that enables vessels to haul bulk cargo between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.

A winter storm has brought about 9 inches of snow to the Southeast and is now heading to north. Powerful winds and heavy rain is expected. Vanessa Murdock has the forecast.

The lake's fish contain what are known as "forever chemicals." Will the government’s recent steps to regulate this type of chemicals be enough?

The Shedd Aquarium's Centennial Commitment will fund the renovation of galleries, educational programs and new approaches to combat climate change.

It looks like Central Florida is going to have some of the best weather in the country when it comes to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. That is, unless you like it feeling festive.

Snow showers dusted a variety of locations across the Northeast on Nov. 23.

Experts say water in the Great Lakes is warmer than average and less ice cover is expected this winter, but lake-effect snow trends are difficult to predict.

Roads in Bangalore, India, were buried under several feet of water on Nov. 22 after several days of torrential rain soaked the city. Dozens of people in the region have reportedly died or are missing as a result of flooding.

In the wake of a potent cold front that will track through the Northeast early Thanksgiving week, the coldest air of the season will bring temperatures plummeting to levels more typical of mid-December to the Great Lakes region and Northeast. The wintry chill will also fuel the lake-effect snow machine, sending snow squalls barreling across the region. As a storm brings rain to the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast through Sunday night, the cold front associated with the storm will sweep throug

Rich Luterman has the forecast.

Video shows a car underwater as parts of Northwestern Washington state experience flooding. Video credit: Travis Janeway

Everything remains quiet for the tropics in the Atlantic basin and is expected to stay that way over the next five days.

Schools are closed for a week in New Delhi as winter pollution levels remain dangerously high. Delhi is ranked one of the world's most polluted cities, with a hazardous melange of factory and vehicle emissions and smoke from agricultural fires turning its air a toxic grey every winter.

Steve Paulson says today will start off cloudy and then become warmer with temps in the 70s.

FOX 29's Sue Serio has the latest weather updates.

Tuesday will warm before a cooling trend comes later in the week.

7 First Alert Forecast 6 a.m. Update, Monday, November 15

Sunny skies with a high near 86° today in the Valley.

Some Georgians experienced the coldest temperatures so far this season over the weekend. Now, we're on the upswing through midweek.

FOX 32 meteorologist Mike Caplan has your Monday morning weather forecast for the Chicago area.

Cold overnight with temperatures in the 20s on Monday morning. Mostly cloudy with a few rain/snow showers possible late in the morning into the afternoon. Highs in the 30s.

Today marks the anniversary of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 729-foot ore carrier in Lake Superior that was lost in 1975.

Some parts of the Northern Great Lakes region were greeted by their first significant snowfall of the season earlier this week, but not even the arrival of the fluffy white stuff could mask these historic times for the Great Lakes themselves.

Climate change is causing drastic swings in the level of Lake Michigan, which in turn is putting the city of Chicago at risk.

The city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is hosting its first major sports competition: a karate tournament bringing together five countries from the Great Lakes region, with the aim of promoting peace and peaceful cohabitation in a region that has been plagued by violence.

The U.N. Security Council is urging leaders in central Africa’s Great Lakes region to seize the momentum of recent positive political developments to make progress toward ending conflicts and the illegal exploitation of gold and other natural resources

Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.

Some Iqaluit residents hauled water from a nearby river after authorities warned against drinking tap water.

Maybe you’re in Michigan, with family in Wisconsin (or vice versa). Or perhaps you’re planning some sort of trip across state lines, and you came across the idea of using a ferry to save some time around the Great Lakes.

Those along the Great Lakes and rivers near Detroit and Canada have taken notice of a special boat that’s been sailing those waters this summer.

Much of the history regarding the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald surrounds what was lost, but there is an important item that was found -- and it’s now on full display.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Rounds of significant winter weather have forced most of the US into a deep freeze. Following a historic snowstorm earlier in the week that brought heavy snow from Seattle to Texas and into the Great Lakes region, nearly 75 percent of the country has snow on the ground. AdThe snow made it all the way down to the Gulf Coast in Texas Monday. pic.twitter.com/Lj3eWUf2y0 — Justin Stapleton (@KPRC2Justin) February 15, 2021More snow and ice will be likely across the Deep South and Mid Atlantic through the upcoming weekend. How many inches of snow fell in your area?

AdNorth Carolina's Brunswick County had little notice of the dangerous weather, and a tornado warning was not issued until the storm was already on the ground. Texas officials said more than 400,000 doses due now will not arrive until at least Wednesday because of the storm. The tornado that hit North Carolina's Brunswick County was an EF3 with winds estimated at 160 mph (257 kph), the weather service said on Twitter. Several cities had record lows: In Minnesota, the Hibbing/Chisholm weather station registered minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 39 degrees Celsius). Sioux Falls, South Dakota, dropped to minus 26 Fahrenheit (minus 26 degrees Celsius).

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Michigan's environmental agency said Friday it has approved construction of an underground tunnel to house a replacement for a controversial oil pipeline in a channel linking two of the Great Lakes. AdThe project requires permits from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “We have issued permits designed to ensure that if a tunnel is constructed, it will be in strict compliance with relevant statutes and adhere to stringent protections against impacts to the Great Lakes,” Clark said. State officials emphasized the tunnel project was a separate legal matter from the dispute over the existing pipeline, which was laid in 1953. It has taken steps to prevent future anchor strikes and says the tunnel project would eliminate that danger.

The two states and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will share pre-engineering and design costs for the $858 million project at Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois. The structure on the Des Plaines River is a choke point between the Illinois River, which is infested with the invasive carp, and Lake Michigan. The next step is developing design and engineering specifications, expected to take three to four years and cost about $28.8 million. Under the new agreement, the Corps will pay $18 million and Michigan $8 million. Government agencies, advocacy groups and others have long debated how to prevent them from reaching the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could out-compete native species for food and habitat.

(Image: NWS)NEW ORLEANS – Severe storms capable of spinning up tornados are expected across the Deep South. Forecasters say the storms are expected to strike the region on Thursday — New Year’s Eve. The national Storm Prediction Center says the area most at risk of severe weather on Thursday includes parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and southeast Texas. “Tornadoes along with damaging wind gusts and large hail are all potential threats," according to the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Forecasters say the risk of severe weather will later spread into Alabama and parts of the Florida Panhandle.

If you’re driving in your car a lot today, don’t be surprised if you hear more Gordon Lightfoot than usual.

Both feared and revered by people, gray wolves have recovered from near extinction in parts of the country but remain absent from much of their historical range. Federal wildlife officials contend thriving populations in the western Great Lakes region, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest ensure the species' long-term survival. “In the early part of the 20th century the gray wolf had essentially become a ghost throughout the United States," Bernhardt said. The decision keeps protections for a small population of Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest. Fish and Wildlife Service would have no say about moving ahead with the plan, if voters approve it.

A Michigan regulatory panel refused Tuesday, June 30, 2020, to grant quick permission to run a new oil pipeline beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes, deciding instead to conduct a full review. Enbridge filed an application in April with the Michigan Public Service Commission to relocate a segment of its Line 5 that extends beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lakes Huron and Michigan. (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy via AP)TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. A Michigan regulatory panel on Tuesday refused to grant quick permission to run a new oil pipeline beneath a channel that connects two of the Great Lakes, deciding instead to conduct a full review. The state Public Service Commission's decision involved a proposed replacement for a segment of Enbridge's Line 5 that extends beneath the Straits of Mackinac, which links Lakes Huron and Michigan. Enbridge filed an application in April with the Public Service Commission to relocate the underwater section of Line 5 into the proposed tunnel.