Dredging company to pay $1M for restoration work oil spill
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.
wftv.comHeat wave keeps Midwest and South in its sticky grip
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.
wftv.comWhat US Navy recruits go through in their 10-week boot camp
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.
news.yahoo.comFans celebrate Monty and Rose, the piping plovers who aided conservation and brought Chicagoans together
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.
chicagotribune.comScientists take rare look under Great Lakes' frozen surfaces
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.
wftv.comScientists take rare look under Great Lakes' frozen surfaces
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.
news.yahoo.comEven in water-rich Michigan, no guarantee of enough for all
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.
wftv.comEven in water-rich Michigan, no guarantee of enough for all
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.
wftv.comWintry weather disrupts travel across the heartland
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.
wftv.comScientists race to gather winter data on warming Great Lakes
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.
wftv.comScientists race to gather winter data on warming Great Lakes
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.
news.yahoo.comLong-sought Great Lakes projects get funding under new law
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.
wftv.comLong-sought Great Lakes projects get funding under new law
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.
news.yahoo.comColdest air of the season, lake-effect snow set to blast Northeast
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
news.yahoo.com'Difficult to breathe': Schools closed in smog-hit Delhi
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.
news.yahoo.comThe Great Lakes are warmer than they’ve ever been in early November: Why that’s a problem in several ways
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.
Congo kicks off karate for peace in conflict-torn Great Lakes
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.
news.yahoo.comUN urges leaders in central Africa to help end conflicts
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
washingtonpost.comI took the high-speed ferry across Lake Michigan -- and it made for the coolest experience
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.
Most of U.S. covered with snow after massive winter storms
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?
Tornado kills 3 in North Carolina; bitter cold sweeps Plains
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).
Michigan approves Great Lakes oil pipeline tunnel permits
(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.
Deal reached on project to protect lakes from invasive fish
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.
New Year’s Eve storms, possible tornados expected in South
(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.
Trump officials end gray wolf protections across most of US
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.
Regulators deny quick approval of new Great Lakes pipeline
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.