What 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
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.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. 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.comBiden names water reclamation district commissioner Debra Shore Midwest regional administrator for U.S. EPA
President Joe Biden named Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Commissioner Debra Shore as head of the midwest region for the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
chicagotribune.comFish, birds and flooded basements stand to benefit from marsh restoration at Powderhorn Lake near the Indiana border
Heavy rains and wet springs have led to high water levels in Powderhorn Lake — and flooding for neighboring communities. With high water, native plants and fish nursery habitat have essentially been drowned out.
chicagotribune.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.
Nonprofit: Number of drownings in Great Lakes jumps in 2021
More drownings have been reported in the Great Lakes so far in 2021 than by this time last year, prompting officials to urge swimmers to practice water safety measures. As of July 2, there were 32 drownings in the Great Lakes, compared to 25 as of July 4, 2020, according to data collected by the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. The nonprofit annually tracks drownings in the Great Lakes and recently issued a warning about a summer spike in deaths.
news.yahoo.comMillions endure record cold without power; at least 20 dead
Chapman said she has been without power for two nights and is using the propane to keep warm. The worst U.S. power outages were in Texas, affecting more than 2 million homes and businesses. Texas officials said more than 400,000 doses due now will not arrive until at least Wednesday because of the storm. 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 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. Both states will collaborate with the Corps as it designs the complex mechanism, which will require thousands of pages of drawings. 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.
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.
Yearning for a unique getaway? This lighthouse offers overnight stays
How about escaping to a lighthouse in the middle of the Great Lakes? Right in the middle of Lake Michigan, 7 miles from the nearest shore, is the White Shoal Lighthouse, and it's about to start taking reservations. As of now, dates available for reservation at the lighthouse are Aug. 1, 20, 21, 26 and 27. There is a 13-mile boat trip from Big Stone Bay inside Wilderness State Park, which is 12 miles west of Mackinaw City. An overnight stay will give people approximately 24 hours at the lighthouse.