The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday to reauthorize a federal program to clean up toxic sediments in rivers and harbors feeding into the Great Lakes and triple its annual appropriations to $150 million annually.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2008, which reauthorizes the cleanup program for five years, was passed by a vote of 371-20.

“The Great Lakes are a treasure essential to both Michigan and the entire nation,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton. “… Every day we wait to address the problems in our Great Lakes, they get worse and the solutions get more costly.”

Continue reading: The Detroit News

With just two weeks in the current session of Congress left to land potentially life-saving federal loans, Detroit’s car companies and Michigan’s congressional delegation were in a state of chaos. Michigan lawmakers trying to sell the deal to a skeptical Congress were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of effort from the automakers, several congressional sources tell NEWSWEEK. Auto execs were annoyed that they were being lumped with the Wall Street bailout crowd, which didn’t help Detroit’s plea for $25 billion in low-cost federal loans to see it through its cash crisis. The acrimony came to a head in a tense conference call Sept. 11 involving 25 power brokers in Washington, D.C., and Detroit, including some of the Big Three CEOs, according to Congressional sources. As congressmen and their staffers debated the minutia of how to craft the legislation for the loans, the CEOs on the other end of the line kept asking everyone to speak up. “We were very much in the weeds, which is not a good idea with a conference call of 25 people,” says Rep. Dave Camp, a Republican from Midland, Mich. “It’s been difficult to get consensus [with the carmakers]. It’s been very frustrating.”

Continue reading: Newsweek.com

Saying that it is time for someone “with a clean, fresh outlook” to lead the city, Detroit businessman Dave Bing confirmed to the Free Press on Thursday that he definitely is running for mayor.

“I’ve made my decision,” Bing said in an exclusive interview two months after the Free Press first revealed he was considering a run.

Bing plans to participate in the Feb. 24 special primary, where he will face former City Council President Ken Cockrel, who was sworn in as mayor Wednesday. At least a half dozen others also may run.

Continue reading: Freep.com

Michigan State University’s medical school will reserve some spots in its incoming classes for the top graduates from Grand Valley State University.

GVSU Vice President for University Relations Matt McLogan said the program will be tied in some way to the students practicing medicine in “under served” areas, presumably urban and rural communities as opposed to the suburbs and more affluent neighborhoods.

Continue reading: WOODTV.com

The National Science Foundation has awarded Michigan State University a $2.5 million grant aimed at retaining more engineering students.

The five-year grant will go to the school’s College of Engineering and support a joint program with Lansing Community College.

Michigan State officials say in a release Thursday that the school loses too many engineering students before they graduate

Continue reading: LSJ.com

The mixed baby greens in the Yakeley Hall cafeteria at Michigan State University are organic, grown less than five miles away at the university’s Student Organic Farm.

The turkey at the deli counter comes from the Michigan Turkey Producers Co-op in Grand Rapids. It’s organic, too.

The bread is from Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor.

This week, the salad bar included organic kidney beans, organic romaine lettuce, organic garbanzo beans, all from Michigan farms. Even the salad dressings were organic.

Continue reading: LSJ.com

The Detroit Edison Co. on Thursday filed a federal license application to construct and operate what could be a $10 billion, 1,520 megawatt new nuclear plant at its Fermi 2 site near Monroe.

The application filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, enables the company to maintain eligibility for a portion of $6 billion in federal tax credits, should the plant be built, said Anthony Earley Jr., chairman and CEO of Detroit Edison parent DTE Energy Co. (NYSE: DTE).

Continue reading: Crain’s Business Detroit

Michigan could be getting about 60,000 new jobs and green energy, a new study suggests.

The Green Recovery Program would create two million jobs nationally through a $100 billion federal investment in a “rapid green economic program,” according to the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts.

Michigan would receive $3.1 billion, creating about 60,000 jobs and investing in the state’s environment and energy crisis through renewable energy and conservation and mass transit systems.

Michigan is “pretty far behind in energy efficiency,” compared to other states, Tremaine Phillips of the Michigan Energy Council said.

Barack Obama’s campaign says he would propose a $5 billion trust fund for Great Lakes cleanup and restoration if the Democratic senator is elected president.

The fund would be the centerpiece of a plan that also includes designating a coordinator to oversee Greats Lakes programs and a stepped-up fight against invasive species.

Continue reeading at WOODTV.com

“Escaped from game ranches, wild boars threaten Michigan’s natural resources and agriculture,” the poster says. Signed by a coalition of Michigan wildlife and farming organizations, it amounts to a declaration of all-out war against a critter so wily and destructive it may now be impossible to control.

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