In 2022, the SEA LIFE Aquarium in Auburn Hills featured artist Hannah Tizedes’ plastic mural of the Great Lakes. She collected all of the pieces from Great Lakes coastlines for over a year.

Great Lakes inspire murals, doodles and poems

MURALS DOODLES POEMS: The Great Lakes inspire Michigan artists and poets. We talk to an artist-activist who organizes community cleanups around Lake Erie through her nonprofit, a Lake Michigan surfer-artist and an MSU professor-poet. By Kayla Nelsen. FOR MONROE, ADRIAN, BLISSFIELD, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, PETOSKEY, TRAVERSE CITY, CHEBOYGAN, LEELANAU, ST. IGNACE, ALPENA, ALCONA, HARBOR SPRINGS, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, PLANET DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN, OCEANA COUNTY,, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Ashley Kern, CEO of SightLine in Hancock

More small businesses embrace artificial intelligence

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SMALL BUSINESS: About one-quarter of small businesses surveyed in the state use AI for tasks such as marketing, data analysis and business operations. MSU and Central Michigan experts point out ethical issues.We hear from a company in Hancock that provides services to Michigan Tech and Grand Valley State, an Ann Arbor company that helps clients reduce food waste and the Small Business Association. For news and business sections. By Theo Scheer. FOR IRON MOUNTAIN, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, CORP!, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, DETROIT, CADILLAC, CLARE COUNTY, CRAWFORD COUNTY AND ALL POINTS.

Photographer Danielle Jorae is the author of a new book about lighthouses in the Lower Peninsula.

Photobook illuminates the beauty of Michigan lighthouses

LIGHTHOUSES BOOK: Portland photographer Danielle Jorae’s new book is about lighthouses of the Lower Peninsula. They include ones at Point Austin, Tawas and Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Huron Lightship in Port Huron. Her new project will look at UP lighthouses. By Clara Lincolnhol. FOR GREENVILLE, WKTV, LEELANAU, TRAVERSE CITY, ALPENA, ALCONA, LANSING CITY PULSE, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, IRON MOUNTAIN, ST. IGNACE, CHEBOYGAN, HOLLAND, OCEANA COUNTY, LUDINGTON, MONROE AND ALL POINTS.

Bullfrogs Ballet students in North Macedonia bow at the end of a performance

Dance groups leap into environmental communication

DANCE & ENVIRONMENT: The MSU Theatre Department and a North Macedonian ballet company are collaborating on the Ripple Effect, a project that addresses environmental issues that both North Macedonians and Michigan residents face, like water and industrial pollution. For news and entertainment sections. By Reese Carlson. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Genevieve Fox, far right, and other journalists tour the Carmeuse Lime Manufacturing Plant in River Rogue, and hear Simone Sagovic, the project manager at the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, speak about health problems of people living nearby.

Reporting on the environment is a tough job

ENVIRONMENTAL FESTIVAL: The Great Lakes Environmental Festival will take place in Manistee in April. We talked to environmental journalist Genevieve Fox, who will speak at the festival and the University of Detroit Mercy professor who organized the event. By Clara Lincolnhol. FOR LUDINGTON, PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.

Daniel Hurley is the chief executive officer of the Michigan Association of State Universities.

Humanities, arts, take hit as enrollments drop

HUMANITIES CUTS: Some public universities are cutting or restructuring humanities, arts and world language courses because of declining student interest. We talk to the Michigan Association of State Universities and learn about the situation at Oakland University, Central Michigan and Ferris State. By Anish Topiwala. FOR DETROIT, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE MARIE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, WKTV, MIDLAND, LANSING CITY PULSE, IRON MOUNTAIN, BIG RAPIDS AND ALL POINTS.

Lake trout and whitefish leather dyed with natural indigo.

Twenty companies pledge to use all parts of Great Lakes fish

USING FISH: Fish-leather purses and wallets may make their way into Great Lakes fashion with an initiative to use 100% of commercially caught fish by 2025. One of the latest projects is to fully use the region’s whitefish, lake trout, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker. Mackinaw City might be one research site. Companies in L’Anse, Detroit, Manistee and Munising participate. It also involves the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. We learn more from the Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers. By Shealyn Paulis. FOR MONROE, ALPENA, ALCONA, ST. IGNACE, CHEBOYGAN, SAULT STE. MARIE, BAY MILLS, TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, LUDINGTON, OCEANA COUNTY, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, HOLLAND, MARQUETTE, IRON MOUNTAIN, PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Big Randy, the sturgeon in Katie Bryant’s seventh-grade class, is pictured in its tank at LakeVille Middle School. Her class is one of several Michigan science classrooms that incorporate sturgeon into their curriculum, using it to teach children about conservation and natural resources.

Kids raise prehistoric fish as a science lesson

KIDS & STURGEON: Students at a Genesee County middle school are raising an endangered young sturgeon in their classroom to learn about conservation and environmental stewardship. It will be released into the wild in the Cass River near Frankenmuth, part of a program designed by Sturgeon for Tomorrow, a group involved with the DNR in the annual sturgeon finishing event at Black Lake near Cheboygan. Other schools participating are in Alcona, Cheboygan, Holt, Indian River, Onaway, Zeeland and Frankenmuth. By Jack Armstrong. FOR PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT, CHEBOYGAN, PETOSKEY, HOLLAND, LANSING CITY PULSE, ALCONA, ALPENA AND ALL POINTS.

Howell pepper grower Ryan Karcher grows Friar’s Fury chilis in pots in his backyard.

Pepper wars: Howell grower disputes Pepper X’s record for world’s hottest pepper

PEPPER WARS: Guinness World Records recently announced that the world’s new hottest pepper is a veggie known as Pepper X, grown in South Carolina. But a veteran pepper grower from Howell questions Pepper X’s reported heat measurement. and says he’s developed a pepper that’s tastier and more representative of the pepper community. By Daniel Schoenherr. FOR FOWLERVILLE, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Flames Favorite Record Store: 21 Years of Transforming Lives in Detroit Through Music, Poetry and Inclusivity

In the heart of Midtown, Detroit, sits a store committed to uplifting the lives of Detroiters with disabilities through the power of music and poetry. Flames Favorite Record Store was brought to life 21 years ago by James Carr, a former Child Development Specialist in the city of Detroit.

Originally built as a resale shop, Flames Favorites Record Store underwent a pivotal transformation two years into its operation. Recognizing an opportunity to make a substantial impact on the community, Carr redirected the store’s focus toward music, specifically tailored to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities in Detroit.