Autos & Manufacturing
A snowplow at work. Credit: Michigan Department of Transportation.

Volunteers find high road salt levels in Michigan waterways

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ROAD SALT: Michigan has the highest chloride levels in the Midwest and Northeast, causing potential health problems a new study says. The Izaak Walton League compiles data for an interactive map showing chloride levels. Holland’s Outdoor Discovery Center has been monitoring chloride levels in lakes and streams and engages in public education on the topic By Daniel Schoenherr for HOLLAND, WKTV, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, GREENVILLE, IONIA AND ALL POINTS.

Agriculture

Farm vehicle traffic accidents on the rise

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FARM ACCIDENTS: As farmers wrap up the harvest season, traffic accidents involving farm vehicles are up over last year, officials said. As of Oct. 28, there were 168 accidents involving farm vehicles, according to Michigan State Police reports. By the same time in 2021, there had been about 150 of these accidents. November sees the most accidents of any month. Last year, Ottawa and Ingham counties each had nine, the highest of any county. So far this year Branch County has had 20 farm vehicle traffic accidents, the most this year. By Janelle James. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL, CORP!, CITY PULSE, HOLLAND, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND BUSINESS AND NEWS PAGES OF ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing
A woman does a handstand on a solar-powered Lilypad boat in a group on the Kalamazoo River.

Solar-powered boat gets Michigan launch

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LILYPAD: A solar-powered boat has recently emerged on the Kalamazoo River that can run even through the night after the sun fully charges it. The rental boat is pollution-free and fit for up to nine passengers. Development of the vessel was financed by a unique business incubator for clean technology products. We talk to the CEO of the Holland-based boat builder and the head of the business accelerator at Lawrence Tech in Southfield. By Anastasia Pirrima FOR HOLLAND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS !CORP, PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT AND BUSINESS AND NEWS PAGES OF ALL POINTS

Autos & Manufacturing
Dreamboat on the water, a Coolest Thing Made in Michigan top 10 contest winner.

Contest finds Michigan’s coolest manufactured products

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COOLEST THINGS: Mattresses that stay cool on hot nights, an electric motorcycle, a table for performing back surgery and a hand-crafted boat that took a year to build are in the running for the Coolest Thing Made in Michigan. The Michigan Manufacturers Association contest is down to 10 candidates that exemplify diversity of the state’s manufacturers. A winner is set to be announced Nov. 10. By Liam Jackson. FOR HOLLAND, HARBOR SPRINGS, PETOSKEY, HILLSDALE, ADRIAN AND ALL POINTS.

News
Community activists at the Pittsfield Farmers Market offer information about MI-CARES.

Environment links to cancer focus of new Michigan study

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CANCER STUDY: Researchers are recruiting 100,000 ethnically diverse, cancer-free Michiganders ages 25 to 44 for a study examining how a contaminated environment can cause cancer. The statewide long-term survey focuses particularly on Detroit, Saginaw, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Flint. And it examines how marginalized communities are particularly vulnerable to contaminants that cause cancer and other diseases. We talk to the study researchers as well as a Flint community activist. By Cameryn Cass. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, WKTV, MIDLAND AND ALL POINTS.

News

Michigan’s automotive industry shifts toward an electric future

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With Michigan housing several automotive manufacturing plants, the state looks to expand into the world of vehicle electrification. 

“If we want to continue to expand ourselves as a species, we need another way to power and transport ourselves around, a cleaner more sustainable way of doing it, because we’re just going to run out of gas at some point,” said Steve Radosevich, geometric modeler for Rivian. 

General Motors Co. is one of the manufacturers making Michigan a hub for electric vehicle production. The GM factory in Orion Township is  set to become one of the company’s main electric vehicle manufacturers. The plant, which originally produced Chevrolet Malibus and Pontiac G6s, will now build all-electric trucks. 

GM is also shifting its manufacturing in Detroit. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant, nicknamed “Factory Zero,” will construct electric variants of the Hummer, Sierra, Cruise, and Silverado.

Autos & Manufacturing

Training needed for car safety features, study says

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UNDERSTANDING AUTO TECH: As automakers add more high-tech safety features to their vehicles, some drivers are having difficulty understanding the new car technology and need training, an American Automobile Association study shows. Between 2019-20, total traffic collisions in Michigan dropped 22%, but the number of fatal crashes rose 12%, according to the State Police.We hear from AAA, the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor and AARP. By Jack Falinski. FOR ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing
Billboards like this are part of a new statewide public transit advocacy campaign.

New advocacy campaign boosts public transit

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ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN:The Michigan Public Transit Association, representing about 50 bus and local transportation agencies, has launched a $400,000 information and advocacy campaign to fill hiring needs and increase ridership. We talk to the association’s executive director, the Bay Area Transit Authority and the Mecosta-Osceola Transit Authority. By Jada Penn. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, BIG RAPIDS, HERALD-REVIEW and ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Dial-a-ride services struggle with driver shortage

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DIAL-A-RIDE: Small transit systems across the state are shorthanded, with too few drivers and mechanics, and that leaves riders with longer wait times and cancelled routes. We see how Niles Dial-A-Ride Transportation and Marshall Dial-A-Ride are coping and talk to the executive director of the Michigan Public Transit Association. The association posts job openings on its website, such as Michigan Transportation Connection schedulers to arrange rides for non-emergency medical appointments around the state and a mechanic for Allegan County Transportation. By Hope O’Dell. FOR HOLLAND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, COLDWATER and ALL POINTS.

Arts & Entertainment
CG 40300 works the ice on Lake Michigan around 1970.

Pioneering Coast Guard boat sails onto National Register of Historic Places

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COAST GUARD HISTORY: A prototype Coast Guard steel motor lifeboat that spent most of its 39-year official career on Lake Michigan and at Escanaba has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now moored on Cayuga Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes, Coast Guard motor lifeboat 40300 conducted search-and-rescue operations near the Door Peninsula and at Escanaba’s Aids to Navigation Station, then was used as an Eastern U.P. Transportation Authority utility boat and icebreaker in Sault Ste. Marie. We talk to the owner and a former transportation authority mechanic. By Eric Freedman. FOR SAULT ST. MARIE, MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, CHEBOYGAN, BAY MILLS, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, LEELANAU, MANISTEE, LUDINGTON, BENZIE COUNTY, OCEANA COUNTY, HOLLAND and ALL POINTS.