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.

Autos & Manufacturing

Failure of community college access initiative frustrates state officials

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COLLEGE TUITION: More than a dozen other states offer universal access to community college, but Michigan, disappointing advocates who say human infrastructure is just as important as roads and bridges. We talk to the Kalamazoo Promise, the Small Business Association of Michigan, and state officials. For news and business pages. By Nicholas Simon. FOR CORP!, LANSING CITY PULSE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! and ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Grant program repels Great Lakes invaders

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INVASIVE SPECIES: For most Great Lakes beachgoers, zebra mussels are a minor inconvenience when they step on them. But for boaters and businesses, they can be an expensive problem. They are among the 160 invasive species that state officials are targeting with a new grant program to deter such invaders. By Danielle James. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, CADILLAC, CHEBOYGAN, SAULT STE. MARIE, LUDDINGTON, MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Proposed college equipment fund pushed to address Michigan’s talent problem

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EQUIPMENT FUND: Michigan community colleges are pushing for a fund to allow them to buy equipment that they say would bolster a trained and talented workforce with a focus on a new cardiovascular training. There’s interest from community colleges in Lansing, Harrison, Scottville and Grand Rapids. We talk to Michigan Community College Association officials, the Michigan Manufacturers Association and Sen. Kenneth Horn, R-Frankenmuth. By Cameryn Cass. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CLARE COUNTY CLEAVER, CORP!, LAKE COUNTY and NEWS AND BUSINESS PAGES OF ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Electric bike sales grew 240% in the past year

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ELECTRIC BIKE BOOM: From the streets of the Sugar Hill Arts District in Detroit to downtown Grand Rapids, electric rental bicycles seem almost everywhere. Now bike stores and distributors are experiencing a boom in demand for e-bicycles. We speak with bike shop employees about waiting lists and sales figures. References to stores in Okemos, Grand Ledge, Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. For news, business and outdoors sections. By Elaine Mallon. FOR DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS.

Arts & Entertainment

Companies team up to support electric vehicle recycling

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ELECTRIC VEHICLE RECYCLING: As electric vehicle demands grow, concerns include how to make them more environmentally sustainable. A new project by recycling company Battery Solutions in Wixom and sustainability-focused group NextEnergy in Detroit will make electric vehicle recycling opportunity recommendations to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy by February. The department gave the project a $50,000 grant. By Chioma Lewis: FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Michigan offers funds for alternative energy vehicles

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CLEAN VEHICLES: Michigan is spending $30 million to help public agencies and private businesses buy low-emission freight trucks, buses, tugboats and cargo handling equipment. Beneficiaries of the program can choose electric, alternative fuel or new diesel models. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Clean Fuels Michigan based in Lansing and Mass Transportation Authority of Flint and Genesee County and the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority.explain. By Kyle Davidson. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, DETROIT, CORP! AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Advancements in electric buses making green transit more accessible

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ELECTRIC BUSES: More public transit systems and school districts are acquiring, or at least considering, electric buses to replace their polluting diesel fleet. Technology has improved electric buses since Traverse City’s troubled experiment with a hybrid electric 15 years ago. Federal lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Levin and Tlaib are backing legislation to help fund the switch. We talk to Benzie Transport, MDOT and KALAMAZOO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Clare County Transit and the Capital Area Transit Authority have received federal grants. By Chloe Traofatter. FOR BENZIE COUNTY, CLARE COUNTY, LANSING CITY PULSE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, TRAVERSE CITY, MANISTEE AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Skilled worker shortage leads to efforts to strengthen future workforce

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TRADES: The Michigan construction and manufacturing industries already face a shortage of skilled workers, and that shortage is likely to worsen. Associated Builders and Contractors West Michigan chapter, Downriver Career Technical Consortium and Michigan Workforce Development Institute talk about efforts to attract more young people to the skilled trades for well-paying jobs. Includes references to Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Saginaw, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Flat Rock, Madison Heights and Detroit. For news and business sections. By Kristia Potsema. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, DETROIT, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, GREENVILLE, IONIA, MONROE AND ALL POINTS.

Autos & Manufacturing

Energy-intensive industries work toward smaller carbon footprint

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ENERGY-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES: Industries in Michigan that use lots of energy in manufacturing face challenges in achieving environmental sustainability, a major goal of the Whitmer administration. We talk to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, as well as representatives of the automotive, steel, cement and chemical industries. By Brandon Chew. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, DETROIT, AND ALL POINTS.