Parks & Recreation

Craft beer fuels Michigan hops binge

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By JOSH BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan’s hop industry has exploded into the nation’s fourth-largest, according to a Michigan State University study. Renewed hop production in the state began in response to a crop shortage elsewhere between 2007 and 2008 and to the growing popularity of Michigan’s craft beer, said Rob Sirrine, a MSU Extension expert. Michigan is home to between 60 and 90 commercial hop farms, Sirrine said. Grand Traverse County grows close to 300 acres of hops, the most in the state, according to a June 2016 survey by MSU. Leelanau County is second, growing close to 150 acres, followed by Barry and Kent counties.

Environment

Want to buy a Great Lakes lighthouse?

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By JOSH BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — If you’re in the market for some truly unique property, four Lake Michigan lighthouses are up for auction by the federal Government Services Administration. For sale: The North Manitou Offshore Lighthouse near the Manitou Islands, the Minneapolis Shoal Lighthouse at the entrance to Little Bay de Noc in the Upper Peninsula and the White Shoals and Grays Reef lighthouses, both between Emmet County and Beaver Island. The North Manitou Offshore Lighthouse began operating in 1935. It was one of the last lighthouses run by an actual crew until it became automated in 1980, according to Great Lakes lighthouse historian Kraig Anderson’s Lighthouse Friends database. The White Shoals light began operating in 1910, according to the University of North Carolina Lighthouse Directory.

Environment

Shining lights on Great Lakes history

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By JOSH BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Three Lake Superior lighthouses, including one in the Upper Peninsula, were recently added to the National Register for Historic Places. The Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light was built in 1941 to assist in shipping out iron ore mined in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, according to U.S .Coast Guard historian Daniel Koski-Karell, who applied to get the lighthouses added to the register. Standing in Presque Isle Harbor, the light is still used for this purpose today. The harbor is the ninth-busiest in the Great Lakes, according to the National Register application. In addition to shipping out iron ore, the harbor receives freighters bearing coal to fuel the Presque Isle Power Plant.

Environment

State parks vie for new campers

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By JOSH BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — To attract new visitors and save money, many state parks in Michigan and across the Great Lakes region are updating utilities and campsites and creating programming for less traditional visitors. That includes seek growth in usership by trying to attract non-campers. For example, those participating in Michigan’s First Time Camper program and Ontario’s Learn to Camp program arrive to a fully set-up campsite with park employees to guide them. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) partnered with camping goods manufacturer North Face and retailer Gander Mountain to provide free equipment for the department’s two-night camping program, said Ron Olson, the department’s parks and recreation chief. DNR’s Rec 101 programs teach new campers such skills as kayaking, paddleboarding, mountain biking and geocaching, he said.

Agriculture

Temporary seasonal workers face language, legal issues

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — The number of foreign seasonal farm workers pouring into Michigan and the legal and economic challenges they face are rapidly growing, say some legal and agricultural experts. The increase is the result of contractors bringing workers into the country under temporary visas called H2A visas. They are often referred to euphemistically as guest workers, said Tom Thornburg, co-managing attorney at Farmworker Legal Services, a Kalamazoo-based legal advocacy group for  agricultural workers. The number of these guest workers from other countries has doubled every year since 2012, he said. In 2015 they numbered 928.

Public Safety

Parents in prison add stress to children, family lives

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — One in 10 Michigan children has had a parent in jail or in prison, a rate so high it puts Michigan in a tie for the thir- highest rate in the nation, according to a newly released report. And that has significant ramifications for the mental health of the children. “This is as traumatic as experiencing domestic violence and abuse, in that the trauma continues to affect kids into adulthood,” said Alicia Guevara Warren, Kids Count project director for the Michigan League for Public Policy, a Lansing-based child welfare advocacy group. Losing a parent to the penal system puts children at greater risk of depression and anxiety, she said. The loss also puts a greater financial burden on families to cover basic household expenses.

Environment

DNR steps up chronic wasting monitoring

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING – In an effort to protect Michigan’s deer, the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants to double the number of core areas monitored for deadly chronic wasting disease. This expansion would include six new townships in Eaton County and two in Clinton County. The fatal disease interferes with the digestive abilities of deer, literally causing them to waste away in its later stages, said Drew YoungeDyke, chief information officer for Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the state’s largest hunting organization. The disease can cause deer to become delirious, walking in circles for hours and being unable to even properly drink water, he said. “They become kind of robotic.”

The full extent of the spread of the disease is not yet known, said Chad Stewart, the DNR’s deer management specialist.

Environment

Cities face challenges in getting the lead out

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING – While the lead in Flint’s water captures plenty of attention, another source of the deadly element also threatens Michigan cities and neighborhoods. The demolition of older homes and buildings releases lead into the air, threatening the health of those who live and work near these demolition sites, said Tina Reynolds, health policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council, a Lansing -based coalition of environmental advocacy groups. The lead is contained in old paint and some building materials. “Any structure demolished that is pre-1978 would definitely still have lead dust and be an exposure pathway to the community,” she said. In 2014, that included 64.8 percent of Michigan homes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Health

For the undocumented aging, medical care is challenging

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Luis Valencia said he came to Detroit from Mexico 10 years ago with his mother and brothers to escape drug dealers. He had drawn the ire of a drug cartel because of his reporting on their activities, said Valencia, a journalist. Today, his mother has severe diabetes and may soon require expensive dialysis, he said. But that’s not an option because of his family’s undocumented status. Doctors have advised him to return his mother to Mexico to receive treatment they can better afford, he said.

Business & Economy

State ups efforts to recruit for jobs in math, science

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By JOSHUA BENDER
Capital News Service
LANSING — A shortage of qualified information technology workers is hurting Michigan businesses, experts say. Information technology – often referred to as IT – encompasses computer programming and data management in industries as diverse as health care and auto manufacturing, said Chris Knapp, the information technology and media talent director for the state’s Workforce Development Agency. “IT is embedded in just about every industry and every kind of company out there,” Knapp said. In March 2016 there were 15,000 online job advertisements for openings in Michigan requiring math and computer skills, according to the Conference Board Help Wanted Online Database, a group collecting data on Internet job hunting statistics. These ads made up nearly a tenth of all online jobs ads for the state.