JOHN FLESHER

AP Environmental Writer
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Asian carp may have breached electronic barrier

Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent the giant invaders from upsetting the ecosystem in the Great Lakes and jeopardizing a $7 billion sport fishery, officials said Friday.

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White House panel on oceans visits Great Lakes

A White House panel developing a strategy for managing oceans and their coastlines is including the Great Lakes in its plan, which will propose ways to protect the environment while preventing conflicts among users.

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Deal struck on Great Lakes ship pollution

Congressional negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that would effectively exempt 13 ships that haul iron ore, coal and other freight on the Great Lakes from a proposed federal rule meant to reduce air pollution.

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Feds award $2.7M for Wolverine carbon project

An electric power co-op that wants to build a coal-fired plant in northern Michigan has received a $2.7 million federal grant for a project designed to prevent industrial carbon dioxide from contributing to climate change, officials said Tuesday.

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Michael Moore makes friends in GOP-leaning town

Seated on a platform in a blocked-off street, the founder of the Traverse City Film Festival grinned as Mayor Michael Estes hailed him for boosting the local economy and cultural scene — "with almost no government assistance!"

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Michael Moore screening 'Capitalism' in Mich. town

Filmmaker Michael Moore gave residents of his adopted Michigan community an early showing of his new documentary on Saturday and urged them to help overthrow an economic system he said was beyond redemption.

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New program pays biomass plant suppliers

Suppliers of wood fuel for a biomass electric plant in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will get a federal subsidy under an agreement signed Wednesday.

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Report: Great Lakes toxic cleanups lagging badly

Cleanup of the most polluted sites in the Great Lakes is moving so slowly it will take 77 more years to finish the job at the existing pace, according to a federal report.

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Growing Mich. college swaps tuition for property

A bargain hatched by two school administrators over lunch will give a private Michigan university space to grow and local students a significant perk if they attend their hometown college.

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Detroit Red Wings set to open training camp

The Detroit Red Wings returned to the ice Sunday, hoping a renewed emphasis on defense and an infusion of youthful energy will provide another shot at the Stanley Cup that narrowly eluded them last season.

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Governments killing once-endangered cormorants

The mostly bird-free skies above Lake Huron's Thunder Bay during the recent Brown Trout Festival were a welcome sight to anglers who have spent years competing — often unfavorably — with double-crested cormorants for their catch.

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Mich. residents voice opposition to Gitmo inmates

Opponents dominated a public meeting Thursday on moving terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay to a prison in this small town, many accusing President Barack Obama of making Michigan a target for killer jihadists.

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Toyota president says new sports car planned

Toyota Motor Corp. will produce a fun but affordable sports car as the world's largest automaker seeks a return to profitability with vehicles that meet customers' desire for fuel efficiency without sacrificing style, company president Akio Toyoda said Wednesday.

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Jobs trump fears of terrorists in Michigan town

To many people struggling in this job-starved part of rural Michigan, unemployment is a bigger threat than terrorists.

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Michael Moore plans Traverse City comedy festival

Oscar winner Michael Moore has more big plans for his adopted northern Michigan hometown of Traverse City, where he's already established a film festival.

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Cool summer disappoints tourists, delays crops

Towels draped over their heads, Lisa Hendrix and Jennifer Webster lounged on a sparsely populated Lake Michigan beach Friday as raindrops trickled from a gloomy sky.

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Great Lakes water levels rebound after long slump

Great Lakes water levels are rebounding after a decade-long slump that hammered the maritime industry and even fed conspiracy theories about plots to drain the inland seas that make up nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.

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Great Lakes wolves returning to endangered list

The federal government on Monday agreed to put gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region back on the endangered species list — at least temporarily.

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Groups: US moved too fast on gray wolf de-listing

Environmental groups are suing the federal government over its decision to remove gray wolves in the upper Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.

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Cameron Davis appointed as Great Lakes czar

Cameron Davis, leader of a Chicago-based environmentalist group, has been appointed to oversee President Barack Obama's initiative to clean up the Great Lakes.

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EPA announces dioxin review, plans for Dow cleanup

The federal government will speed up a long-delayed assessment of how dioxins affect human health, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

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Obama wants to pump $475M into Great Lakes cleanup

A budget proposal from the Obama administration would spend $475 million on beach cleanups, wetlands restoration and removal of toxic sediments from river bottoms around the Great Lakes.

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Meijer to pay $1.5M for involvement in Mich. town

Meijer Inc. has agreed to pay $1.5 million to Michigan township officials related to unreported donations for a ballot initiative on a proposed store.

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Charities see potential, risk with social networks

Meredith Bowen was getting tired of requests from Facebook friends to exchange make-believe pansies, daffodils and tiny cartoon characters for her "(Lil) Green Patch," a virtual garden that sprouted on her social-networking page about a year ago.

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Cement industry: EPA pollution plan not achievable

A group representing the U.S. cement industry says a federal government plan for cutting emissions of mercury and other air toxins at its plants is unrealistic.

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