In President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last week he said he hopes to switch to a “merit-based” immigration system. The details of what exactly that would entail have not yet been laid out. In the meantime, many young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children say they are confused about what Trump’s immigration agenda will mean for them.
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Author Archives: CMU Public Radio News
Great Lakes group calls for rebuilding campaign
Aging infrastructure in the Great Lakes region affects the availability of safe drinking water and the ability of ships to navigate the lakes. President Trump campaigned on improving the country’s infrastructure, and one organization wants the needs of the Great Lakes at the top of the administration’s list.
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Supreme Court immigration case
Juan Esquivel Quintana legally immigrated to California with his family when he was 12. His sister, Eribey Esquivel Quintana, says her family worked in farm fields picking tomatoes, peppers and corn.
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Brawl over ballast water regulations
Every year, hundreds of commercial ships make their way through the St. Lawrence seaway, taking on and letting out water to maintain stability as they load and unload cargo. This ballast water is regulated to prevent the spread of invasive species, but there is some disagreement about who should be in charge of those regulations.
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IJC releases times, dates and location of public meetings
The health of the Great Lakes and its watershed will be the focal point of series of meetings taking place throughout the month of March.
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Family of aviators share their connection to Lake Erie with the Watermark Project
Its 20 degrees on a frigid Saturday afternoon. Jennifer Nalbone is standing outside a small Western New York airport waiting for her father Lou.
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Flint hospital is source of Legionella bacteria
The state health department says it has documentation indicating that a Flint hospital’s internal water system was a source of deadly Legionella bacteria.
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Great Lakes ice cover remains low this winter
Last week, 15 percent of the Great Lakes was covered in ice. That’s the highest level of ice cover recorded so far this winter and far less than the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 64 percent prediction. A lack of ice could have lasting implications for this year and beyond.
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Lake Ontario flooding concerns in Toronto’s Port Lands district
When heavy rains hit Toronto, it’s common for flooding to hit the Port Lands district east of downtown, especially along the Don Valley Parkway.
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Trump ‘priority list’ includes big construction projects in Great Lakes
A leaked list of infrastructure priorities for the Trump administration includes bridges and other big projects for the Great Lakes region.
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Got pollution? Canadian city puts it in giant box
Jon Gee of Environment and Climate Change Canada stands on a platform overlooking a part of the Hamilton, Ontario, harbor called Randle Reef. It’s one of the most polluted sites on Canada’s side of the Great Lakes.
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What happens when the Great Lakes shipping season ends?
This week marks the start of a break in the Great Lakes shipping season. A time when lakes freeze over, the locks at Sault St. Marie shut down, and crews on big freighters go home to their families. But not everyone stops working.
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Photographer reveals “ghosts” of Lake Erie
Dave Sandford is has been a professional photographer for 20 years. He’s based in London, Ontario -– about a half hour from Lake Erie. Over the years he’s dabbled in several genres of photography, from sports to wildlife, but says he always returns to the Great Lakes in his spare time.
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Experts say we need gravel mines
Dave and Becky Sherwood operate a taxidermy business out of their home in Richland Township. It’s tucked back in the woods, just a tenth of a mile from a proposed gravel mine. Becky Sherwood says a lot of things about the project from Top Grade Site Management worry her. She says her property’s value will likely go down. And the life they’ve created out here in the woods, just won’t be the same.
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Snyder and Calley at Detroit auto show
Governor Snyder and Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley took in the auto industry’s latest, as Detroit’s annual auto show opened Monday.
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Researchers see signs of climate change in Great Lakes
Climate change is an issue of concern for many around the world. Scientists say that in the Great Lakes region, evidence of the change can be seen every day.
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Isabella county women travel to Standing Rock
For much of 2016, people from around the country gathered to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline being built near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.
In December, it appeared the standoff between protesters and law enforcement had come to an end. The U-S Army Corps of Engineers denied the oil company the permit it needed to build in the area.
Some protesters however, are refusing to pack up and go home. They say they don’t trust Dakota Access Pipeline and don’t believe this is the end of the ordeal…Among the skeptical are two Mount Pleasant residents. They recently returned from a holiday visit to Standing Rock. Sarah Adams spoke with them shortly before they left.
Jennie Jones and Lauren Richards have been collecting supplies for over a month to take to the protesters in North Dakota. Richards says the recent turn of events hasn’t changed a thing in her mind. Richards and Jones have packed their cars with supplies to help get the protesters through the winter…things like food, cold weather sleeping bags and small propane heaters.
Richards says since she posted about the trip on social media, donations of supplies and money have been coming in from all over. “People have been so generous….we’ve received some items personally from people who just know us and wanted to hand stuff off. A lot of monetary donations that’s been really helpful so we’re able to purchase some other supplies”.
Richards says even though officials like Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman have asked protesters to go home, friends in North Dakota are telling her the protest is far from over. “We were a little concerned at first thinking we wouldn’t be welcomed or needed and that was going to be ok if that was the case however we do have a friend named John who has been out there a couple of times now. I just spoke to him a few days ago and he said they still need people and he’s connected with a lot of the tribal leaders and elders and he’s getting firsthand information. So we trust him. We trust what he says”
Jennie Jones says she and Richards are preparing the best they can based on what they’re being told and what they’ve seen in media coverage.”It looks really cold and blizzard, a lot of wind so I’m expecting first of all, the cold, intense cold”.
Adams: “As someone living in Michigan, why is something happening in North Dakota important to you?”
Jones: “Because we’re all connected. I think that’s something that people are starting to understand and realize if they haven’t yet. We really are very all connected. If we want to see things change, we need to be the ones to do it. We can no longer just sit back and watch things pass us by. It’s not the time for that. I feel really strongly in my heart that Standing Rock is the beginning of many, many, many more things and instances where people will have the opportunity to stand up and be heard. … I feel people from all over the country banding together and wanting to help in some way and this is what’s happening and so it’s important to do because of that and because we can no longer be silent.”
Jones and Richards tell me future trips to help the protesters will happen if they are needed.
Grim report on Toronto harbor’s water released
Environmentalists in the Toronto area are taking a close look at water quality. The Lake Ontario Waterkeeper just completed a study of the city harbor, and says the city still has some work to do.
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“Steelhead Alley” brings a bump to Great Lakes economy
It’s 6 A.M. when trucks and SUVS begin pulling into an empty parking lot in Girard, Pennsylvania, a town outside of Erie with about 3,000 people. The vehicles bear license plates from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
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Study: Tons of plastic getting into the Great Lakes
A new study from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracks how much plastic is getting into the Great Lakes, and where it’s going.
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The biggest Great Lakes stories of 2016
Across the Great Lakes, 2016 brought a lot of conflict, with battles over water diversion, petroleum pipelines and other issues.
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Great Lakes targeted for offshore wind farms
Cleveland’s own Charles Brush created the world’s first electric wind turbine in the 1800’s. He used it to power his home. And since then, wind turbines have popped up all over the world — but never in the Great Lakes.
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What’s icy, metal and two miles long? A Great Lakes ice boom

Ice Boom Installation, delivery of Boom strings to harbor break wall from storage area. December 7, 2015. Photographer: Paul Pasquarello.
The deep freeze has arrived in Great Lakes states and that means one thing: It’s time for the Lake Erie/Niagara River Ice Boom.
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Great Lakes group warns against holiday trash
The holiday season can be a happy time for many. But it may cause trouble for the environment.
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Maritime-themed school to open in Cleveland
The Great Lakes region is getting another maritime-themed high school — this time in Cleveland.
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