At the Reeds Lake Art Festival, handmade Michigan tiles. Seems to be a popular theme this year. How very cool.
Some stories that were on my computer...
Dave Alexander of the Muskegon Chronicle brings us up to date with two stories on the progress of advanced battery company Fortu PowerCell; construction will begin this fall, and hiring is supposed to take place in early 2012. The company has been quiet on exactly what kind of battery manufacturing they will be doing, citing reasons of competition, but the "plant will produce chemicals for the battery modules, and workers will assemble them here for a variety of uses including transportation, alternative energy and electric power grid storage applications". Diversity is a good thing.
Shipwreck diving is big in the Great Lakes, and Michigan ranks among the top 10 states in the number of certified divers according to Doug Bell, owner of Traverse City’s Scuba North. Literally hundreds of wrecks can be found fairly close to shore in Michigan's 13 underwater perserves; go read this story for a map on where they are located.
Last year, they paddled the length of the Grand River. This year, it's the Muskegon River. Man, that must be fun. Read the link for a report on the difference between the two.
If the rivers aren't your thing, how about a walk around Lake Michigan? I would love to do all of it.
The EPA has announced an official Great Lakes Week scheduled for this October, with a meeting set with US and Canadian officials for working on the issues outlined in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Good to see this hasn't been forgotten in all the... um, budget festivities that have gone on lately.
The kids at NMU are going to use renewable energy to power their laptops. Good thing, since it seems that everyone's tuition is going up around 7% this year. Imagine that. (Don't think Northern has announced anything yet though)
Over 1,100 solar jobs will be created in an old GM stamping plant in... oh wait, that's in Ohio. Seems Kasich is just kicking Snyder's ass when it comes to this stuff. And hey, if Snyder drags the bond agencies here to see how great the auto industry is progressing, does that mean we can thank President Obama for a better bond rating?
Food for thought.