Breaking News

Press Releases

Hancock Library media lab now available to students & public patrons

HANCOCK — The Hancock School Public Library is thrilled to announce the opening of a new media lab for the school district’s students and residents. Funding awarded from the Hancock Schools Foundation aided in the purchasing of a 3D printer, podcast recording equipment, a green screen kit and digital camcorder, analog conversion equipment and more. The new analog conversion equipment allows users to convert photographs, slides, negatives, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and vinyl records into digital files. Sometimes referred to as a memory station, this type of equipment can help ...

CWD confirmed at farmed deer facilities in Mecosta and Montcalm Counties

LANSING – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) has confirmed two cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) at two separate farmed deer facilities, one in Mecosta County and one in Montcalm County. The two infected deer, a two-year-old and a four-year-old, were discovered through routine testing as part of the state’s CWD surveillance program for farmed deer. CWD is a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose. The disease can be transmitted directly from one animal to another, as well as indirectly through the ...

Wastewater operators can cut energy use, costs through SWIFt program partnership

LANSING — The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to work with wastewater facilities to implement energy-saving practices as part of the Better Buildings Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure of the Future (SWIFt) Initiative. Municipal wastewater treatment systems in the United States are typically the largest energy users in a community, according to DOE, and facilities that participated in SWIFt’s first phase reduced their total energy consumption by almost 8% in three years. The program worked with more ...

Time running out for Michiganders to get health coverage, tax subsidies, under special enrollment period at HealthCare.gov

LANSING — Michiganders have less than one week left to take advantage of new subsidies and enroll in 2021 health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace special enrollment period, which is available on HealthCare.gov until Aug. 15. Nearly 7,000 Michiganders signed up for health coverage on HealthCare.gov during the month of June, an almost 25% increase over the enrollments reported in all the months since the new opportunity to enroll in health coverage began. “Nearly 36,000 Michigan families have signed up for Marketplace health coverage since the special enrollment ...

Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau drives local economic growth in the Copper Country

CALUMET — When thousands of people make their way to the Keweenaw Peninsula annually, locals may simply see them as temporary visitors. They notice them eating at their favorite restaurants, exploring local history, and racing down the bike trails. After their vacation ends, they’re gone. But the truth is they’ve made more of an impact on the local economy than some may think. According to the state of Michigan estimates from 2019, tourists spent a combined $95 million visiting Houghton and Keweenaw Counties. The dollars put toward lodging and non-lodging businesses like ...