By Ellie Katz, Interlochen Public Radio

Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.

This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio. 

In the summer of 2015, Traci Lynn Martin’s mom was in the final weeks of a battle with cancer.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

New luxury homes, yacht slips, and trendy hotels and restaurants are cropping up along the glittering waterfront of this west Michigan city.

Nothing unusual for the Lake Michigan coast, long known for beach towns that cater to summer vacationers and wealthy second-homers. But to those familiar with Muskegon’s blue collar history, it’s a stunning transformation.

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Cities around the Great Lakes region are trying to make transportation cheaper for riders and more environmentally friendly by expanding their public transit networks. Two modes that are often pitted against each other are light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT). While not every BRT line meets the same standards, in general, they have been upgraded for higher capacity and speed, although they have fewer stations.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.

By Victoria Witke, Great Lakes Echo

Every spring for the last 15 years, Gene Gilliland and some friends have gone smallmouth bass fishing in Lake St. Clair in Southeast Michigan for a week.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Interlochen Public Radio and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

Two northern Michigan nonprofit organizations are teaming up to promote a solar panel program, Access MI Solar.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.

There is always room to improve program effectiveness and efficiency in government, as well as business, nongovernmental organizations and other institutions.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Interlochen Public Radio and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

At a giant dirt lot off a side road in Emmet County, the air smells sharply of pine.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

For National Park week, Ian Solomon recounts his time visiting Isle Royale for a much-loved episode of Great Lakes Now.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Interlochen Public Radio and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.

The federal review of the Line 5 tunnel project will be sped up under new emergency permitting procedures announced by the Army Corps of Engineers this week.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Toward the end of 2023, I was newly unemployed and living by myself for the first time. 

In between jobs, searching for employment and a means of fulfillment and community, I began to reflect on how my mom got into gardening. In the dead of winter, memories of childhood summers spent pulling weeds, tilling soil and fleeing the occasional garter snake alongside her began to color my mind. 

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.