Tony Kennedy, for The Star Tribune:
An environmental rescue mission for northern Minnesota’s St. Louis River got a boost Wednesday with a new $16 million funding package to help reverse a century of industrial contamination that left the waterway one of the most polluted sites on the Great Lakes.
Then, on Thursday, “a Republican-led U.S. House committee largely reinstated funding for a Great Lakes restoration program” that had been gutted a week earlier, reports the Detroit Free Press.
+ Frank Montano, a flute-maker and member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, “was recognized as one of Wisconsin’s 10 outstanding folk artists.” The Ashland Daily Press has the story.
+ In Beaver Bay, Minnesota, a couple fights to save a historic fish house. More from the Duluth News Tribune.
+ A $1.8 million donation to Isle Royale will fund the installation of a photovoltaic system at the remote national park, reports the Mining Gazette. The solar-powered system should reduce the park’s diesel use by 75 percent, park officials say.
+ The Great Lakes Echo: “The unspoken tradition: cliff jumping at Marquette’s Blackrocks.”
+ Filling what proponents call “a big need,” a dog park could be coming soon to Ashland, reports FOX 21.
Upcoming Events
Through Sunday, August 4: Fisherman’s Picnic in Grand Marais.
Saturday, August 3 – Sunday, August 4: “Iron Ore and the Civil War,” a living history event at the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee Township.
Saturday, August 3: Run Like an Animal, a 5K at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.