Low Lake Levels Impact Work and Play

The water levels of the Great Lakes are down this year…way down.
Lakes Erie, Michigan and Huron are two feet lower than last year at this
time, Lake Superior is down a foot, while Lake Ontario is down three
feet. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports that
lower lake levels will have a big effect on people who work and play on
the Lakes:

Are Today’s Kids Less Active?

The U-S Surgeon General recently declared childhood obesity as aproblem of epidemic proportion in this country. Over the last 30 years,children have been getting heavier, relative to their height. Today,one in five children is at least 20 percent above an optimal weight.The problem may not be so much what kids are eating … as it is what theyare doing. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joan Siefert-Rose hasthis report:

Skating Canal a Unique Winter Experience

Winter can be tough. It’s cold, it’s slippery and it seems to go on
forever. Some people choose to hibernate. But others, like the residents
of Ottawa, Ontario, try to make the best of it. Ottawa is home to the
longest skating rink in the world. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Karen Kelly found, it’s a place where young and old come to celebrate
winter:

Golfing With Wolves

Animals often lose their natural habitat when rural areas are
developed. But sometimes those new developments can provide them with
even better access to food and shelter…and that can cause populations
to explode. In Canada’s Banff National Forest, the problem is elk. One
of their favorite hang-outs is the golf course, where they eat
everything in sight, and leave behind mounds of dung… so the town put
together an elk advisory board to study the problem, and now they may
have found an innovative solution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Wendy Nelson reports:

Golf Craze Sweeps the Region

Business is booming for Michigan’s golf industry. According to the
National Federation of Golf, Michigan now exceeds both California and
Florida for most public golf courses per capita. Even universities are
cashing in on the golf craze by converting parts of their campuses into
golf courses. But now one university, in a wealthy Detroit suburb, is
encountering opposition from environmentalists as they try build a
course on their land. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Marisa Helms
reports:

Crafting the Perfect Canoe

Jet skis have quickly grown in popularity. But paddling a canoe isstill a favorite with many outdoors enthusiats. While there are severalmodern materials canoes are made of, there’s one man who prefers morenatural canoes. And he prefers to build them himself. The Great LakesRadio Consortium’s Todd Witter has the story:

Marking Shipwreck Sites to Preserve Them

A state underwater archeology program is trying a new tactic to preserve Great Lakes shipwrecks from divers. The plan is to make the sites easier for divers to find. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports:

A Greener Way to Hit the Slopes

Each year, Purdue University sponsors a contest to find creative usesfor soybeans. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Naylor reportson how this year’s winners may have found a "greener" way to hit theslopes:

Supreme Court Debates Forest Management

Management of the Wayne National Forest in Southeast Ohio is the subject of a U-S Supreme Court Case. The arguments are scheduled this week (Wednesday) in Washington. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant Cooper reports on how the decision is expected to set a precedent on how our National Forests are managed: