...and that's how the civil war of the Great Lakes started. more ›

Among some of the Illinois big businesses looking into seeking new stomping grounds, Sears has jumped on the bandwagon. Unhappy with the tax increase, Sears has been courted by several states regarding the relocation of their headquarters. more ›

Wolves. At once revered and reviled, is there a more controversial critter in this country? The battle over wolves in the Northern Rockies actually spilled over into the federal budget battle last week, when a controversial policy rider was slipped into the final bill that booted the critters off the Endangered Species list despite ongoing scientific debate over their recovery. But what gets lost in the noisy fight over wolves out West is that there are way more of them in our neck of the woods. Chicago might be devoid of predators (aside from coyotes and the sexual kind) but we are a car-ride away from howling packs in the counties northwest of Madison. Right now there are 4,000 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan but a proposed federal rule change might whack those numbers down quickly in the Great Lakes. more ›

Cleanup continues at the scene of Enbridge Energy’s latest Midwestern oil spill in Romeoville, where an undetermined amount of oil leaked from a massive pipeline this week. Saturday, vacuum trucks diverted from the company’s recent spill in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River posed quite a contrast with work crews digging up the pipeline by hand. EPA has given Enbridge until Monday at Noon to end the flow of oil as 200-600 barrels continue to spill hourly (despite company claims that it was stopped Friday). more ›

While the threat to Lake Michigan from the Kalamazoo River oil spill seems to be diminished, the cleanup and concerns raised by the oil industry's follow up to the Gulf disaster are far from finished and will reverberate far outside the Wolverine state. Enbridge Energy Partners, owners and operators of the pipeline which spilled over a million gallons of oil into the Michigan waterway, announced that they had finally excavated the damaged pipe late yesterday as controversy raged over the Canadian company’s response to the spill. more ›

Bad news out of Michigan where reports say that oil from this week's spill has breached Morrow Dam and is now travelling downriver, as far as halfway from the spill site to Lake Michigan. The reports come even as Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's office and the EPA continue a public dispute over the spill's reach. Granholm's officereleased photos (one is above) that claim to show an oil sheen Lake Morrow while EPA officials deny the claim. Officials are also suggesting the evacuation of as many as 50 homes located near the original spill site near Battle Creek, Michigan. more ›

Midwest wine country. Sounds a bit like an oxymoron but today our state and neighbors are growing grapes on par, or better, than some of those grown in the romantic wine country known as Napa Valley. Midwest wine country may not have Thomas Keller or Screaming Eagle but it has proven to be the perfect weekend get-away from city living folks like us. more ›

First they came for our River. Now they’re coming for our Lakes! more ›

After all the worryiing about the Asian Carp's imminent spread into the Great Lakes, a recent search for the fish has turned up...nothing. The six-week search turned up over 1,000 common carp and a few other variations, but none of the dreaded silver or bighead carp that would threaten to wreak havoc on the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. According to the AP (via WFLD): more ›

After twice denying the state of Michigan's request to close a pair of shipping locks in Chicago-area waterways so as to prevent the alleged spread of Asian Carp into Lake Michigan, the Supreme Court of the United States has set one more date in the battle of Asian Carp: April 16. On that date, the SCOTUS will consider whether or not to grant Michigan's request to reopen a 1922 lawsuit over the creation of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, linking the Mississippi River with the Great Lakes and thereby opening a path for the Asian Carp to make their way to the Lakes. Michigan has been joined by the other Great Lakes states - Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York - as well as the Canadian province of Ontario in this fight. more ›

The Supreme Court apparently isn't done taking up the matter of the Asian Carp. The Nine will take up an appeal from the state of Michigan once more, two months after dismissing the first appeal. According to the Tribune: more ›

Team Canada steamrolled Germany 8-2 in yesterday's men's hockey qualifier to advance to the quarterfinals. While none of the three Blackhawks on the team scored any of Canada's eight goals, two did lend a helping hand. Duncan Keith had a pair of assists and Jonathan Toews also was credited with an assist in the blow-out victory. But there's little rest for Canada as they have to bounce right back and play Russia tonight in the quarterfinals (6:30 p.m., CNBC). Meanwhile, Patrick Kane and Team USA get an afternoon affair with Switzerland in their quarterfinal match-up (2 p.m., NBC 5). more ›

The U.S. Supreme Court has set this Friday, January 15, as the day it will consider the lawsuit against the state of Illinois to close the locks on Chicago-area waterways to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The Court will consider the case in closed conference. The lawsuit was filed by the state of Michigan with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and New York jumping on board. Even the Canadian province of Ontario is getting involved. The SCOTUS was originally slated to take up the carp case last Friday but delayed it for a week. more ›

First Michigan, then Ohio, now Minnesota. It's getting rough for the State of Illinois as that's three states in on a lawsuit to force the State of Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to shut the shipping locks and canals that feed into Lake Michigan to stop the potential spread of Asian Carp. According to the Trib, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed the brief today, pointing out that Minnesota has 140 miles of shoreline along Lake Superior. The SCOTUS is scheduled to consider the lawsuit on January 8. The state of Michigan has also passed a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate and drastic action to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. more ›

Earlier this week came the news the State of Michigan filed a lawsuit to force the State of Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to shut the shipping locks and canals that feed into Lake Michigan. Now Ohio is jumping on the carp-lawsuit bandwagon, endorsing Michigan's lawsuit. WBEZ reports, "In a motion to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ohio's attorney general writes the Asian carp would be both ecologically and economically damaging to that state." The SCOTUS should take up the issue early in the new year. more ›

As the fight against the Asian Carp invasion continues, the State of Michigan has filed suit to force the State of Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to shut the shipping locks and canals that feed into Lake Michigan. "The Great Lakes are an irreplaceable resource," Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Michigan, said at a news conference in Detroit. "Thousands of jobs are at stake and we will not get a second chance once the carp enter Lake Michigan." Because the subject of the suit is a dispute between the states, Cox filed his suit in the Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction over disputes between the states. more ›

Carpgate 2009 carries on, with the Michigan state legislation passing a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take immediate and drastic action to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. The fish, which can weigh up to 100 pounds, would destroy the lakes' ecosystem, and jeopardize billions of dollars in annual fishing industry revenue. Michigan Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, who sponsored the measure, says, "The Asian carp is perhaps the largest threat to the Great Lakes in our generation. This is something our economy, our lifestyle and our culture cannot sustain." more ›

One of the best things about visiting Uncommon Ground Devon's farmers market (every Friday from 4-8 p.m. ) is that you can walk around the vendors set up in the parking lot with a beer in your hand, if you're so inclined. They have a nice rotating selection of drafts and with August finally giving us a semblance of summer — humidity — that's been missing, a good fruit beer is in order. Maybe something that makes a good shandy when lemonade is added. more ›

The word "scrumpy" sounds like a schoolyard diss: "Let's go pick on that scrumpy looking kid." A scrumpy is actually a type of farmhouse cider. The term comes from western and southern English slang for a withered apple. Some English scrumpys have a tartness and alcohol content that are among the roughest ciders we've ever encountered. more ›

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh