Home    News April 2007 News

 March 2007 News -- May 2007 News

April 2007 News

Manitou Island Bird Survey goes international

Posted 04/30/2007


HOUGHTON -- This spring will be the sixth year of the Manitou Island Bird Survey, a project of the Copper Country Audubon Club under the direction of Joseph Youngman. Manitou Island is the small island three miles long and three miles east of the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Each spring thousands of raptors of at least 13 species have been documented. Raptors that come to Manitou are part of the massive bird migration that moves up the Keweenaw Peninsula every spring. Visitors to the Second Annual Keweenaw International Migratory Bird Day Festival Friday and Saturday, May 4 - 5, in Copper Harbor, will have a chance to see many of these migrating birds and to learn about the Manitou Island Survey. more
Photo: Red-tailed Hawk in flight. (Photo © 2007 Joseph Youngman. Reprinted with permission.)

Stabenow: Senate passes Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill 

Posted 04/26/2007


WASHINGTON, D. C. -- United States Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) sent an email to constituents today, Apr. 26, to announce that the U.S. Senate has just passed the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill by a vote of 51-46. This bill requires the President to begin moving our soldiers out of Iraq starting in October 2007. Stabenow issued the following statement following passage of the Emergency Supplemental bill: "Today, the U.S. Senate passed a supplemental appropriations bill that provides our troops with the funding and resources they need on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sets a timetable to bring them home safely and responsibly. The bill also provides emergency funding for critical needs here at home, including veterans' health care and rebuilding communities destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. I am hopeful the President will do the right thing and sign this bill into law." Visit Sen. Stabenow's Web site for the text of her Apr. 25 Senate floor speech on the importance of this bill.

Stupak says Bush should sign Iraq Accountability bill

Posted and updated 04/26/2007


WASHINGTON, D. C. -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved on April 25 the Iraq Accountability Act Conference Report by a vote of 218 to 208. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) voted for the legislation. "The measure the House passed today supports our troops, honors our veterans and requires accountability from the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government," Stupak said. "The bill provides $4 billion more for our troops than the President requested and provides $1.8 billion more for veterans' neglected health needs." The bill would demand troop withdrawals begin on Oct. 1, 2007, or sooner and end by April 1, 2008, allowing for forces conducting certain noncombat missions. The Senate is expected to take up and pass the legislation Thursday, sending the measure to the President's desk. more 

"Power is in Our Hands Walk" calls for reducing carbon emissions

Posted 04/19/2007


HOUGHTON -- About 30 people attended a talk and pinwheel parade with the theme "The Power is in Our Hands" on a sunny Saturday, April 14, in Houghton. The event was part of a national campaign called "Step It Up, Congress -- Cut Carbon 80% Or More by 2050." More than 1,300 other "Step It Up" events took place across the country on this same day. The Houghton event started with a talk at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Anne Newcombe, who organized the event, talked of the need for laws to restrict carbon emissions; and Barry Solomon, Michigan Tech professor specializing in energy issues, gave advice about home conservation techniques. The parade walkers carried a banner stating, "Step It Up, Congress - Cut Carbon 80% by 2050," signs and pinwheels and walked from Houghton to Hancock and back. Some came by bike to protest fossil fuels. more
Photo: "The Power Is In Our Hands" walkers carry a banner expressing solidarity with the national "Step It Up, Congress" event to address climate change. The walk from Houghton to Hancock and back was a family-friendly community event coordinated with over 1,000 other related events around the country. (Photo © 2007 Gustavo Bourdieu for Keweenaw Now.)

Renewable energy events draw local crowds

By Katie Alvord  Posted 04/07/2007


HOUGHTON --  A growing number of Copper Country residents like the idea of renewable power, if turnouts at recent meetings are any indication. A wind energy talk by Calumet Girl Scouts attracted attention in January. A Hancock forum on solar, wind, and energy conservation, sponsored by the Keweenaw Sustainability Project (KSP), drew a larger-than-expected crowd in February, as did a Small Wind Seminar sponsored by Michigan State University  Extension in Houghton in March. KSP will sponsor another forum, "Energy Costs, Part 2," at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 17, at Lakeview Manor in Hancock. The forum will include presentations on solar power, wind power and retrofitting older homes to save energy. more
Photo: This 10 KW wind turbine helps offset electricity needs for the adjacent home, which is also connected to the power grid. (Photo © American Wind Energy Association and courtesy Lynn Hamilton.)

DEQ withdraws proposed approval of sulfide mine application

By Michele Anderson  Posted 03/06/2007 Updated 03/07/2007


MARQUETTE, LANSING -- The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced on March 1, 2007, that it has withdrawn its Jan. 9, 2007, proposed decision to approve a permit for the Kennecott Minerals Company to conduct mining operations for nickel and copper at the proposed Eagle Project Mine on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette. DEQ Director Steven E. Chester announced that the public hearings, scheduled for March 6-8 in Marquette and March 12 in Lansing, will be postponed and rescheduled at a later date. Michelle Halley, attorney for  the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), one of several environmental and community groups opposed to the proposed sulfide mine, said the DEQ's withdrawal of its draft decision to permit the mine was caused by a  25-page report that "was highly critical of Kennecott's mining application and raised serious concerns over a possible collapse of the mine." more
Photo: "Ore body 150 feet down" is the title of this photo of the Salmon Trout River, which flows above the site of Kennecott Minerals' proposed sulfide mine near Marquette. The river contains a rare population of Coaster Brook Trout.  (Photo © 2007 Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and courtesy www.savethewildup.org. Reprinted with permission.)

 March 2007 News -- May 2007 News