Tuesday August 19

LANSING, Mich.— Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will begin road and bridge repair projects this week in several counties across the state, including Cheboygan, Crawford, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Marquette, and Wexford counties. These projects are expected to invest over $46 million and directly or indirectly support over 550 good-paying jobs. The governor reiterated the need to pass a long-term road funding solution that will fix the damn roads and support good-paying jobs in communities across Michigan. 

“Across Michigan, we are moving dirt and fixing the damn roads to grow our economy, lower the cost of auto repairs, improve motorist safety, and create good-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree,” said Governor Whitmer. “By the end of this construction season, we will have fixed, repaired, or replaced nearly 24,500 lane miles of roads and 1,900 bridges. But our work is not done, and thousands of good-paying jobs are at stake if we don’t get a long-term road funding solution for Michigan. Let’s build on our momentum and pass a bipartisan, long-term local road funding plan so we can keep fixing the damn roads and building a bright future for Michigan.” 

I-96 Bridge Rebuilding in Ingham County 

MDOT is continuing a three-year, $44 million investment in I-96. The overall project includes rebuilding the eastbound and westbound I-96 bridges over Billwood Highway, the Grand River, M-99, and Washington Avenue. Road work and crossover removal is taking place this year. Based on economic modeling, this project is expected to directly and indirectly support approximately 532 jobs. 

Highways: I-96, M-99, Washington Avenue 

Closest cities:  Lansing 

Start date:  Tuesday, August 12, 2025 

Estimated end date:  Thursday, August 14, 2025 

Traffic restrictions:  Eastbound and westbound I-96 will each have one lane closed from Washington Ave to M-99 daily. Motorists should follow posted detours and expect delays. 

Safety benefit:  This project will provide increased safety and mobility in this area of I-96. 

M-95 Resurfacing between Marquette County Roads near Republic 

MDOT is investing about $1.5 million to resurface more than five miles of M-95 between Marquette County roads LLL and LLK near Republic. Work includes asphalt resurfacing, guardrail upgrades, and work on concrete curbs and gutters, rumble strips, and pavement markings. Based on economic modeling, this investment is expected to directly and indirectly support 14 jobs. 

Highway:  M-95 

Closest cities:  Republic 

Start date:  Monday, August 11, 2025 

Estimated end date:  Early September 2025 

Traffic restrictions:  Motorists should expect single-lane closures with traffic regulators. 

Safety benefit:  This project will extend the lifespan of the road, provide a smoother ride, and increase safety for motorists. 

I-75 Pavement Joint and Crack Repairs in Genesee County 

MDOT is investing about $700,000 to perform pavement joint and crack repairs on both directions of I-75 between US-23 and Court Street in Genesee County. Based on economic modeling, this investment is expected to directly and indirectly support six jobs. 

Highways:  I-75 

Closest cities:  Flint 

Start date:  Tuesday, August 12, 2025 

Estimated end date:  Late September 2025 

Traffic restrictions:  Work will be done nightly from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. with two lanes closed in each direction. US-23 will have one lane closed in each direction at the I-75/US-23 split. Northbound I-75 will be closed at I-475 nightly August 12 and 13. 

Safety benefit:  This project will result in a smoother driving surface and increased safety. 

Deck Sealing on Bridges in Cheboygan, Wexford, Crawford, and Grand Traverse Counties 

MDOT is investing approximately $483,000 to add epoxy coating to nine bridge decks in northern Michigan, on I-75, Webb Road over I-75, US-131, M-93, and M-37. 

Highways:  I-75, Webb Road, US-131, M-93, and M-37 

Closest cities:  Wolverine, Cadillac, Grayling, and Traverse City 

Start date:  Monday, August 11, 2025 

Estimated end date:  Friday, September 19, 2025 

Traffic restrictions:  On I-75 and US-131, drivers can expect single-lane closures with one lane open in each direction. On M-93 and Webb Road, drivers can expect single-lane closures with one lane of alternating traffic with traffic regulators. On M-37, drivers can expect single-lane closures with traffic shifts. 

Safety benefit: This project will result in longer service lives for the bridges. 

-courtesy story

LANSING, Mich. -  April showers bring May flowers, and spring and summer fish stocking bring fall fishing! This spring and summer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources stocked a total of 18,958,970 fish that weighed more than 331.5 tons and consisted of 10 different species and one hybrid.

Fish stocking is an important activity to provide both Michigan residents and visitors with quality fishing opportunities. These efforts help bring an estimated $3.9 billion into the state's economy through the sportfishing industry, tourism and related businesses.

To complete the task of stocking, it took 417 stocking trips and 2,345 hours. Crews traveled just over 91,000 miles in 17 specialized stocking trucks to get to the 716 stocking sites. Despite the severe ice storm that affected northern Michigan, which caused a loss of power and transition to backup power for several days at Oden State Fish Hatchery, no fish were lost due to the storm, allowing the DNR to meet its stocking goals.

"We had another excellent spring and summer stocking season that will bring ecological benefits and fishing opportunities to Michigan anglers," said Aaron Switzer, DNR fish production manager. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our staff, healthy, high-quality fish were reared and delivered to stocking sites in excellent condition. The numbers produced and stocked hit the targets for most areas."

The number and type of fish produced varies by hatchery, as each location’s ability to rear fish depends on the source and temperature of the rearing water. Fish are reared in Michigan's state fish hatcheries anywhere from one to 18 months before they are stocked.

In Michigan, there are six state hatcheries and two cooperative hatcheries that work together to produce the species, strain and size of fish needed for fisheries managers. These fish must then be delivered and stocked at a specific time and location to ensure their success.

Each hatchery stocked the following fish this spring:

• Marquette State Fish Hatchery (near Marquette) stocked 368,452 yearling lake trout, brook trout and splake (a hybrid of lake trout and brook trout) that in total weighed 49,355 pounds. In addition to yearling trout, Marquette also stocked 457 adult lake and brook trout. This hatchery stocked a total of 94 inland and Great Lakes sites.

• Thompson State Fish Hatchery (near Manistique) stocked 2,397,307 fish, which included yearling steelhead, spring fingerling Chinook salmon, yearling muskellunge and spring fingerling walleye. These fish weighed 69,598 pounds in total. This hatchery stocked 51 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.

• Oden State Fish Hatchery (near Petoskey) stocked 737,604 yearling brown trout and rainbow trout that in total weighed 129,072 pounds. Oden also stocked 6,270 adult brown and rainbow trout that in total weighed 12,330 pounds. This hatchery stocked 98 inland and Great Lakes sites.

• Harrietta State Fish Hatchery (in Harrietta) stocked 825,388 yearling brown trout and rainbow trout that in total weighed 117,875 pounds. This hatchery stocked 171 sites, the majority located inland.

• Platte River State Fish Hatchery (near Honor) stocked 4,892,188 fish, which included yearling Atlantic salmon and coho salmon and spring fingerling Chinook salmon that in total weighed 157,584 pounds. Platte River also stocked 31,722 Skamania steelhead obtained from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources that in total weighed 4,209 pounds. This hatchery stocked 30 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.

• Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery (near Kalamazoo) stocked 7,198,561 fish that included yearling steelhead and spring fingerling Chinook salmon, which in total weighed 122,878 pounds. Wolf Lake also stocked 29,759 channel catfish obtained from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources that in total weighed 758 pounds. This hatchery stocked 49 sites, the majority located on the Great Lakes.

• A cooperative teaching hatchery at Lake Superior State University (in Sault Saint Marie) stocked 23,378 Atlantic salmon weighing 1,811 pounds into the St. Marys River. Included in this year’s total are just over 2.5 million walleye spring fingerlings. These fish were reared in ponds by the DNR, with extensive support provided by local sporting organizations. These fish were stocked at 61 inland lakes and rivers and Lake Michigan.

Some hatcheries will also provide fish for a few additional stockings – consisting of brook trout, Atlantic salmon, walleye, lake sturgeon and muskellunge – to be made this fall. The lake sturgeon will come from the cooperative hatchery in Tower, Michigan, operated with Michigan State University. The public is welcome at any of Michigan's state fish hatcheries to see the fish-rearing process firsthand. For more information or to plan your trip, visit Michigan.gov/Hatcheries.

To find out where many of these fish were stocked, check out the DNR's Fish Stocking Database at MichiganDNR.com/FishStock.

-courtesy story compliments of MichiganDems.com

SARANAC, Mich. - Most teams know they have to put in the work during the off season – good teams know that putting in the work means hard nights in harsh conditions where you have to fight through the difficulties of both summer distractions and the unrelenting heat. For the Saranac cross country team, they know what it will take to get to where they want to be. To be amongst the conferences best will require pushing themselves beyond their limits, and they are on their way to taking that next step up. 

“The kids have been working hard and we’ve had a good summer. A lot of them are ahead of where they were twelve months ago so we are excited to see where that takes us. We know that we aren’t at the top of the league right now but hope to see progress and move up from where we were last year.” Saranac head coach Brian Powell said of his team. “We have a good solid pack of a lot of people. Hopefully we can keep real tight together especially our 2-3-4-5 on both teams and keep them pretty interchangeable.”

The Saranac team will be paced by a pair of sophomores, returning state qualifier Ester Cahill and Kaytlyn Day who is excited to get the season started and has put in the work to be a leader both on the course and of her team. 

“I’ve spent a lot of the summer running and I’m ready for the season to begin. I love the feeling of when I’m racing and it’s just adrenaline getting to the next person, then the next person again and getting to the finish and feeling that accomplishment.” Day commented on her source of commitment to the sport. As a team she recognizes that their supportiveness is what sets them apart from the competition. “We are very connected. We run together and when we are passing each other during workouts – its good job, good job, good job every single time.”

Saranac opens their season August 27th with their home meet, one of the bigger invitational openers in all the area. With thirty three teams across high school divisions and middle school it will certainly be the test of a Saranac summer well invested.