Latest Great Lakes Congressional Review Released
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The latest issue of the Great Lakes Congressional Review is available here. Highlights include:
- The federal budget and appropriations
- Water Quality Issues
- Energy
- Invasive Species
- Restoration
- Navigation
Fore more information contact Joy Mulinex at the Great Lakes Task Force.
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$2.4 Billion in High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Grants Announced
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The Department of Transportation released the recipients of $2.4 billion in funding under the HSIPR Program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The announcement follows the first round of $8 billion which funded many projects; the three largest are located in California, the Midwest, and Florida. This round expands on the commitment to California and Florida adding an additional $900 million for California and an additional $800 billion for Florida's Orlando-Tampa line. The full list of recipients is available from DOT. Projects this round in the Northeast and Midwest included $157.9 million for the Detroit-Chicago Corridor, $43 million for Madison-Chicago and Minneapolis-Chicago planning, and $198 million for a number of projects throughout the Northeast Corridor.
For the press release visit the DOT website.
Fore more information contact Fritz Ohrenschall at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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National Great Rivers Research and Education Center Confluence Field Station Dedication Last Tuesday
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The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center's (NGRREC) new, Platinum LEED-certified and state-of-the art, river research facility in Alton, Illinois was formally dedicated last Tuesday, October 26, and named in honor of U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello (IL-12). Along with Congressman Costello, speakers at the Confluence Field Station dedication included U.S. Representative John Duncan (TN-2); Col. Thomas O'Hara and Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh of the Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division; Lewis and Clark Community College President and NGRREC Board Chair Dr. Dale Chapman; Dr. Gary Rolfe, NGRREC Executive Director; Dr. John Chick, Field Station Director from the Illinois Natural History Survey; Dr. Richard Sparks, Scientist and Director of Research at Lewis and Clark Community College; Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst; University of Illinois Chancellor and Provost Robert Easter; Illinois State Representatives Dan Beiser and Jay Hoffman; Illinois State Senator William Haine; and Mark Gorman, Northeast-Midwest Institute Policy Analyst.
NGRREC intends that the new field station will be a gathering point for the world's river scholars and scientists, as well as people who live and work in the Mississippi River region, who will study the ecology of the Mississippi River system and other large rivers, the workings of the watersheds that feed them, and the ties to the river communities that use them.
Click here for photos of construction of the new Confluence Field Station, and here for photos from the day of the dedication. A copy of Mark Gorman's remarks at the dedication can be read here.
Fore more information contact Mark Gorman at the Northeast-Midwest Institute, 202-464-4015.
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