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Road salt is hurting Michigan’s environment, but what are the alternatives?

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Road salt is hurting Michigan’s environment, but what are the alternatives?


(WXYZ) — It is starting to look loads like winter in Michigan, and meaning, roads are about to get extra harmful as winter climate creates slippery situations.

There isn’t a query that highway salt saves lives. A research from Marquette Universit discovered salt reduces accidents by as much as 88% and accidents by as much as 85%.

However, salt additionally has penalties. It contaminates our surroundings, and we’re going in-depth on how environmentalists and the Michigan Division of Surroundings, Nice Lakes and Vitality plan to make use of it extra effectively.

Every year, greater than 19 million tons of highway salt is utilized in the USA, in response to the Nationwide Minerals Infomation Middle. Then, it washes off the roads.

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Oakland County Water Useful resource Commissioner Jim Nash mentioned subsequent to roads, on salty floor, invasive crops thrive attributable to salt. These invasive crops are principally ocean shore crops that thrive off the salt from oceans that results in the bottom.

“Salt working off into freshwater techniques can change the salinity of these downstream waterways,” Nash mentioned.

Megan Tinsely, the water coverage director on the Michigan Environmental Council, mentioned if we do not use much less salt over time, the influence will develop and will influence ingesting water.

The Michigan Environmental Council is internet hosting an occasion on this situation on Friday.

Craig Bryson, the senior communications supervisor for the Highway Fee of Oakland County, mentioned the fee has checked out options for salt. However, the underside line for them is motorist security.

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For instance, the fee has tried out beet juice however discovered it attracted animals to the highway.

To date, with regards to price and efficiency, nothing matches salt.

“We’re involved in regards to the setting and have in-house environmentalists who monitor all the things we do and we attempt to do issues as inexperienced as we will,” Bryson mentioned.

The gear has improved through the years. For instance, brine tanks and brine make the salt go additional.

“Within the previous days, the mattress of the truck was the salt spreader. You raised the mattress and gravity compelled it out on the identical price,” Bryson mentioned. “We’ve got computerized spreaders now which might be hooked to the speedometer on the car.”

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The highway fee says it will get extra calls from individuals who need to see extra salt than from individuals involved about salt.

“I can get a name at 3 within the morning that I’ve to be someplace. And if the roads aren’t nice, you may have an issue,” Artwork Weiss mentioned.

Weiss is an lawyer who is usually on name for police unions to handle points that come up day or evening, winter and summer season. He mentioned he’s grateful salt retains our roads secure, however he additionally cares in regards to the setting.

“That’s the most valuable factor we’ve got in Michigan. That is the water wonderland. The Nice Lakes state,” Weiss mentioned.





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Michigan

Feds probe foreign funding at University of Michigan after arrests of 2 Chinese scholars

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Feds probe foreign funding at University of Michigan after arrests of 2 Chinese scholars


Students walk on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. (MLive.com files)MLive File Photo

ANN ARBOR, MI – The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into foreign funding at the University of Michigan after a review allegedly revealed discrepancies in required financial disclosures.

In a letter to UM Interim President Domenico Grasso on Tuesday, July 14, Chief Investigative Counsel Paul Moore wrote “incomplete, inaccurate and untimely disclosures” have been submitted by the university in “possible violation” of federal statute mandating foreign funding information be divulged to the Secretary of Education semi-annually.

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Michigan State baseball commit drafted in sixth round by Los Angeles Angels

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Michigan State baseball commit drafted in sixth round by Los Angeles Angels


A local product and Michigan State baseball commit has gotten drafted in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Logan LaCourse, a Bay City (MI) native, was selected with the No. 169 overall pick in the 6th round of the MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He has been committed to Michigan State since late 2023.

A product of Bay City Western High School, LaCourse was named Michigan’s Mr. Baseball and a first-team all-state player in 2025 as a 6-foot-4, 205 pound right handed pitcher.

It is unclear if LaCourse is going to sign with the Angels or forgo the draft this time around and sign to play with Michigan State next season. Surely, a competitive NIL offer will be on the table to compete with a minor league baseball contract.

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Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on X @Cory_Linsner





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2025 MLB Draft: Michigan baseball sends Mitch Voit to New York Mets at No. 38 overall

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2025 MLB Draft: Michigan baseball sends Mitch Voit to New York Mets at No. 38 overall


Michigan baseball second baseman Mitch Voit became the highest-drafted Wolverine since 2000; he was selected in the Competitive Balance Round A, as part of the first round, by the New York Mets at No. 38. The most recent Michigan player drafted in the first round was catcher Dave Parrish, who was taken at No. 28 overall by the New York Yankees.

Voit was the only Wolverine to start in every game this year and was a crucial part of Michigan’s roster. He led the team in slugging percentage and OPS, slashing .346/.471/.668. He also led the team in home runs (14) and walks (40).

Voit’s biggest selling point is his hitting, which he has focused on after pitching out of the bullpen for Michigan early in his college career. MLB Pipeline graded his power at 50 and deemed him “one of the best all-around hitters in the Big Ten Conference.”

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Voit attracted attention earlier this year when he mimed snorting a line of cocaine off third base in celebration of a triple in an 11-0 win over USC. Voit later apologized for the gesture in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “The gesture I made does not reflect my character, the household I was raised in, or the block M that I represent in any kind of way.”

The same day he issued the apology, he was named Big Ten Player of the Week for hitting .667 over five games, including going 3-for-3 with four RBIs in that USC game.



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