When John Dekker of Fennville, Mich., fills his hot tub, it’s so brown he can’t even see the top nozzle. When Kari Craton waters her garden, everything turns orange – before dying. Find out why residents of this rural Michigan town are outraged.

Frank Dutiri sends us this carp bomb, which perpetuates a few themes that have emerged from our submissions so far: Asian carp (click for news) are big, and have a taste for human young.

But this big boy strikes another sinister, unsettling tone with me. We’re so worried about all the plankton that’s going to get sucked into those big mouths. But if they’re executing beach landings like this, what the heck is going to come out?

Don’t forget to make your own Asian carp bombs and submit them Great …

A new Michigan online service helps hunters streamline information-gathering. The state’s Mi-Hunt program provides information such as the location of public land open to hunting.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm considers offshore wind crucial to economic development.

But people that own lakefront property have already organized against it.

Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports.

Southeast Michigan officials plan to encourage residents to use mass transit. A significant hurdle is a $1.8 billion shortfall to match reality with plans. A study ranks the region among the lowest for having money for transit projects.

Last week brought two big retirement announcements with Great Lakes political implications.
The first came from U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak. The Michigan Democrat recently found himself in the center of the health care debate because he threatened to break with his party and vote against the bill over abortion rights.
Stupak eventually voted for health care reform. But in 2008, Stupak broke with both parties and cast one of only 25 votes against the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement between the Great Lakes states that prevents most water diversions and promotes water …

You know the big names credited with major policy decisions that affect the basin.

But who are the people behind the names that shape Great Lakes policy?

This week: David Naftzger, head of the Council of Great Lakes Governors … and herder of political cats.

Here at Great Lakes Echo we’re very aware of the Asian carp invasion.  We don’t write much about it because so many people are doing such a great job covering that story, but we do like to keep tabs on new developments.
Using the “Suggest a Catch” link at the bottom of our Catch of the Day feature, a reader called our attention to this story in the Metro Times:
Fishing for truth: Did government agencies help create the Asian carp crisis?
A lot of blame has been tossed around in the past …

Three years shy of his family’s 100th year fishing for Lake Michigan whitefish, Paul Jensen rarely meets his quota.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 wild hogs inhabit 69 of Michigan’s 83 counties. They ravage crops and forests and carry diseases.
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy – with help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services branch – has developed the Michigan Wild Hog Removal Program. It aims to set 100 traps – that cost $450 each – to round them up.
Want a piece of the action? The program will train volunteers to help experts find hogs and monitor traps. It encourages state groups and organizations to hold hog-trapping fundraisers and events.
See …