Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed Friday a bill that would have let businesses take millions of gallons of Lake Erie water without a permit.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved a budget bill amendment that would discourage states from regulating ballast water more strongly than the federal rule.

States that did would lose funding from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Two and half years after  Great Lakes states agreed to cut down on water diversion and excessive withdrawals from the lakes, the National Wildlife Foundation has  reported on how they’re doing.   The highlights:

Michigan and Wisconsin have the most notable success, passing legislation to cover all aspects of the compact and administering the program.

New York and Ohio only recently enacted legislation to comply with the requirements of the Great Lakes Compact.  …

Now is the best time to see the destructive, tree-eating emerald ash borer up close and personal.
The inch-long green metallic beetles are most numerous from late June to mid July, according to the Emerald Ash Borer Information Network. But don’t be fooled by lookalikes. Here’s a guide for proper identification of the nasty nuisance.
Officials have banned imported firewood, removed ash trees and even released tiny wasps to prevent them from overwhelming the region with little luck; the beetle has spread to all Great Lakes states over the past …

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, a St. Joseph, Mich. museum will screen Bad Company, a one-hour documentary examining how humans have altered the ecology and economy of the Great Lakes region.
‘Bad Company’ is Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism’s fourth documentary.
Michigan State University instructor and filmmaker Lou D’Aria and co-produer Matt Mikus will be present at screening at the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, 601 Main Street.
The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism is the publisher of Great Lakes Echo.

If you’re following Echo on Twitter, make sure that you’re following the GreatLakesEcho username and not GreatLakes_Echo.
You caught the difference, right? The second has that little underscore between Lakes and Echo.
Both usernames exist, but Echo will concentrate fresh tweets on GreatLakesEcho – the one without the underscore. The one with the annoying little line will soon go away.
So how’d we get two Twitter user names? I could tell you it is all part of a complex social media strategy that’s just too difficult to explain here.
But the embarrassing reality …

Imagine ordering a beer at a bar, looking at the coaster your glass was just put on and seeing your artwork – photographic or otherwise.
That’s what Great Lakes Forever’s seventh annual photo contest proposes to do with winning photos and artwork.
Submit an image or artwork related to the Great Lakes region, showing its unique landscape and the communities living on its shores and you could also win other prizes.
The original art category is a new approach this year. While photographers, professional and amateur, have entered their images in the past, …

With a week to go before the deadline of July 15, artists and Michigan natives Rob Gorski and Andrew Ranville have met their $12,500 goal for the artist residency on Rabbit Island.
As of the afternoon of July 8, the funding page on Kickstarter.com had 131 backers who had pledged over $13,000 to the goal of establishing a permanent artist residency on the 91-acre island.
Rabbit Island is located three miles off the Eastern shore of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, in Lake Superior.
Although the goal was reached, people can still contribute to the …

By David Poulson
Echo readers may be interested in the just-launched Michigan River News.
We are.
Like Echo, Michigan River News defines its news community by natural features rather than political boundaries.
It’s a great experiment in environmental journalism.
The two founders are former Echo writers and graduates of the masters program here at Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.
Andrew McGlashen, who graduated in 2009, wrote an Echo column that remains one of our most commented stories.  Jeff  Brooks Gillies, who graduated this past spring, experimented with unusual reporting techniques like animating Lake …