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Record $15 Million Federal Grant Awarded To Clean Up, Restore Black River In Lorain [The Plain Dealer]
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant is the largest ever awarded by the U.S. EPA, and “will help Lorain and the surrounding communities write the final chapter of the Black River’s extraordinary recovery,” said U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo.

Improved Services Attract More Arab Americans To Detroit, But Challenges Remain [The Arab American News]
“Everything is great. The neighborhood is safe. We have no complaints. The area is much safer than it was two years ago. There has been a 180-degree turnaround. That’s why I was encouraged to buy. We can’t afford a home in Dearborn. The home here was an opportunity.”

Caterpillar May Cut Last Production Lines In Joliet [MySuburbanLife]
The company said Friday it is contemplating moving the last production lines of truck hoist and strut cylinders from Joliet to a Caterpillar plant near Monterrey, Mexico. The Joliet facility would continue to operate as a supply chain hub.

A Hydra-Headed Scourge [The Economist]
Heroin hit the Midwest harder than other places because the coasts learned to deal with the problem in the 1960s, and are thus better able to handle its resurgence. Midwesterners, especially in rural areas, are less aware of the dangers. They had to learn how to fight drug traffickers, mostly from Mexico, who use Chicago as a transport hub for their wares. The Midwest and the South also have far fewer treatment centres for addicts than the north-east.

Here’s What Your Foreign Cars Have Done To Michigan [The Washington Post]
The withering of the American auto industry, to the point where the Big Three — Ford, Chrysler and General Motors — have been downgraded in journalese to the “Detroit Three,” is not just a crisis for the Rust Belt. It’s bad for the entire country, particularly workers.

Banner photo of Black River by Rona Proudfoot (https://www.flickr.com/people/ronnie44052)

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