invasive species

Today on Stateside, a lack of legal banking options in the marijuana industry means that many businesses are operating solely in cash—creating significant safety risks and limiting the industry's growth. Plus, a Michigan Supreme Court case is testing how much money the government can collect from tax-delinquent homeowners. 

Today on Stateside, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is forcing Michigan ports to make expensive changes, even though ports nearby, including one in Toledo, don't have to do the same. Plus, the long and gruesome history of the invasive sea lamprey’s presence in the Great Lakes.

Today on Stateside, does a new pretrial risk assessment tool aimed at helping judges answer complex pretrial questions help or hurt defendants? Plus, we talk to an expert about the spotted lanternfly, a destructive invasive insect that could be making its way to Michigan. 

Listen to the full show above or find individual segments below. 

Today on Stateside, how have communities across Michigan fared in the nearly 10 years since the official end of the Great Recession? Plus, a conversation with a chef from Detroit who’s elevating the art of cannabis edibles beyond the usual pot brownie. 

Beaches along Lake Michigan are closed when E. coli bacteria gets too high. But a nasty critter found on the bottom of the lake might help keep the beaches open.

There are five new invasive species on the “least wanted list.”

That’s a list the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers puts together. The leaders of the eight states and two provinces on the Lakes decide which species pose the highest risk.

Lakes Superior and Erie have too many sea lampreys.

The invasive fish latch onto big fish like lake trout and salmon and drink their blood and body fluids. A single lamprey can kill up to 40 pounds of fish in its lifetime.

Listen to today's Environment Report.

Around the Great Lakes, millions of dollars are spent to fight invasive species like Asian carp. But when scientists find a new animal or plant in the area, it’s not always clear if it’s harmful or helpful.

An Asian carp was caught this summer in a place where it shouldn’t be – beyond an electric barrier meant to keep the species out of Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes. Now, a researcher at Southern Illinois University is trying to figure out just how it got there.

The sea lamprey is an invasive fish with a round mouth like a suction cup. It latches onto big fish like lake trout and salmon, drills its razor sharp tongue into them, and gets fat drinking their blood and body fluids. A single lamprey can kill up to 40 pounds of fish in its lifetime.

We spend about $20 million dollars a year to control lampreys. One of the main ways people do that is with a pesticide, but researchers are working on other ways to control the invasive species.