WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency issued the following news: Warfighters are burdened with transporting and disposing of single-use materials, and have limited ability to create valuable materials when and where needed. To address these challenges, DARPA has selected teams from Battelle, Iowa State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michigan Technological University, in addition to government partners from the I  more

BATTLE CREEK, Michigan, Jan. 16 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency issued the following news: The Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services uses a wide variety of material handling equipment to load and off-load trucks every day in support of warfighters. Having people trained on the MHEs is vital not only to complete the mission but to ensure it is done in a safe manner. Without trained operators, equipment sits idle; tasks go undone. When the DLA Disposition Se  more

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia, Jan. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency issued the following news: From personal protective equipment for sailors aboard Pacific-based aircraft carriers to tents for state testing sites, military and federal agencies responding to the COVID-19 pandemic have benefited from over $40 million worth of excess property distributed through Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services' Reutilization, Transfer and Donation Program. Property disposal  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division issued the following news release on Jan. 14: The president and owner of Oil Chem Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court in Flint, Michigan, to a criminal charge of violating the Clean Water Act stemming from illegal discharges of landfill leachate -- totaling more than 47 million gallons -- into the city of Flint sanitary sewer system over an eight and a half year period. Robert J. Massey, 69, of  more

DETROIT, Michigan, Jan. 14 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Matthew Schneider, issued the following news release on Jan. 12: The Justice Department announced today that three individuals have been charged in an indictment with conspiracy to export U.S. goods to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), as well as conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, and cons  more

EAST LANSING, Michigan, Jan. 13 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service - Great Lakes Regional Field Office issued the following news release: The 2020 growing season in Michigan was a great improvement over 2019, according to Marlo Johnson, Regional Director of the USDA NASS, Great Lakes Regional Office. Michigan's average corn yield was 154 bushels per acre, up 7 bushels from 2019. Production was 306 million bushels from 1.99 million acres. Acres harve  more

EAST LANSING, Michigan, Jan. 13 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service - Great Lakes Regional Field Office issued the following news release: On December 1, 2020, Michigan corn stocks totaled 255 million bushels, 30 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Marlo Johnson, Director, USDA NASS, Great Lakes Regional Office. About 71 percent of the corn was stored on farms. The first quarter disappearance was 87.4 million bushels, compared with 81.6   more

EAST LANSING, Michigan, Jan. 13 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service - Great Lakes Regional Field Office issued the following news release: Michigan winter wheat seeded area for 2021 is estimated at 580,000 acres, an increase of 18 percent from last year, according to Marlo Johnson, Director of the USDA NASS, Great Lakes Regional Office. Winter wheat planting and emergence progressed ahead of the five-year average throughout the fall. The crop condit  more

HOUGHTON, Michigan, Jan. 16 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service issued the following news release: Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials, and to support the nation's effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, NPS personnel and researchers will not be conducting research on Isle Royale this winter. Researchers from Michigan Technological University, State University of New York College of Environmental Sc  more

BATTLE CREEK, Michigan, Jan. 12 -- The U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency issued the following news: A Defense Logistics Agency award has gone out to Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Samson McLester, a senior enlisted leader, for his service in 2020. DLA Disposition Services Director Mike Cannon congratulated McLester, the superintendent for DLA Disposition Services in Qatar and Senior Enlisted Leader for the Central region, on his selection as DLA's Logistics Readiness Senior N  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the following news release: Since the discovery of zebra mussels at the South Dakota Big Bend powerhouse intake gates in the summer of 2019, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has conducted an internal analysis of the potential alternatives to control the invasive species. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service zebra mussels can grow up to 1.9 inches as full adults. The first instance of the invasive species in the United States  more

ARLINGTON, Virginia, Jan. 14 -- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the following news release: In 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports there were 29 mining fatalities, making it the sixth consecutive year that mining fatalities were below 30. Among those fatalities, five occurred in coal mines, a historic low. MSHA reports that three deaths occurred in Kentucky and Louisiana; two each in Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Texas and West Vi  more

SUVA, Fiji, Jan. 12 -- The U.S. Embassy in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu issued the following news release: The United States Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu Joseph Cella convened more than fifty representatives from Fiji's private sector, including business leaders, business associations, and civil society, for a Fiji Forward Business and Economic Roundtable entitled "Building Bridges Between Civil Society, Business, and Government." Three speakers from Ambass  more