This week from Capital News Service

Beach closures predicted, test kitchen and food lab, coal ash in roads and more

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Friday, April 4 — Each week, City Pulse runs a series of stories produced by Capital News Service correspondents at Michigan State University’s School of Journalism. This week’s topics include a new study predicting more beach closures this summer after a harsh winter; a multi-million dollar test kitchen at MSU; a recycling proposal to turn coal ash into roads; how rural hospitals are dealing with the Affordable Care Act rollout; and more.
  • Even after all of Michigan’s snow has melted, it could still find a way to adversely impact peoples’ summer plans by increasing the risk of water-borne illness from E. coli and triggering beach closures, according to a new U of M study. We hear from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab and the Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health. By Alexandra Harakas.
  • Michigan could be in line for a multi-million dollar industrial test kitchen and food production laboratory. The center proposed by Michigan State University could help launch job-producing food entrepreneurs across the state while giving a boost to the farm economy. By Danielle Woodward.
  • Industries could earn extra revenue and save on landfill costs under a recycling proposal that would allow them to turn coal ash into roads and copper sand into shingles and use other industrial byproducts to enrich farm fields. The move requires legislation to reclassify the material now rated as hazardous and requiring specialized disposal. By Ashley Weigel.
  • Michigan’s rural hospitals, struggling financially, now face a new world under expanded Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Some have opted for partnerships with bigger city hospitals. All are waiting to see what happens next. By Darcie Moran.
  • The harsh winter has delayed the delivery of fertilizer, the start of corn planting and the harvesting of asparagus. Water tables are high which could help root systems but in the short term, makes it impossible to work the fields. By Nick Stanek.
  • Landfill waste is on the decline. We look at a Kent County landfill over the years. By Marte Skaara.

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