Portman says Asian carp bill changes the status quo
Ohio Senator Rob Portman says his law attempting to stop the spread of Asian carp changes things in two important ways.

“The focus previously has been on just a couple of potential tributaries into the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie where we have a special interest.  This requires them to more broadly study various ways that the carp could get into the (lake), including some of the tributaries in Ohio like the Maumee. So it expands what they’re looking at, … but also forces them to do it more quickly.” 

Portman, a Republican, and Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan had cosponsored the Stop Invasive Species Act, which President Obama signed Friday.

The time line in the law requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to submit a progress report within 90 days and a full plan within 18 months to stop the carp from penetrating the Great Lakes across 18 possible points of entry. 

The imported carp have been migrating up the Mississippi River for the last decade after flooding washed them out of fish farms down south. They have no natural predators and Great Lakes states are worried they could destroy the food supply in the lakes. 

Port Authority likely will look for voter support for lakefront transformation
A key committee of the board that runs the Cleveland-Cuyahoga Port Authority voted this morning to ask voters to OK a levy that would raise $90 million to open up access to the lakefront for development and to fix bulkheads and other crumbling sections of the Cuyahoga River. 

The Plain Dealer says both Cuyahoga County Executive  Ed Fitzgeralf and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson support the increase in the levy. Owners of a $100,000 home now pay about $3.50 a year in taxes for the port. Under the new plan, that would go up to $20 a year.  

VA expands telecommutes for patients
The Cleveland VA is getting $1.2 million to expand a telemedicine program to help treat vets with chronic illnesses get more treatment in their home communities. The money has been going to the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and 13 outpatient clinics in the Northeast Ohio region. Vets will be able to get a consultation with a specialist either in-person or through a teleconference. Primary care physicians will also participate in the calls.

Drillers say Kasich's Lake Erie ban is a bad sign
A day after Gov. John Kasich issued an executive order banning oil and gas drilling in Lake Erie, Ohio’s drilling industry is criticizing the move. In one way, the governor’s action doesn’t change anything, since Congress banned drilling in all the Great Lakes seven years ago. But a lobbyist for Ohio drillers, Tom Stewart, says the governor’s ban still sends the wrong message.

“I don’t think it was necessary for him to do that,” Stewart says. “So you know we’ll just let the Canadians drill it. The Canadians have been drilling there since the early 1960s and the Canadians have very successfully drilled literately thousands of wells in Lake Erie without any environmental problems, incidents or impact.”

Meanwhile, environmental activists are applauding the governor for the Lake Erie ban. They say a state ban is an important backup because Congress could repeal the national ban. Activists worry that drilling will endanger marine life.