Welcome to the Great Lakes Town Hall

What is the Town Hall? Like the town meetings on which it is modeled, the Great Lakes Town Hall provides a "space" where residents from all across the Great Lakes basin can come together to share and explore what it means to be a Great Laker – from discussing common concerns and policy initiatives to sharing the unique culture and experiences of life on our Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Town Hall has two main components, The Daily Post, a short commentary added each morning by a guest writer and the Weekly Editorial, posted by one of the three Great Lakes Town Hall editors.

The Daily Post

Helpers, hindrances and magic

Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:57 — Kevin McMahon

Making a documentary film requires the building of a virtual community. Documentary makers are always dependent on the kindness of strangers for access to the people and places we need to tell a story. At it's worst, of course, that means wheedling into people's lives and making a spectacle of them, as so much "reality television" does. But, at its best, documentary is a collaboration between filmmakers and a community which presents a reality that is important to some group of people - sometimes all of us, sometimes a particular few -- and that will, as a finished product, be somehow useful to some or to all.

Road trips and fairy tales

2 days 6 hours ago

Half full? Or half empty?

3 days 8 hours ago

Getting Waterlife Off the Ground

Weekly Editorial

Great Lakes Compact, the Debate Continues

Sun, 06/28/2009 - 22:16 — Gary Wilson

We're approaching a year since the Compact to prevent water from being diverted out of the Great Lakes region was signed into law.

It was just last August that, after a relatively easy approval by the states, Congress did a drive-by review and rubber-stamped the agreement. President Bush signed the legislation and it's the law.

If you remember, when the legislation hit the House of Representatives, Bart Stupak of Michigan, with the support of Betsy McCollum of Minnesota, and Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, expressed a concern about the language that facilitates privatization of water and exposes the Great Lakes to export.

This despite the ongoing statements that the Compact provided "ironclad protections" for the Lakes.

Great Lakes Spotlight

Great Lakes Forever Photo Contest

Wed, 06/17/2009 - 09:30 — Rebecca Dill

Together, Budweiser and Great Lakes Forever have been offering the Great Lakes Forever Photo Contest for the past four years. Each year the grand prize winning photo from the amateur and professional divisions is placed on Budweiser's Great Lakes beer coasters. Last year, the winning photos were printed on more than 120,000 beer coasters that were distributed throughout the Great Lakes region also feature fun facts and actions people can take to protect the Lakes. The contest is a unique partnership between one of the world's largest beer makers and a regional non-profit organization working to protect the Great Lakes.