State to allow commercial solar panels on more farmland
LANSING (AP) — State officials have decided to allow solar panels for larger commercial solar arrays to be built on more farmland around the state.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Gary McDowell say the department has decided to allow land enrolled in the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program to be used for such solar power projects.
McDowell says in a statement the change will provide a "new opportunity for Michigan's farmers to diversify."
The land preservation program provides tax incentives to landowners who keep properties for agricultural use. Michigan says about 3.4 million acres of farmland currently are enrolled in the program and developers were having trouble finding farmland for large solar projects.
Court won’t get involved in Prophet Muhammad ad case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will not hear a dispute that began when a group tried to have Washington transit officials display an ad with a provocative cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
The justices said Monday they would not get involved in the case.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative in 2015 submitted an ad that depicted a sword-wielding Prophet Muhammad saying: “You can’t draw me!”
Muslims generally believe any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is blasphemous. The cartoon won a contest the group sponsored.
After the ad was submitted, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s board of directors voted to temporarily suspend all issue-oriented advertisements on the region’s rail and bus system.
No tools needed: Goats to eat unwanted plants in Ann Arbor
ANN ARBOR (AP) — Goats have been invited to a feast at a popular Ann Arbor park.
The Ann Arbor News reports that 10 goats will start roaming two islands at Gallup Park to eat invasive plants, starting Thursday.
It's being promoted as an efficient way to get rid of weeds and other undesirable vegetation. Deputy parks manager Scott Spooner says staff can work elsewhere instead of cutting and pulling plants.
The islands and pedestrian bridges will be closed through June 27, although there will be opportunities to see the goats in action on June 10, June 19 and June 24.
Gator busts through kitchen window, breaks bottles of wine
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say an 11-foot alligator busted through a kitchen window and broke several bottles of red wine in a Florida home before it was captured.
Police tweeted that the gator was removed from Mary Wischhusen's Clearwater condominium early Friday. No one was injured.
Wischhusen uses a walker. She told news outlets that the moment she saw the lumbering reptile, she moved into her bedroom, closed the door and called police.
She says she played computer games while waiting for help to arrive.
Wischhusen says it took two trappers and 10 police officers two hours to get the alligator out of the home, where she has lived for almost four decades.
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