Daily Briefs

Health system plans arts destination in Detroit neighborhood


DETROIT (AP) — A health system plans to turn a vacant commercial building in Detroit into an arts destination.

Henry Ford Health System plans to revitalize the building near Henry Ford Hospital with help from a $200,000 grant from the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation.

The building also will have education and community meeting space. The “ArtBlock” project will feature five public art installations, including murals and interactive rideable, animal-shaped and pedal-powered metal sculptures.

Mary Jane Vogt, a senior vice president at Henry Ford, says the project is the health system’s most significant investment in public arts and arts education.

The project is in the Northwest Goldberg neighborhood. The construction site of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute’s Brigette Harris Cancer Pavilion is nearby.

 

New national park push being made for Indiana Dunes


PORTER, Ind. (AP) — A new effort is being made in Congress to designate the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore along Lake Michigan as a national park.

A bill for the designation has been filed by Indiana Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun and Rep. Pete Visclosky. The same proposal was approved by the House in 2017 but failed to get through the last Congress. The Senate didn’t take a vote.

Visclosky says designating Indiana Dunes as a national park would recognize what he calls the lakeshore’s environmental wonder and enhance the region’s economy.

The national lakeshore was established in 1966 and now includes about 15,000 acres at the southern end of Lake Michigan. There’s also an Indiana state park in the area.

 

Cancer study considers toxic air pollution
 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Michigan regulators are expanding an investigation into air pollution produced by a medical-device manufacturer, and the results could be factored into a cancer study.

The Department of Environmental Quality this month announced plans to widen air-quality testing around the Viant Medical facility in Grand Rapids, The Grand Rapids Press reported.

The department issued several pollution violations after noting elevated emissions of ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen. The company uses the chemical to sterilize medical equipment.

Exposure to the toxin at low levels over months or years can harm the eyes, skin, respiratory passages and the nervous system, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Constant exposure over time could cause neuropathy, kidney damage, liver damage. Pregnant women could miscarry.

Viant said it is cooperating with the investigation.

The DEQ study shows that toxins from the facility could be present in the area where the Kent County Health Department is studying cancer cases.

A public meeting on the issue will be held March 6.
 

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