USDA Funding Helps Convert a Michigan School Building into Quality Senior Housing

Once a school, this underutilized building is now home to senior citizens with funding support from USDA Rural Development. 

USDA Rural Development provided a loan guarantee through the Multi-Family Housing Guarantee Program.  Construction began on August 12, 2008 and was completed in mid-February of last year.

Durand, which is known for its historic railroad station, now has another link to its proud past and a former neighborhood eyesore is once again a bustling center for the community.

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Pay Fishermen to Catch Trash

If you've been following the news about our poor oceans you know they're getting stripped of fish and filled with plastic debris at the same time. We usually think of these problems as independent of each other, but maybe there's a way to tackle them both at once.

In European fishing waters, up to two thirds of caught fish, usually already dead, are thrown back by fleets who've surpassed their quota or want to make room for a higher value fish. Called "discarding," it's a wasteful practice that puts extra strain on fish stocks, and the European Union's fisheries commissioner, Maria Damanaki, wants to ban it.

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Remodeling market shows signs of life

While the housing recovery is proving uneven at best, there are signs that remodeling activity is starting to heat up. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University predicts that remodeling will rebound in 2011 after a three-year downturn. The latest Remodeling Market Index by the National Association of Home Builders reached its highest level in four years. And the most recent Residential BuildFax Remodeling Index rose 20 percent year-over-year in February to 95.1, the highest February number in the index since 2006.

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