Holland

The tulips are back! Photos from 2013 Tulip Time Festival

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:31:13 +0000

Stem Fest, no more — this year's Tulip Time festival in Holland is in full bloom.

Last year, the annual flower festival, which brings in hundreds of thousands of tulips and tulip fans alike, notoriously delivered more stems than petals. But Holland's flora is back in action, and Instagram users shared their photos from the fest.

What’s up with the future of advanced batteries?

Lindsey Smith — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:59:26 +0000

Boeing hopes to have a permanent fix for its new Dreamliner jet by the end of the month. All Dreamliners have been grounded since January after reports of the batteries smoking or catching fire.

The news is another bump in the road for lithium ion battery manufacturers, who’ve already had some problems marketing the next generation of batteries.

Lithium ion dominating the market

Lithium ion based batteries are everywhere; your cell phone, laptop or tablet, cordless power tools. But there are several kinds of lithium ion batteries. The ones in the Dreamliner aren’t the same as the ones in consumer electronics.

“We’re in the middle of a horse race and right now lithium ion is far in the lead of that horse race,” Sam Jaffe said. He’s an energy storage analyst with Pike Research.

Records show LG Chem owes more than $250,000 to subcontractors

Lindsey Smith — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:18:34 +0000

Officials from Allegan County confirm three companies have put tax liens on LG Chem’s Holland plant. Andy J. Egan Company’s lien is worth $142,199.73,Circuit Electric’s is worth $107,712.15 and Johnson Controls’ $14,600. They say two other liens from 2011 were paid off.

The plant cost roughly $300 million dollars to build. Federal stimulus money paid for half that cost. Last week the Department of Energy’s Inspector General released a report that concluded the company wasted some of that money. The company paid back more than eight-hundred-thousand dollars.

Despite some bad news, Holland leaders optimistic about battery manufacturing

Lindsey Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:35:11 +0000

Community leaders in Holland, Michigan are trying to stay upbeat about the future of the battery industry they’ve worked so hard to attract.

But the past week has been rough for advanced battery maker LG Chem. A U.S. Department of Energy audit reported the company likely wasted more than a million dollars in grant money.

Not Dutch? New Spanish language magazine launches in Holland

Lindsey Smith — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:09:20 +0000

Most people know Holland, Michigan for its Dutch roots and maybe it’s big tulip festival.

But in the 2010 U.S. Census, more than 1 in 5 people who live in Holland identified as Latino. So maybe it’s no surprise why The Holland Sentinel newspaper decided to put out a new Spanish language monthly magazine.