George James

If you see an unusual number of people wearing red today, it is because February 7 is “National Wear Red Day.” As part of February’s recognition of heart health month, each year on the first Friday in February, across the state and the nation, millions of people will wear red attire to raise awareness of heart disease in women. Women and men throughout the country will be wearing red to show their support of this movement to save women’s lives. Sadly, heart disease is the number one cause of death in both men and women in the U.S., including right here in St. Clair County.

There is good news: 80% of cardiac events can be prevented with lifestyle changes and proper education. Local healthcare providers are also focusing efforts on heart health with McLaren Port Huron set to open the James C. Acheson Heart & Vascular Center, a new comprehensive cardiac and vascular center, this summer.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Port Huron’s Rotary Club is celebrating 100 years in 2020. To commemorate the substantial milestone, the club is set to hold three large events beginning with the annual Three Grand Slam this weekend, International Day Parade in July and a 100 Years of Service Celebration May 1. The early May event was set to be held at Hotel Harrington in downtown Port Huron, but organizers were forced to change the location after developers notified the Rotary Club that a commitment for the space was being canceled. Developers of the St. Clair Inn announced the purchase of Hotel Harrington in September of 2018 with original plans to be open by summer 2019. 

The Port Huron Rotary club’s event will now be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel’s Abbey Room where the club currently meets every Thursday. Rather than a fundraiser, the 100-year celebration will be a grant giveaway to 10 local nonprofits that will be drawn randomly from 100 different organizations in which Port Huron Rotarians serve. The club was founded on March 1, 1920.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Each year, local non-profit Operation Transformation gives other community non-profits the opportunity to be reviewed for compliance with general legal and best-practices requirements through the OT Certification Yearly Checklist. The organization has announced this week that the OT Certification Team, comprised of professionals in many fields including legal and finance, has found seven local non-profits have met the requirements. 

 The organizations that made the list this year are A Beautiful Me, Blue Water Area Rescue Mission, Bridge Builders Counseling & Mentoring, Hunter Hospitality House, SONS, Spero, and Youth for Christ. The checklist is a way for organizations to be sure that they are using best practices to use donors’ money in the most ethical and efficient ways. It also gives donors some reassurance as to the effectiveness of their donations. There are nine categories in the certification process ranging from organizational and financial details to governance and risk management practices. According to their website, “The goal of this Self-Review Checklist is to be a support mechanism to assess that your organization’s house is in good order so that you will be better able to expand your activities and fundraising efforts.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Standing in line at the Secretary of State office to renew tabs for your vehicle’s license plate could be a thing of the past with the introduction of self-service kiosks. There is now a Michigan Secretary of State self-service kiosk at the Marysville Meijer. With the kiosk, drivers can now renew their plates while grabbing groceries. There is also a kiosk at the Port Huron SOS Branch. 

The renewal service applies to automobiles, motorcycles, and watercrafts. The stations do have limitations, though. For example, users can not renew their drivers’ licenses at the stations, nor can they change their address. While users can print out car or motorcycle tabs at the station, stickers for boats or other watercraft will be mailed. 

To use the kiosk, the renewal notice or plate number, along with the last four VIN numbers are needed. Payment is accepted by credit or debit card. Some stations accept cash. There is a fee of $3.95 per transaction, which goes to the kiosk provider. The service stations are now located at Secretary of State branches and select Kroger and Meijer stores around the state. More features are expected to be added in the future.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has awarded a state Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) Category F grant of $375,000 to the City of Marysville to improve Cuttle Road. To preserve the route’s integrity for trucking traffic, the City of Marysville will reconstruct Cuttle Road west of Shamrock Lane to the westside of Pauls Court.

Cuttle is a heavily used east-west truck route in the city of Marysville that serves as a bypass from the industrial area to I-94. The high volume of commercial and industrial vehicles has contributed to the deterioration of the road and left the pavement in poor condition. The total cost of construction is just over $509,000 that is made up of a $375,000 in Category F funds and a little more than $134,000 from the City of Marysville.

According to estimates from Marysville’s Department of Public Works Director, funding will most likely be available later in the year with work beginning in early 2021. 

TEDF funds through the state are designated to help finance highway, road and street projects that are critical to the movement of people and products, and getting workers to their jobs, materials to growers and manufacturers, and finished goods to consumers. TEDF “Category F” or “Urban Areas in Rural Counties” grants provide state funding for public roadway improvements that create system continuity with the secondary all-season road system.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Students at Port Huron’s Central Middle School have brought home the Best Use of Energy Prize from the Michigan Regional Future City Competition, held in Novi last week. Their innovative use of simulated battery-powered generators stood out from the rest of the competition.

Future City is put on by the Engineering Society of Detroit and is described as a “cross-curricular educational program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, design, and build cities of the future”. Students use SimCity software to design their city, write an essay about it, build a city from recycled materials, and present their plan and project to a panel of judges. This year’s theme was “Clean Water: Tap into Tomorrow.”

Central’s Principal Shawn Shackelford said that the kids worked very hard and are already planning for next year after hearing some of the other presentations. He credited the parents of the participants and staff members Ms. Hein and Mrs. Pawson for mentoring the team. He said that the team was a little nervous as this was their first time in the competition, but they learned a lot and are excited about next year’s theme: “Life on Mars.”

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.