George James

If you ever wanted to tell the state how you think schools should be run, here’s your chance. The State of Michigan Department of Education is updating its “Top 10 in 10 Strategic Education Plan” and is asking for resident input. 

Blue Water Area native and St. Clair County Community College graduate Casandra Ulbrich Ph.D. is the President of the Michigan State Board of Education and is asking anyone with a stake in public education including students, parents, educators, and community members, to take a moment to help narrow down educational priorities. 

The current plan has a large number of guiding principles, goals, and strategies. Ulbrich said they “are hoping that a revised plan will be more streamlined, clear and concise, with focused goals and metrics.” The survey takes a few minutes to complete and asks respondents to prioritize improvement areas in matters such as early childhood education, vocational education, high school graduation rates, and others.  There is also an opportunity to add your own priorities.

The responses from these surveys will help shape focus groups which will narrow down the priorities. The survey is open until February 7 and can be found at Michigan.gov/mde.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Port Huron Police conducted first responder training Saturday morning that included Port Huron police and fire, the Michigan State Police, Border Patrol, and Port Huron schools. This training is part of an ongoing effort to provide first responders with information on rapid response, engaging/stopping threats, tactical first aid, and other issues related to active killer events. 

The training that took place January 18th was preceded by a training  last April as part of a grant to the Port Huron Police Department from the Community Oriented Policing Services under the 2018 COPS STOP School Violence: School Violence Prevention program.

Student and faculty safety in schools is a critical department priority, and resulting improvements include implementation of the School Resource Officer program and the school wide ALICE training initiative.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

The St. Clair County 4-H Fair is a summertime tradition in the Blue Water Area, and some may argue it’s one of the best in the state. The event, however, doesn’t happen without the work of dedicated volunteers that were recently recognized. 

Ania Grescvzak of Marysville, Linda Taylor of Emmett, and Bernadette Dudek of Port Huron were all honored at the recent Michigan Association of Fairs and Exhibitions for their contributions to the local fair. Ania received the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award for Zone 2. Fair Board member and secretary, Chris Rumenapp, described Ania as the “go-to” girl and cited her many hours of volunteer service with the behind the scenes aspects of the fair and the Ag Adventure Tour that is held in the summer.

Linda Taylor has a long history of dedication to the event and, this year, was the driving force behind bringing “Michigan Chillers” author Johnathan Rand to the fair. Ms. Taylor received the Volunteer of the Year Award. 

Finally, Bernadette Dudek received the prestigious Heritage Award for Zone 2 for her many years of service. Rumenapp described Ms. Dudek as an integral part of the fair since 1982 and as holding the record for the youngest member elected to the board at the age of 18. She has served on the board for 38 years and has had a big part in the successful livestock auctions over the past 12 years. 

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Fort Gratiot Township has announced the consolidation of some voting precincts. Township Clerk Bob Beuchler said the changes are being made in order to allow for the high number of voters participating via absentee ballot in the upcoming elections. 

The changes are expected to impact approximately 800 voters total according to the clerk. Beuchler said they “attempted to impact as few voters as possible,” while doing everything they could to prepare for the increase in turnout as well as absentee ballots.

 All voters affected by the changes in the precincts will receive a new voter ID card in the mail in the next few weeks with the new precinct and polling location information. Beuchler said absentee ballot applications for the March 10, 2020 presidential primary election were mailed out to residents on the permanent absentee voter list this week. A map of the new precinct lines is available on the township’s website, social media, and newsletter.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Kimball Township will soon have a place to grab your daily coffee. Kimball residents, Andrea and Christopher Shifflett, are putting the final touches on Cafe Nola Coffee Shop before they open their doors to the public.

The couple hopes to share their love of New Orleans through NoLa style food, beverages, and desserts as well as their classic New Orleans decor. They also cite the inclusive feel of the city, where everyone is welcome, and intend to bring that element to the cafe as well. Over the course of 10 years, they’ve tried four other times to create their dream. Andrea says they’ve hit roadblocks in previous attempts, but this time they have not.

This family-owned coffee shop’s signature beverage will be a praline latte with other beverage specialties including hot chocolate and Bubble Tea. As far as food, the sharable muffaletta will be the featured item as well as a variety of homemade baked goods.

For the full story, go to ebw.tv.

A positive ending was the conclusion of a missing and endangered case in Sanilac County. 

The Sanilac County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a Missing Person’s case of 31-year-old Tara Sheldon and her 3-year-old daughter Alydiauna Munn who had not been heard from in more than four days. Sheldon’s grandfather reported the incident to police after he had last heard from her around 9:45 p.m. Monday night when Tara indicated to him over the phone that her van had been broken into. He did not hear from her after that.

When Sheldon did not return the call, her grandfather reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office. Authorities contacted friends, acquaintances, and coworkers, with none of them reporting having heard from her.

Through the course of their investigation, the Sheriff’s Office had received information that Tara Sheldon and her daughter were seen at a business in Bay City over the course of several days. The Sheriff’s Office was able to verify the information after receiving pictures from the store surveillance system. The photos were shown to family members who were able to confirm it was Tara and her daughter in the photo. The woman and her daughter did not appear to be in any apparent danger or duress at the time the photo was taken.

The Sanilac County Sheriff’s Office thanked all the law enforcement partners including the Michigan State Police for their assistance in this investigation and all the concerned citizens who called with potential information.