George James

Mercatante Receives State Health Policy Champion Award

Dr. Annette Mercatante, the St. Clair County Medical Health Officer, will be heading to Lansing next week to receive the Jean Chabut Health Policy Champion Award.

The award is presented to those who have made noteworthy contributions toward the health and well-being of Michigan citizens regarding state or local policy.

Jennifer Michaluk, spokesperson for the St. Clair County Health Department, said, “Our staff is very touched that Dr. Mercatante has received this award. Dr. Mercatante has worked tirelessly to protect the health and wellbeing of the residents of St. Clair County. We refer to her as our fearless leader because she has devoted 15 years of service to understanding and addressing the needs of this community.”

Michaluk continued, saying, “As she finishes out her time with the Health Department, we celebrate her and all that she has done to make St. Clair County a better place.” 

Earlier this year, the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners voted to split Mercatante’s role into two jobs, effectively eliminating her position.  She indicated she will not be applying for either new job.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Art Contest to Bring Awareness to Storm Drains and Waterways

The Friends of the St. Clair River are looking to draw attention to storm drains. Storm drains can have a big impact on water quality. What goes into the drain generally goes right into rivers and streams.

The Thumb Coast Storm Drain Art Project will highlight the storm drains with art. Artists of all ages and abilities can enter the contest to create designs that demonstrate the importance of keeping water clean and thinking twice before pouring something harmful down the storm drain.

Entries need to be submitted by April 30th and the winners will be paid a stipend of $150 per drain to paint their designs. The art will be placed at 24 locations in Port Huron, St. Clair, and Marine City. They will be at highly visible locations like sidewalk intersections and park entrances.

Winners will need their own brushes, but paint and sealer will be provided. The winners of the design contest will be decided in May and the painting will coincide with festivals in respective cities to draw awareness to storm drains and water quality.

www.scriver.org/StormDrainProject

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Mecanum Knights Win First Place and Imagery Award at Macomb Tournament

The Mecanum Knights are flying high after a stellar tournament weekend. The Port Huron Schools Robotics Team ended up being on the winning alliance to end last weekend’s Macomb District event with a bang.

Robotic teams form “alliances” in strategic bids to match team strengths and work together to accomplish the game’s tasks.

Kristen McRobie, Enrichment Coordinator for Port Huron Schools, explained, “During alliance selections, The Mecanum Knights were chosen by the 1st seed alliance to compete alongside of Team 1189, The Gearheads, out of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Team 494, The Martians from Goodrich, Michigan.  The First Seed Alliance dominated the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final matches and won the Macomb District event with a record of 6-0 in the playoff rounds.”

The Team also brought home the Imagery Award, which celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.

The next event is the State Finals at Saginaw Valley State University on April 13-16th.

http://www.team3667.com/

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Urban Pioneer Program Can Help First Time Homebuyers in City of Port Huron with a $10,000 Grant

For first-time homebuyers looking to buy a house in the City of Port Huron, the Urban Pioneer Program could help with a down payment and closing costs. The program, funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, is increasing the grants from $5,000 to $10,000 to keep up with rising home prices.

Jazmyn Thomas, Community Development Program Administrator, said that the City has the goal of increasing homeownership in the city. Thomas said that the program has helped over 150 households since 2011 and has funds available, anticipating the housing market heating up in the coming months.

The process of buying and owning a home can be complicated, and the grants are awarded after the future homeowners have worked with both a lender and a realtor and have found a home.

A free class is available through Blue Water Community Action that explains homeownership in great detail and is recommended by the Urban Pioneer Program.

There are income requirements for the program, such as a maximum income of $65,000 for a family of four. Links to details for the Urban Pioneer Program and the Homebuyer Education Class can be found below.

https://www.bwcaa.org/homebuyer-education

https://www.porthuron.org/departments/planning_community_development/community_development_division.php

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Detroit Chosen for 2024 NFL Draft; Free Preview Party April 14th

The National Football League has selected Detroit as the host for the 2024 NFL Draft. The decision is expected to have huge economic impacts on the entire southeastern Michigan region.

Football fans have gotten more and more excited about the draft in recent years, and the event is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of people. Along with the actual player draft, there will be a “Draft Experience” football theme park.

Who cares about the NFL Draft? A lot of people. Pre-covid, a crowd of over 600,000 attended the 2019 draft in Nashville, Tennessee. The event is televised over three days with 6.1 million viewers in 2021.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “The draft has become a prominent offseason event across the country, and we are excited to work with the Lions and their partners to bring the 2024 NFL Draft to the Motor City.”

The actual draft will be held in Campus Martius in Downtown Detroit, and the Detroit Sports Commission is hosting a free event on April 14th to give some previews of the Draft that is coming to the city in 2024.

Draft Preview Details

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

National Public Health Week Reminds Community of A Century of Health Gains

It’s National Public Health Week. The St. Clair County Health Department is celebrating the week by diving deeper into issues affecting public health, and rallying around the theme “Public Health is Where You Are”. 

Anyone can check out the daily reflections on the Health Department’s social media accounts. 

In an editorial press release, St. Clair County Health Department Medical Health Officer, Dr. Annette Mercatante reminded the community of the vital role of public health in human history. Vaccines have eliminated things like smallpox and polio. Safer workplaces are the result of public health initiatives. 

Mercatante pointed out that awareness of the dangers of smoking is the result of public health campaigns, and that life expectancy has increased by thirty years over the past century. 

Mercatante said, “Public health touches you every minute of every day and in turn makes our community stronger and more resilient.”

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland