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Local News

Blue Water YMCA Helps RESET for 2021

If you’re ready to actively put 2020 behind you, the Blue Water YMCA wants to help you RESET for 2021. Their RESET Challenge is designed to help transform the spirit, mind, and body beginning on February 1st.

The Y’s Healthy Living Sr. Program Director, Jenny McElwain, said, “Everyone’s ready for a new focus, a reset, after 2020. We want the RESET Challenge to engage the entire community in moving and feeling better.”

The challenge includes 150 minutes of physical activity a week for 6 weeks and comes along with three encouraging texts each week filled with motivation, challenges, and workouts. RESET Challenge participants can also enjoys some free classes to further inspire them in their fitness goals.

The Blue Water YMCA’s new Executive Director, Josh Chapman, begins his position this week, and he’s encouraging the community to participate. “It’s the perfect time to take back our lives, reenergize, achieve goals, feel better and stronger,” said Chapman.

You can learn more about the RESET Challenge at www.bluewaterymca.com

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Knowlton Ice Museum Now Officially Owned by Community Foundation

Port Huron, MI — The Knowlton Ice Museum in Downtown Port Huron has officially entered a new phase. It’s operations and ownership have been handed over to the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, along with an ample endowment. The Community Foundation currently owns a growing portfolio of properties in the region.

Jackie Hanton, Vice President of the Community Foundation, said, “We’re really excited about the Knowlton Museum being neighbors with the future ‘Wrigley Center’ development in downtown Port Huron and the opportunities that may present. We look forward to exploring options to allow families and tourists to interact with the collection in new and exciting ways. But for the time being the regular seasonal schedule will continue.”

The collection was curated by Mickey and Agnes Knowlton, the founders of Party Time Ice. It is thought to be the largest known collection of ice harvesting and processing historical items, with many items dating back to the days when ice was harvested off of the St. Clair River.

Winter hours at the Museum are 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Whitmer Expecting Indoor Dining to Resume Feb 1st

At a press conference today, Governor Whitmer expressed that Michigan has been a leader in fighting COVID-19. She said the state is seeing an increased demand for vaccines, and they have brought Meijer on as a pharmacy partner to help achieve their goal of 50,000 vaccines administered per day.

MDHHS Director Robert Gordon spoke about the physical and emotional toll that COVID-19 has had on Michiganders especially in winter. Therefore, beginning January 16th, the restrictions on indoor fitness and group athletics are being lifted.

The state is also looking for ways to safely reopen restaurants for indoor dining, and they project that on Feb 1st indoor dining can resume with safety precautions in place such as masks, curfews, and capacity limits.

Residents are encouraged to continue adhering to mask wearing and refrain from attending indoor gatherings with people outside their household to contribute to the positive trend the state is experiencing with the virus.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

 

 

 

Michigan Food Security Council Addresses Food Insecurity

The Michigan Food Security Council has made recommendations to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to maintain food security during the ongoing pandemic. The Council’s goal is to help struggling Michiganders, both those who face food insecurity on a regular basis and those who are experiencing it for the first time, to be able to feed nutritious food to their families.

The recommendations include addressing food needs by pursuing existing federal food program services and seeking flexible service options such as home delivery and incentives for retailers to accept food assistance benefits. Over 1.2 million Michigan residents get food benefits. Collaboration with partners to improve the infrastructure for food and nutrition programs is also proposed, along with helping communities to develop local community response programs. 

Michigan’s food supply has remained sufficient throughout the pandemic, but the Council recommended developing strategies to address panic buying, prioritizing food workers for PPE, and engaging restaurants to deliver prepared meals to vulnerable populations. 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

No Vaccine Appointments Available at St. Clair County Health Department

The St. Clair County Health Departments is experiencing a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, and there are no appointments available at this time. Vaccine supplies are allocated by the state on a week by week basis, so they recommend connecting with their social media pages and checking their website for updates on availability.

There is no waiting list, and they are asking residents to refrain from calling or showing up at the Health Department unexpectedly to ask about vaccines.

Dr. Annette Mercatante, Medical Health Officer, stated “We are using vaccine allocation as fast as we can. Please be patient as we work to ensure equitable distribution of these scarce resources. As vaccine supply increases, most initial distributions will take place at central locations to vaccinate many people quickly. We will expand as we can.”

The online vaccine scheduler is available <HERE> and will be updated as soon as new appointments are available.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

Radon Testing Urged as Families Spend More Time at Home

January is Radon Action Month. Radon is a radioactive gas and is produced through natural decomposition in soil. The gas can migrate from the ground and into basements and entire buildings.

Radon is second only to smoking as a leading cause of lung cancer and is considered to be a leading environmental culprit for cancer deaths in the nation. With many people setting up home offices in the basement or elsewhere throughout their homes during the pandemic, as well as being home more than ever before, it is important to know the risk in every home.

There is no way to know if there is radon in a home without testing. Radon testing should be done every two to five years. Test kits are available at hardware and home improvement stores. If radon is detected, mitigation systems, which circulate the contaminated air out of the house quickly, can be installed. At least one quarter of all homes in Michigan are estimated to have radon levels above the acceptable limit.

More information and a link to obtain a test kit can be found at Michigan.gov/radon.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland