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Local News

Class of 2021 Continues Personalized Parking Space Tradition

Port Huron, MI — The high school class of 2021 is gearing up for a Senior Year with a lot of question marks. But one thing that has become a tradition, personalized senior parking spaces, continues.

Seniors at both Port Huron high schools will be painting their parking spaces this weekend, as part of a fairly recent tradition that has been catching on at high schools throughout the region. Port Huron Northern High School Counselor, Julie Barlass, said that this is the fourth year of allowing students to “own” their parking spaces for the school year.

Barlass said, “This gives the seniors an opportunity to express themselves in creative ways and feel valued as the graduating class.” Students pay a nominal fee for the “ownership” and proceeds go toward the Senior Prom.

In light of the cancellations and postponements that have become expected during the pandemic, the keeping of a tradition is a bright spot for the class of 2021. Barlass said, “So much has changed over the past 6 months, and any tiny bit of routine, normalcy, or tradition helps all of us, students included, to feel more comfortable and at ease.  We are very eager to have our students back on campus in a safe manner.  Hopefully painting parking spaces will bring some joy to our seniors who will, undoubtedly, face many changes this year.”

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Last Chance to Shop. Dine. & Win!

St. Clair County, MI — The St. Clair County Economic Development Alliance is leading a Business Recovery Committee to help address the changing needs of St. Clair County businesses during the season of COVID-19. The Committee is made of up leaders working across the county to support, encourage, and promote the business community.

As a result of generous funding received from the DTE Foundation and the AT&T Foundation, the Committee has been sponsoring a campaign to encourage safe & healthy patronage of local businesses. The Shop. Dine. Win. promotion enables shoppers and diners to share a selfie of their visit to a local business for a chance to win $1,000 of prizes each week.

The campaign wraps up on Friday, August 21st, and the Committee decided to double this week’s cash prize giveaway. On Friday, the committee will award two $500 cash prizes and five $100 gift card packages.

Community members who want their chance to win can simply visit a St. Clair County business, snap a selfie, and share their photo on Facebook with the #supportstclaircounty or visit the website at supportstclaircounty.com for more information.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Rejected Ballots in Primary Election Mainly Due to Lateness

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released a report which shared preliminary data on rejected ballot numbers from the primary election. Statewide there were approximately 10,600 rejected ballots.

Ballots can be rejected for several reasons including the voter’s death or change of address after the ballot was sent in and failure to include the ballot in the envelope. The top two issues for this year’s primary election were signature issues and late ballots.

If the signature on the ballot is absent or does not match the signature on record, the ballot will be rejected. In this election 1,438 people failed to sign their ballots, and 787 ballots had signatures that did not match.

Ballots are also rejected if they arrive late. According to the data, 6,405 ballots cast in the primary were marked late. In St. Clair County 128 ballots were considered late.

Michigan House Bill 5987 allows ballots to be tabulated if they are received up to 48 hours after the close of the polls on Election Day, and the data released by the Secretary of State’s office doesn’t break down how many of the late ballots actually arrived within the countable period.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Redistricting Commission is Finalized after 2018 Referendum

Gerrymandering could be a thing of the past with the final selection of the thirteen commissioners for the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The random drawing from the final pool of 180 applicants was made on August 17th.

The new commission includes four citizens who identify as Republicans, four who identify as Democrats, and five who are not affiliated with either party. The whole process was carried out by the office of the Secretary of State and was facilitated by the independent accounting firm, Rehmann, LLC.

The process began in 2018 when a referendum vote took the power to draw U.S. congressional districts, as well as state House and Senate districts, away from the legislature. Many districts were set up to support candidates of a particular party in a practice known as gerrymandering. Over 10,000 citizens applied to be on the commission. The candidates were narrowed down to represent the actual makeup of the state by age, race, gender, and region, using census data.

The political implications of redistricting could be substantial. More information about the process and the outcome can be found at RedistrictingMichigan.org.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

4 Million Free Masks for Vulnerable Michigan Residents

A partnership among the State of Michigan, Ford Motor Company, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is providing free masks for 4  million Michigan residents who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

The MI Mask Aid partnership will send face-coverings to low-income residents through Community Action Agencies, schools, senior centers, and homeless shelters. The partnership is part of a larger campaign called Mask Up, Michigan which provides information about the benefits of face coverings for reducing the chance of COVID-19 transmission.

“Masks are proven to reduce a person’s chance of spreading COVID-19 by about 70 percent. There’s also growing evidence that masks can protect the wearer’s life, by reducing the severity of COVID if they get it,” MDHHS Director Robert Gordon said. “It’s critically important to make sure communities most impacted by COVID-19 have greater access to masks at no cost. The MI Mask Aid initiative is a critical step in this effort.”

Anyone interested in receiving a free mask can find a distribution location by calling the COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Football Moved to Spring with Tough MHSAA Decision

2020 has dealt another low blow. The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced the postponement of the high school football season. The news is a heartbreaker for communities that have come together on Friday nights to cheer on the home teams as well as for the players and coaches who had already been putting in weeks of practices and preparations. But the news is no surprise in a year of cancellations and postponements.

Mark Uyl, Executive Director of MHSAA, explained in a video that football carries greater risks of sustained contact than other fall sports like soccer and golf, therefore, the difficult decision to postpone was made out of concern for the safety of the players. Emotions run high when it comes to high school football and in the video, Uyl gets emotional when he reveals that he is also the parent of a senior football player. He went on to say, “While this is tremendously disappointing, we will do everything possible to provide the best possible experience in the spring while adding football into the calendar.”

Michigan has over 34,000 high school student-athletes with over 600 teams affected. The move to spring will push other sports to summer.

Guidelines for volleyball and boys soccer are expected to be announced on August 19.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland