Local News

Middle and high school can be difficult when students are having trouble with their self-esteem. To give kids a boost, St. Clair Middle School has adopted a nationwide program called the Positivity Project to help form the whole student including social and emotional needs.

St. Clair Middle School Principal, Mike Domagalski, discovered the program roughly two years ago and the entire school has been on board since then. Each week, teachers at the school share the Positivity Project lessons with a focus on one of 24 different character strengths. During this week, in honor of Valentine’s Day, the characteristic was love. The lessons are interactive with questions and videos to help students of all learning types.

Within this program, the school also features Talk To Me Tuesday, where during lunch, students put away electronics and talk with each other about the week’s topic. Assemblies and special events are also held throughout the year that focus on positivity and related topics. 

Laura McDonell, a Teacher at St. Clair Middle School, says that her 8th graders have embraced the Positivity Project and are even eager to help lead the daily lessons. 

To learn more about the Positivity Project and its impact on students, go to ebw.tv.

A lawsuit involving, now, former investors, Steve Fernandez and Michele Jones, and the current owner of Fuel Woodfire Grill, Tio Gordos Cantina and Lake FX restaurants, Mike Taylor, has been settled and dismissed.

In a statement from Jones and Fernandez through attorney Timothy J. Lozen, the pair announced the termination of ownership interests as investors in the three Port Huron restaurants. The couple began investing in Fuel Woodfire Grill in January 2013 followed by Tio Gordos Cantina in 2015 and eventually Lake FX Grill in 2017. The decision came after gross mismanagement was discovered “upon filing a lawsuit against the Restaurants’ manager to obtain company records.” The mismanagement included not paying federal payroll taxes and Michigan unemployment compensation taxes for years in addition to untimely payments for business expenses. Michael Taylor is the named defendant in the settlement which cites “Taylor was at all times…manager of the companies and was solely responsible for the operations and financial affairs of the Companies.”

In the Settlement Agreement and dismissal order entered in St. Clair County Circuit Court Case No. 2019-002876-CB, Fernandez/ Jones transferred 100% of their interests in the companies to Taylor. The agreement also states that “Taylor and the Companies agree to release, indemnify, and hold harmless Fernandez/Jones from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities, claims, actions, judgments, court costs and legal or other expenses” that presently exist or may occur in the future.

According to the Settlement and Release Agreement that was dated effective February 10, 2020, “As a result of Taylor’s mismanagement, the Companies are in serious financial trouble,” and “Until recently, Fernandez/Jones had no knowledge of Taylor’s mismanagement, the excessive liabilities, the hundreds of thousands of dollars of outstanding taxes and loans, or the precarious financial condition of the Companies.” As of Thursday afternoon, the restaurants were still in operation.

Sandusky High School was the overall winner at the 34th annual Raymond T. Dunbar Jr. Sanilac County Academic Games that took place over the weekend at St. Clair County Community College’s Port Huron campus.

For the competition, students representing seven school districts in Sanilac County challenged each other in four academic areas: language arts, math, science, and social studies. Two preliminary rounds were held in the morning with the first and second place teams advancing to the championship rounds in the afternoon. For each category, the winning teams received gold medals while second-place finishers took home silver. SC4 faculty members wrote questions for the competition and also were the judges.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Second Amendment Rights activists are pushing to get all counties in Michigan to pass resolutions that safeguard legal gun ownership and carrying in the counties. 

On January 16, the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners was presented with the resolution at a meeting, but the item was pulled from the agenda. Two weeks later, the resolution was back on the agenda, with modified verbiage, but commissioners approved it. The Sanilac County Board of Commissioners approved a similar resolution earlier this month.

The resolutions are commonly known or referred to as “Gun Sanctuary” resolutions, but the word “sanctuary” seems to be the point of contention and has been removed from the language of the resolutions. The resolutions don’t actually change anything to current laws or observances; rather they are meant as an affirmation of citizens’ right to bear arms as granted under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

While there have been no attempts by either county to restrict gun ownership, Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer has advocated for stricter gun laws and has advocated for the “red flag” bill that would give law enforcement the right to confiscate guns if there is just cause, such as proof of intent to harm self or others. The passions of gun ownership and open carry advocates have been stirred by the “Gun Sanctuary” conversation and a grassroots movement was started called “2nd Amendment March on Port Huron” that is scheduled to take place before the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners Meeting next Thursday.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s a day dedicated to love across the United States and in other places around the world with candy, flowers and gifts exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But do you know who this saint is and where these traditions began?

St. Valentine’s Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, with origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia. While there is the question as to which Valentine holds the true origin, there is no question that the tradition has grown and evolved over the years. While the practice of gifting your Valentine greeting cards was a centuries-long tradition in England, where the holiday was birthed, it wasn’t until Valentine’s Day was “rejuvenated” here in the U.S. in the mid-19th Century that it saw its commercial boom, according to the Library of Congress. In fact, this year consumers are anticipated to spend an average of $196.31 individually and a record total of $27.4 billion, according to data released by the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Where does all that money get spent? The NRF also reports that department stores are the most popular Valentine’s Day shopping destination, visited by 36 percent of shoppers. Thirty-two percent of shoppers are expected to seek gifts at a discount and online stores, while 19 percent at specialty stores, 17 percent at florists, 15 percent at local small businesses. Clothing stores and jewelry shops are tied with 11 percent of shoppers.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.