Local News

It’s no secret that Michigan has some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. Recent bipartisan legislative efforts to reform the system and lower rates are reported to be paying off, at least in the short term, for area drivers. 

In Michigan, drivers can now choose their level of coverage, between lifetime medical benefits after catastrophic accidents to much lower levels of coverage. According to a report from the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association released last week, the lifetime benefit rate is being reduced from $220 to $100, with the rate for lower coverage being removed completely, starting in July 2020. 

Local Farm Bureau Insurance agent Dan Ochoa told us that it is really a matter of give and take with the new insurance reforms, and while people can now choose to opt out of unlimited coverage for catastrophic accidents, they should be aware that their health insurance may not cover injuries from auto accidents, which could open the door to massive uncovered medical bills in the event of a serious injury.  Mr. Ochoa recommended that consumers be careful to make sure their coverage is properly coordinated to avoid being left without medical coverage. The complicated structure of Michigan auto insurance is closely tied to medical costs and the Claims Association credits medical cost controls for the rate decrease.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

If you can’t park your car in a garage overnight, you know what a pain it is to defrost the windshield on those cold mornings. Yes, an ice scraper works, but it can take a lot of energy, time you probably don’t have and frozen fingers. Plus, using your car’s defrost feature is effective, but you’re bound to wait a while for it to work — and you’ll waste gas in the process.

What is one to do in these cold Michigan winters? One Knoxville, Tennessee, weatherman says he has a solution for quickly defrosting your car, and it just might change your life — or at the very least your mornings. Ken Weathers (yes, that’s the weatherman’s real name) of WATE 6 shared a recipe for a simple mixture that will get rid of the frost on your windshield in seconds.

The secret ingredients? Isopropyl or rubbing alcohol and water. The weatherman explains the solution in a video that was originally posted a year ago, but has picked up steam again in the past few weeks as we brace for another winter. (The video’s been viewed more than 16 million times!) Watch to see how you can save yourself some frustration and, perhaps, frostbite this winter. 

Adapted from the Today Show’s “Defrost your windshield in seconds with this weatherman’s genius trick” by Julie Pennell

There has been an incredible amount of excitement surround the opening of the newly renovated St. Clair Inn in the city of St. Clair. With the anticipation building, the pieces are coming together. From bellhops to servers, cleaning persons and chefs, the newly revived business is brining in talent from all over the country, such as new Executive Chef, Jacob Verstegen.

Verstegen brings more than ten years of experience to St. Clair Inn, having worked in restaurants across the globe, including KoKotxa in Spain and the famous D.O.M. in San Paulo, Brazil. Upon moving to Chicago in 2011 from Wisconsin, Verstegen cooked at the Peninsula HotelSt. Clair Inn Hires Executive Chef. After that, Verstegen served as Sous Chef at the well-known Telegraph Wine Bar, a nominee for Best New Restaurant by Food and Wine. 

Verstegen’s diverse background in the food industry we’ll soon be shared with the Blue Water Area. A native of Wisconsin, who recently moved to Michigan from Chicago’s famed London House, is hoping to create an unforgettable experience for future guests. Verstegen said coming from a large market (Chicago) was incredible, but the “importance of the Inn and the experience that it will offer is what stuck out to him.”

The chef has settled in the area and is passionate about incorporating a lot of local elements in working with farmers and focusing on a farm-to-table experience for resort guests. You can learn all about Chef Jacob and his plans on ebw.tv’s Spotlight with Jeff Bohm.

St. Clair County Community College (SC4) will soon serve as the host site for the meeting of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Task Force on Women in Sports. Whitmer signed an Executive Order in June 2019 establishing the task force within the Department of State and naming Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as chair. The task force – the first of its kind at a state government level – brings together local and national leaders to develop strategies that support and promote opportunities in Michigan for girls and women in sports.

SC4 President Dr. Deborah A. Snyder said the college is “thrilled to welcome Secretary Benson and the entire task force to campus and [the] region.” According to SC4, the institution continues to strengthen its commitment to equality and leadership in sports. The college recently announced the addition of women’s soccer and women’s golf to its athletic offerings. It also launched its SC4 Michigan Promoters of Women’s Equal Rights in Sports (SC4 MPOWERS) group and became the first community college member of WeCOACH, a national organization dedicated to the recruitment, advancement and retention of women coaches of all sports and levels.

The meeting is open to the public and will take place November 20 from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 150 of the college’s Welcome Center. This is the second full meeting of the Task Force. The task force will issue a preliminary report on its findings for the status of girls and women in sports in Michigan in the spring of 2020. They will then develop and issue a report of recommended solutions in early 2021. The task force will conclude its work in 2022, the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

The Village of Deckerville in Sanilac County’s Marion Township is one of those towns where it sometimes feels like time stands still. Not so this week. It’s out with the old and in with the new as the town upgrades its water service with a brand-new water tower. 

Village Supervisor Tracy Hoff told us that the village put the new tower into service around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and water from the new tower is now flowing to the village’s 830 or so residents. 

In the meantime, crews were disassembling one of the old towers and will be working on the other one as soon as it is drained. The two old towers are over seventy years old and the repair bills looked to be over $700,000 to keep them up and running. The township applied for a grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and was awarded a $1.4 million grant in October of 2017. The money was used to build a new tower with a 300,000-gallon capacity that should meet the needs of the village.  The village had to match the grant with $140,000, which was a tremendous savings compared to the anticipated repairs needed for the antiquated towers.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

A big topic of discussion across the state for quite some time now has been recreational marijuana, which was legalized in 2018. The legalization has opened the door for potential revenue for entrepreneurs as well as municipalities who have these ventures as part of their tax base. Along with that potential revenue comes questions about the safety and environment associated with recreational pot shops. 

What’s changing now, is that the Marijuana Regulatory Agency has started accepting applications for recreational marijuana businesses. This means you can expect to see legal marijuana shops popping up any day now in cities that allow them. 

Locally, the cities of Port Huron and Marysville have banned recreational marijuana shops, with Marysville having a permanent ban and Port Huron having a temporary ban that expires next summer. While possessing and using marijuana is no longer illegal, it’s not a free-for-all for pot smokers.  It is illegal to consume marijuana in a car, even as a passenger. Buyers can’t take it out of state. While it is possible to see marijuana smoking areas at public venues, places that receive federal funding, like college campuses, will not allow marijuana, and workers can still get fired if they test positive for marijuana use. There are still a lot of unknowns for the state and the Blue Water area as the practical details of legal pot play out.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.