Local News

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended an executive order prohibiting home evictions  during the coronavirus pandemic until June 11th. The original executive order prohibiting evictions went into effect on March 20th.

The extended order protects tenants from being evicted unless they pose a substantial risk to property or another person. It also provides courts the ability to stay eviction-related proceedings until after the COVID-19 emergency. Whitmer said, “It’s critical Michiganders can self-quarantine and continue staying safer at home without fear of being evicted. This Executive Order gives renters and mobile home owners some peace of mind as we continue to flatten the curve.”

Michigan is currently under a Stay Home executive order until May 28th. Violating the order can result in a $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail for each offense, as well as licensing penalties for businesses and other entities that disregard the order.

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major health crisis for the nation and ironically a major financial crisis for the health care industry. The government’s response to COVID-19 is also quickly becoming a source of major political, and now legal contention.

Last week, a group of medical professionals filed a lawsuit against Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that Whitmer’s “drastic and unprecedented” executive actions were based on “grossly inaccurate” models that no longer apply and therefore should be lifted.”  The filing goes on to say that, “Medical providers are on the brink of financial ruin, facing extreme revenue shortages caused by the governor’s order forcing the postponement or cancellation of so-called ‘non-essential’ procedures.”

The law suit has been filed by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation and the Miller Johnson Law Firm. The lawsuit further claims that thousands of healthcare workers across Michigan have been furloughed, and hospitals and patients are left facing backlogs on procedures that will create a public health catastrophe of its own.

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

LANSING, Mich. — Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Stamas and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Shane Hernandez on Friday called on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to issue a new executive budget recommendation for fiscal year 2021 and to sit down with legislative leaders to begin state spending reductions immediately to balance the current state budget.

“The combination of coronavirus and the governor’s stay-at-home lockdown have caused a reduction of over $3 billion in state revenues this year, and it continues to get worse,” said Stamas, R-Midland. “While the governor has time for regular press conferences and appearances on national news shows, it’s time to put a priority on resolving this budget crisis. I stand ready to work with the governor to enact a budget correction plan as soon as possible that puts Michigan families first. Every day she waits leaves us with fewer options and less money.”

The legislative budget chairmen on Friday sent a letter to the governor with their request after the state fiscal and economic leaders at the annual May Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference projected reductions in state revenues of $3.2 billion in FY2020 and $3 billion in FY2021, which starts on Oct. 1.

“Today’s CREC report confirmed the budget-impact numbers we have been hearing for weeks,” said Hernandez, R-Port Huron. “We have a massive revenue shortfall brought on by this economic shutdown that will affect our families, schools, local governments and vulnerable citizens. The people need to hear from the governor what her priorities are that reflect this new reality facing our state. Time is of the essence and we look forward to resolving this challenge.”

Stamas said that a $3 billion revenue reduction represents over 30% of the remaining resources in the General Fund and School Aid Fund for the current fiscal year.

“The challenge is extremely daunting,” Stamas said. “For example, if we cut state employees by 30%, cut the remaining payments to public universities, community colleges and local governments, and cut Medicaid coverage in our state, it would cover just over half of the shortfall. Again, those are just examples to illustrate the gravity of the problem we’re facing.”

Hernandez said, “This budget hole will continue to get bigger if we cannot come together and protect our citizens while reopening our economy. We are ready to do the work necessary to move Michigan forward.”

Submitted by the Senate Majority Communications Office

Fourteen Digital Media Technology seniors at St. Clair TEC won or shared 9 awards at the 2020 Michigan Student Film Festival. The students worked remotely to create or complete their projects. The TEC building has been closed since March 16.

Lesley Murphy, DMT instructor at TEC, said, “All of our DMT entries won an award, with one earning the Best in Show, which is the highest honor.”

The Michigan Student Film Festival provides a public venue for the work of students in grades K-12, as well as giving recognition and significant awards to young media artists. The film festival is presented through the nonprofit organization DAFT (Digital Arts, Film, and Television).

Typically, the festival would screen the Best in Show nominees at the Detroit Institute of Art, but this year they will be streaming the award winners. Here are the TEC winners:

1. “The Bear” by Sydney Lewis, Algonac High School, won the “merit” award

2. “AI Conflict” by Christian Gary, Port Huron Northern High School, won the “honor” award

3. “The Taxman” by Gabby Hand, Port Huron High School, and Emily Lask,  Blue Water Middle College, won the “honor” award

4. “Bated Breath” by Faith Serio, Memphis High School, and Maya Scott, Capac High School,  won “excellence” award

5. “Foreign Love” by Jackie Rodriguez, Capac High School, and Emily Whitehead, Marine City High School, won the “excellence” award

6. “Kuru” by Angela Mugan and Mikayla Madley, both from Port Huron Northern High School, won the “excellence” award

7. “SuperLosers Mockumentary” by Sam Eipperle, Port Huron High School, and Matt Cornejo, Marine City High School, won the “excellence” award

8. “Blue Water Area on Rails” by Jared Bryson, Marine City High School, won the “Best in Show” award for documentaries.

9. “The Other Guy” by Jade Rattee and Lacei Fuller, both of Port Huron High School, also received the “excellence” award for their film

DAFT will stream Michigan Student Film Festival awards on DAFT’s Facebook event page at this link.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases as of May 15th at  9 AM are as follows:

• State of Michigan: 49,582 confirmed cases; 4,787 deaths
• St. Clair County: 394 confirmed cases; 28 deaths
• Ontario: 21,494 confirmed cases; 1,798 deaths
• Sarnia-Lambton: 213 confirmed cases; 17 deaths

Confirmed Cases in St. Clair County remained the same since last week, but the county suffered five additional deaths. There are currently 78 active cases of COVID-19 reported in St. Clair County, and 3% of all hospital beds are being used for COVID-19 patients.

The St. Clair County Health Department created a new digital dashboard (available <HERE>) for more detailed reports of COVID-19 cases, that dashboard breaks down data into several segments such as confirmed and probable cases, hospitalizations, and recovered cases.

It is important to note that WGRT is continuing to report confirmed cases from each area, not total cases which are a combination of confirmed and probable cases. We have chosen to approach the data this way to simplify our reports and to create uniformity in the numbers we are reporting for each region, St.Clair County, Lambton County, Michigan, and Ontario.

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Cases in Sarnia rose by 20 since last week, and the county suffered 1 additional death.

Today, the Ontario government announced the retailers, seasonal businesses, and health and community service providers who will be permitted to open or expand their services on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 12:01 AM, provided that the general trend on health indicators continues to improve as part of the first stage of the government’s reopening framework.

• Retail services that are not in shopping malls and have separate street-front entrances with measures in place that can enable physical distancing, such as limiting the number of customers in the store at any one time and booking appointments beforehand or on the spot.

• Seasonal businesses and recreational activities for individual or single competitors, including training and sport competitions conducted by a recognized national or provincial sport organization. This includes indoor and outdoor non-team sport competitions that can be played while maintaining physical distancing and without spectators, such as tennis, track and field and horse racing.

• Animal services, specifically pet care services, such as grooming and training, and regular veterinary appointments.

• Indoor and outdoor household services that can follow public health guidelines, such as housekeepers, cooks, cleaning and maintenance.

• Lifting essential workplace limits on construction.

• Allowing certain health and medical services to resume, such as in-person counseling; in-person services, in addition to virtual services, delivered by health professionals; and scheduled surgeries, all based on the ability to meet pre-specified conditions as outlined in A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Additional seasonal services and activities will be permitted to open as early as Saturday May 16, 2020 at 12:01 AM, in time for the Victoria Day long weekend, as key public health indicators continue to show progress.

• Golf courses will be able to open, with clubhouses open only for washrooms and restaurants open only for take-out.
• Marinas, boat clubs and public boat launches may open for recreational use.
• Private parks and campgrounds may open to enable preparation for the season and to allow access for trailers and recreational vehicles whose owners have a full season contract.
• Businesses that board animals, such as stables, may allow boarders to visit, care for or ride their animal.

Please continue to rely on reputable sources for information on COVID-19:

• Centers for Disease Control:  cdc.gov/coronavirus
• State of Michigan: Michigan.gov/coronavirus  or Info Hotline  1-888-535-6136 Daily 8:00 am – 5:00 pm or email questions to COVID19@michigan.gov
• St. Clair County Health Department: COVID-19 Info Hotline (810) 966-4163 Mon – Fri, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm or email questions to covid19@stclaircounty.org
• St. Clair County Community Mental Health COVID-19 Support Line (810) 985-8900, available Monday-Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm
• Lambton Public Health: https://lambtonpublichealth.ca/2019-novel-coronavirus/
• City of Sarnia COVID-19 Hotline: 1-877-4-SARNIA (1-877-472-7642)

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Members of Woman’s Life Insurance Society from across the country cast their ballots to elect three directors to the Woman’s Life Board of Directors.

Elected to serve as Directors for four-year terms beginning May 1, 2020, were: Brenda L. Doll, North Dakota; Kathy K. Regalado, Colorado; and Charlene J. Yard, Indiana. Brenda, Kathy, and Charlene join Diane E. Lofquist, Michigan; Karen R. Palka, Michigan; and Janice U. Whipple, Michigan, to bring the total number of elected directors to six. The seventh and final member of the board is the National President, Christopher J. Martin, who is appointed by the board.

Woman’s Life Insurance Society is a community life insurance provider offering quality financial products including whole life insurance, term life insurance, and fixed deferred annuities designed to help women and their families plan for a secure financial future. Through the sale of these financial products, Woman’s Life funds community projects held by members to benefit charitable organizations and individuals in need in the communities where they live.

Woman’s Life also has has member chapters that provide women with fun social activities and fundraising opportunities in their communities. Locally, Woman’s Life Chapters have donated their time and talent in many ways to benefit area nonprofits and community groups.

To learn more, visit www.womanslife.org or call 800-521-9292