Local News

Port Huron’s City Council is giving residents the opportunity to nominate community members deserving of recognition for the annual “Spirit of Port Huron Awards.” In categories that include brotherhood, civic, culture and economic progress, and more, citizens are asked to nominate Port Huron residents that might go unnoticed. 

In 1986, the City Council started a community service awards program in an effort to recognize and show appreciation to Port Huron’s outstanding citizens who have contributed their time and effort toward making Port Huron an even better place to live. The 2020 ceremony is set to held June 8.

Nominations should include contact information of the nominator and nominee along with the award a nomination is being made for, with a description of the activities that support the nomination. Submissions must be received by March 31 and should be mailed to the Mayor at 100 McMorran Boulevard in Port Huron.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

St. Clair County Parks and Recreation is planning to add another park to its portfolio with a planned acquisition of land in the southern part of the county. The land is located along the North Channel in Clay Township and would be initially purchased by the Six Rivers Land Conservancy who is representing the county until it is able to secure a Trust Fund acquisition grant. According to Commissioner Bill Gratopp, after April 1, a grant will be submitted to the DNR with hopes of being approved by November or December. Clay Township has also agreed to pay for a portion of the project while the nearby Harbor Club tentatively has nearby land the group is considering giving to the park. 

The cost of the property is $1.7 million. Similar deals have been made with previous park purchases. Six Rivers is a private non-profit whose mission is to “conserve, sustain, and connect natural areas, lands, and waters that make the places we live special.” This property is desirable because it has the potential for a public swimming beach. Gratopp said he has been working to secure a park at the southern end of the county for more than eight years.  

A rendering of the proposed park was presented to the County Board of Commissioners who approved the project at a regular meeting. The park is proposed to have an open play area, playground, picnic pavilions, concessions, and restroom building, along with fishing and boat landings. There will also be a kayak launch and beach area. The entrance to the park is off of M-29.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Construction is now underway by Enbridge for the drilling and placement of a new petroleum pipeline underneath the St. Clair River. According to Enbridge, the preliminary work on the line replacement is happening now, with drilling planned to start March 1, weather permitting. Construction is expected to take four months. 

Due to the ongoing construction, there will be significant noise with the Horizontal Directional Drill, but noise mitigation structures are planned. The St. Clair River line is part of “Line 5” and goes between Marysville and Froomfield, Ontario. The line will carry petroleum products from western Ontario to Eastern Ontario. It is the same line that is under the Mackinaw Bridge and has been the object of years of litigation and environmental protest.

The new St. Clair River section of the pipeline is expected to be around 30 feet below the river. The current pipeline is four feet under the river. The 645-mile-long Line 5 will carry about 22.6 million gallons per day, and according to Michigan Oil and Gas Association, it provides much of the petroleum products needed to heat and run homes and businesses throughout Michigan.

 Michigan’s Attorney General has tried to shut down Line 5 citing it as an unacceptable environmental risk to the Great Lakes, but the Line 5 agreement has been upheld by courts and regulatory agencies in both the United States and Canada.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

Travis Pastrana will make his way to St. Clair this summer as the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team has welcomed Pastrana to the crew. He is best known for his appearance in Nitro Circus, his thrilling tricks in the X Games, supercross, and NASCAR and his record-breaking stunts. Pastrana will share the cockpit with Sir Steve Curtis and together they will seek to clinch a world championship title during the 2020 World Offshore Championship Series which includes a stop in St. Clair, Michigan. Other stops for Class ONE include four locations in Florida and one in Michigan City, Indiana. 

Curtis said of Pastrana that, “As an expert in off-road motorcycle racing, Travis’ ability to adjust to changes in the terrain will translate perfectly as the driver for the Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team.” The 2020 Offshore races in St. Clair are set to take place July 24-26.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, getting your hunting and fishing licenses, as well as Off-Road vehicle and snowmobile permits, is about to be more streamlined and technologically advanced, but not before there will be a shutdown of the system. From February 15-18, the statewide licensing system will be offline. For those planning a trip up north to go snowmobiling, it’s suggested residents obtain permits and licenses now.

Starting on February 18, users can expect the upgraded service. Changes are, in part, due to a new vendor who will utilize a bar code system, QR security codes, and more user-friendly features than the previous system which was operated by the same vendor 26 years. According to DNR Director, Dan Eichinger, the change has taken more “than two years of planning and developing a modern license sales system that offers up-to-date, convenient and cost-effective services for customers and retail partners.” The new system is expected to be operational by noon on February 18. The DNR generates around $77 million with the issuance of over 4 million licenses and permits each year.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

St. Clair County is setting plans into motion for the formation of a Public Defender Office to provide services to defendants who can’t afford legal counsel on their own (also known as indigent defendants).

According to St. Clair County Administrator/Controller Karry Hepting, work has begun on the offices that will house 18 total employees, 12 being public defenders, at  302 Michigan Street in Port Huron. The office will be a new department for the county and operate under the direction of the St. Clair County Administration Department. The new department will replace the current structure of contracting 23 court-appointed attorneys assigned to cases on a part-time basis. 

Based on statewide numbers available through the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, the County estimates that approximately 75% of criminal cases in its court system are partially or completely indigent, meaning defendants are considered unable to pay the fees required to hire a defense lawyer.

Hepting said the hope is that the offices will be occupied by late spring.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.