Local News

Freighter watching is a popular pastime in the Blue Water area and you can watch them worldwide from various river cams. If you’ve recently checked out the BoatNerd camera on Youtube, you may not have found the feed. If you were wondering where the live feed of traffic in the St. Clair River went, there is a new link you can follow to stay up to speed on freighter traffic. The link has changed due to issues with the YouTube platform. You can find the new link at BoatNerd’s Facebook page. 

The previous live feed at the old link had over half a million views just since October of 2019. If you can’t get out and watch the giant boats on location, the BoatNerd camera is the next best thing. According to Neil Schultheiss, President of Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping Online, Inc., “The camera captures anything interesting that passes by on the river with a clear view from the Bridge to below the Black River. This time of year, boat traffic is light with mainly tanker traffic going into the docks in Sarnia and the Coast Guard escorts returning to dock.” But Schultheiss said, “Earlier in the week an eagle passed by on an ice flow and there were fishermen out in boats near the Black River.” Webcams have been running at the current location since 2001. The new link is https://youtu.be/syeXISjVNsg.

If you’re new to the area, are looking to make new friends or maybe you just need a fun night out, Kate’s Downtown and other Port Huron businesses have teamed up to offer an evening to socialize with other area residents who maybe be looking to do the same. 

This Saturday, March 7th at 7p.m., Kate’s Downtown will be hosting a social mixer. The evening advertises great food, sample beverages, giveaways, good conversation, and most importantly, they say, a great time! Tickets are available for $20 and can be purchased at the Cafe or through their Facebook page. Attendees must be 21 years of age or older to attend.

Along with the first sightings of robins and the melting of the snow comes another sign of spring: potholes and road construction. To protect what is left of the roads after the damaging freeze-thaw cycle, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and local agencies have enacted weight restrictions on roads that are maintained by the state. 

There are two sets of weight restrictions, both of which are now in effect and include the Blue Water Area reaching into the Thumb Region. The restrictions affect I-69, M-46, and M-25 in the Blue Water area, along with most of the middle section of the lower peninsula. In a press release, MDOT said that trucks need to reduce their loads by 25-35% on the restricted roads. The restrictions do not affect the average non-commercial driver, other than hopefully limiting the damage to local roads from the heavy trucks. 

In other road news, the St. Clair County Road Commission has announced that Lambs Road in Wales Township, between Fitz and Cove Roads, will be closed to all traffic as they complete a culvert installation project. Lambs Road is expected to reopen in two weeks.

Yesterday marked Super Tuesday in the United States-the first big primary election day after the four early nominating states. As Michigan’s primaries draw near on March 10, many have already cast votes via absentee ballots. As of Wednesday, February 27, the Secretary of State reported that almost 777,700 absentee ballots had been sent to voters, with almost 387,000 ballots already turned in. However, some may be wanting to get those ballots back. 

With the high number of absentee voting and ballots that have already been turned in, it’s likely many local residents cast votes for candidates that have now dropped out. Ahead of Super Tuesday, Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg announced they were suspending their respective bids for the democratic nomination. Can those votes be changed? The answer is yes. 

According to the Michigan Secretary of State, if a voter has already voted absentee and wishes to change their vote, the ballot can be spoiled by submitting a written request to their city or township clerk. The voter must sign the request and state if they would like a new absentee ballot mailed to them or if they will vote at the polls. This request must be received by 2 p.m. the Saturday before the election if received by mail. An absentee ballot may also be spoiled in person at the clerk’s office until 4 p.m. the Monday prior to the election. The voter can obtain a new absentee ballot there or vote at the polls. There is no option on Election Day to spoil an absentee ballot that has been received by the clerk.

Port Huron Schools has announced winners in the MathCounts competition. Fort Gratiot and Central Middle Schools got together in late February to battle it out at the annual national MathCounts challenge. The event is for middle schoolers to show their advanced math skills at the local level before going on to the state competition.

Much of the competition is timed and the students need to work under pressure, testing both individual skills and team problem-solving. This year’s big winner was Luke VanderHeuvel, an eighth grader at Fort Gratiot, who brought home the first-place trophy for the second year in a row. Shayan Lal, another Fort Gratiot eighth grader will be joining Luke at States. The competition is sponsored locally by the Blue Water Chapter of the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers. Mathcounts started in 1983 and Port Huron Schools have been hosting local competitions and sometimes sending students to states since 1986. The State finals are March 14 at Saginaw Valley State University.

Goodrich Quality Theaters, Inc., which owns the Krafft 8 theater in Port Huron, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of Michigan. Several creditors have filed claims against the company. Taking the blame for the bankruptcy are lost customers due to streaming services and cash spent on investment in the theaters, according to a report from the owner on MIBiz. 

Patrons to the Krafft 8 theater have noticed upgrades in the seating in the local theater along with other improvements. Renovations were made to several of the theaters in recent years, according to the report. The investment did not pay off as quickly as intended and the company was left with a nearly $30 million bank loan default. The manager of the Krafft 8 theater declined to be identified by name, but confirmed by phone that it is business as usual at the theater and there are no anticipated changes to the movie schedule. She declined comment on the bankruptcy news. Goodrich owns thirty movie theaters with 281 screens in five states. Fourteen theaters are located in Michigan.