Local News

The Lexington Arts Council was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant will be used to help support the Lexington Bach Festival which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Lexington Bach Festival is held every September in Lexington at St. Denis Church and welcomes performers from all over the United States. 

Liz Jackson, President of the Lexington Arts Council, said, “the event is truly remarkable with nearly 40 performers coming into [Lexington], rehearsing on Friday, and then performing on Saturday and Sunday.” The performers are housed at several different family homes in the area.  

The NEA was established by Congress in 1965. Its purpose is to support the arts in communities across the United States. This is the second year in a row that the Lexington Arts Council has received the grant. John Groustra, a board member for the Lexington Arts Council said, “[they] are grateful for the support of the NEA, which, along with other grantors and sponsors, makes the festival possible.”

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

A new Dollar General store is being built on Water Street in Port Huron. The store at 1251 Water Street will be the 14th location for Dollar General in St. Clair County. The first Dollar General opened in St. Clair County in June of 2001. 

A spokesperson for Dollar General said the company hopes to have the new store open in the Spring of 2020, but construction progress may alter that timetable. The 7,200 square foot store will employ between six and 10 people. Applications for employment can be found on the company’s website. 

The company selected the location based on competitive factors, traffic pattern, and community concerns. Locations are selected to serve customers in a three to five mile radius or a 10-minute drive. 

According to the spokesperson for Dollar General, the store will sell name-brand, private brand, and high-quality private brand merchandise including Kellogg’s, Nabisco, Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola.

Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and St. Clair County Health Department have identified a chickenpox (varicella) outbreak at Marysville High School. Marysville school district officials have been working closely with the Health Department to identify approximately 37 susceptible, unvaccinated students. Letters from the Health Department were given to the district to help with parent notification.

In accordance with Michigan Public Health Code, exposed susceptible students who cannot provide documentation of vaccination or immunity history will be excluded from attending school, work or extracurricular activities until 21 days after the last identified case (date to be determined and dependent on cases). Immunity is defined as:

• Documentation of two valid doses of any appropriate live varicella vaccine at or after 12 months of age
• Lab evidence of immunity or confirmation of the disease

Students will be re-admitted to school upon getting vaccinated or providing the Health Department with acceptable documentation of immunity. If this is the student’s first varicella vaccine dose, the student may be conditionally re-admitted back to school; if it is the student’s second dose they will be immediately readmitted after vaccination.

Chickenpox is a vaccine-preventable disease that spreads in the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. It can also be spread by touching or breathing in the virus particles that come from chickenpox blisters.  A person can spread the disease from 1 to 2 days before they get the rash until all their chickenpox blisters have formed scabs (usually 5-7 days). It can take 10-21 days after exposure to develop chickenpox, which is why unvaccinated students are susceptible.

Symptoms may include:

• An itchy rash of blisters
• Fever
• Headache
• Feeling tired

In some cases chickenpox can cause serious problems, especially in vulnerable populations like infants, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems:

• Skin infections
• Dehydration
• Pneumonia
• Encephalitis

Dr. Annette Mercatante, St. Clair County Health Department’s Medical Health Officer stated “The chickenpox (varicella) vaccine is the best protection from chickenpox. It is important to make sure you and your children’s vaccines are up to date to help prevent outbreaks and protect people who can’t be vaccinated.”

Vaccinations are available at your private physician’s office or at the St. Clair County Health Department and Teen Health Center. Walk-in vaccine clinics are available Mondays from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm and Wednesday’s 8:00 am – 4:00 pm; also available by appointment at the main office located at 3415 28^th Street in Port Huron, call (810) 987-5300. The Teen Health Center, located at 2215 Court Street offers vaccinations by appointment for those 10-21 years of age, call (810) 987-1311.

For more information, visit www.scchealth.co or call (810) 987-5300.

This information was provided through a press release from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on 9/24/2019.

The SC4 Foundation recently held a reception to thank the college’s donors and honor students. Harold Burns, Chairman of the foundation, said, “For 56 years, the foundation has worked with the college to help students achieve their goals.” 

A highlight of the event was when one of the recipients of a scholarship, Jessica Bohm, a three-sport athlete, spoke and thanked the group for being awarded the Ellen Kean Scholarship. She said, “I am incredibly honored and grateful to have been selected as a scholarship recipient of the SC4 Foundation.” She continued, “[the scholarship] has eased the financial burden my family and I face as I pursue my degree.” 

One of the donors also spoke at the event. Dave Sheldon, donor and faculty member, said the Jinny and Bill Sheldon Endowed Scholarship for Education was founded in honor of his parents, and their lifelong support of education. He added, “Providing financial assistance and support to students is so important…a degree from SC4 can transform a life.” The reception took place at the SC4 Experience Center’s Dr. Bassam H. Nasr Natural Science Museum.

Reporting for WGRT – EBWtv

Operation Transformation (OT) hosted a series of events last week including a Friday workshop that included 60 business and community leaders. The purpose of the one-day workshop was to gather community leaders to talk about and improve diversity efforts. Terry Kuhns, Associate Director for OT, said in light of recent events in the community, the group wanted to do something that was positively focused.  

The group invited Anthony Jones, President of RBD Management Consultants, to lead the discussion. Jones, a former Port Huron resident, spoke to the group. He said, “People, both customers and staff, make the bottom line grow [for companies]”.  When describing the program, Jones said, “The ability to gain insight into what is happening in the background of individuals and the context of their lives, and to have a deeper understanding of the people in an organization, or in your client and customer base – that’s powerful information.”  

St. Clair County Medical Health Officer Annette Mercantante said it was a very important training, and she was delighted to see so many community leaders at the event. She also said, “[diversity] is something that does not intuitively come to a conscious discussion, but yet it has a profound impact on our well-being our profitability, our economic well being, and the health of our community.”

Reporting for WGRT – EBWtv

Earlier this summer, Port Huron Schools wanted to give stakeholders in the school system a better communication tool to provide feedback. Students, staff, parents, and community members were introduced to a service called Thoughtexchange. The online forum provides a platform for feedback about Port Huron Area Schools to be shared anonymously. 

In the most recent use of Thoughtexchange, Port Huron Schools asked for feedback about what the district is doing well and what areas of improvement they should consider. Over 500 individuals shared thoughts through the system. The results are enabling the school district to better understand the needs of the community. Eleven different themes surfaced that may require attention including class offerings, support, behavior, teachers and staff, facilities and safety, curriculum, and administrative support. The facilitating team at Thoughtexchange said the Blue Water area outperformed many other communities in terms of participation.