Local News

On September 1st, 1985, American oceanographer Robert Ballard with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts discovered the wreck of the Titanic. The Titanic sank 73 years earlier in 1912. She was found 400 miles east of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic and some 13,000 feet below the surface. Ballard first searched for the Titanic in 1977 and was unsuccessful. In 1985, along with French oceanographer Jean-Louis Michel, Ballard and his team began to use an unmanned submersible called the Argo which was developed by the U.S. Navy. In the early morning hours of September 1st, the Argo was investigating debris on the ocean floor when it suddenly passed over one of the Titanic’s boilers.  The next day the ship was discovered nearby. It had split in two, but many of its features were preserved. The wreck has been explored since then by manned and unmanned submersibles which have shed new light on the 1912 sinking.

Twenty-two years ago on August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died tragically in a car crash in Paris. She was just 36 years old. She was known as the People’s Princess, and, at the time, was one of the most popular public figures in the world. Her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the vehicle, Henri Paul, also died in the accident. Like much of her life, her death was a full-blown media sensation, and it was also the subject of many conspiracy theories. At first, the paparazzi hounding the car was blamed for the crash, but later it was revealed that the driver was under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs. A formal investigation concluded that the paparazzi did not cause the collision. The funeral for Diana was held days later in London, and it is estimated that over 2 billion people watched the event. Her sons, Prince William, age 15, and Prince Harry, age 12, walked with Prince Charles and her brother Charles Spencer in the funeral cortege.

Many take the time to remember Princess Diana on this day, and there are several memorials in her honor. One memorial is called the Princess Diana Memorial Walk which is part of the Royal Parks in the United Kingdom. The walk takes visitors past several buildings, landmarks, and locations that played a significant role in Diana’s life such as St James’s Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. It also passes by three palaces and two mansions including Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace. The walk opened on June 30th, 2000, the day before the Princess’s 39th birthday.

In Michigan, apprenticeships are a necessary part of the licensing requirements for many occupations, including electricians, plumbers and boiler operators.  On Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined twelve other Attorneys General in submitting comments to the U.S. Department of Labor urging it to revise its proposed apprenticeship rules thereby strengthening protections for apprentices. There were three main concerns that officials highlighted regarding those rules. They said the rules don’t include specifics about what an apprenticeship program must include in order to be certified. They also don’t adequately protect apprentices from low-quality programs. Lastly, they believe that the USDOL doesn’t provide proper enforcement when apprenticeship programs fail to provide quality training and education. Nessel said, “With more than 1,000 apprenticeship programs in the state and more than 18,000 active apprentices, Michigan absolutely has a stake in strengthening this rule.” 

Students in early grades in the State of Michigan have test scores that are improving. The 2019 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress or M-STEP test is used by the Michigan Department of Education to gauge how well students are mastering state standards. The Michigan Department of Education reported that 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade English language arts scores have shown gains for the second straight year. Math scores also increased for 3rd, 5th, and 6th-grade students. State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said, “Focus and attention on early childhood education and early literacy are beginning to bear fruit, and continued efforts in these areas will keep Michigan moving forward.” Dr. Rice also noted that despite a significant number of snow days, test scores in many places increased or remained consistent, even with fewer instructional days. Deputy Superintendent Venessa Keesler added that the 2018 and 2019 assessments are the first time during the past five years where there is a relatively clean comparison across years from M-STEP. She also said that changes and systematic improvements to Michigan’s state assessment system have been made each year since the M-STEP began in 2015. Those frequent changes make it difficult to make data comparisons or interpret long-term data trends.

Taking a stroll along the Black River can be a learning experience as much as an enjoyable one.  St. Clair County Community College and the Friends of the St. Clair River are leading a series of free, public tours of the river on Wednesday, September 4th. The tour is called Swale Stroll and Rain Garden Ramble, and each 45-minute tour will attempt to showcase the campus’ green projects and how they protect water quality and provide wildlife habitat. The tours will begin at the College Center Atrium and will be offered at 10 AM, 1 PM, and 4 PM. Each tour is going to begin indoors with a brief introduction as SC4 staff highlight the many green initiatives on campus. Friends of the St. Clair River Stewardship Director Kirsten Lyons said, “This is a great opportunity to learn about what’s going on with SC4’s green infrastructure projects like their rain gardens, permeable pavers, and green roof.”  Lyons went on to say that they will be showing off the bioswales and rain gardens, and they will share how their habitat stewardship work gets accomplished.

For the past several months, high water levels have been an issue around the area affecting property and structures.  One such structure is the Huron Lightship. Commissioned in 1921 as Lightship Number 103, the Lightship sees many visitors each year and is one of four sites operated by the Port Huron Museum.  Veronica Campbell, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Port Huron Museum said on ebw.tv’s Live and Local that the seawall is a little bit lower in front of the ship, and water has been coming over and eroding the sand next to the ship.  She said that the situation became desperate this past week. Campbell met with Port Huron City Manager James Freed and was told that the city is going to help by building up the wall and filling in the eroded sand. She went on to say that the Lightship is not in danger of being washed away. City Manager James Freed said the City of Port Huron has a team of engineers reviewing the situation to identify a long term solution. The Huron Lightship was the last operating lightship on the Great Lakes and served for over 50 years when she was retired in 1970. In 1990 it was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark.