Local News

The City of Port Huron is hosting the Michigan Association of Mayors today at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel.  Mayor Pauline Repp is the Vice-President of the association. The two-day conference began yesterday with Port Huron and the region in the spotlight as Mayor Repp, Port Huron City Manager James Freed, City Planning Director David Haynes, and Economic Development Alliance CEO Dan Casey gave speeches outlining the area’s recent success. 

According to the Michigan Association of Mayors, Port Huron has experienced tremendous growth with over $300 million of investment in hotels, restaurants, hospitals, condos, lofts, and industry. Randy Maiers, CEO of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, also spoke about public and private partnerships and how different incentives have benefitted the area.  Mayor Pauline Repp said, “It is a privilege to be the host city for the MAM conference and welcome mayors and village presidents from across Michigan.  It is a great sharing and learning opportunity for everyone.  It was a proud moment to be able to brag about Port Huron successes.” The conference wraps up today with a legislative update.

According to a recent CNN Business article, the US will need to hire 2.3 million new health care workers by 2025 in order to adequately take care of its aging population. It’s a big number, and many healthcare facilities in St. Clair County find the issue pressing. St. Clair County Community College is promptly responding to the need by offering new educational opportunities in the field.

Throughout the fall and early winter, SC4 will hold free information sessions on the main campus for a number of its in-demand health sciences programs. Attending an info session is the first step for anyone interested in earning a health sciences degree from SC4. The college offers degrees in programs such as radiation technology, medical assistant, respiratory therapy, and nursing. The college is also expected to open its new, state-of-the-art health sciences facility later this fall. 

The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team Auxiliary is sending a big thank you to the community for their tremendous support during a fundraiser on Tuesday. Several hundred people attended the Ice Cream Saves Lives fundraiser at the Milkhouse Café in Fort Gratiot Township. Over $30,000 was raised through sales of ice cream and other fundraising activities at the event. Dive Team Chief Wayne Brusate said it was the biggest fundraising event the team has ever had.

The church that operates the Milkhouse Café, Christians for A New Tomorrow, hosted the event.  Pastor Walter Caughel Jr. and more than 70 members of the church volunteered to serve ice cream, assist in parking cars, and other tasks throughout the fundraiser. The Dive Team Auxiliary is a 501(c) (3) organization which raises funds to provide financial support for equipment and training for the Sheriff’s Office Dive Team.

Thursday kicked off the first day of a new shopping experience in St. Clair. Shop St. Clair Summer Shopping Stroll started with 9 participating stores in St. Clair. To encourage retail business before the opening of the long-anticipated St. Clair Inn, shoppers can pick up a “passport” at participating locations and get it validated as they stroll around town. When the challenge is complete, the shopper turns in their passport to win a basket full of gifts from each store. Participating locations include Blackbird Home Goods, Boomerangs, Coughlin Jewelers, Hers Women’s Fashions, The St. Clair Art Association, Silk’s Flower Shop, Simply Marcella, The Chocolate Harbor, and the Craft Loft. The group does have a Facebook page for more information, or you can stop into one of the participating locations. 

As one might imagine, there are several bridges in the State of Michigan. The state’s bridges are inspected at least every 24 months and sometimes more frequently.  The Office of the Auditor General at the State level is conducting a performance audit of the bridge inspection program. The Office of the Auditor General, OAG, is going to conduct a survey of all bridge owners which includes MDOT and locally owned bridges. They will be looking at quality control and quality assurance procedures and general experiences in bridge inspection.

In addition, the OAG plans to select some bridge owners for a more in-depth discussion on quality control and quality assurance related topics.  Matt Chynoweth, Chief Bridge Engineer for MDOT and Director of the Bureau of Bridges and Structures, said, “This is the third audit of the inspection program since 2009.” He went on to say, “Of the roughly 11,000 bridges in Michigan, about 4,500 are owned by MDOT, and the other 6,500 or so are owned by counties, cities, townships, or villages”.  

The United States Government Accountability Office recently completed a study on the Northern border with Canada and ports of entry along the border.  Port Huron was one of the communities featured in that Federal report to the Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. Senate. The GAO was asked to review Customs and Border Protection efforts to secure the northern border between ports of entry.

This report examines staffing and resource challenges and actions taken to address those challenges. The report also examines the extent to which CBP has developed and implemented performance measures.  The report recommended that both Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations each develop and implement performance measures to assess their effectiveness at securing the northern border between ports of entry. They identified an insufficient number of agents, frequency of air and maritime missions, and several resource challenges like radar and surveillance technology.