Local News

Cirque Italia is a traveling, animal-free, Water Circus, and it’s coming to Birchwood Mall August 1-4th! Are you wondering what a Water Circus is? It’s a modern twist on a classic show, and it takes entertainment to a whole new level! Water, technology, and performing arts are mixed up under a big-top tent to create a one-of-a-kind-show. There is an ultra-modern water curtain that controls every drop of water meticulously to create beautiful patterns and words as the water falls to the lagoon below. This is the backdrop for high-flying performers and some of the best circus artists from around the globe.

You can get your tickets to Cirque Italia by visiting their website or Facebook pages. The box office will also be open on-site at Birchwood mall on Tuesday, July 30th & Wednesday the 31st from 10 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. When the shows start on August 1st, the box office will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Listen to WGRT 102.3 FM during the week of July 22nd, and keep an eye on our Facebook page too. We will be giving away tickets to several of our listeners!

The City of Port Huron expects to be saving some money pretty soon.  Port Huron City Manager James Freed informed city council members about some savings they can expect from refinancing bonds that funded the multi-year sewer separation project in Port Huron. The City estimated that they would have a new rate of around 3.15% when they refinanced.  The City received seven bids from banks looking to refinance those 2007 Sewer bonds.  Key Bank returned a bid of 2.58%. The result was significantly greater savings than anticipated.  The city will save a total of $338,091 by refinancing which is $135,786 more savings than they hoped for.

On Monday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reminded Consumers Energy and DTE customers they may be eligible for a $25 credit if they were without power for more than 16 hours as a result of the recent outages.  Michigan consumers are eligible for a credit under “normal conditions” if the utility fails to restore service within 16 hours after an outage resulting from conditions other than catastrophic conditions. Catastrophic conditions are defined as an event that results in an official state of emergency or an event that results in interruption of 10 percent or more of the utility’s customers where the utility fails to restore power within 120 hours. 

Credits are also available for repetitive interruptions if a customer experiences more than seven interruptions in a 12-month period. If you qualify, you need to notify the electric utility of all service outages and should record the date and time of each outage. You should also note when and how the company was notified of the outage along with when the service was restored. Nessel said, “The weekend storms in some parts of Michigan left hundreds of thousands of electric customers with extended interruptions in services, and it’s important customers remind the energy companies that they may be entitled to a credit as a result of those interruptions.”  

The Friends of the St. Clair River has a couple of activities planned for this week.  Field Day will take place today and every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. until late October. The group gathers down on the Blue Water River Walk for social fun, hands-on work, and citizen science to manage habitats and green infrastructure projects for people, plants, and wildlife.  The group also invites you to join them tomorrow for Wetland Wanderings at 6:00 p.m. You’ll find yourself digging in and finding macroinvertebrates. According to the Friends of the St. Clair River Facebook page, it’s a fun science activity that helps track wetland health over time.  The events are free and registration is not required. Wetlands County Park is along the St. Clair River shoreline at the south end of the Blue Water River Walk. Parking is in the gravel lot at the south end of the River Walk or at the Bean Dock. 

Lake Huron Medical Center (LHMC) recently received a Level III trauma center designation from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. With this designation, Lake Huron Medical Center now has the ability to treat patients with more serious, possibly life-threatening, injuries. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Level III trauma centers can provide prompt assessment, resuscitation, stabilization, and more through an organized trauma response.  In Michigan, participating in the trauma center designation process is voluntary on the part of the hospital. It is intended to identify those hospitals that make a commitment to provide a higher level of care for severely injured patients and who welcome public acknowledgment of that capability. Prior to this official rating, Lake Huron Medical Center had a provisional status.

With Boat Night on Friday evening in Port Huron local law enforcement officers were present in large numbers throughout much of the downtown area.  Lt. Brian Kerrigan of the Port Huron Police Department said they had officers assisting from the Michigan State Police, US Customs, US Border Patrol, US Coast Guard, Marysville Police, St. Clair Police, and the St. Clair County Sheriff.  The crowd size varied depending on the weather, but there were good-sized crowds overall. Over the whole week, the number of visitors was estimated to be over 100,000. Friday night’s attendance was estimated at over 40,000.