Local News

Roadway construction continues around St. Clair County. Here is your report for the week of September 2nd. Good news to start, the roundabout at Wadhams and Fred Moore Highway is now open. In Berlin Township, Capac Road between Hough and Tubspring will be closed for 30 days. Up in Burtchville, Metcalf between North and State will be closed for several days this week for ditching, and State Road between Myron and Burtch will be having a bridge replaced causing closures until approximately September 13th. 

There will be intermittent lane closures in Casco Township on County Line Road from I-94 to Gratiot this week. China Township will see Belle River Road between Indian Trail and Marsh closed for a day for crossroad culvert replacement. In Kimball Township, an ongoing paving project continues along Mayer Road, Yager Road, and Main Street. Also in Kimball, the left lane of westbound I-69 between Taylor and Wales Center will be closed for patching this week. Finally, Wales Township will see Wales Center Road closed for more than two months for bridge replacement between Morriss and Lapeer.

The Labor Day weekend brings good times with family and friends for the last unofficial days of summer. While out having fun, it’s important to remember to be safe. Safer America is reminding people of the top essential Labor Day safety tips. First, it’s important to remember to drive safely by wearing a seatbelt and checking your car’s vitals like the oil and transmission. The National Safety Council estimates 400 people are involved in fatal accidents each year over the Labor Day weekend. Second, wear sun protection.  Did you know skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S.? Next, grill responsibly. Remember that a grill, both propane and charcoal, is for the outdoors only and should never be left unattended when in use. An average of 19,000 people went to the emergency room each year from 2013 to 2017 due to injuries involving grills. Number 5 on the safety list is fireworks. There are an estimated 9,100 injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms, and children under 15 accounted for 36% of those estimated injuries from fireworks. Whatever you’re doing, have fun, be safe and enjoy the holiday weekend with your family and friends.

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.