Local News

Anything Goes will take to the Port Huron Northern Performing Arts Stage beginning Thursday, March 14 , through Sunday, March 17.  Ten of the Port Huron Northern Drama Club actors stopped by WGRT to talk about the show which has more than 100 students involved in the production.  Anything Goes is a 1934 musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy #13, “Moonface” Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. The musical introduced such songs as “Anything Goes“, “You’re the Top“, and “I Get a Kick Out of You.” Students raved about the set, parent involvement and the overall direction of Rene Barr.  Performances are 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14, noon and 7 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 16 and 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, March 17.  Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door – General admission $10 for adults $8 for students and seniors.

You can make a difference for the hungry in St. Clair County.  An Empty Bowl event is being held on Thursday, April 4th from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Church in Port Huron to benefit Mid-City Nutrition’s soup kitchen.  Mid City Nutrition Program is a nonprofit soup kitchen serving the hungry of St. Clair County since September 1987. In that time, they have  grown from serving one meal a few days a week to serving meals every day. Last year, just under 64,000 meals were served in their facility, and they  distributed approximately 418,000 pounds of food through their kitchen and mobile food pantries.  As they have outgrown their current location at St. Martin Lutheran Church, they are in the process of building a new facility, which will include two kitchens – one of which will be a teaching kitchen, offering cooking classes targeted at nutrition and healthy living.  The new location will be at 830 Griswold, in Port Huron.  The Empty Bowl fundraiser is the main fundraiser for Mid-City and the evening includes a silent auction and a meal of homemade soup and bread.  Additionally, guests will choose one of the many beautiful soup bowls created by local potters to take home that evening.  Tickets are $25  in advance or $30 at the door.  They are available at Mid-City Nutrition at 805 Chestnut St. in Port Huron, Proper Framing, Weekends,  and St. Clair County Community Mental Health, as well as by phone at 810-982-9261 and online at midcitynutrition.org. 

The Blue Water Pregnancy Care Center will be opening training for volunteers beginning Thursday, March 21.  According to Executive Director Jennifer McDonald they recognize there are numerous opportunities for area residents to use their skills and passions to volunteer in the community.  Therefore, she says, if you choose to volunteer for the Blue Water Pregnancy Care Center, she would like you to know that your involvement “lightens the burden” of others by assisting the staff in the day-to-day responsibilities of the Center, listening to and advocating for women experiencing unintended pregnancy, and by helping to create a culture of life within our community.  Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas including, Client Advocate and mentors, boutique shopping assistant, general support and office assistant, cleaners, Church Liaison, public speaking and more.  You can find out more about becoming a volunteer by calling the Blue Water Pregnancy Care Center office at 810-985-4673 or log on to www.BlueWaterBabies.org.

Mike Emrick was the final speaker in the Port Huron Town Hall 2018-19 lecture series which finished up Monday.   Now in his 40th year covering professional hockey, five time Emmy Award-winning announcer Mike “Doc” Emrick has called more than 3,000 hockey games.  Emrick spoke about his first announcing job, right here in Port Huron, at McMorran announcing the Flags games and working for John Wismer.   He moved on to work for numerous major networks over his broadcast career, as well as serving as the lead announcer of men’s and women’s hockey in during three different Winter Olympics.  While Emrick touched on specifics of his career, his basic talk was about the people he has met along the way and their influence on him, citing Ernie Harwell, and numerous others he has taken life lessons from.  This certainly ranked as one of the best Town Hall talks in some time.  Next season’s line-up includes Capt. Mark Kelly, Steve Hartman, THREE MEN and a TENOR, Elizabeth Smart and the Capitol Steps.

What happens to seized assets that are related to criminal investigations on controlled substances, identity theft and other crimes?  Reports say that agencies itemize how the money taken in from seized assets was spent.   A recent article in MLive written by Scott Levin stated, last year 36% of all money seized was devoted to equipment like records management systems, mobile data terminals, live stream video, and evidence collection enhancements.  That represented the highest percentage spent in expenditures, with only the category “Other” breaking a double digit share of the pot at 17%. “Other” encompasses things like cell phones, GPS trackers, vehicle purchases, off-site storage units for toxic materials and various evidence collection materials.  Levin wrote that in 2017, the Michigan State Police reported police agencies got $13.1 million.   However, a new bill recently passed the State senate that would prohibit seizures of property valued at less than $50,000 without a conviction in a case.  That bill is currently making its way through the legislative process.

The St. Clair County Community College Athletics Men’s Basketball Team was named National Junior College Athletic Association Division II District Champion after defeating the Henry Ford Hawks 88-71 in Grand Rapids Saturday.  The team will now head to Danville, Illinois for the 2019 NJCAA Division II National Championship, March 19-23, 2019.  Additionally, Skippers Jalen Miller, Mark Hill and Omari Duncan made the All-Tournament Team. And Duncan was selected as the tournament MVP!  This marks the second trip to the national championship for men’s basketball at SC4. It is also the second trip for Coach Dale Vos in his 28-year career.  Craig Archer of Marysville, along with Richard Field of Port Huron serve as Assistant Coaches.