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.

The St. Clair County 4-H Fair at Goodells County Park wrapped up Saturday evening, but the impact will go far beyond the event. With many youth participating, the life skills and memories made are something that will last for years to come. This year, the fair also held new programs and initiatives. The  4-H with partners put on “Pigs with a Purpose” that benefited Mid City Nutrition, and on Wednesday, part of the day was reserved for children with special needs. A majority of RESA’s Woodland’s students attended the special fair day, and they were joined by county students participating in the LINK program. Woodland social worker Rory Ayotte said, “It was great for the students because all of the lights and music that we see typically at carnivals were turned off, allowing the students to not be impacted by sensory overload.”

City Flats hosted the first event at their ballroom in downtown Port Huron at the beginning of May. They have been opening different venues throughout the space since then, announcing the opening of the newest space this week. City Floats is now officially open to the public. The dockside restaurant and bar sits in the Black River and is currently offering a limited food menu along with drinks for everyone to enjoy. The event venue is in full swing with weddings and other events. The rest of the hotel is expected to open shortly. Residents can enjoy City Floats on the Black River on the northside of the City Flats building in downtown Port Huron.