State Budget Allocates $555 Million to Address Teacher Shortage

Teachers are in short supply in Michigan, but that could change with substantial state investment in teacher recruitment and retention. Having students pay to student teach could be a thing of the past, along with other changes to the traditional way that students have embarked on teaching careers.

The Michigan legislature allocated $555 million to support the educator workforce in the fiscal year 2023 state budget. 

The Future Proud Michigan Educator Staff program supports employees who are working on teacher certification and creates education career exploration programs.

The Michigan Department of Treasury is getting involved with the Future Educator Fellowships and Student Teacher Stipends to the tune of $355 million allocated for the compensation and scholarship programs.

There is also a program to recruit military veterans to become teachers and an investment in recruiting technical education educators.

Funds will be available after October 1st.

Future Proud Michigan Educator webpage 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

August 2nd Election is Near: Still Time to Register, But Too Late to Mail Absentee Ballots

It’s really too late to mail in an absentee ballot. With the August 2nd election less than two weeks away, it is best to hand deliver absentee ballots to the local clerk’s office or to put them in a local drop box.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said, “Drop boxes continue to be among the safe options that voters have to return their ballot securely this year, in addition to hand-delivering their ballot to their clerk’s office, voting early at their clerk’s office, or voting at their polling place on Election Day.”

While it’s too late to mail in a ballot, it’s not too late to register to vote. Registering needs to take place in person at the local clerk’s office and can happen right up until the end of election day. Online and mail registration is not permitted within 14 days of an election.

You can check the status of your ballot or absentee application online at Michigan.gov/Vote or by calling your local clerk.

The Michigan primary election requires voters to vote for only one party’s candidates. Voting for candidates in multiple parties on the same ballot will cause the ballot not to be counted.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Garfield Street Closed Until End of July

Beginning today, the City of Port Huron will be making improvements to Garfield St. at Gator Avenue. These improvements will include new asphalt pavement, concrete curb and gutter, and sidewalk ramps.

Funding sources for this project includes the voter approved
street millage and Housing Development Action Grant funds.

Garfield will be closed to thru traffic until approximately the end of July.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any further questions regarding this matter, please contact the Department of Public Works.

Submitted by the City of Port Huron

New StoryWalk at Ft. Gratiot County Park

On Thursday, July 28th from 2- 3:30, a new feature will be unveiled near the playground at Ft. Gratiot County Park. StoryWalk, a joint effort between St. Clair County RESA, St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative and others, will enable families to experience a picture book together while walking around to 21 displays in the park.

The StoryWalk panels are free-standing displays that house pages of a children’s book which will change throughout the year. The first book, “Don’t Feed the Coos!” written by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Heather Fox, is installed and ready for the ribbon-cutting.

Those who attend the unveiling will get to see the displays and enjoy fun activities for kids while also spending some time in nature and playing at the park.

St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative Coordinator Riley Alley said, “We welcome all our area children, families, caregivers, and teachers to enjoy the StoryWalk. It’s a fun way to engage with a book and makes literacy interactive in an unexpected way. We plan to have fun with this project year-round.”

Along with St. Clair County RESA and the St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative, this project was supported by State Farm Agent Megan Simmons, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, St. Clair County Library System, St. Clair County Parks and Recreation, and the Michigan Department of Education.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Canal Dredging Scheduled for Today

Weather permitting, the City’s Contractor will begin dredging sand from the Black River Canal entrance at Lake Huron today, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. During the dredging operation, the Black River Canal will be closed to recreational watercraft in the area between the Tainter gate and Lake Huron. 

Following completion of the dredging work, sand dredged from Black River Canal will be placed at Lakeside Beach. 

The contractor will be utilizing Gratiot Avenue and Holland Avenue when transporting sand to Lakeside Beach. There will be intermittent slowed, and stop and go traffic in this area. We encourage the public to avoid the south end of Lakeside Park when the contractor is in the process of hauling and placing the sand. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any further questions regarding this matter, please contact the Department of Public Works 810-984-9730. 

Submitted by the City of Port Huron

Don’t Fall for the Latest Text and Call Scam

There’s another scam to look out for. This time it involves imposters who pretend to be representing banks or utilities. They fraudulently request personal information or payments.

Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox said, “Even if your phone’s caller ID displays a legitimate business’s name, you should be wary of anyone calling you asking for payment or personal information of any kind. If you think the call might be legitimate, hang up and call the number on your billing statement or other documentation from the company before giving out any information or making a payment.”

A recent version of the scam had criminals saying they work for DTE and contacting victims via text and then with a phone call. The scammers ask customers to make missed payments through a website and use a cash transfer app like Zelle. The real DTE doesn’t contact customers like that.

Don’t give personal account information to anyone who initiates a call, even for “verification purposes”. If the caller says an issue must be resolved immediately, its probably a scam. Never reply to an unsolicited text message.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland