SC4 Launches Mission Lunar Quest

St. Clair County Community College has opened registration for its Mission Lunar Quest at the Challenger Lunar Center. The center will launch in Spring of 2022, but students and educators, businesses and corporations, and community members can reserve a spot now.

Dr. Deborah Snyder, president of SC4, said “The Challenger Learning Center at SC4 will help support STEM education, exploration and innovation with experiences that go far beyond an everyday field trip, outing or corporate training session.”

Guests to the Challenger Learning Center can schedule half day or full day experiences that are geared toward 5th through 8th graders but can be adapted for older guests. The interactive experience simulates a trip to the moon and utilizes a variety of STEM-based roles.

Lance Bush, president and CEO of the Challenger Centers, said, “We’re hard at work building the Spacecraft and preparing Mission Control to welcome students and community members to fly our newest space missions that we developed in partnership with NASA.”

Galaxy Quest STEM Summer Camp is in the works for next summer. A link to more information can be found at WGRT.com.

https://challenger.sc4.edu/

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Port Huron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant Provides Critical Infrastructure for Region

Along with a tour of the water filtration plant, community members were given a look at Port Huron’s Wastewater Treatment Plant last week. It is safe to say that those in attendance were in awe of the extensive effort that goes into taking wastewater from the City and surrounding townships and making it clean enough to safely send back into the St. Clair River.

Dianna Siefert, Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent, has worked at the plant for over 21 years and gave a fascinating presentation to community members who have a stake in the stewardship of the river as well as the local economy that depends on the vital service.

Siefert explained the innovative process that Port Huron uses to collect biosolids from the wastewater and send them out to over 150 farmers to fertilize their fields. It is the biggest recycling program in St. Clair County. She also gave a tour of the facility, which is getting some expensive, yet vital, upgrades.

The plant is massive and can handle up to 20 million gallons of wastewater per day. It usually handles 9.5 million gallons. The plant operates 24 hours per day, 365 days a year with an operating budget of approximately $5 million each year.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Port Huron to Get 1000 New Trees over Decade

Port Huron is about to get a fresh stock of new trees.

September’s rough weather took out some trees in Port Huron, but it could have been a lot worse, according to Port Huron City Manager James Freed. The city has been removing dead and diseased trees throughout the city for several years to reduce the danger of falling limbs and trees. Freed credited the Forestry Division with spearheading the effort to clean up the trees that needed to go.

Now it’s time to plant some new trees to replace the ones that have been removed. Freed said that he asked the Forestry Department to draft a plan for planting 100 new trees each year for the next ten years.

The city plans to work with the MSU Extension and an arborist to put the right trees in the right places. The plan will replace trees that have been removed as well as strategically placing trees in boulevards and city parks. The south side of Port Huron will get special attention as it has recently lost a lot of old trees.

Freed called the investment in 1000 trees over the next decade “generational” as it will ensure that Port Huron maintains its tree canopy for years to come.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Bridge Cards to Get Permanent Increase to Pay for Healthy Food

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has announced that those who receive food benefits will get a permanent increase in the monthly payment. The increase is a jump of about 6.8%. The increase is meant to make a healthy diet more affordable for beneficiaries.

A larger than normal benefit increase from federal funding saw some food benefits go up 15% over the past year, but those temporary benefits will expire this month. The permanent increase will start with the October loading of Bridge cards. The maximum benefit for a family of four will go from $782 to $835.

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, is administered by MDHHS. Michigan recipients use Bridge cards to spend their benefits. This year, the program was increased greater than the cost-of-living rate because the benefits were not keeping up with the increases in the cost of a healthy diet.

No action is needed to be taken by recipients to get the increased amount. More than 1.25 million Michiganders get their nutrition at least in part from SNAP.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Taxes due October 15th for Those With Extensions

Those who filed for extensions on their federal income tax returns have until October 15, 2021 to get their taxes in. The Internal Revenue Service will penalize anyone who files after that date.

IRS spokesperson, Luis D. Garcia said, “October 15 is the deadline for just about everyone. Only certain members of the military and taxpayers who already had valid extensions and live in areas affected by this summer’s severe storms and flooding have more time.”

Taxpayers in Macomb County who were affected by the storms, flooding, and tornadoes who had valid extensions to file their 2020 returns, now have until November 1st to file.

The IRS encourages everyone to take advantage of Free File if they earned $72,000 or less in 2020. There are also Free File fillable forms for those who earned more and are comfortable preparing their own taxes.

To learn more visit  https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

Celebrate Military Members at Inaugural Gala

An inaugural Military & Veterans Gala will be held at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on November 6th to celebrate Michigan’s National Guard members, our state’s veterans, and advocates who support both groups.

The event is adults only and open to the public. It includes an awards ceremony, heavy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, music and dancing. All tickets must be purchased by October 15th to accommodate the clearance process which includes a background check to enter Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul D. Rogers, Adjutant General and Director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said, “We are excited to be hosting this inaugural event which is a recognition of the significant contribution the Michigan National Guard and our state’s veterans have had in our efforts to defend the homeland and support so many aspects of our daily lives here in Michigan.”

Awards will be presented at the event including Veteran-Friendly Volunteer of the Year, Educational Veteran Advocate of the Year, and Warrior Citizen of the Year, which honors a National Guard member.

For more information, visit the event website here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/michigan-military-veterans-gala-tickets-167634524375