St. Patrick’s Day Raffle Supports United Way

The United Way of St. Clair County is conducting its annual St. Patrick’s Day raffle, and prizes include array of gift baskets including themes like Explore St. Clair, Coffee Lover’s, Summertime, and School Spirit.

Gift baskets are full of surprises like gift cards to local restaurants, lottery tickets, overnight stays, and golf adventures. The Summertime Sizzlin’ basket includes a brand new Royal Gourmet Grill with Offset Smoker.

Tickets are available for $2 each both online <HERE> and at the United Way of St. Clair County’s office at 1723 Military Street in Port Huron. The drawing for prizes takes place on March 17th at 9:30 AM live on the United Way’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Funds raised will support the many services and organizations the United Way of St. Clair County works with in our community.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

No Penalty or Interest for Failure to Make Tax Payments on Unemployment Checks

There is good news for those who collected unemployment benefits in 2020: no penalty or interest related to underpaid estimated tax payments will be levied, effective immediately. 

Taxpayers, even if unemployed, are required to make quarterly estimated tax payments if they expect to owe more than $500 in state taxes. Penalties for failure to do so are waived for 2020 unemployment benefits only.

State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said, “This is the right thing to do. COVID has disrupted our lives in numerous ways – and many Michiganders are depending on unemployment benefits to get them by during this extraordinary time. Having to pay penalties and interest on unemployment benefits is the last thing individuals should be worried about when they go to pay their taxes.”

No action is needed to get the waiver. It is automatically granted to unemployment beneficiaries. Unemployment money is taxable income and will need to be claimed on 2020 tax filings. Unemployment recipients should have received a 1099-G. Taxes are now being processed at both the federal and state levels.

More information about tax filing can be found at www.michigan.gov/incometax.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Register Now for Port Huron Boat Show

It’s not too soon to start thinking about summer, and The Antique and Classic Boat Society is planning several summer boat shows around the area. Registration is open for the Port Huron show which is scheduled for September 10th & 11th at the River Street Marina.

The focus of the 2021 Port Huron Boat the Blue Antique and Classic Boat Show is boat builder’s and restorers. The Blue Water Area is home to many boat building and design companies such as Chris Craft, Hacker, Garwood, Dodge, and Belle Isle Bearcats.

There will be more than 60 antique and classic boats to admire at the show, and the event is open and free to the public.

Boat owners can register their boats for the show at boattheblue.org. Those who register before August 14th will appear in the program and receive a goodie bag and hat embroidered with their boat’s name.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

Career and Technical Education Month Highlights Skilled Trades

February is Career and Technical Education Month. There are over half a million job openings projected to be available annually for the next seven years. Students are encouraged to explore career pathways that can lead to these high-demand jobs during Career and Technical Education Month.

Career and Technical Education, or CTE programs, are offered in regional “tech centers”, community colleges, and some universities. High demand fields include information technology, health care, hospitality, and manufacturing.

State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice, said, “Expanding CTE programs in Michigan schools helps to ensure students have the real-world, hands-on experience they need to explore rewarding career opportunities. CTE helps meet one of Michigan’s strategic education plan’s goals to expand secondary learning opportunities for all students – helping to inspire and encourage every student to explore all options along their educational journey.” 

There are over 3600 CTE programs in Michigan, with over 97,000 students currently involved. Interested students can explore professional trades careers by visiting Going-PRO.com/CTE. 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

McClain Creates Advisory Council of Local Farmers

Today, Congresswoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) announced the creation of an Agriculture Advisory Council, a group of experienced farmers who will serve as the Congresswoman’s trusted voices for issues impacting the agriculture community in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.

“Agriculture is a major industry in Michigan’s thumb, and there’s no one that knows the issues our farmers are dealing with day to day better than the farmers,” said Rep. McClain. “I look forward to routinely meeting with my new Agriculture Advisory Council to stay in tune with the issues impacting our farmers to ensure they are represented well in Washington.”

The Agriculture Advisory Council will consist of the following members: Clint Hagen, Carl (CJ) Bednarski, Mike Noll, Rita Herford, Kip Siegler, Larry Decock, Matt Frostic and Charlie Lewis:

Clint Hagen grows sugar beets, navy beans and white wheat at his farm in Huron County.

Carl (CJ) Bednarski resides in Tuscola County, where he grows sugar beets, dry beans, white wheat and corn.

Mike Noll is a farmer in Sanilac County who grows dry beans, soybeans, corn, white wheat, alfalfa and sugar beets. He also raises dairy cows and has a feedlot.

Rita Herford grows sugar beets, dry edible beans, wheat, corn and rye on her farm in Huron County.

Kip Siegler specializes in dairy. He also grows hay, corn, wheat and soybeans at his farm in Lapeer County.

Matt Frostic lives in Sanilac County where he raises beef cattle and also grows sugar beets, corn, soybeans and dry beans.

Larry Decock runs a specialty greenhouse and melon farm in Macomb County.

Charlie Lewis is a fifth-generation farmer in St. Clair County. He grows corn, soybeans, sugar beets, wheat and also raises beef cattle.

Rep. McClain looks forward to working with these farmers on agriculture issues in the coming months.

Submitted by the office of Congresswoman Lisa McClain

 

Innovative New Playgrounds Coming to Lighthouse and Palmer Parks

Port Huron, MI — Being a kid in Port Huron is about to be even more fun. Both Lighthouse Park and Palmer Park are getting new playground equipment. Renderings of the proposed playgrounds show equipment that children may have only dreamed could be in their neighborhood parks.

The equipment shown for Palmer Park is large enough to accommodate up to 120 children. Palmer Park is the home of a popular summer childcare program and a hub for activity with sports courts, Sprout City, which is a child-size simulated city, and a large hillside slide. The new play structure will resemble a figure eight and be handicap accessible. There is only one other structure like it in the nation.

With the Port Huron Recreation Department seeking to make each park a separate destination and make recreation accessible to everyone, the outdated playground equipment at Lighthouse Park is also being replaced and will resemble a light house. New bathrooms are also under construction at Lighthouse Park.

The new equipment is being funded with a combination of grants from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, private donors, and city funds.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland