Yale Public Schools Staff Deliver Holiday Greetings to their Students

Yale, MI — Last week, Yale Public Schools staff boarded buses and took a ride through the district to give holiday greetings to their students. Farrell Emmett Elementary Principal Bob Watson said his staff thought they were giving a gift to the students, but after seeing how cherished the visits were, they realized they received the gift themselves.

Watson said that his teachers and staff were missing their students terribly, as the district is currently doing all virtual instruction. They wanted to do something special for the families. With Superintendent Kenneth Nicholl’s blessing and the collaboration of staff districtwide, the idea took off.

Watson said that Santa drove one of the buses and it was amazing to see the students’ reactions when their teachers got off the bus with him.

Yale’s Director of Transportation Jeri Fishel said the bus drivers were missing their kids so badly, they were thrilled to have the opportunity to get back on the roads. Both Watson and Fishel said that the teamwork to make this logistical feat happen was amazing. They were able to let the families know what time the buses would be rolling up and organize the teachers and routes accordingly.

Watson and Fishel said that parents called in thanking for the visit and said that their children really appreciated the connection with their teachers and bus drivers.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Lake Huron Medical Center Gets “A” Grade for Safety

Port Huron, MI — Lake Huron Medical Center has recently received the highest possible grade recognizing its efforts to maintain a safe environment for patients. The hospital received a 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade of “A”. They have consistently received “A” grades since 2018.

Jose Kottoor, Lake Huron Medical Center Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are extremely proud to have earned straight ‘A’ grades for hospital safety since fall of 2018 because it reflects the commitment that Lake Huron Medical Center, our physicians, staff and nurses make – every day – when caring for patients.” He went on to say, “We have a safety culture at LHMC and process in place to earn the A grade consistently for the last several years. Our dedicated staff remains committed to providing the highest quality of care, even in times of crisis, to our community.”

Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said, “This ‘A’ is a testament to the care and commitment of those who work for Lake Huron Medical Center. With the current pandemic exposing existing flaws within the U.S. health care system, we appreciate you putting patient safety first. Lives depend on it.”

Safety grades can be found at hospitalsafetygrade.org.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Sheriff Warns Against Gift Card Scams

St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King is warning that scammers are hitting close to home this holiday season, with bad guys posing as representatives of the St. Clair County Health Department and the St. Clair County Intervention Academy. There are also scams going around involving jury duty and the IRS.

The criminals are sending emails asking for gift card activation codes. This is a common scam to which people continue to fall victim, even though gift cards are never a legal payment for a legitimate agency or charity.

Sheriff King said, “Unfortunately, there are always criminals looking to prey on good-hearted citizens. If you receive an email or phone call soliciting donations, it is always best to double check to make sure the request is legitimate.”

Tips for avoiding scams include not answering phone calls from unfamiliar numbers, or saying “Remove us from your calling list” and then hanging up. Being wary of emails from unrecognized sources is also advised. Misspelled words are a red flag that should raise suspicion. Do not click on links within suspicious emails.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Fort Gratiot Fire Department Hosts “Shop with a Hero”

Members of the Fort Gratiot Fire Department are used to doing what needs to be done in an emergency. When the emergency was local kids going without toys and essentials for Christmas, they stepped up to solve the problem.

This is the second year that Fort Gratiot Township received a grant from the Walmart Foundation to fund “Shop with a Hero”. This year’s effort helped 27 students who attend the township elementary schools: Keewahdin and Thomas Edison.

In a normal year, the students would have gathered with the firefighters at the Fort Gratiot Walmart and shopped alongside them, but this is not a normal year, and a group shopping trip was not an option. Instead, the department got wish lists from the kids’ parents and did the shopping for them.

Some parents picked up the gifts from the Fort Gratiot Township office while some were delivered by the department in a fire truck. Sharon Wilton, Community Development Director for Fort Gratiot, said that they are thankful to Walmart and the Fort Gratiot Fire Department for making a difference during this holiday season.

The Walmart Foundation gives over $1 billion in charitable contributions each year.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Lauwers to Governor: Give Restaurants a Chance

Starting Monday, December 21st, the MDHHS epidemic order will allow in-person learning at high schools and the reopening of bowling alleys, casinos, and other entertainment venues. Unfortunately for restaurant and bar owners, their establishments must remain closed for another 26 days until January 15, 2020. The order also allows in-person classes to resume at colleges and universities, making way for on-campus learning for the winter semester.

While Governor Whitmer’s office claims that these changes are necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19, some are questioning the rationale for such changes. The State of Michigan’s Coronavirus website contains data on outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout the state, and the highest number of new outbreaks is consistently related to long-term care facilities and K-12 schools, with those two sectors also claiming the highest numbers of ongoing outbreaks.

Colleges and Universities have experienced 31 ongoing outbreaks, and ongoing outbreak data specifically related to schools shows 2,274 cases at Michigan State University and 1,101 cases at Grand Valley State.

The number of ongoing outbreaks related to bars in the state is 4, while the number of ongoing outbreaks related to restaurants in the state is 25, only 2 of those were related to patrons – 23 were employee related.

Michigan State Senator Dan Lauwers, 25th District, released a statement Friday expressing his opinion about the recent continuation of restaurant closures:

“The governor does not trust Michiganders to act responsibly. Though the data does not indicate that restaurants are prominent sources of virus spread, the governor — inexplicably — has shut down restaurants again.”

“She is unable or unwilling to tell small businesses what level of infection or hospitalization rate Michigan must achieve for them to reopen safely. Instead, workers, business owners and job providers are left waiting for press conferences, only then to simply be told they need to remain shuttered.”

“Indoor dining at restaurants has been banned for more than 100 days throughout this year and counting. This has resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in sales and the laying off of most of the state’s restaurant workforce.”

“The health department’s own data indicates that, of the COVID-19 outbreaks that have occurred, only 4.3% can be attributed to restaurants.”

Lauwers is calling on the governor or Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon to “provide Michiganders with objective standards and/or COVID-19 case rates for restaurant owners to be able to take action and make plans in order to reopen.”

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

 

 

McLaren Port Huron’s October 2020 Employee of the Month

Port Huron, MI – Mary Lou Kraft has been named the Employee of the Month for October. Kraft has worked at McLaren Port Huron for four years as the volunteer coordinator.

Kraft was nominated by her peers because she exemplifies the hospital values. She carefully matches volunteers to the job/department to ensure the placement works for everyone.

Kraft is friendly, outgoing, and always greets others with a smile. She believes in doing everything with 100% of her ability, and her work ethic is contagious. She has a can-do attitude and is always ready to help where needed. Kraft always represents the hospital positively and is a true asset to McLaren Port Huron. Her coworkers are proud to work with her.

This employee recognition is given to individuals who consistently live the values, mission and performance standards of McLaren Port Huron. Honorees are nominated by a co-worker, physician, volunteer, and/or customer.

To learn more about McLaren Port Huron, visit www.mclaren.org/porthuron.