In a press conference  Monday, Governor Whitmer signed executive orders to simplify the application process for work permits, extend the ability of the state to hold administrative hearings by phone or video conference, and lift weight and other delivery restrictions on PPE and medical supplies.

Youth can now obtain work permits without having to submit them in person at their local school administration building. Permits can now be mailed, emailed, faxed or sent via the web until June 8th so the youth workforce, a valuable component during the pandemic, can be mobilized more quickly.

Executive Order 2020-80, which continues to allow certain state administrative hearings to be held by video conference or phone in place of in-person hearings, is also in effect through June 8th. The order allows Michigan Employment Relations Commission, Unemployment Insurance Agency, and other administrative hearings to take place remotely. It also temporarily allows e-signatures on documents.

A Beautiful Me (ABMe) has joined the Eastern Michigan Christian Foundation. ABMe joins 7 other faith based non-profits, including SONS, New Life Christian Academy, Youth for Christ, Hope FM, Spero, Operation Transformation, and Bridge Builders.

The Eastern Michigan Foundation is a member of the Community Foundation of St Clair County and provides opportunities for individuals to leave legacy gifts to any or all of the EMCF member organizations.

A legacy gift is a planned future gift that designates some part of an individual’s estate as a donation to a nonprofit. Legacy gifts enable individuals to have an impact on causes that are important to them long after the individual passes.

“After establishing a healthy reserve fund, A Beautiful Me Board of Directors made it a goal to prioritize focus on starting an endowment fund this year as the next step for a healthy nonprofit.” said Karen Palka, Executive Director of A Beautiful Me. “Our fund development team set aside two different unplanned fundraising efforts in 2019 to support this goal. This is an investment in the lifetime of A Beautiful Me through legacy gifts that can now be donor directed through the Eastern Michigan Christian Foundation.”

For more information or how to leave a Legacy Gift to A Beautiful Me, contact the Eastern Michigan Christian Foundation at: info@ALastingGift.org or call 810-294-0285.

A Beautiful Me is a 501c3 charitable organization that develops and trains girls in 3rd-12th grades through confidence-building workshops and programs since 2008. For more information visit www.abeautifulme.com

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

A Michigan judge temporarily  denied a motion made by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration that Owosso barber, Karl Manke, close up shop during the coronavirus outbreak. The state Attorney General, Dana Nessel,  lost in her effort to obtain a temporary restraining order.

The Attorney General’s court action, filed on behalf of MDHHS, sought to enforce the MDHHS Director’s Public Health Order that deemed Mr. Manke’s business as an imminent danger to public health in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and directed him to immediately cease operations at his barbershop.

The barber had been repeatedly fined for allegedly violating the shutdown orders, but his supporters apparently paid the fines. Early Monday morning, Manke’s attorney, David Kallman, says the Attorney General’s office filed a complaint with the Shiawassee County Circuit Court asking for Manke’s business to be shut down. The judge, however, denied the request.

“The courts are going to be deciding these things. Are these executive orders legal or not? It’s our position that they’re not,” said Kallman. In a Monday press conference, Kallman said that his law firm will back Manke all the way up to the Supreme Court. Manke has said that he will only leave “if they drag me out in the street or Jesus comes.”

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

Ever since the CARES Act passed and coronavirus stimulus payments of up to $1,200 per adult started going out, people have been asking: What should one do if a stimulus check was sent to a dead person? No one is exactly sure how many family members of recently deceased people are in this situation.

On May 6, the government tried to clarify the question by stating that people who have died are not eligible for payments and any checks issued to a deceased person should be sent back. Until recently, many tax and legal experts had been under the impression that 2020 stimulus payments sent to dead people would probably not have to be returned, and it still is unclear what will happen if a stimulus payment is not returned.

Estate Planning Attorney Stacy DeShon shared instructions for returning a paper stimulus check with WGRT.  First, write “void” in the endorsement section on the back of the stimulus check. Then include a note stating the reason for returning the check. Mail the voided check back to the IRS.

If the payment was a paper check and you have cashed it, or if the payment was a direct deposit, submit a personal check or money order to the IRS. Make it payable to “U.S. Treasury”. In the memo section of the check or money order, write “2020EIP” and the deceased recipients taxpayer social security number. Include a brief explanation of the reason for returning the check.  Michigan residents may use the following address:

Kansas City Refund Inquiry Unit
333 W Pershing Rd
Mail Stop 6800, N-2
Kansas City, MO 64108

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

Just in time for the summer driving boom, the days of cheap gas prices may be over for some time. As of this past Friday, the average price for regular-unleaded in Michigan was $1.77 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. That is up from $1.50 only a week earlier. 

“It’s becoming clear that those very low gas prices during the COVID-19 pandemic are behind us, just as gasoline demand grows across the country as states slowly reopen,” said Patrick DeHaan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy, a free online service which tracks fuel prices by state, city and region. 

DeHaan went on to say that the reason for rising prices is because refineries have slowed production over the past month or so, and they have not been flooding the market with excess gasoline. Now, after weeks of quarantine, many people are ready to get back on the road and anxious to go to stores, beaches, and parks. This rise in demand is  pushing gas prices up. The result is that drivers can say goodbye to historically low gas prices. 

Reporting for WGRT – Marty Doorn

A Port Huron Township gas station was robbed at gunpoint early this morning.

According to St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon, the Mobil gas station at I-69 and 32nd Street was robbed shortly after 3:00 a.m.  The clerk at the station told deputies a pickup truck pulled into the parking lot.  One person stayed in the truck while another came inside.  The suspect pulled out a handgun and demanded the clerk to give him money.  Once the suspect got the cash, he ran out of the store, got into the truck and took off southbound on 32nd Street.

The suspect is described as a white male, approximately 5’10” tall.  He had a black bandana covering his face and was wearing a black hoodie type sweatshirt, black pants and red shoes.  He had a tattoo on his right eyebrow, described as three stars in an arch.

The vehicle is believed to be a green Chevrolet S-10 pickup.  It has a black front driver’s side fender and no tailgate.  There was an Arizona license plate in the rear window.

Anyone with information regarding this armed robbery is asked to contact the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office at (810) 985-8115.