Several local law enforcement and first responder agencies were hard at work this weekend for
special training related to active shooter situations. In October 2018, the Office of Community
Oriented Policing Services approved a $24,941.00 grant under the 2018 COPS STOP School
Violence: School Violence Prevention Program to the Port Huron Police Department. This grant
provides funding for area departments to train for Active Killer events. The first training took
place Saturday at Port Huron Schools Early Childhood Center. Agencies participating in the
training included the Port Huron Police and Fire Department, Michigan State Police, U.S. Border Patrol, Tri-Hospital EMS among several others. The Port Huron Police Department will be hosting more first responder training sessions under this grant in 2019 and 2020. Training will provide first responders with information on: how to respond, quickly engaging the
killer/stopping the threat, tactical first aid, working with fire and EMS and more.

Have a Planet Fitness nearby? Rumor has it that from May 15th through September 1st, teens
ages 15-18 years old can work out all summer at over 1,700 Planet Fitness locations nationwide
– completely free! While Planet Fitness has not released any official news on their Teen Summer
Challenge promotion yet, it’s been causing quite a buzz- especially for parents looking for a way
to keep their teens active this summer! Qualifying teens will also have the ability to take
completely free fitness classes offered at least once a day Monday through Friday. Planet Fitness
is expected to make an official announcement in May along with more than 50 opportunities to
win $5,000 scholarships.

The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever guidance for how much screen time
children under five should get. Kids under the age of five old should only be exposed to screens
for an hour each day. The health organization does recommend that less is better when it comes
to screen time. For children under one year of age, the organization says that the child should
receive zero screen time. Guidelines from the World Health Organization are very similar to the
guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. That group says parents of young children
under two should choose “high-quality programming” with educational value that can be
watched with a parent to help kids understand what they’re seeing.

The City of Port Huron has a unique opportunity to raise funds for a matching grant of up to $250,000 to design and construct a concrete skate park. If the City of Port Huron, along with the community, are able to raise the funds; the Tony Hawk Foundation will match the funds. The skate park will include features such as bowl transitions and ramps, a street section including ledges, stairs, rails, and a potential pump track. The park will be skateboard, scooter, BMX, and rollerblade friendly. The goal is for donations to be raised in full by July 1st of this year. To make a donation you can visit Go Fund Me’s website under “A New Port Huron Skate Park” or make a check out to the City of Port Huron and drop it off at McMorran Place Arena.

This Saturday, April 27th will be the 2nd annual Blue Water Feed the World Project through Kids Coalition Against Hunger whose goal is to package an annual output of more than 8 million meals a year by the end of 2020. To date, food has been sent to over 100 food pantries in the northeast quarter of the United States, and 23 countries around the world. On Saturday, the Blue Water Area will do its part of helping prep 150,000 meal from 8 am to 12:30 pm. Right now the organization is looking for volunteers to help make it happen. If you are interested in volunteering you can visit www.kcah.info

The City of Port Huron was recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA community for its commitment to urban forestry. This is the 22nd year Port Huron has earned this national designation. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Services. The City of Port Huron’s Forestry Department, in cooperation with the Port Huron Area School District, will celebrate this year’s Arbor Day on Friday, April 26 by planting a tree at the Early Child Learning Center.