Officials with the National Weather service were in the field today in Shiawassee county, assessing the strength of a tornado that touched down last night.

The county experienced two tornadoes at Corunna and Vernon.

Officials said the tornadoes weren’t unusually strong, but they did result in damages.

Bryan Tilley is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Detroit.

“I think right now, in a general sense, I would expect it to be classified as a damage type, a moderate type of classification.

If it seems like this has been a tough winter repair crews from Michigan’s electric utilities may agree. Power outages have been a bigger problem this winter than they have previous years.

Around 100,000 homes and businesses lost power over the weekend, in the Consumers Energy service area.

“In terms of power outages, we’ve had more activity this year compared to last. I think back to late 2013 where we had an ice storm that caused 350,000 outages,” said Brian Wheeler, the Senior Public Information Director for Consumers Energy.

Food assistance benefits for March and April will be released early in Michigan.

Bob Wheaton, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the department is phasing back to a regular schedule by releasing the benefits early after the partial government shutdown.

Cathy Wusterbarth was invited by Democratic Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee to attend the President’s State of the Union Address.

The Iosco County woman was recognized for her work on bringing attention to PFAS contamination near Wurtsmith Air Force Base in her hometown of Oscoda.

PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl substances are a class of chemicals linked to health problems in humans.

A small business in Presque Isle county, Moran Iron Works, recently received the “Historically Underutilized Business Zone”, or HUBZone certificate.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has a goal of awarding at least 3% of all federal contracting dollars to HUBZone certified businesses every year.

In 2017, that amounted to over 80,000 contracts.

Mother nature showed Michiganders a sneak preview to the next season today.

Spring starts Mar. 20 and signs of the transition were prevalent today with a high of 52 degrees fahrenheit in Mid Michigan. 

The warm day was accompanied with a few rays of sunshine and light rain.