AAPAC endorses candidates in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights ahead of the November 4 municipal elections
October 10th, 20250 DEARBORN — As absentee voting begins for the November 4 municipal elections, the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) has released its list of endorsed candidates in the local municipality races in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. AAPAC, which elected a new leadership team last month, held a series of meetings and interviews...
Lebanese Consulate in Detroit engages community leaders to boost expat voter registration for 2026 elections
October 10th, 20250 SOUTHFIELD — The Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit held a meeting at its location in Southfield on Wednesday, October 8, bringing together numerous Lebanese community and religious organizations from Michigan and Ohio to discuss mechanisms for registering Lebanese expatriates wishing to vote in the Lebanon’s 2026 parliamentary...
Wayne County Judge sentences “Rouge Reaper” to 75 years for the murder of activist Bushra Mawry
October 10th, 20250 DETROIT – A Wayne County Circuit Court judge has sentenced Amir Patterson, known by the street name “Rouge Reaper”, to 75 years in prison for the murder of Arab American activist Bushra Mawry, who was shot and killed more than two years ago inside an apartment in Westland while visiting a friend and a co-worker. According to...
Dearborn Police arrest teen gang linked to car thefts and Redford shooting
October 10th, 20250 DEARBORN – After extensive investigations, Dearborn Police have arrested members of a teenage gang involved in the organized theft of vehicles and their contents across the city. On Tuesday, the Dearborn Police Department announced that it had arrested two teenage suspects, aged 15 and 16, while continuing to search for three others...
Dearborn Heights election: Four local races to shape the city’s political future
October 10th, 20250 Mo Baydoun and Denise Malinowski-Maxwell face off for mayor The city of Dearborn Heights will see four distinct local races in the November 4 elections, led by the mayoral race between City Council President Mo Baydoun and Councilwoman Denise Malinowski-Maxwell. Five additional candidates will compete in a tight race for four open...
Two men convicted in the brutal murder of jeweler Hussein “Sam” Murray in Rochester Hills home invasion
October 10th, 20250 PONTIAC — Nearly a year after the brutal killing of Arab American jeweler Hussein “Sam” Murray in his Rochester Hills home, two men — Carlos Hernandez, 38, and Joshua Zuazo, 40 — were convicted by separate Oakland County juries of first-degree murder and unlawful imprisonment for beating Murray to death and restraining his...
Bill Bazzi resigns as mayor of Dearborn Heights, heads to U.S. Embassy in Tunisia, Mo Baydoun assumes acting mayor role
October 8th, 20250 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Following the confirmation of his appointment as ambassador to Tunisia, Mayor Bill Bazzi has announced his resignation. In an eight page letter, Bazzi announced his resignation and his gratitude. “Last night, I was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia,” the letter read....
Resilient Neighborhoods: USDA cuts could worsen food insecurity, reverse progress to improve nutrition for most vulnerable
October 5th, 20250 By Layla McMurtrie At a time when many Southeast Michigan families are turning to food banks for help, federal support is beginning to dwindle. Earlier this year, Gleaners Community Food Bank, founded in 1979, learned it would be receiving 1 million fewer pounds of food than expected. The shortfall stems from cuts to USDA programs...
Dearborn, Dearborn Heights step up security after mosque threats amid rising anti-Muslim rhetoric
October 3rd, 20250 DEARBORN, DEARBORN HEIGHTS – As online campaigns and hostile media reports continue to target Dearborn, home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the U.S., concerns are growing about potential violence against the community. Last week, local mosques faced new threats, prompting federal and local authorities to step up...
Dearborn gears up for high-stakes local elections: Hammoud seeks re-election, 13 candidates compete for seven Council seats
October 3rd, 20250 DEARBORN – Voters across Michigan can now request absentee ballots by mail for the upcoming local elections on Tuesday, November 4. The elections will include mayoral races, City Council contests, clerk positions and ballot initiatives in many municipalities across the state. In Dearborn, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud will seek a second...
Grand Blanc Mormon church massacre leaves four dead, eight injured
October 3rd, 20250 GRAND BLANC – A Mormon church in this community was the target of a bloody terrorist massacre during Sunday services, leaving four people dead and eight others injured. The assailant, who rammed his truck into the building before opening fire on hundreds of worshipers and setting the church ablaze, was killed by police. The church was...
Sterling Heights attorney Sandi Odisho killed in drunk driving crash on Eight Mile Road
October 3rd, 20250 DETROIT – A 40-year-old Chaldean American attorney was killed in a horrific traffic accident on the evening of September 25, after her car was struck on East Eight Mile Road by a speeding drunk driver who fled the scene. Detroit police officers responded to the crash at the intersection of Eight Mile and Schoenherr at around 5:52...
Arab American woman Fatme Davis fatally stabbed by husband during custody exchange
October 3rd, 20250 In a shocking case of domestic violence at a gas station in Shelby Township, an Arab American woman was fatally stabbed by her estranged husband during a planned custody exchange of their 1-year-old son. Fatme Davis, 23 – known to family and friends as “Stella” – had separated from her husband, Sidney Emmanuel Davis Jr., 25 and...
Dearborn to reissue corrected absentee ballots after discovering printing error
October 3rd, 20250 DEARBORN – Voters who already received absentee ballots by mail for the November 4 election will be sent new, corrected ballots by October 11, after officials discovered a printing error in the initial batch distributed last week. The city clerk’s office had begun mailing absentee ballots to voters listed on the permanent absentee...
Local community commemorates victims of Israeli attacks in Bint Jbeil
October 3rd, 20250 DEARBORN – Over the past week, the city of Dearborn witnessed a series of memorial events honoring the lives of five victims — including three children from the same family — who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil on September 21. The Lebanese American community in Dearborn, which......
Dearborn Heights Mosque receives anonymous threat
October 2nd, 20250 DEARBORN HEIGHTS - The Dearborn Heights Police Department confirmed that they have recently received reports of a potential threat targeting a local mosque. The reports began coming in on Sept. 29, just 24 hours after the Grand Blanc church shooting. The department is actively investigating the origin and nature of the threat while...
Mayor Hammoud announces plans to combat flooding
September 30th, 20250 DEARBORN — City officials have announced plans to combat flooding and boost long-term stormwater resilience throughout the city. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and City Council President Michael Sareini recently met to discuss ongoing and future projects planned to combat flooding and revealed the results of a large-scale study commissioned......
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud confronts an organized smear campaign against Dearborn after clash with “racist” resident
September 26th, 20256 DEARBORN — After a wave of orchestrated criticism exploiting his harsh rebuke of a resident who opposed naming part of Warren Avenue after The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud pushed back against what he described as a smear and sectarian incitement campaign targeting the city over the past...
Dearborn Heights City Council unanimously bans short-term rentals, sets $5,000 daily fine
September 26th, 20250 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Following in the footsteps of the city of Dearborn, the Dearborn Heights City Council voted unanimously on September 9 to pass a new ordinance banning short-term home rentals through platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo, imposing steep fines on violators. The ordinance, which went into effect last week, defines...
Dearborn man sentenced to 34 months in prison for illegal gun possession after threats at Jewish center
September 26th, 20250 DETROIT – A federal court in Detroit has sentenced a Dearborn man to nearly three years in prison after he attempted to illegally purchase firearms just hours after terrorizing and threatening to kill worshipers at a Jewish center in Oakland County on the morning of December 3, 2022. Hassan Chokr, 38, pleaded guilty to a federal...
U.S. ends Temporary Protected Status for Syrians, orders 6,000 to leave by November
September 26th, 20250 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given about 6,000 Syrian nationals living in the United States a 60-day deadline to leave the country after announcing the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which had allowed them to remain in the U.S. since 2012, last Friday. Homeland Security Secretary......
Sterling Heights named safest big city in Michigan; Dearborn ranks close second in FBI report
September 26th, 20250 STERLING HEIGHTS – For the sixth consecutive year, Sterling Heights has been ranked the safest city in Michigan, according to the FBI’s annual crime report for cities with populations of more than 100,000. Michigan has seven cities above that threshold: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Lansing and...
Mariam Saad Bazzi sworn in to Michigan Court of Appeals before packed audience in Dearborn
September 26th, 20250 Judge Mariam Saad Bazzi was sworn in at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn on Thursday, September 18, in the presence of top government, judicial and community figures, Bazzi entered the history of Michigan’s judiciary in late April as the first Arab American and Muslim to serve on the prestigious Michigan......
Dearborn high schools planning homecoming events
September 25th, 20250 DEARBORN — The three traditional high schools — Fordson, Dearborn and Edsel Ford — will host their homecoming events on Friday, Oct. 10. The events will include afternoon parades and evening football games the community is invited to attend to celebrate the district and the students. The events will begin at Fordson High...
Resilient Neighborhoods: From aspiring to own a restaurant to dishing out tostones: Program brings small businesses to life
September 25th, 20250 By Allison Torres Burtka To support small-business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC) offers a social entrepreneurship program. It helps build resilience and intellectual capital in the community, said Lex Zavala, DHDC’s interim executive director. “Part of our mission is to......
