January 18th, 20190LANSING — Betty Jean Alexander worked as a clerical specialist at the Wayne County Clerk’s office this time last year. She made $16 an hour, qualified for food stamps and took the bus to work.
Now, after a surprising primary election win last fall, the 53-year-old Detroiter and single mother of two daughters is a state senator....
November 30th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Red Effect Infrared Fitness opened a new women-exclusive location on Ford Road in Dearborn Heights on Friday Nov. 23, the first of its kind for the chain with more than 300 franchises sold and in development.
Allie Mallad, owner of Red Effect, said he came up with the idea two years ago just after he began the...
November 17th, 20180DEARBORN – Barbara and Bob Hayes have volunteered four days a week for the past four years delivering and packaging meals for Wayne County’s Meals on Wheels program.
Barbara Hayes was a nursing school student when she got her first close-up look at the Meals on Wheels program and the positive impact it has on homebound...
November 2nd, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS - Leaders of various faiths gathered in Dearborn Heights on Thursday, Nov. 1 to pray for peace and stand with the victims of the mass shooting carried out at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 27.
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, Rev. Robert Schoenhals and Rabbi Nate DeGroot led this call for tolerance at the...
October 15th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Salwa Fawaz, one of four candidates campaigning for three open seats on the Crestwood Board of Education, would only be the second Arab American on the board for a district that comprises of 70 percent Arab American students.
The only current Arab American member is Nadia Berry, who was elected in 2016.
Fawaz...
October 12th, 20181DEARBORN HEIGHTS – In one of the most diverse counties in the United States, bad neighbors and a dismissive law enforcement has resulted in the arrest of a racist man and a family wanting to leave town.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Jason Glenn Sherman, 35, a Dearborn Heights resident, in connection with the ethnic...
October 12th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Following his sudden resignation, the city’s former building and engineering director is threatening to sue a Council member for making allegations about corruption in the department.
The mayor accepted Mohamed Sobh’s resignation on September 27, two days after Councilman Bill Bazzi said at a City Council...
October 9th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Michigan - Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Jason Glenn Sherman, 35, a resident of Dearborn Heights, in connection with the ethnic intimidation of his Arab American neighbors.
According to Dearborn Heights Police report, on September 16, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Dearborn Heights police officers were...
October 5th, 20181DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The city’s Building and Engineering director, Mohamed Sobh, has resigned amid accusations by a City Council member that he harassed and extorted residents.
At a September 25 Council meeting, Councilman Bill Bazzi said he heard from at least 20 residents and real estate agents that Sobh’s department approves...
September 2nd, 20180Dearborn Heights — Dearborn Heights, Taylor and the civil engineering firm Wade Trim will host a public forum to secure the public’s input and opinions regarding the proposed Van Born Corridor Improvement Project. The forum will take place Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the Richard A. Young Recreation Center on McKinley Street. The meeting...
August 27th, 20180YPSILANTI – The Dearborn Heights and Ypsilanti Fire Departments will receive a combined $1 million grant to boost the number of firefighters in those communities.
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) announced on Friday that the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grants will go directly to the local fire...
August 24th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The city is moving forward with the purchase of the Warren Valley Golf Course from Wayne County, despite objections from a newly elected City Council member who claimed the city’s financial condition doesn’t allow for its upkeep. While many residents want to keep the course, they and Councilman Bill Bazzi...
July 27th, 20180DEARBORN, DEARBORN HEIGHTS – In Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, voters will select trustees for the Dearborn, Crestwood and District Seven School Board in the Nov. 6 elections.
Three seats are available on the Dearborn School Board— one two year term and two six year terms.
Current Trustee Mary Lane was the only candidate to...
July 27th, 20180This election is a defining event for America
This election, for many reasons, is perhaps the most important one in America’s modern history.
First, our democracy is in grave danger. During the last presidential election and since Donald Trump took office, there have been a systematic attack on our democracy at all levels. The...
July 17th, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The Islamic Institute of America (IIA) Summer Camp offers an engaging summer program with fun recreational and educational activities/lessons that are embedded with Islamic studies. The camp, which runs through August 3, is for children from the ages of 5 to 12 and takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and...
July 1st, 20181DETROIT — A clerk charged with fatal shooting of a customer at a gas station on Detroit's west side waived a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
Rami Ali Jaber, 26, of Dearborn Heights, is charged with first-degree murder and felony firearms violations. The shooting happened May 13 at about 4 p.m. at the Citgo gas station in the...
June 22nd, 20181DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Many of Crestwood High School's graduating class achieved high grade point averages and received praise from their school's staff for their efforts in planning for their futures.
"I consider myself so fortunate to work with such a talented, intelligent, driven group of students," said Yusra Hamadeh, counselor to...
June 9th, 20180DEARBORN – Local officials in Wayne County hosted several iftars for area Muslims.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans hosted his annual iftar for county Muslim leaders at the Grapevine Restaurant in Canton.
Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly held two iftar dinners at Habib’s Cuisine, one for heads of local Arab and Muslim...
April 2nd, 20180Dearborn Heights — The police and Fire Departments recently celebrated the addition of new employees during swearing-in ceremonies at the Dearborn Heights City Hall. Two new Police Officers were sworn in at a March 19 ceremony, and one new firefighter was sworn in at a March 26 ceremony.
Police officers:
Ahmed Alhalili, a 4-year...
March 23rd, 20180By Farah Harb
The Arab American News
DEARBORN — As part of its high school voter registration project, the League of Women Voters of Dearborn/ Dearborn Heights visited Dearborn and Fordson High Schools the week of March 19-22.
The nonpartisan political organization aims to bring awareness of the importance of informed and...
March 16th, 20180Dearborn Heights — Mayor Dan Paletko cut the ribbon at Sianna Muscles in Motion on March 5. Officials from the Dearborn Area of Commerce, employees and friends of the business joined the mayor to celebrate the ceremony.
The business is the city’s newest spa/rehabilitation center. The facility is located at 27247 Joy Road. It...
March 9th, 20180GARDEN CITY — Garden City Mayor Randy Walker announced he is running for the 11th district seat in the Michigan House of Representatives, which comprises Garden city, Inkster and portions of Westland, Livonia and Dearborn Heights.
Walker served four two-year terms as mayor before being elected to a four-year term in...
March 2nd, 20180DEARBORN — The conversation around upgrading an aging infrastructure is taking center stage around the nation and especially in Michigan, where lead-contaminated water pipes have poisoned an entire city, mold grows in middle school classrooms and bad weather makes for deadly potholes.
Weak roads, coupled with drastic thawing of...
February 2nd, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Women's activist Dana Mohammad is working to form the Dearborn Heights Commission on Women and Girls. The commission would be the first of its kind in the state, according to Mohammad, who held a meeting at the Caroline Kennedy Library on Jan. 25 to gauge support, brainstorm ideas and raise awareness about the...
February 2nd, 20180DEARBORN HEIGHTS — As federal officials and states remain in a tug of war on the legality of marijuana, cities across the nation where the consumption of the drug is permitted on some level are grappling with whether to allow dispensary stores in their neighborhoods.
In Dearborn Heights, residents of the largely bedroom community...
January 5th, 20180Here's our 2017 year-in-review of the most important news and developments as reported by The Arab American News locally, nationally and internationally.
Community and local
1. Former Dearborn City Clerk Kathy Buda was convicted on embezzlement charges, after clerk office employees reported suspicions she was stealing cash from fees...
December 15th, 20170DETROIT — A Dearborn Heights man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribing public officials while trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary.
Ali Baydoun, 52, could spend up to 16 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge. His sentencing is scheduled for April.
Baydoun reached the plea deal four...
November 17th, 20170Allen Park —Dearborn Heights police officer Larry A. Little, 32, is charged with causing a fatal crash due to reckless driving.
The crash happened on January 2 at the intersection of Van Born and Pelham Roads and resulted in the death of Timothy Lee Turner, 59. Little’s first hearing will take place on November 27.
Little was...