Author's Posts
After COVID halted its activities, senior program returns to Dearborn mosque
August 31st, 20210 DEARBORN — After a pause on activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a program for seniors is resuming its activities every Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Islamic Center of America (ICA) in Dearborn. The program provides social and educational activities at ICA to the area’s seniors, though the program is open to all,...
Women-owned “Arab relationship” app celebrates heritage, teases stereotypes
August 28th, 20210 Over the summer, many in Dearborn may have noticed a billboard for an Arab relationship app. Baklava entered the online dating market with the goals of providing a familiar and relatable platform for young Arabs who want to connect with each other and build relationships and friendships, locally and across the world. In the U.S., the...
Tlaib, Dingell ask for extension of stay for Lebanese nationals in U.S. during dire crisis
August 27th, 20211 A letter co-led by U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) is urging the Biden administration to allow Lebanese nationals an extension of their stay in the U.S. during Lebanon's dire economic crisis, by designating Lebanon for Temporary Protected Status, or TPS. Support for the letter is growing in the...
Wayne County requires masks for all schools, daycare providers
August 27th, 20210 Wayne County has now joined neighboring Oakland County in mandating masks be worn in local school districts, schools and daycare providers. The latest pandemic health order by the Wayne County Health Department takes effect immediately and requires students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear a face mask while in school and during...
Protesters in D.C. chant names of murdered Gazans ahead of Bennett, Biden talks
August 26th, 20211 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Protesters gathered outside the White House early Thursday in anticipation of a visit to Washington D.C. by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. A small crowd of about 50 people, including multiple organizations like the Palestinian Youth Movement, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Jewish Voice for Peace...
Dingell calls for FBI, DHS to audit No-Fly list
August 23rd, 20211 DEARBORN — U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) has sent a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling for a complete and thorough audit of the No-Fly and Selectee Lists to ensure innocent American citizens have not been...
Public health expert answers questions about COVID variants, boosters, back-to-school
August 21st, 20210 DEARBORN — The federal government is preparing to deliver "booster" shots of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans by mid-September, recommending that immunocompromised people take a booster even sooner. Health officials have acknowledged that protection from vaccines wanes, or diminishes over time, though they still remain highly...
Judge denies Michigan corrections director’s motion to dismiss hijab lawsuit against her
August 20th, 20210 LANSING — A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) Director Heidi Washington, who was sued by a group of Muslim women after being forced to remove their hijabs for public identification photos. The motion to dismiss the case, denied by Judge Paul Borman of the...
“U.S.-Lebanon Friendship” congressional caucus calls for action on deteriorating situation
August 19th, 20210 A group of lawmakers wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID Administrator Samantha Power, calling on U.S. support towards Lebanon’s deteriorating economic and political situation. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn), Charlie Crist (D-FL), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Darin LaHood (R-IL), co-chairs of the...
U.S. begins preparing to deliver COVID booster shots; immunocompromised urged not to wait
August 18th, 20210 Top U.S. health officials said on Wednesday that the protection offered by current available vaccines against COVID-19 wanes over time, as federal agencies have begun preparing to offer booster shots to all eligible Americans beginning the week of Sept. 20. The booster shots will have to be administered starting eight months after a...
Republicans block Biden’s SBA nominee, concerned over membership in “anti-Israel” organization
August 13th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — National civil rights groups have condemned the recent actions of a group of Republican senators who are "concerned" by a Biden administration Muslim nominee over his membership in an organization they say has demonstrated "anti-Israel" prejudice. On Wednesday, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,...
AIPAC takes out ad on Facebook against Rep. Ilhan Omar
August 12th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Zionist lobby AIPAC recently took out a paid advertisement on Facebook displaying a darkened image of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) with text reading “For Ilhan Omar, there is no difference between America and the Taliban, between Israel and Hamas, between democracies and terrorism.” The...
Michigan program offers up to 12 months of rental assistance, help with utilities and Internet
August 10th, 20210 Kelly Rose, chief housing solutions officer at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), answered some questions about the extension of the eviction moratorium in the state and talked about a special program through the MSHDA that can provide rental assistance for tenants facing pandemic-related financial hardships,...
A year later, Lebanese expat living in Detroit recalls Beirut port explosion
August 4th, 20210 Lebanese, at home and around the world, commemorated one of the most tragic incidents in the county’s recent history on Wednesday, Aug 4. A year since a powerful explosion at Beirut’s port ripped through its bustling downtown, causing widespread destruction, deaths and injuries, Lebanese are still left without concrete answers...
Amer Ghalib becomes front-runner in Hamtramck mayoral election
August 3rd, 20212 Correction: And earlier version of this story mistakenly noted that Amer Ghalib is the first Muslim primary front-runner in a Hamtramck mayoral election. Abdul Algazali beat current Karen Majewski by 31 votes in 2013's primary election. HAMTRAMCK — Yemeni American mayoral candidate Amer Ghalib became the front-runner in the Aug. 3......
Study shows an increase in home values in states that have legalized marijuana
August 2nd, 20210 A new report claims that a rise in property values, and increased city services, can be linked to legalization of marijuana. The report, led by Dr. Francesca Ortegren, data science and research product manager at Clever Real Estate, looked at the impact of the growing cannabis market and its impact on the real estate values in several...
Despite knowing stance on police/fire minimum staffing for months, UAW pulls endorsement of Dearborn Council candidate Jon Akkari
July 31st, 20212 DEARBORN — Back in June, Dearborn City Council candidate Jon Akkari won an endorsement from UAW Region 1A, an important endorsement for Aug 3.’s primary election candidates. That endorsement was pulled four days before Tuesday’s election. The organization told Akkari it reviewed his website, which has been up for months, and......
Q&A with Hamtramck mayoral candidates
July 30th, 20210 HAMTRMACK — The primary election to determine Hamtramck's next mayor is just days away. The Arab American News reached to all four mayoral candidates to ask questions regarding the city's financial challenges, property taxes, marijuana dispensaries and more. Only Asm Rahman and Mayor Karen Majewski returned responses this week,...
United Way provides convenient early childhood education and care resources in Wayne County
July 28th, 20210 Wayne County families needing to find resources to help with child care and early childhood education can now find them through one online tool. Hosted on United Way’s website, Connect4CareKids is a free tool for parents to connect to all of their early childhood services. It's designed to make it easier and less overwhelming for...
Surgeon General: “People do not need to go out and get a booster shot”
July 28th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — As new data from Pfizer shows a "booster" shot of its COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection against the highly-contagious Delta variant, federal officials reiterated that Americans don’t need one quite yet. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Wednesday that people "do not need to go out and...
Dearborn mayoral race in dollars: How much have candidates spent/received?
July 24th, 20210 Campaign finance reports show how much candidates in Dearborn’s mayoral race have received and spent in campaign funds through mid July. Dearborn mayoral candidate Gary Woronchak has compiled a summary of each candidate's finances, with numbers rounded up from reports publicly available. The information is found on Woronchak’s......
Hamtramck: Four candidates for mayor, eight for three seats on City Council
July 24th, 20210 Four candidates for Hamtramck mayor and eight for City Council are vying for four-year terms and will face off in the Aug. 3 primary election, after which the mayoral race will come down to two candidates and the Council race to six. The city is also asking voters to decide on a ballot proposal which would increase property taxes to...
USPS plan will mean delivery slowdowns, higher stamp price
July 23rd, 20210 A plan under Postmaster Louis DeJoy, a nominee of former President Trump, could mean slower mail deliveries for people utilizing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). A part of that plan also raises first-class stamps to 58 cents from its current 55 cents, starting August 29. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), the federal regulator......
Around 100 Dearborn homeowners report water back up after last weekend’s storm
July 23rd, 20210 DEARBORN – Last Saturday’s rainfall brought flashbacks of late June’s horrific flooding in Dearborn. The Arab American News learned that approximately 100 homeowners in the area north of Hemlock Avenue between Schaefer and Miller Roads on the city’s east side reported 2-3 inches of water back up in their basements to the...
Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy put COVID advances in jeopardy
July 22nd, 20210 The U.S. is now seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, as the highly-contagious Delta variant driving infections among those unvaccinated across the country, especially in areas where vaccination rates remain relatively low. Johns Hopkins University tallies show the average number of daily COVID cases in the U.S. has gone up 66 percent......
