Nick Meyer
Author's Posts
Michigan ban on flavored vaping officially goes into effect despite controversy
October 2nd, 20190 LANSING — Michigan's ban on flavored vaping officially went into effect on October 2 despite controversy. The ban was pursued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer after Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said he found that youth vaping constituted a public health...
Local attorney Rula Aoun sworn in as Dearborn’s 19th District Court magistrate
October 2nd, 20190 DEARBORN — Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) Director Rula Aoun was sworn in as the new magistrate in Dearborn's 19th District Court on Tuesday, September 18, taking the oath from Judge Sam Salamey in front of her father, Chaker and mother, Mona. Aoun held her first session in court earlier this week, and called her new...
Local charity founder Najah Bazzy honored as a “CNN Hero” for contributions to serving humanity
September 29th, 20190 DEARBORN/INKSTER — The local Arab American community is home to a large group of charities serving people of all races, religions and ethnicities; and one of the most well known is Zaman International, which purchased a new 40,500 square-foot building in Inkster in 2014 to continue scaling up its operations to serve more people. The...
New podcast from local journalist takes on Arab American cultural taboos, including “Dating While Arab”
September 29th, 20191 DETROIT — Arab American life is full of taboos surrounding issues including cultural and religious traditions, marriage, dating and more, but increased media coverage and social media alike have both helped to “lift the veil” on these topics in recent years. Zahra Huber, a 35-year-old Iraqi American journalist who grew up in New...
Filmmaker’s upcoming documentary shines light on her Palestinian and Mexican parents’ search for their childhood homes
September 27th, 20190 CHICAGO — Documentary filmmaker Colette Ghunim recently met her Kickstarter goal to complete her 56-minute documentary film "Traces of Home", which will tell the immigrant story from the perspectives of her mother and father and their quests to find their childhood homes in Palestine and Mexico, respectively. The Chicagoland area...
Attorney General Nessel appoints Hammoud, three others to new wrongful imprisonment compensation board
September 25th, 20190 LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the establishment of a new Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA) Board on Wednesday, which was created to review each WICA request and make recommendations on key decisions in the litigation of its cases. Once cases are found to meet the legal standard of wrongful...
Garden City Hospital to host ‘Stroll in the Garden’ open house, tour and ribbon cutting ceremony on two dates this week
September 24th, 20190 GARDEN CITY — Open house events will be held on two dates this week to celebrate programs and renovations at Garden City Hospital, a press release from the hospital said. The events will both be located in the main lobby on the main hospital campus, and will include speeches by Garden City Hospital CEO Saju George as well as Garden...
Attorney General Nessel charges recently elected Southfield City Clerk on six criminal counts
September 23rd, 20190 LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was joined on Monday by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to announce six felony charges filed in Oakland County's 46th District Court against Southfield City Clerk Sherikia Hawkins. There were six charges in total, which stem from the November 6, 2018 general election. The...
Suspect arraigned in death of Taylor woman whose body was recovered by Dearborn Police
September 23rd, 20190 DEARBORN — A suspect named James Lamont Lindsey was arraigned this afternoon in connection with the death of a Taylor woman whose body was found locally, a press release from Dearborn Police said. The arraignment was held in front of Judge Sam Salamey of the 19th District Court. Due to the seriousness of the crime, Lindsey was...
Officials, judges join community celebration of success at Judge Helal Farhat’s investiture
September 20th, 20190 DEARBORN — There's a saying in Metro Detroit's Arab American community that perhaps more doctors and lawyers are produced here than anywhere else. And for a long time Helal Farhat, a Wayne State University graduate, wanted to be a doctor. But just a few short years into his college career, Farhat said he knew that wasn't the right...
Za’aatar Day 2019 brings together food bloggers, chefs, recipes and more
September 20th, 20190 CLEVELAND, OH — Middle Eastern cuisine has caught on like wildfire in recent years, as popular delicacies like chicken schwarmas, hummus, tabbouli and falafel have become staples on many restaurant menus. But among Arabic food favorites, one relatively little known menu item stands alone as perhaps the number one candidate to see a...
U.S. Rep. Dingell grilled by local activists for backing down on co-sponsoring bill protecting Palestinian children under occupation
September 20th, 20190 DEARBORN — U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) shocked many in the Dearborn area and the Arab American community nationwide last week when she removed her name from the list of co-sponsors for the pending HR2407 bill, which would have barred U.S. aid from contributing to the imprisonment of Palestinian children. Dingell has been a...
Michigan’s unemployment rate declined in August, figures show
September 18th, 20190 LANSING — The seasonal adjusted jobless rate edged down by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.2 percent in August, data released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed this week. Total employment rose by 4,000 over the month while the number of unemployed dropped by about 1,000 people. Overall in...
Attack on Saudi Arabia believed to have come from southwest Iran, United States says
September 17th, 20190 WASHINGTON — The United States says Saturday's attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities originated in southwestern Iran, a U.S. official said to Reuters on Tuesday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, three officials said to Reuters the attack involved both cruise missiles and drones, indicating it may have been more sophisticated...
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) condemns Netanyahu’s annexation of Palestinian land, demands shift in purported peace plan
September 17th, 20190 WASHINGTON — On the heels of the Israeli prime minister election and with the U.S. administration preparing to release the political component of its purported peace plan for Israel and Palestine, 22 Christian leaders, including the Churches for Middle East Peace Executive Director Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, wrote a letter to President......
President Trump says “it’s looking like” Iran was behind Saudi oil facility attack
September 16th, 20190 WASHINGTON — President Trump told reporters on Monday that it's looking like” Iran was behind this Saturday's attack on Saudi Arabia oil facilities, a CNN report said. Trump added that it's too early to say for sure. He also said that he was, “not looking to get into new conflict, but sometimes you have to.” “Well, it's...
Oil prices jump nearly 15% after attack on Saudi facilities
September 16th, 20190 NEW YORK — Oil prices ended up nearly 15% higher on Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabian crude oil facilities cut the kingdom's production in half, a report from Reuters said. Concerns of retaliation also affected the oil prices, of which Brent crude futures settled at $69.02 a barrel, rising $8.80, or 14.6%, its largest one-day......
Putin hopes talks with Turkey, Iran could create conditions for final Syria crisis resolution
September 16th, 20190 ANKARA — Russian president Vladimir Putin said he hopes that three-way talks held on Monday with Iranian and Turkish officials could help bring a “final” settlement to the Syrian crisis. “I would like to express a confidence that our talks will be productive and the agreements reached will form a ground for final resolution of...
Dearborn native, Lebanese American Ali Fayad stars for Western Michigan University’s Broncos football team
September 13th, 20190 KALAMAZOO — The state of Michigan is home to several high level college football programs beyond the usual suspects Michigan and Michigan State, and the Western Michigan University Broncos are certainly among them. The school, which currently plays in the Mid-American Conference against other Division I colleges from the Midwest,...
Trump fires National Security Adviser John Bolton, claims he was “holding me back”
September 13th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, President Trump fired his national security adviser, John Bolton, the staunch conservative known for his inclination toward military intervention. On Thursday, Trump elaborated further on his decision, specifically in matters of foreign policy. “In fact, my views on Venezuela, and especially...
Former top U.S. officials: Israel planted mysterious spy devices near the White House
September 13th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to former top U.S. officials, Israel has likely planted surveillance devices that have been located near the White House over the past two years, which were uncovered during the Trump presidency and meant to track him. The revelations were made to Politico, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported, and......
Civil rights groups reject police probe’s conclusion about racist incident at Lake Erie Metropark
September 13th, 20190 BROWNSTOWN TWP. —On August 9, a police officer returned to work following an investigation into alleged racist remarks at Lake Erie Metropark, where he had been patrolling. The officer had been accused by a nearby park patron of telling an Arab American family to “go back to where you came from” after a heated exchange of...
Dearborn resident crowned Miss Muslimah 2019 after previous winner disqualified
September 13th, 20190 DEARBORN, MI — Dearborn resident Andrea Rahal was named the new Miss Muslimah 2019 last week, after it was announced that the previous winner, Wisconsin's Rahma Mohamed, was disqualified. According to Helena Bowe, founder and CEO of Miss Muslimah USA, Mohamed “went against the rules and regulations of the organization” following......
Westland Mayor Wild appointed to National Small Business and Entrepreneurship Task Force
September 13th, 20191 WESTLAND — Westland Mayor William R. Wild has been appointed to serve along with Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz from Burnsville, Minnesota as co-chairs to the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) Small Business and Entrepreneurship Task Force. The mayors were selected by the president of the organization, Mayor Bryan K. Barnett of...
Dingell withdraws sponsorship for bill advocating human rights for Palestinian children
September 13th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) withdrew her sponsorship for a bill advocating for human rights for Palestinian children on Tuesday, saying it was “ultimately counterproductive” to a peaceful, two-state solution. The bill, HR2407, promotes “human rights for Palestinian children......
