Author's Posts
Dearborn Heights Commission on Women and Girls holds inaugural meeting
February 2nd, 20180 DEARBORN 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...
Arab American cousins open a Dairy Queen, bringing major franchise to east Dearborn
February 2nd, 20180 DEARBORN — A major franchise returned to east Dearborn on Jan. 31, with an investment from two local cousins. Talal and Ali Haidous were born and raised in Liberia before they immigrated to Dearborn in 1998 and 1999, respectively. "It's our hometown," Talal Haidous told The AANews about why he and Ali decided to open up a...
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans announces re-election bid
January 26th, 20180 DETROIT — On Jan. 22, Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans announced before a crowd of more than 100 supporters at the Samaritan Center on the city's east side that he'd seek a second term. "You find a way to make chicken pie out of chicken feathers," Evans said about his first term. "That's what we did, we took chicken feathers...
Democrats, progressives respond to Gov. Snyder’s final state of the state: Working families continue to suffer, public schools woefully behind
January 26th, 20180 LANSING — A number of leaders across Michigan offered unenthusiastic reviews of Gov. Snyder's final state of the state address. Snyder began his speech on Tuesday by boasting about a headline from the Wall Street Journal entitled, "Michigan's comeback story." "Folks, we're back and we're only going to keep going up," Snyder...
Pollution levels in the Southend at the mercy of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
January 19th, 20180 DEARBORN — While some communities around the United States are fighting for a livable wage, people in the Southend continue to fight for a livable troposphere. An overflow crowd turned out at Salina Elementary School Jan. 16 to participate in a public hearing regarding Dearborn Industrial Generation's application for a...
California Burgerz offers exceptional dining experience in Hamtramck
January 19th, 20181 HAMTRAMCK — Hani Omasan loves cooking. Although he has worked in different realms of the auto industry for more than 20 years, he's found cooking burgers to be a great hobby. Last November, Omasan made his hobby a business when he opened California Burgerz, which sells 100 percent halal USDA premium angus beef. The restaurant,...
Dearborn city leaders look to future at inauguration ceremony
January 12th, 20180 DEARBORN — During the inauguration ceremony for Dearborn city officials on Jan. 9, Mayor Jack O'Reilly told the audience that Dearborn is a unique community. "I have to tell you there aren't communities like Dearborn all over the place, said O'Reilly, who was sworn in for his third full term. "There aren't people that come together...
Local café offers healthy desserts
January 12th, 20180 DEARBORN — According to Ali Hachem, owner of Cheat Treats, The Protein Dessert Co., his establishment's sweet treats are actually good for you. "Everything I make is high in protein and low in sugar," Hachem told The AANews. "There's nothing hidden in there, it's all out there." Cheat Treats, located at 5828 Schaefer Rd., had...
Palestinian American poet rises in the ranks on Amazon while still in high school
January 5th, 20180 DALLAS, TEXAS — Waseem Nabulsi, an 18-year-old senior at St. Mark's School of Texas, a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys' day school for students in grades 1 through 12, became a published poet and artist this past fall with the release of "Under My Grandmother's Olive Tree: Poems and Artwork about being...
Dearborn Public Schools and community organizations partner against drugs
December 22nd, 20170 DEARBORN — Beginning next semester, SAFE Substance Abuse Coalition will begin instructing elementary and middle school children in the Dearborn Public School System about substance abuse and drug prevention. The partnership is part of a larger initiative started by Superintendent Glen Maleyko and the Dearborn Public...
Abdul El-Sayed hosts town hall with Linda Sarsour and Winnie Wong
December 22nd, 20171 ANN ARBOR — Optimism echoed through the University of Michigan's Union Rogel Ballroom on December 16, as speeches from Abdul El-Sayed, Linda Sarsour and Winnie Wong inspired attendees at a town hall event. More than 100 students and citizens filled the second floor ballroom during finals week to hear the speeches from El-Sayed, a...
19th District Court doesn’t employ a full-time Arabic translator
December 15th, 20170 DEARBORN — For 940,500 citizens in Michigan, English is not their first language, according to a 2015 report from Data USA. This can lead to problems at Dearborn's 19th District Court, and many others, as they do not employ full-time translators. The absence of a translator causes problems for residents who don't speak...
Local teen to face trial for allegedly murdering his mother
December 15th, 20172 FARMINGTON HILLS — During the Dec. 8 preliminary exam for Muhammad Altantawi, who is accused of having killed his mother on Aug. 21, 47th District Court Judge Marla E. Parker determined there was sufficient probable cause that a crime was committed and that Altantawi should face trial. The preliminary exam provides the court with...
Brera Pizza and Salad Co. sold, soon to be re-branded as Trio Eats
December 8th, 20170 DEARBORN — Nasser Baydoun has purchased Brera Pizza and Salad Co. and intends to re-name the restaurant Trio Eats. Baydoun, who has opened 42 restaurants in the Middle East and a handful here in the United States, purchased the business on Nov. 1. Baydoun told The AANews he has been in and out of the restaurant business, including...
Zaman International opens new state-of-the-art kitchen
December 8th, 20170 INKSTER — Zaman International's Hope for Humanity Center, a humanitarian organization for women and children in extreme poverty, added to its services December 4 with the addition of a culinary arts training program. The program will offer cooking classes, beginning in January, to the women as well as the community. In addition to......
Appeals Court blocks deportation of Jordanian woman facing ‘honor killing’
December 1st, 20170 CINCINNATI — "Every year, 15 to 20 women and girls in Jordan are burned, beaten or stabbed to death by family members because they are seen as having transgressed social codes of 'honor,'" according to a recent report from Rothna Begum, a researcher in the Women's Rights Division of HumanRightsWatch.org. Ruling unanimously in "Olga...
Michigan voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana next year
November 23rd, 20170 LANSING — Next year Dearborn residents will vote, with the rest of the state, over the legalization of recreational marijuana. On Monday the group Mi Legalize turned in more than 360,000 signatures of voters who approved its proposal for the "Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act." "We are the first state in the Midwest......
Is 35 mph the right speed for Dearborn’s downtowns?
November 17th, 20170 DEARBORN — "The objective of any speed limit is that it can be reasonable, enforceable and that it assures a maximum limit," according to the Michigan Department of Transportation's website. Although, according to some experts, appealing to pedestrians with a lower speed limit may be more beneficial to society. "Many of the...
Protest over Steve Bannon takes place outside Macomb County Republican Party’s unity dinner
November 10th, 20170 WARREN – “Macomb County, let’s be clear, fascists are not welcome here,” a group of about 200 protesters chanted outside a Macomb County Republican Party’s Unity Dinner at Andiamo’s Banquet and Event Center. The event’s keynote speaker was Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and current Breitbart News...
Hamtramck’s Karen Majewski wins re-election as mayor, Al-Marsoumi elected to City Council
November 10th, 20170 HAMTRAMCK — Mayor Karen Majewski won reelection to a fourth term on Tuesday, Nov. 7. She received 1,960 votes, while Mohammed Hassan finished with 1,231. The overall voter turnout in the city's Nov. 7 general elections was 22 percent. In the City Council race, Fadel Al-Marsoumi became the second Arab American elected to that...New urgent care clinic opens in Dearborn
DEARBORN — A new Urgent Care clinic held its grand opening at the corner of Schaefer and Michigan Ave., inside the already immaculate four-story Masri Clinic, an advanced medical center. The urgent care clinic across the street closed two months ago and Dr. Fatina Masri told The AANews that because the Masri Clinic was getting......
Restaurant providing a taste of Italy in the Southend for a half century
October 27th, 20170 DEARBORN – In the Southend of Dearborn, across the street from the first mosque constructed in Michigan, a restaurant hangs a United States flag above a red, white and green flag. Although it may surprise some, the flag is not Lebanese, Jordanian or Palestinian. It’s Italian. “Our cultures aren’t very different,” Robert...
SAFE holds inaugural fundraising dinner
October 20th, 20171 DEARBORN — every day, 91 Americans die from an opioid overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rabih Darwiche has avoided being one of those statistics for 15 months. On September 18, at the inaugural fundraising dinner for the nonprofit SAFE Substance Abuse Coalition, Darwiche received the first......
Donutville: A Dearborn mainstay for half a century
October 6th, 20170 DEARBORN — For the past 51 years, a popular local donut shop and coffee bar has been witness to the cultural changes that swept the city. Located on Ford Road, a few miles east of the Southfield Freeway, Donutville, which has been in business since July 4, 1966, has served as a gathering place for residents of various races, creeds...
Franchise buys local “casual fast” restaurant
September 29th, 20170 DEARBORN — The Butcher's Grille isn't your ordinary butcher's shop. Yes, you can pick up fresh cuts of halal meat to take home, but you can also have it cooked on site and eat it there. Founder Samer Saad said the success the restaurant/butcher shop has experienced since its opening in April of 2016 is because of the continuous hard......
