Dearborn Heights police chief pledges full cooperation with investigation of alleged sexual assault charges against former sergeant
May 7th, 20250 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Police officials were recently made aware of an incident that led to an officer sharing information regarding an alleged sexual assault that occurred between 2021 and 2022 at the Dearborn Heights Police Headquarters. The accused individual has not been employed by the department since 2023. Police Chief Ahmed...
Resilient Neighborhoods: Neighbors drive development at Brightmoor’s Eliza Howell Park
May 2nd, 20250 By Carole Hawke This past October, Brightmoor resident Marlin Franklin went camping in a unique spot– right in his own Detroit neighborhood at Eliza Howell Park. Accompanying him were his son and two grandchildren, and this was their first camping trip. Franklin, who is the digital manager for Brilliant Detroit and a Boy Scout...
Major General Hassan Ezzat Choucair reaffirms Lebanon’s stability despite regional unrest, urges diaspora to visit homeland
April 25th, 20250 “Lebanon is secure, resilient and open to its people”: Major General Hassan Ezzat Choucair emphasizes stability and reform in visit to MichiganThe director general of Lebanese General Security calls on the diaspora to return this summer, highlights cross-border security cooperation, modernization efforts and the evolving role of...
Gov. Whitmer elevates Judge Mariam Saad Bazzi to Court of Appeals, making her the state’s first Arab and Muslim appellate judge
April 25th, 20250 LANSING / DEARBORN – In a historic first for Michigan’s judicial system, Governor Whitmer appointed Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mariam Saad Bazzi to the Michigan Court of Appeals- First District, making her the first Arab and Muslim American to serve on the appellate court in the state’s history. The historic appointment...
Lebanese general security chief visits Metro Detroit: Honored with warm reception and community tribute
April 25th, 20250 DEARBORN – The visit of Major General Hassan Ezzat Choucair, director general of Lebanese General Security, to the Detroit area last week was met with great enthusiasm. The trip, which spanned more than five days, included official meetings and community events that reflected the Lebanese American community’s deep appreciation for...
Student crackdown intensifies: Mahmoud Khalil’s case takes alarming turn as federal lawsuit filed in Michigan
April 18th, 20250 A sweeping federal crackdown on international students has intensified, with the U.S. government canceling the visas of approximately 1,000 current and recent foreign graduates from American universities. Among them is Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. resident and Columbia University graduate, whose potential deportation...
Resilient Neighborhoods: East Side seniors better equipped to age in place with home repair grants and education
April 18th, 20250 By Allison Torres Burtka Seniors in Detroit often face challenges maintaining older homes. The nonprofit organization U SNAP BAC (which stands for United Streets Networking And Planning: Building A Community), on Detroit’s East Side, created a program to help with home repairs and to address needs that it often sees among the...
American Muslim imams urge President Trump to stop the war on Gaza
April 18th, 20250 DETROIT – In an emotionally and morally charged open letter, the "Coalition of Imams for Supporting Trump for President" made a heartfelt plea to President Trump, urging him to take a decisive ethical and political stance on the worsening humanitarian tragedy in Gaza due to Israel's ongoing assault on the...
CAIR accuses Wayne State University police of discrimination against Arab and Muslim students
April 18th, 20250 DETROIT — The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) has filed a formal complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR), accusing Wayne State University (WSU) campus police of racial and religious discrimination against Arab and Muslim students. The complaint follows a pro-Palestinian...
Arab American child struck and killed by ice cream truck in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood
April 18th, 20250 DETROIT — A tragic accident in Detroit’s Warrendale neighborhood has left the Arab American community in mourning after Mubarak Walid, a 6-year-old boy, was fatally struck by an ice cream truck Monday evening. According to Detroit Police Department Capt. Shannon Hampton, the incident occurred around 7 p.m. at the intersection of...
Dearborn attorney detained at Detroit Metro Airport after family vacation; CBP questioned him about clients and attempted to seize his phone
April 11th, 20250 A brief family vacation turned into a harrowing experience for Dearborn-based Arab American attorney Amir Makled, 38, when federal agents detained him at Detroit Metropolitan Airport upon his return from the Dominican Republic. Makled, who specializes in criminal defense and civil rights cases, was subjected to extensive questioning and...
Know Your Rights: CAIR releases educational guide for dealing with ICE officers
April 11th, 20250 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Under the title “Know Your Rights”, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently published an educational guide outlining what to do when interacting with officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal law enforcement agencies. CAIR said in a statement that the guide...
Four Hamtramck City Council members under investigation for election fraud
April 11th, 20250 Four of the six members of the Hamtramck City Council, along with a former member, are under criminal investigation for conspiracy and election fraud related to the illegal acquisition of absentee ballots. This is according to official documents recently released by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, which requested the...
Ahmed Moneka becomes first Iraqi to be nominated for Canadian Juno Award
April 9th, 20250 DEARBORN — Ahmed Moneka, who currently resides in Toronto, has become the first Iraqi to be nominated for a Canadian Juno Award. The Juno Awards are the highest form of honor and recognition in the music industry in Canada. Moneka was born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq and fed off of his rich Sufi African heritage for inspiration...
Abdul El-Sayed resigns as Wayne County public health director ahead of potential 2026 U.S. Senate run in Michigan
April 9th, 20250 ANN ARBOR – Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, director of the Wayne County public health department, has officially resigned from his position in preparation for a potential run for the U.S. Senate in 2026. Democratic Senator Gary Peters has announced he will not seek re-election, creating an open field for his seat. In comments to the Detroit......
Religious leaders, human rights activists urge Wayne State University officials to protect students supporting Palestinian rights
April 4th, 20250 DETROIT – On Wednesday, religious leaders and human rights activists in Michigan sent an open letter to Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy and members of the university’s Board of Governors, expressing deep concern over what they described as repressive campaigns targeting students protesting acts of genocide in...
Community holds fundraiser for Wayne County Executive Warren Evans’ 2026 re-election campaign
April 4th, 20250 DEARBORN – Friends of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, led by Deputy County Executive Assad Turfe, organized a well attended fundraising event last Thursday evening at La Pita Banquet Center in Dearborn in support of Evans’ 2026 reelection campaign. The event drew an impressive crowd of public officials, elected leaders, business......
Governor Whitmer declares April as Arab American Heritage Month in Michigan; Trump ignores it nationally
April 4th, 20250 LANSING – On Tuesday, for the fifth consecutive year, Governor Whitmer announced that April will be recognized as Arab American Heritage Month in the state. This designation celebrates the contributions of Arab Americans to Michigan's culture and economy. In stark contrast, President Trump has refrained from officially recognizing the...
Dearborn sees major drop in overdose cases and drug deaths in 2024
March 29th, 20250 Last week , the city of Dearborn announced a significant decline in drug overdose cases and related deaths during the year 2024. According to new data, overdose incidents dropped by 34 percent—from 93 cases in 2023 to 61 cases in 2024 — while overdose-related deaths fell by 43 percent, from 14 to just 8 fatalities in the same...
Florida man sentenced to 18 months for threatening Michigan Islamic organization
March 28th, 20250 Last week, a federal court in Detroit sentenced 73-year-old Michael Shapiro, a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, to 18 months in prison for threatening the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its staff in late 2023. According to court records, Shapiro left six threatening and profanity-laced...
Dearborn youth feed the hungry during Ramadan by turning leftover iftar meals into acts of compassion
March 28th, 20250 DEARBORN – During the holy month of Ramadan, a volunteer initiative in Dearborn has attracted national attention after the Associated Press published a report on a local youth-led organization that collects leftover food from Arab American iftar dinners and redistributes it nightly to the homeless in nearby Detroit. According to the......
$20,000 reward offered in road rage killing of 19-year-old Rawan Baseti
March 28th, 20250 DEARBORN – A month after the tragic death of 19-year-old Rawan Baseti in a fatal shooting that followed a road rage incident, Dearborn police — alongside the crime-fighting organization Crime Stoppers — announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her killer. The announcement came during a press conference...
Federal judge transfers case of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil out of Louisiana to New Jersey court in positive legal turn
March 21st, 20250 On Wednesday, in a positive development in the case of the Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, one of the leading figures in the protest movement on U.S. college campuses against the Israeli war on Gaza, a federal judge ordered the case to be transferred to a court in New Jersey from Louisiana, the hardline state chosen by the Trump......
Detroit to add 679 area code in November, marking end of 313-only dialing era
March 21st, 20250 DETROIT – Starting November 7, phone service providers in the Detroit area will begin issuing phone numbers with the new 679 area code, as the historic 313 area code nears exhaustion, according to a statement issued by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MSPC) on Monday. The agency announced that the 679 code will serve the same...
Official and community iftar dinners in the Dearborn area promote Islamic values and compassion during the holy month of Ramadan
March 21st, 20250 DEARBORN, DEARBORN HEIGHTS – During the blessed month of Ramadan, numerous official and community iftar dinners took place in the Dearborn area after a period of intermittent pause in such activities in recent years due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the repercussions of the Israeli wars on Gaza and Lebanon, which heavily......
