Arab American graduate honored for high achievements by WXYZ
June 29th, 20180 SOUTHGATE — Peter Thabet, a recent graduate of Southgate Anderson High School, was honored with WXYZ-TV’s 39th annual academic achievement award, Detroit’s Brightest and Best High School Graduates, which recognizes accomplished graduates from 10 Michigan counties. He was among hundreds of students recognized at a special...
Dearborn places tough conditions on hookah bar after parking lot shootings
June 29th, 20180 CORRECTION: Although its unfortunate to make errors in a story, The AANews cares deeply about reporting the facts and issue corrections when necessary. This article has been updated to attribute quotes to the names of two current City Council members, instead of members who left the Council earlier this year. An earlier version also...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s upset victory shakes Democratic Party establishment
June 29th, 20180 NEW YORK — A 28-year-old former Bernie Sanders organizer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-New York) in a stunning primary upset Tuesday, made the issues of immigration and diversity a central part of her insurgent campaign. Ocasio-Cortez defeated Crowley 57 percent-42 percent after campaigning on...
AG candidate Dana Nessel promises to fight Trump, open hate crimes division
June 29th, 20180 DEARBORN – On June 27, Plymouth-based attorney Dana Nessel, who won the Michigan Democratic Party’s nomination for attorney general in April, spoke to Arab American supporters and local officials at a fundraising event held at La Pita Restaurant in Dearborn, reaffirming her commitment to “tenaciously” champion civil and immigrant...
Dingell reacts to Supreme Court upholding Trump’s Muslim Ban
June 26th, 20180 WASHINGTON – U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court upholding the Trump Administration’s Muslim Ban: “Today is a sad and disappointing day. From our earliest founding, the United States has been a land of opportunity for individuals seeking religious freedom....
WXYZ-TV receives Emmy awards for excellence
June 26th, 20180 DETROIT — WXYZ-TV received top awards from the Michigan chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) at the 40th Michigan Emmy Awards event, Saturday, June 16, at Motor City Casino in Detroit. Among a total of nine Emmy awards, the station received both the award for “Overall Excellence” and the...
Trump tries to defuse immigrant crisis, but policy hit by confusion
June 25th, 20180 WASHINGTON/MCALLEN, Texas —On Thursday, President Trump ordered federal agencies to begin reuniting immigrant families recently separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, but his efforts to roll back a policy that drew global condemnation were beset by confusion. Despite Trump’s order, it remained unclear how and when more than 2,300...
Gov. Snyder dedicates June 25 as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Day in Michigan
June 25th, 20180 LANSING – Gov. Snyder has declared June 25 as Men’s Mental Health Awareness Day in Michigan. In partnership with the Healthy Men Michigan campaign, the governor aims to raise awareness and opportunities to improve the quality of life for men or their loved ones struggling with problems related to mental health and mental...
Dearborn court’s amnesty period for unpaid tickets runs through July 3
June 25th, 20180 DEARBORN — Dearborn's 19th District Court has announced an amnesty program for unpaid civil infraction tickets. Individuals have until July 3 to settle their old debts with the court and for the court to clear up a backlog of files without additional collection costs. Amnesty applies only to those who present themselves at 19th...
Governor Snyder urged to veto Medicaid work requirements bill
June 24th, 20180 LANSING — The Medicaid work requirements bill passed by the Michigan House of Representatives on June 6 received wide criticism from local organizations, community members and public figures. The bill, Senate Bill 897, had previously passed in the State Senate on April 19 and requires “able-bodied” adults enrolled in the Healthy...
Arab American family receives prestigious regional business award
June 24th, 20180 DETROIT – Giving back pays off. The Hasan family, owners of the Detroit discount store Nice Price, has received the Southwest Detroit Business Association’s (SDBA) Bagley Award for Generational Investment. Since its doors opened in 1998 by Khalid Hasan, an immigrant from Jordan, the family-owned business has thrived as a staple...
Federal judge orders ICE to stop coercing Iraqi detainees to sign deportation papers
June 24th, 20180 DETROIT – On Monday, a federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to stop coercing Iraqi detainees into signing a document giving up their right to be in the U.S. and agreeing to be deported. The government is trying to send back the mostly Christian detainees, but the ACLU said their return to Iraqi...
ACC awards $30,000 in scholarships at 16th annual golf outing
June 24th, 20180 TROY — The Arab American Chaldean Council (ACC) awarded a total of $30,000 in scholarships to 30 students of leadership and good academic standing during the 16th annual Golf Outing and Scholarship Awards Dinner on June 20. ACC is a premier non-profit human service organization providing services in Southeast Michigan and it...
Democratic lawmakers propose lowering Michigan voting age to 16
June 23rd, 20181 LANSING – The national wave of youth activism sparked by the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. is leading Michigan lawmakers to push for lowering the voting age to 16. State Sen. David Knezek (D-Dearborn Heights) and State Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor) introduced the mirror bills in the House and...
Michigan officials, activists condemn anti-BDS bills as Gaza protest persist
June 23rd, 20181 DEARBORN – As grisly images from “Right of Return” protests along the Gaza-Israeli border become increasingly harder for the American public to ignore, lawmakers across the U.S. are reacting with anti-BDS bills that seek to hamper efforts to boycott the nation’s most significant ally in the Mediterranean – shifting the......
Dearborn Public Library launches its annual summer reading program
June 23rd, 20180 DEARBORN — The Dearborn Public Library (DPL) launched its annual summer reading program with its kickoff event hosted in the Henry Ford Centennial Library Auditorium on June 18. The all-ages Summer Reading Kickoff was an amusing event of storytelling, music and hands-on fun that put on an entertaining show for everybody in the...
Crestwood High School graduates receive more than $16 million in scholarships
June 22nd, 20181 DEARBORN 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......
Standing up and breaking fast: Taking Ramadan Iftar into the streets
June 20th, 20180 Most of the time, iftars are family gatherings, held in homes or mosques during the holy month of Ramadan as people sit down to break the daily fast. But for the second year in a row, an online Muslim organization, MPower Change, is taking iftar out of the home and into the streets. So far this year, it has staged protests on the...
Sears to close 4 Mich locations by end of summer, including Dearborn store
June 19th, 20180 DEARBORN — The Sears store inside Fairlane Town Center is among the four Michigan locations that will close by the end of summer. The Dearborn store was one of 72 nationwide that are slated for closure after a May 31 announcement made by Sears Holdings. Flint, Sterling Heights and Traverse City are the other Michigan locations...
Detroit’s Frontier International Academy students improve school’s success
June 18th, 20180 DETROIT — The number of Frontier International Academy (FIA) students applying to universities is increasing every year and the class of 2018 has brought the school to its peak in college and university acceptances. Frontier International Academy has won the grand prize in the Race to the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student...
Protesters gather in Detroit against separation of families
June 18th, 20180 Detroit —Protesters against separation of families gather at the Families Belong Together rally outside the ICE Enforcement center at 333 Mt. Elliott, on June 14 at 5 p.m. A partnership between Women’s March, Equality Michigan, African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA) and Metro-Detroit Political Action Network......
Dearborn residents reminded of fireworks use related laws
June 16th, 20180 DEARBORN – Residents are reminded to follow state and local laws regarding the purchase and use of fireworks and to exercise extreme caution, as the Fourth of July approaches. In addition to low-impact fireworks such as sparklers, there are powerful or airborne fireworks, known as “consumer” fireworks, that are legal for sale...
Fordson High School graduate to attend Harvard this fall
June 16th, 20180 DEARBORN – Fatima Taj, a Fordson High School graduate with a 4.48 GPA and served as class valedictorian, is something of a renaissance woman. The Harvard-bound 18-year-old served as president of Fordson’s book and art club, was a member of the Key Club, the Link Crew, the Teen Grant Making Initiative, the varsity tennis team and......
Dearborn graduates receive $11.4 million in scholarships
June 16th, 20180 DEARBORN - Dearborn Public Schools graduated 1,471 students this June. About 446 graduates were offered a combined total of $11.4 million in scholarships. Most will be taking classes at Henry Ford College, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Four students from Dearborn were accepted into ivy league...
Design competition seeks to create a connected cultural campus in Midtown
June 16th, 20180 By Eman Jassem The Arab American News intern DETROIT — The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and Midtown Cultural Connections launched an international design competition and invited the public for a series of presentations and interviews on June 13 and 14 in the DIA lecture hall. The three-stage competition launched on......
