New York state will sue to block Census citizenship question
March 27th, 20180 New York state’s attorney general said on Tuesday he will lead a multistate lawsuit to try to stop the federal government from asking people whether they are citizens in the 2020 Census, arguing the move will discourage immigrants from participating. The U.S. Commerce Department, which runs the Census Bureau, announced on Monday that...
Canton gym locker thief gets probation, avoids prison
March 26th, 20180 DETROIT — A local man has who has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing from customer lockers at Lifetime Fitness in Canton and has avoided jail time. Ali Sami Hammoud, 54, appeared before Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway on Friday and was sentenced to probation for 18 months. Defense attorney William Amadeo told...
Planned Parenthood volunteers’ book club holds first meet-up of the year in Hamtramck
March 23rd, 20180 HAMTRAMCK — "Readers Resist", a book club organized by Planned Parenthood volunteers and activists, met for the first time this year on March 21 inside Book Suey, a book shop in Hamtramck. Since last summer, club members have met monthly to discuss the book of the month. Some books read so far include, "We Should all be Feminists"...
Tamimi agrees to plea deal for striking an Israeli soldier: No justice under occupation
March 23rd, 20180 WEST BANK — A teenage Palestinian girl who was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank accepted a plea deal on Wednesday under which she will be sentenced to eight months in prison, her lawyer said. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the Dec. 15 incident outside her home in the...
Arab American and Chaldean Council annual scholarship application now available
March 23rd, 20180 TROY — On March 20, The Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) announced that its 16th annual ACC Scholarship Program applications are now available for Arab American and Chaldean high school seniors. The announcement was made by ACC President Dr. Haifa Fakhouri. ACC is a premier nonprofit human service organization serving...
Trump replaces McMaster with warmongering Bolton as national security adviser
March 23rd, 20180 WASHINGTON — President Trump shook up his foreign policy team again on Thursday, replacing H.R. McMaster as national security adviser with John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against North Korea and Iran. The move, announced in a tweet, came little more than a week after the firing of Rex Tillerson as...
Poll: Americans want armed school guards and tighter gun laws
March 23rd, 20180 A majority of Americans, including Republicans, Democrats and gun owners, want stricter laws on gun ownership and armed guards in schools, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll taken in early March. Hundreds of thousands of students and their families are expected to march in cities across the United States on Saturday to demand...
Trump, deemed ‘not above the law,’ faces legal storm
March 23rd, 20180 NEW YORK — President Trump faced legal challenges from women on two fronts on Tuesday as a defamation lawsuit brought by a former Apprentice TV show contestant moved forward and a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump sued to undo a confidentiality agreement. The developments increased legal pressure on Trump,...
Detroit Film Theatre screens Palestinian move, ‘In Between’
March 23rd, 20180 DETROIT — The Detroit Film Theatre held five screenings of Maysaloun Hamoud's first feature film, "In Between (Bar Bahar)", over the weekend of March 16. The film follows three Palestinian women as they share an apartment in Tel Aviv. Elliot Wilhelm, the curator of the Detroit Film Theatre since 1974, said he thought the audiences...
Wayne County Sheriff’s chief of operations Mike Jaafar becomes first Arab American from Dearborn to graduate from FBI National Academy
March 23rd, 20180 STAFFORD, VA — The Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Academy graduated the first Arab American law enforcement executive. On March 16, Mike Jaafar, chief of operations of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, graduated from the FBI's National Academy, a professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement...ACC to hold opioid and heroin town hall meeting
March 23rd, 20180 SOUTHFIELD — The Arab American and Chaldean Council will address the community's opioid and heroin crisis on Wednesday May 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Regency Manor in Southfield. The substance abuse event, called "A Community in Crisis: ACC's Opioid and Heroin Town Hall Meeting", will focus primarily on the Arab and Chaldean children...
Detroit Police Chief James Craig: School threats are going to stop
March 23rd, 20180 DETROIT — On Thursday, Police Chief James Craig held a news conference regarding the recent string of threats made against schools in the city. Schools across the country have been plagued by a rash of threats since the Feb. 14 massacre that killed 17 high school students and faculty in Parkland, Florida. Since the shooting in...
League of Women Voters visits Dearborn high schools, encourages students’ participation
March 23rd, 20180 By Farah Harb The Arab American News DEARBORN — As part of its high school voter registration project, the League of Women Voters of Dearborn/ Dearborn Heights visited Dearborn and Fordson High Schools the week of March 19-22. The nonpartisan political organization aims to bring awareness of the importance of informed and...
Lebanese American Medical Society educates community about Autism
March 23rd, 20180 DEARBORN — A capacity crowd turned out at Sarai Palace on March 17 to attend a presentation on autism, held by the Lebanese American Medical Society. Pediatrician and LAMS Chairman Dr. Alex El-Sabbagh and psychiatrist Dr. Lamis Jabri made presentations in an effort to increase awareness about autism. El-Sabbagh practices in...
Suspect’s family says Canton gas station shooting was self-defense
March 23rd, 20180 CANTON — Police are investigating if a shooting at a gas station in Canton was self defense. The shooting, which happened Tuesday afternoon at a Valero gas station near Ikea at Haggerty and Ford Road, sent one man to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the cheek. Police told Fox 2 Detroit it was more than a graze, but wouldn't......
Proposed hotel near Dearborn mosque sparks debate and division
March 23rd, 20180 DEARBORN – Tensions are high among community members over the proposed opening of a Holiday Inn Express hotel about 500 yards from Dearborn’s largest mosque. The hospitality chain seeks to construct a business-geared hotel in place of a church that has been vacant for three years, on a triangular block that’s home to the Islamic...
Canadian man faces extra charge in Michigan airport stabbing
March 22nd, 20180 FLINT — A federal grand jury has indicted a Canadian man accused of stabbing a police officer at a Michigan airport last year on an additional terrorism charge stemming from the attack, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. Amor Ftouhi, 50, is accused of “committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries” by......
Study: The more devout Muslims and Jews are, the more united, except on Jerusalem
March 22nd, 20180 NEW YORK – Muslim-Jewish relations are thought to be in conflict. However a study shows that followers of both faiths are more closely aligned with one another, expect on the issue of Jerusalem. The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) released a study that provides a national benchmark measuring opinions and behaviors of...
Top oxymorphone dispenser in 2017 summarily suspended
March 16th, 20180 DETROIT — The Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) served orders summarily suspending the controlled substance license of Super Mart Pharmacy in Detroit and the pharmacist license of Mohammad Mehmood Ashraf, according to a press release. “Administrative complaints” were also served against Super Mart Pharmacy and...
Dearborn Public Schools set to change high school boundaries
March 16th, 20180 DEARBORN — A standing-room-only crowd attended the March 12 Dearborn Public School Board meeting at which the board voted unanimously in favor of boundary changes for Dearborn, Fordson and Edsel Ford High Schools. "All new ninth graders who live within the Unis boundaries will attend Fordson High School," according to the meeting's...
Hundreds of Letters to ICE: Save Rranxburgaj Family
March 16th, 20180 DETROIT – An Albanian American family currently in sanctuary in a Detroit church gathered supporters who will hold a press conference on Friday March 16 at the Rosa Parks federal building. The supporters will deliver more than 600 letters to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office on Jefferson. Ded Rranxburgaj, an......
April is arts month in Dearborn
March 16th, 20180 DEARBORN — Galleries, artists and cultural events across the city will be celebrated throughout April, according to a press release from the Dearborn Community Fund. The month will begin with a “Gallery Rally” week April 2-7. Galleries in that event include the Padzieski Gallery (Ford Community & Performing Arts Center);...
Local leaders and community reaffirm support for Dearborn’s Judge Sam Salamey
March 16th, 20180 DEARBORN – On March 15, a large crowd of community members and local elected officials came out to Byblos Banquet Hall in support of 19th District Court Chief Judge Salem Salamey’s bid to be re-elected to the bench. Salamey, a father of four, was elected Dearborn’s first Arab American judge in 2012. He is currently running......
School safety bill passes House, no action on gun control
March 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House of Representatives approved spending more money on metal detectors, locks and other school security measures on Wednesday, but took no steps to tighten gun control laws a month after a Florida high school shooting that killed 17 people. While students marched nationwide for change on one of America’s...
Top U.S. general signals support for Iran nuclear deal
March 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, top U.S. general signaled support for the Iran nuclear deal, saying the agreement, which President Trump has threatened to withdraw from, has played an important role in addressing Iran's nuclear program. "The JCPOA addresses one of the principle threats that we deal with from Iran, so if the JCPOA......
