State medical director addresses COVID-19 vaccine plan
December 1st, 20200 LANSING — During Tuesday’s COVID-19 press conference, Dr. Joneigh Khladun gave more insight into the state’s plans of vaccine distribution. With Pfizer and Moderna both having vaccines in clinical trial stages, Khaldun said that health experts are expecting a vaccine decision from the FDA and CDC to be made by...
Tensions flare during Dearborn Heights City Council meeting
November 29th, 20201 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Despite being a Council of six temporarily, it was business as usual during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. With Lisa Hicks-Clayton now treasurer, the six remaining members had a full agenda to discuss and all items voted on required a majority vote. In the event of a tie, the motions were not...
Local doctors address severity of COVID-19
November 29th, 20200 DEARBORN — With COVID-19 cases on the rise, hospitals nearing capacity and growing frustration over health orders, some local doctors want to remind residents to take the pandemic seriously. Dr. Zafar Shamoon, emergency medicine specialist and chairman of emergency medicine at Beaumont Dearborn, said that he has experienced many...
“Truth is lost” as Michigan’s immigrant communities hit with misinformation on closed platforms
November 28th, 20201 Closed messaging apps popular among Michigan’s immigrant communities and those with families living abroad are crawling with misinformation. It is a hard problem to capture. Closed and encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp make it cheap and easy for users to send texts and make phone calls. But, many of the app’s group...
Parks and Recreation department bringing holiday cheer to the community
November 28th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — With the annual tree lighting ceremony being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dearborn Heights Parks and Recreation Department has gotten creative in how to bring holiday cheer to the community. Having close ties with the North Pole, Parks and Recreation Director Brian Haddad was able to pull some...
Dearborn Heights woman is first African American to be elected union president at Henry Ford College
November 28th, 20200 DEARBORN — Being heavily involved in volunteer work and advocacy, Leslie Windless is adding another role to a lengthy list of titles. Having worked in Henry Ford College’s financial aid office as an associate for the last three and a half years, Windless has been elected to be one of five union presidents for the college, and...
Dearborn public safety chiefs encourage a safe holiday
November 27th, 20200 DEARBORN — In a video posted to the city’s Facebook page, Police Chief Ronald Haddad and the fire department’s Battalion Chief Glenn Owens encouraged residents to have a safe holiday. “We want to remind you that we are in the middle of a COVID crisis,” Haddad said. “And I want to emphasize that only 10 people can be at...
Dearborn Heights welcomes new comptroller
November 27th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — With a recent resignation in the Comptroller’s Office, Chuck Bonza has been hired to fill the vacancy. Bonza, a lifelong Dearborn Heights resident, graduated from Crestwood High School in 1977. He then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ferris State University in the early...
Henry Ford Health System ready for COVID-19 vaccines
November 25th, 20200 DETROIT – As two promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna move closer to approval, healthcare providers around the country are being challenged to receive, store and distribute these vaccines, both of which require storage at unusually low temperatures. As the only hospital in Michigan chosen as a Phase 3 trial site...
Dearborn Heights mayor files suit against Council chairwoman
November 25th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Mayor Daniel Paletko is suing Council Chairwoman Denise Malinowski-Maxwell for what he calls "illegal and reckless actions." In the lawsuit, Paletko states that the attorneys hired to represent him during the numerous lawsuits back and forth over the last year have still not been paid and alleges that...
Dearborn officer dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound
November 25th, 20200 DEARBORN — The city of Dearborn lost a police officer to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Wednesday morning, officials said in a press release. The release said that "on November 25, 2020, at approximately 10 a.m., a 10-year veteran of the department died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in the area of...
John James concedes to Gary Peters over pleasant Twitter message
November 25th, 20200 MICHIGAN — After initially refusing to do so, Republican U.S. Senate candidate John James conceded to Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in a tweeted video. James, who was born in Detroit and is an Iraq War veteran, had promoted unsubstantiated allegations of deliberate voter suppression and deception after the Nov. 3 election, continuing...
In a 3-0 vote, Michigan Board of State Canvassers certifies election results
November 23rd, 20200 LANSING — After more than three hours of public comments and discussion, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers certified the statewide results of the Nov 3. general elections in Michigan. Norman Shinkle, a Republican member, abstained from voting. This is a developing story and will be updated As of 6 p.m. ET, the board is...
With appointment of Danielle Elzayat, Arab Americans gain majority on Crestwood School Board
November 22nd, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Danielle Elzayat, a resident of Dearborn Heights since 1995 and the mother of children in the district, has been appointed to the Crestwood School Board. After being inspired by the direction the board has been going in the last year, Elzayat decided to interview for the position. “I’ve been volunteering...
Local hospitals brace for second wave as COVID-19 cases rise
November 22nd, 20200 DEARBORN — With COVID-19 cases seeing record high numbers over the last couple of weeks, local hospitals are bracing for the second wave. The state of Michigan is tracking bed capacity and available personal protection equipment (PPE) on its website and updates the information daily. Statewide, bed occupancy among all hospitals......
Peters calls on federal government to identify ways to eliminate travel discrimination
November 21st, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan), is calling on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine ways to eliminate discrimination in travel screenings by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Peters is the ranking member of the Homeland...
Hamtramck Freedom Village begins resettling refugees
November 20th, 20200 HAMTRAMCK - A unique refugee resettlement program in Hamtramck that has seen support from a variety of partners, including a Dearborn church, began operations this year. The Hamtramck Freedom Village broke ground last year, using funds from a federal grant awarded to Wayne County to provide temporary accommodation and services to......
Local doctors accused of faking diagnoses to help immigrants obtain citizenship
November 20th, 20200 DETROIT — Two local doctors are being charged in a criminal complaint for their alleged roles in a fraudulent immigration scheme. A psychologist and medical doctor are accused of creating fake medical diagnoses to help immigrants fraudulently obtain their citizenship. United States Attorney Matthew Schneider announced charges...
Trump continues desperate assault on Michigan election
November 20th, 20200 In yet another desperate move to overturn election results in Michigan, President Trump invited Michigan Senate Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield to the White House on Friday. Though the contents of what will be discussed at the meeting were not announced, it is clear that certification of statewide...
Michigan: 68 percent of Arab American voters backed Biden in November elections
November 20th, 20200 DEARBORN — Though breaking down precinct voting data by the Arab American category has always been a challenge, data from several sources for the Nov. 3 election show how Arab American voters turned up in great numbers for President-elect Joe Biden. Data analysis sent over by Mideast Wire shows the overall preference for Biden over...
Beaumont Taylor announces visitor limitations
November 19th, 20200 TAYLOR — Beaumont Hospital in Taylor has announced visitor restrictions amid the rising cases of COVID-19. The Taylor facility is joining the Grosse Pointe, Royal Oak, Dearborn, Trenton, Farmington Hills and Troy locations in their decision to limit visitors. “We’ve had a notable rise in COVID-19 cases in Metro Detroit,”......
Trump’s campaign withdraws Michigan election lawsuit
November 19th, 20200 MICHIGAN — The re-election campaign for President Trump is withdrawing its lawsuit disputing vote results in Michigan. The campaign has filed numerous suits nationally in legal attempts to challenge the Nov. 3 victory of President-elect Joe Biden. Most, including in Michigan, have not yielded any real success for the campaign....
Local school leaders respond to new MDHHS orders
November 18th, 20200 With the new Michigan Department of Health and Human Services order calling for high schools to suspend in-person learning, local school districts have been forced to make tough decisions for their districts. The Dearborn Heights District 7 School District had been the only district among Dearborn/Dearborn Heights that had allowed for......
AG Nessel sues Trump administration for neglecting to update national energy efficiency standards
November 18th, 20200 LANSING — Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined 15 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Department of Energy (DOE). The lawsuit was filed against the DOE for failing to meet legal deadlines for reviewing and updating national energy efficiency standards for 25 categories of common...
Annual FBI hate crimes report marks 2019 as the “deadliest year on record”
November 18th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an annual hate crimes report released this week, the FBI announced that 2019 saw a record high number of hate crime murders in the United States. Hate crimes are described by the FBI as an offense “motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender and gender......
