April 2nd, 20180Dearborn Heights — The police and Fire Departments recently celebrated the addition of new employees during swearing-in ceremonies at the Dearborn Heights City Hall. Two new Police Officers were sworn in at a March 19 ceremony, and one new firefighter was sworn in at a March 26 ceremony.
Police officers:
Ahmed Alhalili, a 4-year...
March 23rd, 20180STAFFORD, 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...
March 16th, 20180DEARBORN — A young Syrian refugee girl had no idea when she was selling gum on the streets of Beirut, but the cryptic expression of fear and confidence on her face would become part of a visual story of struggle that aims to connect everyone with a story to tell.
Mayssa Fakih, a 17-year-old art student at Mercy High School, an...
March 9th, 20180DEARBORN — Ali Habhab, a former east Dearborn resident who goes by the name HaBZ, released his first album, PaTHOGENS, in November. Habhab wrote all of the music on the album and got help producing it with his friend and fellow artist, Rajiv Dhall.
Habhab, 26, graduated from Crestwood High School in 2009. After graduation, he began...
February 9th, 20180
HAMTRAMCK — When Saad Almasmari made history in Nov. 2015 by receiving the most votes in the Hamtramck City Council race— making it the first City Council with a Muslim-majority in the U.S— he pledged to ensure proportional representation and that the city would handle resources well enough to move on from emergency...
February 9th, 20180This gubernatorial election has a pool of Democratic candidates who represent a diverse range of backgrounds, including an Arab American, an African American and an Indian American. If any of them are elected, it would be first for the state.
The fourth and leading candidate, Gretchen Whitmer, would be the state's second woman...
February 2nd, 20180DEARBORN 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...
January 26th, 20180By Farah Harb
BANGLADESH — In light of the Rohingya refugee crisis where hundreds of thousands of refugees fearing religious prosecution in Myanmar fled to Bangladesh, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) arrived in Bangladesh at the beginning of the current crisis to aide refugees living in conditions that...
January 26th, 20180LOS ANGELES — Joseph R. Haiek, 85, a well known Arab American historian and journalist who spent his life documenting the achievements of our community in this country, died on Thursday, Jan. 25, according to his family.
"It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our father, Joseph Rizek Haiek, this morning, January 25,...
January 24th, 20181DEARBORN, Mich. – Dearborn Real Estate associate broker and businessman Sam Baydoun announced today that he will seek the Wayne County Commission seat being vacated by Chairman Gary Woronchak, who has opted to against seeking another term on the county's governing board and will instead run for an open seat in the State Senate....
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...
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...
December 2nd, 20171DETROIT - An Arab American man was shot and killed Friday night in Detroit after a road rage incident that began in Dearborn.
The victim, Faith Almosaki, 18, was shot near Vernor Highway and Lawndale Street, police said.
The victim pulled over to the curb. The alleged shooter exited his vehicle, approached the victim. They...
November 17th, 20170YONKERS, NY — Last week, Mike Khader, an Arab American attorney and a former Central Intelligence Agency official, made history when he beat incumbent Republican City Council President Liam McLaughlin for his seat in the fourth largest city in New York.
Khader, 41, had never held elective office, but said he decided to run after he...
November 3rd, 20170
DEARBORN HEIGHTS—“It picks up something from the ocean around it, from the humidity, from the surrounding trees,” said Mohamad Zeitoun, manager of the Roasting Plant coffee shops in Dearborn Heights and Ann Arbor, about the flavor profile of the Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee bean.
The Dearborn Heights location opened in June;...
October 6th, 20170DEARBORN — To those who are regularly held for questioning at airports or border crossings and believe they may be wrongfully placed on a federal watch list, the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center has news: You are most likely a terrorist or somehow connected to a suspected terrorist.
In Dearborn, where about half of residents are...
September 22nd, 20170DEARBORN — A new burger joint trend is developing in the Dearborn area. At least eight burger joints have opened in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, with a number of them opening in the last few years.
The burger joints are popular in Dearborn because they offer halal meat on the classic American dish.
The burger trend in...
September 11th, 20170Washington — Republican Rep. Dave Trott (R-Birmingham) said Monday he will retire from Congress at the end of his second term and return to the private sector.
“Our country’s Founding Fathers envisioned a government where citizens leave private life, serve for a brief time, and then return home to their communities," Trott said...
September 8th, 20170DEARBORN — If you didn't already know what she looked like, you'd be surprised to see Mariam Bazzi greeting a line of guests at the entrance to her own investiture ceremony.
Bazzi – appointed by Gov. Snyder in May as a judge in the Wayne Country Third Circuit Court – pointed attendees to the auditorium, and judges and family...
September 3rd, 20170NOVI — On August 8, a Muslim family was accosted in the parking lot of Twelve Oaks Mall by a White man in his 30s who hurled epithets and derogatory slurs at them. The mother, out of fear for her two children, called the Novi Police Department.
After driving past the family, the assailant parked his car and approached the family...
August 18th, 20172
DEARBORN — About 8 a.m. on Thursday, Michigan State Police raided the Dearborn Medical Clinic, where a doctor is accused of over prescribing opiates.
Lt. Mike Shaw of the State Police described the clinic, located at Warren and Yinger Avenues, as a "pill mill" and said oxycodone is the drug most prescribed. It was attracting...
August 11th, 20170DEARBORN — An Arab American tent made its debut at the 38th annual Dearborn Homecoming festival, held at Ford Field Park the weekend of Aug. 4-6.
The tent, which featured both food and music, came about through the auspices of the Arab American National Museum and ACCESS.
"In 2015 and 2016, the AANM and ACCESS had the pleasure of...
July 14th, 20170
PALOS TWP., IL — On Monday, July 10, residents of this Chicago suburb rallied before a township meeting in support of the resignation of Township Trustee member Sharon Brannigan due to the discovery of hate speech targeting Arab American and Muslim students in the community.
"We saw her singling out our children," said Itedal...
July 14th, 20172NORTHVILLE— Born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, Northville resident Fayrouz Saad is the product of hard working parents who immigrated from Lebanon more than 40 years ago.
"It really starts with my parents," Saad said. "Moving to Michigan for the American Dream. They started a small business in Detroit's Eastern Market. A very...
July 7th, 20170DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Few know the barrier-breaking story of Nawal Hamadeh, president and CEO of Hamadeh Educational Services, despite her accomplishments.
In 1998, Hamadeh did what few women had up to that time. She opened two charter schools, Star International Academy in Dearborn Heights and Universal Academy in Detroit.
In doing...
July 7th, 20170By Stephen Martin
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — On July 5, local food blogger Zee Shami held the grand opening of her new culinary studio, ZeeTheCook. The studio offers cooking classes, etiquette coaching, unique culinary workshops and birthday parties, as well as fall, spring and summer camps for children.
It also offers adults a variety...
June 30th, 20170LANSING — On election night last November, Dearbornites celebrated a triumph. Abdullah Hammoud, 27, became the first Arab Muslim male to represent the city in the state legislature.
He told The AANews he felt relieved to win the race, but knew that struggle still lay ahead because "Trump might win Michigan."
Donald Trump not only...
June 6th, 20170Dearborn — Police are still looking for a man who stole a 13-year-old girl's cell phone on Saturday, May 27 near Michigan Avenue and Middlesex Street.
The suspect, described as a white or Arab male 25-40 years old with a thin build, walked up to the girl at around 7:30 p.m., forcibly stole her cell phone and fled the scene on...