July 19th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — In a recent news article, an ongoing legal battle between members of the Dearborn Heights Police Department and the city of Dearborn Heights was cited as including “race-based sabotage and harassment.”
The 74-page federal lawsuit filed on Jan. 29 by then-Police Chief Jerrod Hart and Directors Kevin Swope and...
July 5th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Following an intense budget battle that almost resulted in a government shutdown, Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart has resigned.
Hart submitted his notice of “constructive termination” to be effective immediately, stating that his departure comes as a result of, “... the continued harassment,...
June 29th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS - The city of Dearborn Heights has finally reached an agreement and approved a budget for fiscal year 2024 to 2025.
As the city’s administration was preparing for a government shut down due to the budget not being approved on time, at a last minute meeting held on June 28 that lasted almost four hours long, the City...
June 28th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS – As the construction of the new headquarters for the Islamic Institute of America on Beech Daly Road in Dearborn Heights is nearing completion, the center's imam, Sayed Hassan Qazwini, urged the Arab and Muslim communities in the Detroit area to contribute to building this state-of-art center. This center will be a...
June 28th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — As the budget deadline looms, the city of Dearborn Heights has failed to approve a budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30, 2025.
During a nearly two and a half hour-long City Council meeting on June 25, Councilwoman Nancy Breyer was the only Council member to move for the...
June 7th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — As part of a common senior prank, several students were caught vandalizing Crestwood High School on May 24.
Through a thorough investigation conducted by the Crestwood administration, multiple students were identified vandalizing the school with spray paint.
“The investigation consisted of camera footage,...
May 24th, 20240Huntington Bank and The Arab American News awarded 31 college-bound Dearborn and Dearborn Heights graduating seniors $115,000 in scholarships at the Future Leaders In Progress (FLIP) Scholarship Dinner on Wednesday, May 22.
FLIP also recognized five outstanding educators from Dearborn Public Schools and Crestwood Public Schools in...
May 10th, 20240Huntington Bank in partnership with The Arab American News will hold the FLIP scholarships 2024 Award Dinner on May 22
DEARBORN – For the third year in a row The Arab American News in partnership with Huntington Bank will distribute $111,500 in FLIP scholarships to 29 high school college-bound graduates from Dearborn and Dearborn...
April 19th, 20240On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani paid a quick visit to Metro Detroit. The Iraqi leader's first stop was at the Islamic Institute of America, a Dearborn Heights mosque, and his second stop was at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, where he had dinner with local Iraqi Americans.
al-Sudani's visit was...
April 12th, 20240DETROIT – On Monday, April 8, the Justice Department announced that a Dearborn Heights landlord, Mohamad Hussein, has agreed to pay $185,000 in damages and a civil penalty to the government to resolve the Fair Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit concerning his sexual harassment of actual and prospective female tenants. Hussein has owned and...
March 15th, 20240DEARBORN – Starbucks cafés in the Dearborn area are witnessing an unprecedented decline in customers’ demand for the chain’s most famous products, just as they are elsewhere in the U.S and around the world. This decline comes in conjunction with continuing campaigns on social media platforms to boycott the company, which is...
March 8th, 20241On Thursday, The Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights hosted Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, for an evening of community discussion.
Stein, 73, a three-time Green Party presidential candidate, said as president she would immediately call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The president can make a phone...
March 5th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi has announced the appointment of a new director of emergency management for the city.
Hussein Farhat, a 29-year veteran of law enforcement, began his career as a deputy sheriff with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department before moving into a position with the Romulus Police...
March 2nd, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Just over a month after the City Council canceled the salary and benefits of two police directors, one of them has been appointed to a “newly-formed” role of internal affairs investigator.
Mayor Bill Bazzi has appointed Paul Vanderplow, Dearborn Heights Police Department director of support services, to the...
March 1st, 20240DEARBORN – Dearborn and two other Michigan cities with large Arab and Muslim populations turned against President Biden in Michigan’s primary after Democratic leaders there warned for months that voters were angry about his handling of the Israeli war on Gaza.
While Biden won the state with a little over 623,415 votes, the results...
February 16th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Less than a month after the police chief and directors filed a lawsuit against the city, the City Council has voted to hire its own attorney in a federal lawsuit of its own.
With a 4-1 vote on Feb. 13, the Council members approved a resolution to hire its own legal counsel, former City Attorney Gary Miotke, to...
February 2nd, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Barely over a week after the City Council passed a resolution canceling the salary and benefits for two police department directors and the chief of police announced a leave of absence, both directors and the chief have filed a federal lawsuit against the city.
Directors Kevin Swope, Paul Vanderplow and Chief...
February 2nd, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS – A veteran law enforcer whose career spans more than a quarter century is going to lead the Dearborn Heights Police Department while its chief is on medical leave.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi announced the appointment of Dearborn Heights Police Department Operations Director Kevin Swope to the role of interim...
January 25th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The City Council passed a “no confidence” resolution against Mayor Bill Bazzi, Corporation Counsel Roger Farinha and Police Chief Jerrod Hart in a 5-2 vote and unanimously voted to cancel the salary and benefits of two directors within the Police Department.
The resolution passed with “yes” votes from Mo...
January 18th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The recent blast of snow and cold temperatures have left many Dearborn Heights sidewalks still covered in ice and snow. The city’s Ordinance and Animal Control Department staff reminds all residents and business owners that it is important to keep all residential and business sidewalks clear of these...
January 13th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The city of Dearborn Heights will be hosting a free legal clinic for its residents at the end of the month.
The first legal clinic of 2024 will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 31 from 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Dearborn Heights City Hall. Volunteer attorneys who specialize in landlord/tenant disputes, wills and...
January 5th, 20240DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The local nonprofit organization Youdemonia is making a mark in Southeast Michigan with a bit of holiday cheer. The group, founded in 2020, aims to combat social disparities by creating community events and increasing opportunity awareness for youth.
This past month, Youdemonia held Michigan’s first-ever...
January 5th, 20240By Judge Mark Plawecki
Michigan Democratic U.S Senate candidate Hill Harper has claimed that he was offered $20 million by an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) member to drop out of said race and run instead against U.S Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress. Condor has never met nor,...
November 16th, 20230DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A local nonprofit is working to bring the community together during a time of need for its second annual Friendsgiving event.
Thrive by any Means Necessary (TMN) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2022 by community activists with the goal of striving to eliminate barriers for those in need while establishing a...
November 10th, 20230DEARBORN HEIGHTS – In the race for the three open City Council seats, City Councilman Mo Baydoun was the top vote-getter among the six candidates, garnering 4,085 votes or 30.2 percent, followed by former City Council Chair Denise Malinowski-Maxwell, who got 3,659 votes or 27 percent. Hassan Saab, who got 1,742 votes or 12.9 percent,...
October 27th, 20231DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Individuals who wish to have their records cleared of certain past legal offenses can meet with attorneys for guidance at the November 11 city of Dearborn Heights Expungement Fair.
The free event is offered in cooperation with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. It will be held at the Richard A. Young...
October 27th, 20231DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Crestwood School District officials and city officials are responding after national media outlets misrepresented a peaceful, student-led walkout as being “pro-terrorist.”
On Friday, October 20 at 9:55 a.m., a group of Crestwood High School students organized a peaceful walkout that was intended to show...
October 27th, 20230DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Two students from Annapolis High School helped organize and host a peaceful walkout in support of Palestine on October 26.
Abd-alazzez Alshawaly, a 17-year-old 12th grade student, and Abdulla Allami, a 16-year-old 10th grader, worked together with a group of other students to coordinate the event.
Allami told...