November 19th, 20210LANSING — The state has launched a program to make free at-home COVID-19 tests available to families through schools.
On Thursday, Governor Whitmer launched a new pilot program in partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) called "MI Backpack Home Tests" to provide free, at-home COVID-19 antigen...
November 16th, 20210LANSING — Michigan's new budget enables the state to expand free and low-cost childcare service to more families, the governor's office announced this week.
Governor Whitmer announced Wednesday the expansion of free or low-cost childcare to 105,000 more children through expanded income eligibility criteria. Families of four earning...
November 16th, 20210MICHIGAN — The state hit an important milestone in vaccinations against COVID-19 for adults this week.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on Wednesday that Michigan has reached the state’s 70 percent goal of eligible residents age 16 and older receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19...
November 11th, 20210A Palestinian American has announced her campaign to represent Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.
Huwaida Arraf is a "working mother, human rights advocate, attorney and first-generation American," says a campaign press release. She is vying for a Congressional seat in a state that is slated to see a reshaping of its political...
November 5th, 20210DETROIT — Residents of Southeast Michigan who experienced uninsured and underinsured damage or losses from the June 25-26 severe storms, flooding and tornadoes only have one week remaining to apply for federal assistance. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 12. It’s important to understand the following six things when applying...
November 5th, 20210This week, headlines regarding Tuesday’s election across local, national and international media included some version of the word "historic."
Not surprising when one takes into consideration that three Arab American candidates in some of the state’s densest cities enjoyed landslide victories for mayoral races: Amer Ghalib in...
November 3rd, 20210The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), doctors and state public health leaders are urging Michigan parents to get their children ages 5 to 11 vaccinated with Pfizer's COVID-19 pediatric vaccine, which received emergency use authorization for this age group from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was...
November 1st, 20210LANSING — After Michigan changed car insurance laws to give drivers the option to choose levels of injury coverage, the state’s has a surplus of mare than $5 billion in excess claims paid that could be getting back to drivers.
Governor Whitmer said Monday that the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) should deliver...
October 26th, 20210DEARBORN — This week, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell introduced legislation in the U.S. House inspired by the story of a Dearborn family in the 1980s.
The legislation, named the Samier Amer Foster Care Improvement Act of 2021, requires state foster care programs to ensure children are prioritized for placement with their relatives and...
October 25th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report published by the federal government's consumer affairs watchdog agency shows a disproportionate impact of certain scams which target communities of color.
The staff report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlight the unique types of consumer problems that these communities face, as well as how...
October 21st, 20210HAMTRAMCK — After elevated levels of lead in the city's water system were detected, the city of Hamtramck partnered with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to distribute one free water filter with replacement cartridges, per address, to Hamtramck residents on Thursday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in...
October 20th, 20210LANSING — On Wednesday, the state announced a proposal for $32 million in law enforcement funding, as part of an overall "$75 million MI Safe Communities" framework, touted by Governor Whitmer as a way to "reduce crime and keep families safe."
The latest funding would have multiple pieces and is geared towards "communities with...
October 16th, 20210– Dr. Hayg Oshagan is a professor at Wayne State University, co-chair of the Detroit City Council Immigration Task Force and the director of New Michigan Media
We are entering the final phase of the redistricting process in Michigan. As you know, Michigan voters passed a law in 2018 that redistricting in our state would be done by...
October 15th, 20210DEARBORN — A fresh set of draft maps for the State House, Senate and federal Congressional districts published by the state’s citizen-led Redistricting Commission have been available for public consideration for the past few weeks.
Those draft maps currently in front of the 13-member Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting...
October 13th, 20210After a 19-month lockdown on nonessential travel, the U.S. will reopen its borders with Canada and Mexico to fully vaccinated travelers, starting in November
Mexico and Canada, as well as Americans themselves, have asked the U.S. government for months to ease restrictions on nonessential travel across borders. Though commercial trade...
October 6th, 20210Michigan marked more than 10 million "primary series" doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
The state has also administered more than 207,000 third doses to those who are immunocompromised and booster doses to eligible individuals. To date, 68.3 percent of Michiganders age 16-years-old or older have gotten at least their...
October 4th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud made history on Tuesday as the first Arab American Muslim woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. She argued on behalf of the state in the case Brown v. Davenport.
The case was one of the first the Supreme Court heard in its October term, now that the justices have...
October 4th, 20210DETROIT — At a recent Detroit NAACP dinner, Governor Whitmer vetoed several bills put forward by the state’s Republicans to add voting measures that imply deep irregularities in the state’s voting procedures.
The bills follow a tumultuous November 2020 election, in which former president Trump falsely claimed there was...
October 2nd, 20210The state’s citizen-led redistricting effort is approaching some crucial deadlines and draft maps have been released for public consideration that show how the process could potentially rework the state’s political maps.
Michigan voters approved the creation of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) in...
September 30th, 20210LANSING — Following FDA approval, recommendations from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and additional recommendations by the CDC director, the Michigan Department of Health and Humans Services (MDHHS) is urging certain Michiganders to get a booster shot if they received Pfizer’s COVID-19...
September 24th, 20210A group of more than 150 Chaldean doctors published a letter urging the state’s large Chaldean community to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus as soon as possible.
The letter appears on the state’s official website in both English and Arabic.
The group of medical specialist comes from various fields. The signees said...
September 16th, 20210DEARBORN — The tragic kidnapping, torture and murder in Yemen of Abdulmalek Alsanabani, a Yemeni student who resided in California, sparked outrage and protests in the U.S. and Yemen this week.
Alsanabani was a 25-year-old living in Fresno, California and had decided to take an often dangerous journey across the south of Yemen to...
September 8th, 20210Health experts from Henry Ford Hospital are warning parents with young children about the dangers of accidentally ingesting candy and other treats that contain marijuana.
The hospital system says that the rates of children accidentally overdosing on THC-laced edibles have increased as more and more states make pot legal. The sale and...
September 3rd, 20210MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA — A report published by the CDC details a case of an unvaccinated teacher who infected half a class of students with COVID-19 just by reciting a story for them unmasked. The report made headlines this week as schools went through a tense decision process to allow full in-person learning, but with many...
September 1st, 20210Adding to expert confidence over the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC announced this week that its advisory committee on immunization has given the vaccine a "unanimous recommendation" for those ages 16 and up.
The committee’s 14-0 vote came a week after the FDA gave the Pfizer vaccine full approval.
The CDC's Advisory Committee...
September 1st, 20210WAYNE COUNTY — FEMA is reminding residents of Wayne County impacted by the June 25-26 severe storms and flooding that the application deadline to receive assistance is Monday, Sept. 13. The deadline is the same for residents of Washtenaw and Wayne Counties to get assistance towards damage or losses from the storms.
Washtenaw and...
August 27th, 20210Wayne County has now joined neighboring Oakland County in mandating masks be worn in local school districts, schools and daycare providers.
The latest pandemic health order by the Wayne County Health Department takes effect immediately and requires students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear a face mask while in school and during...
August 21st, 20210DEARBORN — The federal government is preparing to deliver "booster" shots of COVID-19 vaccines to Americans by mid-September, recommending that immunocompromised people take a booster even sooner.
Health officials have acknowledged that protection from vaccines wanes, or diminishes over time, though they still remain highly...
