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...
Lisa Hicks-Clayton sworn in as Dearborn Heights treasurer
November 18th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Former Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton has officially been sworn in as treasurer. Having run against fellow Councilman Bob Constan, Hicks-Clayton was elected during the Nov. 3 elections, which were certified by Wayne County late Tuesday night. “I just want to say thank you to a lot of people,”...
City of Dearborn announces office closures, revised hours amid COVID-19 pandemic
November 18th, 20200 DEARBORN — While Dearborn Police are set to enforce the mask mandate and other social gathering limitations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the city has announced limitations at its city buildings. While the city clerk’s office at the Dearborn Administrative Center (DAC) will be closed to the public until...
Dearborn Heights offering a program to help residents pay their essential bills amid COVID-19 pandemic
November 18th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The city of Dearborn Heights has established a program to assist low to moderate income individuals and families whose income has been negatively affected by COVID-19. The Homeless Prevention Program (HPP) was initiated utilizing CARES Act funding to provide emergency grant payments for bills such as rent or...
Michigan restaurant association sues health department
November 18th, 20200 LANSING — A Michigan restaurant advocacy group is one of three plaintiffs that have filed a lawsuit against the state health department over COVID-19 emergency orders. The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association and is seeking to overturn restrictions that will impact restaurants and...
FDA allows first rapid test at home; Pfizer to seek clearance for emergency use of vaccines
November 18th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just as the FDA allowed an emergency use rapid at home COVID test, Pfizer announced that it was just days away from requesting emergency use of a vaccine. The announcement from the Food and Drug Administration to allow for rapid COVID testing at home will require a prescription and can be utilized on an emergency...
Wayne County Board of Canvassers certifies election results after initial deadlock
November 17th, 20200 WAYNE COUNTY — A source at the Michigan Secretary of State has informed The Arab American News that Wayne County has now certified its elections results, after two Republicans on the county's Board of Canvassers changed their earlier decision not to do so. Earlier Tuesday evening, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers was not able...
Residents returning to unemployment urged to reopen previous claims
November 17th, 20200 LANSING — Michigan workers who had returned to work after being on unemployment are urged to reopen their claims online if they are facing temporary unemployment again. The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) released this information as the state’s COVID-19 restrictions are set to be tightened during a three week “pause”...
Cases against the “Wolverine Watchmen” continue in court
November 17th, 20200 LANSING — Attorney General Dana Nessel’s prosecution against the eight men facing domestic terrorism charges continued in court Friday with a bond hearing for two of the defendants. The charges against the men were put forward after they were found to be involved in an alleged plot to storm the state’s Capitol building and...
Permanent Injunction granted in lawsuit over CARES Act funding for schools
November 17th, 20200 LANSING — A lawsuit co-led by Attorney General Dana Nessel against U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is officially over. The lawsuit co-led by Nessel and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra was against DeVos and her attempt to divert millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funding from public schools. Judge James Donato......
Attorney General Nessel joins coalition pushing for scientific, medical research funding during COVID-19 pandemic
November 17th, 20200 LANSING — Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general urging scientific, medical research funding. In a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its National Institutes of Health (NIH), the attorneys general urge them to reject recent recommendations made by the Trump...
1,100 pages of Michigan election documents submitted per legally problematic legislative subpoena
November 17th, 20200 LANSING — Another legal challenge to Michigan elections this week meant Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was forced to hand over 1,100 pages of election-related documents due to a wide-ranging legislative subpoena. The subpoena was issued by the Senate and House Oversight committees, as part of an ongoing challenge by the Trump...
Police, other agencies, will enforce new COVID orders if needed
November 16th, 20200 DEARBORN — Michigan will begin its three-week “pause” on Wednesday, targeting in particular indoor gatherings around holidays and indoor dining and bar services to mitigate the sate's intense COVID-19 crisis. This statewide restrictions on certain activities was issued by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services...
85,000 essential workers apply for Futures for Frontliners scholarship
November 14th, 20200 LANSING — Since its launch, more than 80,000 essential workers have applied for the Futures for Frontliners scholarship. The Futures for Frontliners scholarship was an initiative put forward as a means of thanking essential workers and help Michigan meet the “Sixty by 30 goal.” The scholarship provides increased opportunity......
Dearborn Heights City Council passes resolution to allow treasurer to establish separate bank accounts
November 14th, 20200 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The City Council voted to pass a resolution to allow the city treasurer to establish separate bank accounts for restricted and corporate funds. The resolution was put forward by Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton, who was just elected city treasurer during the Nov. 3 election and comes after Mayor Daniel Paletko...
Schools returning to virtual learning amid spike in COVID-19 cases
November 13th, 20200 LANSING — With COVID cases reaching record daily highs, many schools are experiencing outbreaks and returning to virtual learning as a result. An outbreak is defined by the state as “two or more cases with a link by place and time indicating a shared exposure outside of a household.” The Michigan Department of Health and......
Councilman Perrotta removed as Hamtramck mayor pro tem
November 13th, 20200 HAMTRAMCK — By a 3-2 vote during Tuesday’s Hamtramck City Council meeting, the Council removed member Ian Perrotta from his position as mayor pro tem. Following the vote, Councilman Fadel Al-Marsoumi was appointed the city's new pro tem. The pro temp, or pro tempore, performs mayoral duties in the absence of its mayor, should the...
As COVID-19 cases rise, Gov. Whitmer addresses common mistakes people make, while hospital leaders assess the situation
November 13th, 20200 LANSING — Governor Whitmer held a press conference to address the state’s rising COVID-19 cases as the state is reaching record numbers of new cases daily. “We are in the worst part of this pandemic to date,” she said. “This is the moment medical experts have been warning about and dreading since the beginning of the......
