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...
August 20th, 20210LANSING - Governor Whitmer is calling on utilities companies to automatically credit Michiganders who experienced recent widespread outages and increase the amount paid out to them towards compensations.
DTE Energy drew outrage from customers who lost power for days after last week's storm by offering a tiny credit to their next...
August 2nd, 20210A new report claims that a rise in property values, and increased city services, can be linked to legalization of marijuana.
The report, led by Dr. Francesca Ortegren, data science and research product manager at Clever Real Estate, looked at the impact of the growing cannabis market and its impact on the real estate values in several...
July 30th, 20210DETROIT — Famous for gazing over eyeglasses worn on the end of his nose, Carl Levin seemed at ease wherever he went, whether attending a college football game back home in Michigan or taking on a multibillion-dollar corporation before cameras on Capitol Hill.
Michigan's longest-serving U.S. senator had a slightly rumpled,...
July 27th, 20210The state of Michigan announced on Tuesday that major home loan lenders have agreed to delay monthly mortgage payments for homeowners impacted by recent flooding in southeast Michigan.
The state said the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) and financial leaders across Michigan have agreed to "help...
July 22nd, 20210The U.S. is now seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, as the highly-contagious Delta variant driving infections among those unvaccinated across the country, especially in areas where vaccination rates remain relatively low.
Johns Hopkins University tallies show the average number of daily COVID cases in the U.S. has gone up 66 percent...
July 20th, 20211— The following article was contributed by Michele Wildman, senior vice president at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).
When it comes to economic development, topics around jobs and private investment often dominate the conversation – and there is no doubt they are a crucial driver of growth and talent...
July 13th, 20210
LANSING — The state completed a crucial step in getting federal aid to Wayne County communities affected by recent flooding on Tuesday.
Governor Whitmer requested that President Biden declare a major disaster for the state as a result of the heavy rainfall and flooding in late June. The request comes at the conclusion of an...
July 6th, 20210With the more-infectious Delta variant emerging as the most common strain of the coronavirus, parts of the U.S. with the lowest vaccination rates are threatening to halt progress on the pandemic in the country.
Southern states like Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, according to...