(Source: City of Dearborn press release)

The Dearborn Public Library is partnering with the Wayne County Fight Mortgage Foreclosure Program to present a free workshop on Wednesday, May 12 for people needing financial counseling in order to keep their houses .

The mortgage foreclosure prevention workshop will be 6-8 p.m. in the library’s mezzanine’s conference room. (Note that this workshop was rescheduled from one originally set for April 29.)

Area residents will have an opportunity to meet with a HUD housing counselor who is working with the Wayne County Foreclosure Prevention program. This counseling is offered free of charge and is geared for those in the Dearborn area who are faced with mortgage delinquency or potential foreclosure

Counselors will help you understand the options available, how they can assist you in working with your lender, how the Making Home Affordable plan may relate to your situation and how Michigan’s 90-day mediation law can give you time to work with your lender.

All the counselors are certified and very knowledgeable in assisting home owners through this very difficult time.

We told you last week about the new movie being filmed in Dearborn called Salvation Boulevard, adapted from Larry Beinhart’s novel of the same name. Well, Dearborn is finally making it official with press releases being issued by both the City of Dearborn and the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority letting all of Dearborn know where some of the filming will actually take place.

Below is what the City of Dearborn and the West Dearborn DDA issued in an e-mail today:

The Ford Community and Performing Arts Center is making its mark in the film industry.

The Hubbard Ballroom, the theater, gym and ancillary space have been rented as filming locations for Salvation Boulevard starring Pierce Brosnan and Ed Harris. It is a Mandalay Independent production.

The Ford Community & Performing Arts Center is one of several Dearborn locations filming will occur.

Patrons to the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center may be slightly impacted by the shooting at the Center during the week of May 10.  Alternate entry-exit points will be available during the shooting.

George Ratcliff is the screenwriter and director of this comedy thriller based on the Larry Beinhart book about a private investigator whose very soul is put to the test as he searches for the real killer of a college professor. 

Other shooting locations around the city include Miller’s Bar, Ghafari, the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Ritz Carlton.  The film crew will be in town for about 28 days and will be heavily using local businesses.

Other stars signed on to this production include: Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei, Greg Kinnear, Jim Gaffigan, Yul Vazquez, Cindy Chu and Michael Maurice.

Remember those who fought and gave their lives during Michigan’s most authentic Civil War public program in Greenfield Village.

With more than 400 Union and Confederate soldier reenactors, civilians, musicians and historic presenters, immerse yourself in this once-a-year, one-of-a-kind weekend.

For more information, click HERE.

Mayor Dave Bing

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will be at the Henry Ford Estate in Dearborn on May 12 to discuss how business can lead Detroit and the surrounding area to success.

His talk, sponsored by Oakwood Healthcare System and presented by the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce as part of their Business Builders Breakfast, begins at 8 a.m. Tickets are $30 for Chamber members and $40 for non-members.

Bing, a businessman and seven-time All-Star professional basketball player for 12 seasons with the NBA, was elected as the 70th mayor of the city of Detroit last November.

“I think the old way of running the city has gotten us where we are,” Bing has said. “It’s not going to work. Politics has led the city for a long time. I think it’s time for business to lead the city.”

To register, click HERE.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16 that’s when Friends For the Dearborn Animal Shelter’s 5th annual Mutt Strut and Pet Expo will take place, rain or shine at Dearborn’s Ford Field Park. The event is staged in downtown West Dearborn and is sponsored by Dearborn Family Pet Care.

Themed “Fit, furry, fabulous and five,” this year’s free event has been expanded to two days of activities for animal lovers, pet owners and families promoting the health of pets and their people.

“We expanded from one day to two because our past attendees clamored for more,” said Elaine Greene, Friends executive director. “This year we have so many activities that we just had to add a second day.”

Why the fitness push? “It’s simple!” Greene says: “Everyone, including Prevention Magazine, knows your dog is your best workout buddy so we’re using this venue to encourage dogs and their owners to get moving.”

Mutt Strutters, supporters and friends will step out in style and wind their way through the heart of the west Dearborn business district on a two-mile walk. The walking course ends back at Ford Field where everyone can participate in and enjoy activities and entertainment such as:

• Chihuahua Reunion, featuring the dogs rescued last August, and their new loving families

• Former Detroit Tiger Milt Wilcox and his Ultimate Air Dogs

• JunkYardDogs, a rescue dog organization demonstrating fly ball racing and agility activities

• Fur Angels, featuring “Reading with the Angels,” a special story hour for families, kids and pets to enjoy some quiet time while a Fur Angel reads aloud

• Doggie Dash DeLure, a luring-style race for family pets to find the fastest dog

• Doggie Health Zone sponsored by Petco and a Midway of vendors with pet related items

• Fido’s Fit Club, an online and on-site support group to encourage people and pet weight loss and fitness

• Saturday night singles event called Must Love Dogs, in partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings

In addition to the fun and festivities, Mutt Strut participants gather pledges to benefit the Shelter. Last year, this event raised nearly $85,000 for Shelter operations and finding “forever homes” for its adoptable pets.

Leash up your dog and walk with an anticipated crowd of more than 2,000 supporters and walkers. Mutt Strutters can build their own pledge pages online. It’s an easy way to post your photos, help friends and family pledge 24/7 and of course, talk about your 4-legged friend. Register to participate or pledge at www.dearbornmuttstrut.com , or by calling 313-943-2697.

An article in the New York Times last Sunday discussed the high stakes battle shaping up between some schools and teachers’ unions across the country over seniority rules that have been in place for decades.

The rules require that the most recently hired teachers be the first to lose their jobs. In New York, school leaders say the rules are anachronistic and in an era of accountability, they say, the rules will upend their efforts of the last few years to recruit new teachers, improve teacher performance and reward those who do best.  The full article is HERE

We think it isn’t that black and white. There is a lot to be said about having teachers with many years under their belts.

In another article about teacher layoffs in the Times, Morris Goodman, a Dearborn attorney, past president of the Dearborn Democratic Club, a longtime political activist and observer and regular reader of Deepsaidwhat.com, asks why schools can’t be given TARP money to make sure “our future doesn’t tank.” It’s an interesting idea given all of the bailout money our government has paid to other companies.

Goodman’s column begins below:

Morris Goodman

On Tuesday April 20, the New York Times had a front-page article about the tens of thousands of teachers about to be laid off throughout the nation- 2000 in Detroit alone. On Wednesday the 21st General Motors sent the US Treasury $4.7 billion ($1.1 billion to Canada) to pay off its post-bankruptcy federal loan 5 years early. Goldman Sachs and many other bailed out banks reported record first quarter profits.  What’s wrong with this picture? If GM and our nation’s major banks are taking in huge revenues because of the action of our government in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009, shouldn’t some of their money be used to shore up our beleaguered schools.

As the stock market has risen to its highest point since before the financial and mortgage foreclosure meltdown in the fall of 2008 (11,200+ Dow), unemployment has hovered at 9.7% nationally and over 14% in Michigan. Without getting into the argument as to whether the $787 billion February 2009 Stimulus package has done all that it was supposed to, it is clear that in the 2009-2010 school year states and localities used a great deal of their Stimulus money to keep teachers employed and other government services intact.

Without a continuation of federal support, Michigan and most other states (Alaska, North Dakota, and a few other oil and natural gas producing states being the exceptions) are being forced to make significant cuts in their school budgets, not seen since the 1930s. Is that good for this country?

(more…)

The movie is based on Larry Beinhart's book of the same name.

Get ready for some celebrity watching in Dearborn.

Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Jim Gaffigan, Jennifer Connelly and Greg Kinnear are among those starring in a new Mandalay Entertainment film called Salvation Boulevard that is expected to begin filming sometime in May in Dearborn and metro Detroit, sources tell Deepsaidwhat.com. The film is directed by George Ratliff.

We are told movie crews will be staying at the Ritz and the Hyatt in Dearborn for about a month once filming begins for the movie, which is expected to be out sometime in 2011.

The movie, adapted from Larry Beinhart’s novel of the same name, is about a private detective investigating the killing of a professor and it becomes a clash of faiths: The detective is a born-again Christian, the dead man an atheist, the accused killer an Islamic foreign student and the D.A. is Jewish.

Should be interesting.

Dearborn’s Hair Designs North two-day event to provide free haircuts for the unemployed appears to have been a huge success judging from some of the thank you notes the salon received after the event.

Kim Briffa of Hair Designs North said the event was a great success and even included stopovers by Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Congressman John Dingell, wife Debbie and Gary Woronchak, a Wayne County commissioner. Even People magazinecalled to conduct phone interviews with some of the guests receiving hair cuts, Briffa said. (Read the earlier post by clicking HERE.)

“I wanted to forward two letters we received and to let you know what a successful and rewarding event we had,” Briffa said.

Deepsaidwhat.com wants to say thank you to Hair Designs North and all of the people who donated their time to this very generous event. And, of course, say thank you for shinning some positive news on Dearborn, too.

Below are two of the letters.

 To Maurice, Gina, Al, Kim, Darren and all the wonderful staff at Hair Designs North:

I wanted to take a moment to personally thank you for the Hair Care event that I participated in today at the salon! Even though my job loss was a business decision that created the workforce reduction I was part of, there’s just such an emotional side to the situation. It’s hard for anyone to come to work one morning like you have done for 24 years, believing you are doing good things for your company and then suddenly be out of a job before lunch time.

So the service that you provided was extra special today and very well appreciated given the economic impact of losing one’s job. And the biggest bonus is the real boost that it gave to my confidence because I got a really sharp and sassy little haircut today from Darren. It will really help me as I move forward in my new job search!

Thank you ever so much!

———————————————-

Hi,

I just had to tell you one more time what an ABSOLUTE pleasure it was getting my free cut and style today. Everyone at the salon was just truly wonderful. I still have a ear to ear smile on my face. Coming in this morning and not really knowing what to expect turned out to be one of the best things recently that has happened to me. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me and I have a “second wind” to go out and face the job hunting arena with more confidence and optimism. Everyone there was just so friendly and helpful with people coming in and with each other. I felt like “queen” for the day…really I walked out feeling refreshed and renewed. Again I can’t say thank you enough to everyone who donated their time efforts and energy to make this event happen. I will remember this day for a long long time. 

Dearborn’s 34-year-old Hyatt Regency Hotel has been sold, city officials confirm.

Dearborn's Hyatt Hotel has a new owner.

While the real estate listing for the 18-story hotel pitched the facility as a possible good location for senior housing, the new owner thankfully will keep it a hotel. It isn’t clear whether the name will remain. We will dig into that once we learn the name of the new owner.

The new owner also has expressed a strong interest in Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly’s dream to build a convention center adjacent to the hotel. The proposed convention center is projected to drive another 89,000 room nights annually to the Dearborn center.

Built in 1976, the 810,000 square-foot Hyatt in Dearborn has some 772 rooms.

All offers for the hotel had to be submitted to the Hyatt’s real estate agent by April 2.

This is the second big name hotel in Dearborn to be sold. The Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn, one of the top luxury hotels in Michigan, will officially change its name on June 2. For that earlier story, click HERE

The good news about the two hotels is that they will be staying in Dearborn and are expected to receive major renovations.

(Source: City of Dearborn)

The Dearborn Community Chorus (DCC) will present its annual Spring Concert titled “Love Through the Ages” on Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Michael A. Guido Theater of the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center (The Center). Reserved seat tickets for the concert are $11 and $8.

The chorus under the direction of John Haury will perform a wide range of songs – classical to pop – centered on the theme of love written from the 16th century to the present. A few of the selections include Henry Purcell’s If Music Be The Food of Love, Johannes Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, Gershwin and Porter The Man I Love, and Elton John Can You Feel the Love Tonight? In addition, the concert will feature a special guest appearance by the Dearborn Elementary Honors Choir under the direction of Jim Walters.

The Dearborn Community Chorus, established in 1969 by the Dearborn Recreation Department, welcomes all, ages 16 and older, who love to sing. The group rehearses weekly from September through May and presents two major performances at The Center in December and May. DCC also performs for community events, entertains at area senior facilities and is planning a singing tour to Frankenmuth, Michigan this year.

Visit The Center box office at 15801 Michigan Avenue at Greenfield or call (313) 943-2354. Box office hours are 11:00 am to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The box office is also open one hour before show time. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted.