The city of Dearborn says residents should be aware of important information regarding door-to-door solicitations.

If an individual comes to your door and asks for a contribution to support a political, religious or charitable cause, the individual must have displayed on his person an ID card issued by the Dearborn Police Department.

If an individual comes to your door to espouse his or her views regarding a political, religious or charitable cause but does not ask for a contribution, the individual does not have to have an ID or a permit issued by the City of Dearborn. Door-to-door proselytizing is protected speech under the First Amendment.

If an individual comes to your door to offer goods or services for sale (e.g., new windows, gutter cleaning), the individual must have a vendor’s license issued by the Dearborn City Clerk. This license must be produced upon request.

Door-to-door solicitation is permitted between the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Individuals seeking contributions or attempting to sell goods or services are prohibited from approaching homes where a “no solicitation” sign appears on the door.

These signs are available at the Mayor’s Office at City Hall and online through the City website HERE.  Check the link for Online Services & Publications and follow it to Homeowners.

Violation of these regulations is a misdemeanor; violators should be reported to the Dearborn Police Department at 313.943.2201.

As always, if a resident observes suspicious activity, the Dearborn Police Department should be contacted immediately by calling 911.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host “Hiring Our Heroes – Dearborn/Detroit, ” a hiring fair for the region’s veterans and their spouses on Tuesday, April 11 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

The City of Dearborn is a sponsor of the free event, which includes the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce and many partners.

The event is part of the U.S. Chamber’s 100-city “Hiring Our Heroes” initiative. To date, more than 85 fairs have connected 84,000 veterans with more than 4,300 different employers. More than 7,300 veterans have landed jobs.

This event is designed to be one of the Chamber’s largest fairs to date, with the goal of bringing 100-area employers together with hundreds of local veterans. These companies will range from America’s biggest employers to dozens of small companies from across the state. These companies are looking for veterans of all levels of rank and experience.

Employers and job seekers must pre-register for this FREE event by visiting www.hoh.greatjob.net

Registration closes on April 3, 2012. Job seekers please bring along proof of military service.

Beginning February 15, and for a limited time, Dearborn residents can order affordable trees that will be planted on the easement in front of their homes.

The City of Dearborn encourages the planting of trees as a way to keep neighborhoods attractive, reduce energy consumption and support a healthier environment.

The annual spring tree planting program is open to Dearborn residents only.

This year trees cost $175 each, and the supply of trees for the program is limited. Trees range in size from 8 – 10 feet in height and are sold on a first come, first served basis through Dearborn’s Department of Public Works.

Residents can choose from an assortment of trees. Each species offered meets American Association of Nurserymen standards and is zone hardy.

To place an order after Feb. 15 or to request a selection guide, residents can call 943.2317 or visit www.cityofdearborn.org.

This year’s selections include: “Ivory Silk” Japanese Tree Lilac, Corktree, Celebration Maple, American Hornbeam, Golden Rain Tree, Corzam or Corinthian Linden, American Yellowwood, Ginkgo Tree/Maidenhair Tree, “Lustre” Allegheny Serviceberry and Sugar Maple “Legacy”.

Homeowners can suggest an easement planting location and city personnel will have final approval.

The area between resident’s sidewalk and curb must be a minimum of 4 feet wide to accommodate a tree. Public Works officials will decide if there is adequate space in the easement of a property owner’s home for a tree. Multiple trees may be ordered if correct spacing is available.

Trees will be planted by a contractor and have a one-year warranty. Planting usually takes place in late April and should be complete by June 1. The contractor is responsible for planting, mulching, staking, pruning, watering and clean up at the time of planting.

At the end of the first year, the contractor will provide a final inspection and remove tree stakes and bracing.

Residents, who are responsible for maintaining the health of the tree through regular watering, will be billed by the City of Dearborn after tree planting is complete, usually in late June or July.

What would you do if you had 2,000 glow sticks?

If you are Dearborn resident and architecture graduate Paolo Mastrogiacomo you create a celestial field that helps call attention to all that downtown west Dearborn has to offer.

And that is just what the University of Michigan grad will do this evening at the corner of Michigan and Brady with his colleague Ariya Kelly (and a bunch of volunteers including designers, artists and people from the community) when they arrange the 2,000 sticks in a pavilion design to creative an interactive, but temporary, visual experience for visitors.

This first ever Dearborn “Glow” project will light up the entire corner from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Be sure to bring your cameras. It will be a fun photo to capture and share.

The “Glow” project is adjacent to the Dearborn Historical Museum, a co-host for the project along with the Dearborn Community Fund.

In addition to providing a unique visual experience, Mastrogiacomo sees his project, albeit temporary, as a way to provide our community with an opportunity to stop, play and become engaged while calling attention to downtown west Dearborn and all it has to offer.

Visitors will be encouraged to walk through the “field” and to move the glow sticks at will resulting in a constantly changing pattern. Three sculptures, part of Dearborn’s Midwest Sculpture Initiative which continues through April, are also featured on the site.

The Dearborn Historical Museum will be open to welcome visitors. A children’s activity area, light refreshments and museum tour will be available.

The project team hopes that this temporary interactive creative project will be the first of many and serve to encourage other area artists to develop future projects.

The event is free.

Additional information is available by contacting the Dearborn Community Fund at 313-943-5478.

New study says it is smarter to renovate existing buildings such as our Dearborn City Hall rather than lionizing fancy new 'green' construction.

It has been interesting to read some of the comments about whether Dearborn should look for a new City Hall rather than repairing the 90-year-old historic building that our city government operates in today.

We still believe making repairs and the necessary updates to the building is money better spent than packing up and spending money to buy a newer building and then spending more to make it suitable for city government offices.

Architecturally, our City Hall is one of the nicest looking buildings in East Dearborn and it deserves to be preserved and updated, just as you would do with a classic automobile.

Which brings us to a recent article we ran across recently in Time magazine. In that article, the magazine reports that making existing buildings “green” is actually a better strategy than constructing a new building.

“Revaluing building reuse is not just an environmental issue, it’s an economic opportunity,” Elizabeth Hider, senior vice president of Green Markets for Skanska, an international construction firm quoted in the article. “One that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and one that creates American jobs. Because renovation projects use less material, it is good for the environment, but it requires more labor, which has to be local. That’s good for America.”

You can read the full article HERE.

We’ve talked a lot on these pages about the lack of retail in downtown West Dearborn. Many have commented about how they would like to see a (fill-in-the-blank) chain store open in our city but there are many reasons why that isn’t going to happen here any time soon.

Which brings us to this story that aired recently on ABC News. It is about a small town in Ohio and what residents there did recently to help keep a hardware store open.

It got us thinking about some of the remaining downtown West Dearborn retail stores we have, like Nichols Ski and Snowboard Shop, Steven Bernard Jewelers, Campbells Paint and Wallpaper, Village Picture Framing & Art Gallery, Nigosian’s Carpet and Dearborn Music, just to name some.

How many of us have stopped in these stores in recent months and purchased anything? The story below got us thinking about how important of a role we all play in helping keep open the remaining retail stores we do have in Dearborn.

We all play a part in helping retail stores survive in this, our city . . .

The Dearborn Community Arts Council today released the names of the 2011 honorees for the 24th Mayor’s Arts Awards.   These esteemed individuals and organizations have been selected for their outstanding achievements in the Dearborn community.

Honorees for the 2011 Mayor’s Arts Awards are:

• Frank Padzieski, The Mayor’s Award

• Isabelle Renaud, Artist/Performer Award

• Kurt Doelle, Arts Educator Award

• Leslie Greeneisen, DCAC Bravo Award

• Cynthia Frabutt, Volunteer Award

• UM-Dearborn, Patron Award

• Artists Society of Dearborn, Organization Award

The Awards ceremony will take place Wednesday, February 8th in the Michael Guido Theatre at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center.   The ceremony will begin at 7:30 pm and is free to the public.     A reception immediately following  the ceremony will be in Studio A, next to the theatre and will also be open to the public.

The  Mayor’s Arts Awards were created by Dearborn Community Arts Council (DCAC) and  late Mayor Michael Guido to honor those members of our community who create, perform, educate and the support the fine and performing arts in the greater Dearborn area.

 The Master of Ceremonies for this year’s  event will be Dearborn’s multi-talented  Brian Townsend.   Among the groups slated to perform during the evening are the Prysm School of the Arts, the Dearborn High Thespians and a film montage of the DHS Film and Video program.

No reservations are required.   Any inquires can be directed to the DCAC office; 313-943-3095.

In response to the popularity of its “tech time” workshops in December and January, Henry Ford Centennial Library now plans to offer the sessions in February.

This time around, patrons are asked to register for the free sessions, which teach people how to use their new electronic devices and to take advantage of the library’s Digital Catalog.

Kindle users should register for the session 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 7.

Nook, Sony, and Kobo users should register for the 6-8 p.m. Thursday, February 16 session.

Two more sessions for users of any devices will be 2-4 p.m. Thursday, February 23 and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, February 28.

Patrons who need help borrowing an e-book from the library’s Digital Catalog, uploading apps, downloading photos or just learning to use their new tech device would find a benefit to the sessions.

Participants are asked to bring their charged devices and all connecting cables with them to the First Floor Training Room on the date of their session. Please call the Adult Reference desk at 313-943-2330 during regular library hours to register and for more information.

Dearborn's Bistro 222

Dearborn residents know from living here that we have many great restaurants to choose from and visit. But it is always doubly nice to read stories about our eateries by people who actually do restaurant reviews for a living.

Enter Molly Abraham, a veteran restaurant reviewer who has published several books about her favorites places to eat. In her new list of the Top 12 restaurants to visit in 2012, she lists our own Bistro 222 at 22266 Michigan Ave.

Bistro 222 owner and veteran chef Michael Chamas (LA Express, La Dolce Vita), who trained with Wolfgang Puck and Keith Famie, has won several awards for his fine food since opening in 2009. He now can add another.

Here is what Molly had to write about Bistro 222 to people who want to try a fresh new restaurant and expand their taste buds in 2012.

“The L-shaped room is something of an oasis, entered from the rear through a courtyard-style passageway. Although wine and beer are served, there is no bar, leaving the space for linen-covered tables surrounded by a collection of art. Single page menus offer a list of dishes that include pastas, some house-made, a few vegetarian selections, and a nice mix of seafood and meat choices all freshly garnished with vegetables and herbs. The quiet skill of chef/proprietor Michael Chamas keeps this 60-seat spot a haven for those who appreciate handcrafted fare.”

Congrats, Michael. It’s a nice way to start the year.

How bad is Chuck E. Cheese these days? Well, consider that in the last month, one local TV station has reported on three assaults at area metro Detroit restaurants.

The most recent was here in Dearborn on Sunday evening at the store located in a strip mall on Michigan Avenue, just west of Telegraph

According to local broadcast and print media, a Dearborn Heights grandmother who was celebrating her grandson’s seventh birthday was allegedly assaulted by a man following her request to him that he watch his profanity.

The man in the other group responded with more profanities and then allegedly attacked her, hitting her in the face and dragging her by her hair, according to the victim’s family.

“There was an altercation,” Lt. Patty Penman of the Dearborn Police Department told The Detroit News. “And we’re trying to see if usable video exists and submitting the matter to our local prosecutor for review.”

It is another story taking off across the Internet, putting Dearborn again in the spotlight. We heard of the news from one of our readers who sent us this link HERE.