Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., Police Chief Ronald Haddad, Deputy Fire Chief Dean Creech and State Representative Gino Polidori will be giving up their day jobs to moonlight as “guest bartenders” Saturday to help raise money for the Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive charity.

The guest bartenders will be “working” Saturday, Jan. 16, from noon to 6 p.m. at the VFW Post 2107 at 1312 Monroe St.

The guest servers will do what it takes to bring in the tips as all the money collected will be donated to the Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive. Last year, the Burn Drive raised and donated $50,000 to local burn centers, hospitals and families in need.

“The money we raise has a very direct and real impact on the lives of burn victims, many of them children,” said Lt. Steve Worden of the Dearborn Fire Department. “These events are how we raise money so I encourage everyone to come down and have a bowl of chili and a beverage. And don’t forget to leave a tip.”

Worden will be cooking up a batch of his firefighter five-alarm chili, which will be on sale at the event along with free hot dogs.

For more information about the Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive or if you would like to help or donate to the cause, please contact Lt. Steve Worden at 313-478-6761.

Residents Only for Traffic Between Brady and Military

Those of you who use Cherry Hill to get to work will need to make alternative plans beginning Monday, Jan. 11 as the section of street will be closed to through traffic between Brady and Military until the end of July as work begins on a sewer separation project.

The sewer project is part of the federally mandated combined sewer overflow project (CSO) in the City of Dearborn.

Portions of Ford Field Park in Dearborn will also be affected by the sewer separation work.

A section of the park, including a playground area, near the covered bridge will be closed to the public for at least four weeks starting Monday.

Also, the west section of the sledding hill near Long Boulevard will be closed to the public for approximately a week near the end of January, but other areas of the hill will be open for sledding.

Work on both Cherry Hill and the park will be completed before the Homecoming Festival on Aug. 6-8.

The U.S. Census bureau already has opened a new Dearborn office in the Westborn Mall as it prepares for the 2010 Census and now the cities of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights are doing their part to make sure all residents are counted.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. and Dearborn Heights Mayor Dan Paletko have invited leaders from neighborhood associations, service clubs, faith-based organizations and educational institutions to a special presentation Wednesday evening to hear a presentation from the local office of the U.S. Census Bureau about how to help ensure all residents are counted during the 2010 Census.

The census – a once-in-a-decade event – has a big impact on funding for cities across America, which is why there is such urgency around it here in Dearborn and our state of Michigan.  The number of people we have in Michigan will determine how many representatives we have in the U.S. House. The U.S. government also will use the results from the census  to determine how to divvy up some $400 billion in annual federal spending for such things as education, transportation, human services, and medical programs.

In addition to O’Reilly, Paletko and the representative from the local Census office, Hassan Jaber, executive director of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), also will address those who attend.

Dearborn and Dearborn Heights officials want to be sure senior citizens, particularly “snow birds” and the Arab-American community are counted in the upcoming Census.

U.S. government officials on Monday officially kicked off a $130 million campaign to encourage public awareness of Census 2010. The event kicked off in Times Square in New York.  As the campaign gathers speed, it will be hard to miss: Vehicles promoting the census will crisscross the United States, and ads for the census will run in nearly every form of communication. So get ready.

For those wondering how the last census went in 2000, the U.S. government says just 67 percent answered the survey. In general, those who don’t answer the survey usually do so because they are afraid the information might be used by the government to track them down or might be used for some other bureaucratic use. Government officials say Census information is not shared with law-enforcement agencies or other government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service. It is all confidential. This likely will be a message stressed at Wednesday’s meeting in Dearborn, too.

Those attending the Dearborn event also will receive information about how to apply for a Census job. The positions, while temporary, are expected to be good paying. In New York, for example, the Census Bureau is paying up to $20 per hour to those hired.

Here are the details for those interested in attending this Wednesday:

WHEN: 7:30 -8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

WHERE:Dearborn City Council Chambers, inside City Hall, 13615 Michigan Ave.

If you’ve had the chance to walk through the West Village Commons project lately, something interesting appears to be taking place: new businesses are moving into the development that once was the site for the Jacobson’s department store and Price’s Menswear.

Moose's Martini Pub is the newest "homegrown" business making plans to move into West Village Commons

The newest business making plans to move in is a martini bar called Moose’s Martini Pub, 22217 Michigan Ave., aimed at the 35 and older crowd. If all goes well, the bar will open in the spring.

The bar probably isn’t the kind of business originally envisioned by our city leaders when they inked the multi-million dollar development deal with Burton-Katzman, the Bingham Farms developer who dangled the names of big name stores in front of our elected officials. Rather than national chain businesses, the West Village Commons has become home to two bars (a third, Moose’s, is on the way), two restaurants, a UPS store, yoga center, ice cream shop and one art & frame store.

What is interesting in all of this is that most of these new places (not all) are unique to Dearborn and usually owned by Dearborn residents or at least people from surrounding communities. Those elements could very well be the critical pieces necessary to ensure the survival of the mostly-vacant West Village Commons.

It also may be indicative of what really works best in Dearborn -– homegrown and home-owned businesses.

Will 2010 be better than 2009? Most Americans think so, according to the latest AP-GfK poll. With this year in the books, we are in the camp that 2010 will be better than 2009 for Dearborn and our country as a whole.

Here is what Americans had to say about 2010, according to The AP-GfK Poll, which was conducted Dec. 10-14 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media and involved landline and cell phone interviews of 1,001 adults nationwide. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

– 39% rated 2009 as a good year.

– 42% rated 2009 as very bad.

– 72% said they’re optimistic about what 2010 will bring for the country.

– 66% said, however, they think family finances will worsen or stay the same next year.

– 31% think the situation in Afghanistan will get better.

– 31% think the situation in Iraq will get better.

– 67% say both wars will stay about the same or get worse

You can read the full results of the poll here.

Happy New Year!

We’ve driven down Military over the Rouge River bridge many times in recent weeks, cruising past the combined sewer overflow basin construction and wondered what the heck is that foul smell?

Well, it turns out that the horrible odor is nothing to be concerned about, according to Dearborn city officials.

The Dearborn Press & Guide reports that the smell comes from gases trapped inside rocks believed to be a by-product of limestone deposits that exist underground. It is the drilling into the limestone by work crews that is releasing the colorless, toxic and flammable gas with an odor similar to rotten eggs.

For the homeowners whose yards back up to the massive construction project, the only thing they can be thankful for is that the smell is coming at winter time and not in the summer when windows are generally wide open.

Unfortunately, the smell isn’t the only thing residents near this CSO project have had to endure in recent months. Residents along Alexandrine, whose homes are adjacent to the site, have had to endure loud thumping noises from rock excavating crews. Residents are worried the vibration coming from the worksite is weakening the foundation of their homes.

One city official tells us that the city of Dearborn already has had to purchase one home at a premium price because of severe foundation damage from the rock excavating. Many other homes will need repairs for cracked plaster inside the homes.

The noise has gotten so bad that the city has had to find office space for a resident who works out of his home. Earlier this month, city council approved spending $1,100 to lease office space for two months at the West Village Plaza. The resident said he simply could not conduct work in his home with the noise.

The good news is that this CSO project, unlike many others around the city, is proceeding on schedule.

Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village in Dearborn.

In case you missed it, The Detroit News in Thursday’s Christmas Eve edition, asked prominent Michigan officials and others for their Christmas or holiday wish.

It has been a tough year for Michigan, Wayne County and Dearborn, the city many of us call home. But as the Detroit News points out, the Christmas season brings a time to reassess and look ahead.

Our wish is that all families in Dearborn will have a happy holiday and we pray the new year will bring positive retail business to our city, high quality education to the children in our schools and that our elected officials will work and act with a sense of urgency to bring growth back to Dearborn.

Excerpts from The Detroit News editorial are below. Please feel free to share your wishes, too. Merry Christmas!

Gov. Jennifer Granholm

While most of us will be home celebrating faith, family and friends during the holidays, many others will be busy serving. Police officers, firefighters and corrections officers protecting our communities, doctors and nurses staffing our hospitals, and transportation workers helping us get to our destinations are just a few of those individuals. And we must not forget the more than 1,000 Michigan Army and Air National Guard personnel serving alongside Michigan military members in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the world. So let us all take time to remember those whose sacrifices allow us to enjoy this holiday season.

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn: This holiday season, I give thanks for those in Michigan who have good jobs and a sense of security. I pray for those workers who remain unemployed and for our troops serving overseas.

We will continue our efforts provide high-quality, affordable health care coverage to millions of Americans and unemployment benefits to keep families warm and in their homes. However, only stable employment gives Michigan families a true sense of comfort. My sincere wish is that America’s great innovators and leaders look to Michigan’s incredibly talented workers to help them turn their visions into reality.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing: The holiday season is a time for family, giving and hope. My wish is that Detroiters and residents from around the region and state reflect on and act in the true spirit of the season. We can all contribute something, whether it is volunteering your time and talent, helping out a neighbor in need or simply committing to come together and work together. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Doug Rothwell, president and CEO, Business Leaders for Michigan:I wish Gov. Jennifer Granholm, House Speaker Andy Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop will make a pact to enact a bold package of budget, tax and economic development reforms that gives the people of Michigan hope and puts politics aside. This state can’t wait another year or more until a new set of state leaders can act.

For the full Detroit News editorial, click HERE.

The City of Dearborn issued a press release to all local media Wednesday to inform residents that the Dearborn Fire Department would be conducting training exercises in a City-owned vacant home on Carlysle Street near Telegraph Road.

Dearborn Firefighters train at a home on Carlysle near Telegraph.

We wanted to post that information here in the event residents in the area thought the city was simply neglecting the property.

That isn’t the case here as our firefighters are getting good on-the-job training.

The property will eventually be razed by the city.

The Inspiration for the Book Creamed Tuna-Fish & Peas on Toast

Dr. Seuss had Green Eggs and Ham and Sam-I-Am. Dearborn has the late Jack Stead and creamed tuna fish and peas on toast. 

Stead hated tuna fish and peas on toast so much he buried a casserole dish of it in the lawn at 312 Devonshire in Dearborn to forever remove that meal from the family dinner rotation. 

More than 50 years later, the story of Stead burying the family dinner in the lawn inspired his grandson to write a children’s book by the same title, Creamed Tuna Fish & Peas on Toast. 

“My father felt that a burial was the only way my mother (Jane) would get the point,” said Robert Stead of Dearborn. “He hated creamed tuna fish and peas on toast. I was about 7 years old when the event occurred. The night of the burial made quite an impression on me! When my father died in October 2001, we held the funeral lunch at Park Place in Dearborn. The “Creamed Tuna Fish” story was among the many stories told at the luncheon as we all remembered his life.

“My father was well known throughout the West Dearborn area as a very humorous and very spontaneous man. We have been laughing for decades about the casserole dish buried at 312 Devonshire in Dearborn.

“My mother, of course, has a vivid memory of the event. As she says, ‘He buried my favorite casserole dish.'”

Philip Christian Stead, a graduate of Divine Child High School and a former Dearborn resident, at a recent book signing in Ann Arbor.

Creamed Tuna Fish & Peas on Toast was chosen as the Pizza Hut Book-It Program book for the month of November and a Kirkus Review of the book (below) also was very positive.

“Wild Man Jack hates one dish the most, and who can blame him? Creamed tuna fish with peas on toast would turn anyone’s stomach. Wild Man Jack’s children approach him one by one, asking what he’ll do if Mama Jane makes it, and he vows to “wheeze,” “sneeze” and even “brandish a spoon.”

“Stead conjures early-20th-century America in his language, characters and illustrations. Wild Man Jack, a lean, flinty Woody Guthrie–looking character, seems straight out of the Dust Bowl. Children will savor his venomous rants, as they don’t see many adults misbehaving in picture books these days. They will also enjoy spying old newspaper clippings, music scores and letters hiding behind layers of paint and ink drawings. The collages cohere into a sunny patchwork of art and history. He integrates the past into every facet of his storytelling, even hand lettering each word with salvaged rubber letterpress sets. This homage to Americana finds success looking backward, proudly reclaiming the rhythms of old stories and craftsmanship not so common in the digital age.” 

So if you are searching for a unique gift this Christmas with Dearborn roots, you might want to consider Creamed Tuna Fish & Peas on Toast.  For more info on Amazon, click here.

Maybe it was the strong finish in his recent re-election, but if you haven’t noticed, Dearborn Councilman Robert Abraham these days is clearly being more visible and communicating more with residents. We like the new energized Abraham. It is refreshing to see a council member take a position on a matter, regardless of how popular or unpopular it might be.

In his latest column, sent here and to the local papers, Abraham takes a look at the preferred developer agreement Dearborn has with developer Hakim Fakhoury, which is now up for renewal. Abraham raises some very valid points in his column; chief among them is that there isn’t a list of developers banging on Dearborn’s door to rebuild downtown West Dearborn.

Fakhoury's building at Howard and Michigan is home to Panera, which has become the new gathering place for Dearborn's coffee crowd.

Fakhoury is requesting a one-year extension that his Dearborn Village Partners (DVP) corporation has with Dearborn. (See our earlier story by clicking Here.)

As Abraham rightly points out, there is no cost to the city of Dearborn for granting the extension.

Yes, Fakhoury has corporations that own property along Michigan Avenue with unpaid taxes that he is the principal owner. But Abraham tells us that those unpaid taxes shouldn’t come into play since the preferred developer agreement only gives DVP the exclusive right to market and plan the development of the property.

Abraham tells us that if and when an actual development is reached to build on the property, he would recommend that all property controlled by Fakhoury, through direct or indirect ownership and control, “would have all City taxes paid and current.”  This, by the way, is a requirement of the Dearborn City Charter.

Abraham says DVP’s proposal includes a three story building with first floor retail, bowling alley and movie theater. We aren’t sure in this economic environment how quickly something like this could materialize but with nothing else on the table, granting a one year extension seems like a smart option now.

Finally, the city also has to consider what not granting the extension means. In 2007, we wrote here about the State of Michigan granting Fakhoury’s DVP a state brownfield tax credit valued at $9.1 million and state and local tax capture worth $46 million. Not granting the extension could mean the loss of millions in tax credits to get such a project off the ground.

The tax credits back then were to support a multi-phased mixed-use development across 12 sites along Michigan Ave. between Howard and Military. According to the state of Michigan, the DVP project “will completely renovate one city block in the city’s downtown and involve the construction of mixed-use retail and housing, including two 10-story mid-rise condos and a tri-level 881-space parking deck. The project is expected to generate $125 million in capital investment and create 350 new jobs. The West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority is assisting the project with $42.5 million in tax capture for public infrastructure activities.”

Councilman Abraham’s column begins below:  

Dearborn Councilman Robert Abraham

Dearborn has been seriously affected by the American auto industry collapse, home foreclosures and the terrible recession, which has resulted in us losing 60,000 white collar auto jobs further hurting our business districts, especially downtown west Dearborn. Meanwhile no new developers are approaching us to develop in downtown west Dearborn and projects approved during better times, now require going back to the drawing board. 

One developer is requesting a one-year extension of the preferred developer agreement with the City of Dearborn; that is Hakim Fakhoury’s – Dearborn Village Partners (DVP). The DVP project is proposed on the north side of Michigan Avenue between Military and Howard. DVP is planning a three story building with first floor retail and a bowling alley, a second and third floor movie theater offering food and alcohol, along with other amenities. In cooperation with HFCC and U of M – Dearborn, plans also include 2 – 4 bedroom college dorm housing, which could have a very positive impact.

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