Former Dearborn mayoral candidate Tom Russell, a long-time reader and sometimes commentator on Deepsaidwhat.com, sent us a note the other day letting us know that he was endorsing Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. for re-election.

While Russell admits his endorsement might not be “particularly newsworthy” (and we’d agree), he does point out that the 82 votes he received campaigning in his fuzzy yellow bathrobe was 19 more than current Mayoral candidate Michael J. Prus when the two ran in the last election.

He also wanted to set the record straight that he was not “picking my nose” in the front page photograph in the Dearborn Press & Guide that has run several times in the last month. Russell says he was “just thinking”.

We’re not sure about that part Tom, but we will take your word on it.

Here is some of what Russell had to say about the photograph and his O’Reilly endorsement:

“There’s been a picture printed on the front page of the Dearborn Press and Guide a couple of times in the last month or so from the last election, featuring Mayor Jack O’Reilly, challenger Michael Prus, and some doofus on the end who looks like he might be picking his nose. I am that doofus. (No, I’m not picking my nose. Just thinking.)

A number of people have recognized me from the photo, and asked if I was running again. No, I’m not, but I think more people have asked me about my candidacy in the last month than ever asked me when I was actually running. And part of that is because I really ran as a lark, with full knowledge that my chances of winning were next to nil. I just tried to have fun with it, which is why I did a video comparing municipal financing to the arcade game BurgerTime, and why I campaigned wearing a fuzzy yellow bathrobe.”

For the rest of the Russell article, click HERE.

And for Russell’s video comparing municipal financing to the arcade game BurgerTime, click HERE.

Vote Tuesday!

In the event you missed it, former Dearborn Charter Commissioner Raymond Trudeau, in a letter to the editor of the Dearborn Press & Guide, writes that his hopes of an election this year free of “unnecessary games, and, with an emphasis on the best person winning a place on the City Council” were dashed when he received an unsigned letter a week ago that closed only with the name: “We care about Dearborn.”

The unsigned letter some residents have received.

The letter has appeared in many mailboxes around town, including here.

Trudeau raises some valid points about the attack letter on Dearborn Council President Tom Tafelski.

He points out in his letter that if these people really cared about Dearborn “they would come out from the shadows rather than hiding in the dark, and turn these accusations into issues that the voters of Dearborn could agree or disagree with in meaningful public discussion with the candidate they accuse.”

Whether people agree with the timing of Nancy Siwik’s actions questioning Councilman Doug Thomas and his residency, no one can accuse her of hiding behind an anonymous letter.

Below are excerpts of Mr. Trudeau’s letter to the editor of the Dearborn Press & Guide:

“ . . . when I opened a letter addressed to my family which accused a Dearborn elected official with paying fewer taxes than his neighbors, committing fraud, and for not paying a parking ticket, etc… it was hard to read every last word in the letter because of the dirt and mud which was soiled the entire piece of paper. BUT the strategy was clear: produce a libelous set of accusations that offered no proof whatsoever. Worse, the cowardly piece was sent without an individual’s name, closing with only the name “We Care About Dearborn.” The hell they do!

“The so-called, “We Care About Dearborn” has timed and worded its letter in the most blatant political fashion, keeping true to the sometimes- rough and savage spirit of Dearborn politics- especially when such persons target elected officials demonstrating integrity and independence. Let’s have an honest discussion about the issues that affect us all and our future: attracting real investment in our downtowns, equitable neighborhood services and responsible budget management – then let the voters decide.”

For Mr. Trudeau’s full letter to the Press & Guide, click HERE.

Juat a friendly reminder that today the Dearborn Council of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is hosting a city council candidate from 7-8:30 p.m. at Bryant Middle School, 460 N. Vernon.

This is a good opportunity for residents to hear from the 14 people running for Dearborn City Council.

Separately, the Dearborn Democratic Club’s guest speaker this month will be Jocelyn Benson, who officially declared her candidacy to run for Michigan Secretary of State.

The event will take place Wednesday, Oct. 28 at the UAW Local 245, 1226 Monroe Street in Dearborn. Doors open at 6:45 p.m, and the event begins at 7:00 p.m., says Jane Ahern, president of the Dearborn Democratic Club.

For more information about Benson, you can visit: www.votebenson.com

The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce’s annual Margaritaville Auction is set for Saturday, Oct. 10.

This is a fun event and well worth attending if you have time Saturday. You’ll enjoy great food, music and have the chance to take part in numerous raffles and bid on silent auction items. You’ll also have the chance to win a prize for the “loudest” Hawaiian shirt and craziest flip flops.

This year’s event again will feature steel drum music and the chance to socialize with Dearborn business, education and probably even some of our elected officials or those seeking office.

The event is being held at the Student Center of the Henry Ford Community College. This annual Dearborn Chamber fundraiser will feature great food donated by local restaurants, including Andiamo, Bangkok 96, BD’s Mongolian BBQ, Big Fish, Buddy’s Pizza, Chili’s, Del Taco, The Dearborn Inn, Dearborn Hills Golf Course, Dearborn Sausage, Fuddrucker’s, Oakwood Commons/Morrison Senior Dining and the Park Place.

Henry Ford Community College is the venue sponsor. Gold sponsors include HFCC Federation of Teachers and Dearborn Federal Savings Bank; Silvers sponsors include Fidelity Bank, AAA Michigan; and University of Michigan-Dearborn. Demorest Law Firm, DFCU Financial, Grit Design, Dearborn Public Schools, Fairlane East Apartments, Henry Ford Medical Center – Fairlane, Karcher Insurance, ASG Renaissance, State Farm-Bob Zakar, Dale Bender CPA, Cyberlink Systems, Kearns Brothers, Adam’s Cleaning and A Victory Inn.

Tickets are $35 per person. For more information or to register click HERE.

The Dearborn Public Schools and the City of Dearborn are offering seasonal flu shots for residents and non-residents alike.

The Dearborn Schools, in cooperation with the City of Dearborn Health Department, will hold two clinics: one on Friday, October 16 and second clinic on Tuesday, October 20, at the Dearborn Public Schools Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette. Nurses will provide flu shots in Room 12 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. Cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children 6 months to 18 years. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

“It is important for people to understand that this is a clinic to provide protection against the seasonal flu and not the much talked about H1N1 flu,” the school district said in a written statement. “Shots for the H1N1 strain of flu may be available later in October, but right now it is important to take the necessary steps to protect yourself from the seasonal flu.”

Meanwhile, the Dearborn Health Department is offering both flu and pneumonia shots.

Flu shots can be obtained on a walk-in basis at the Dearborn Health Department during regular business hours.

The Health Department is located inside the Henry Ford Centennial Library, 16301 Michigan Ave.

The department’s regular business hours are: Mondays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. The Health Department is closed on Thursdays.

A Health Department nurse will offer seasonal flu shots each Thursday from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the senior citizen wing of Dearborn’s Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

If you have Medicare Part B, the cost of your seasonal flu shot will be covered under that plan. Just be sure to bring your Medicare Part B card when coming for a flu shot.

For those without Medicare Part B, the cost for a flu shot is as follows:

— Senior citizens (age 65 and older) – $15 for Dearborn residents and $20 for non-residents.

— Adults (ages 18 through 64) – $20 for Dearborn residents and $25 for non-residents.

— Children (ages six months to 18 years) – $10 for Dearborn residents and $15 for non-residents.

Photo identification is necessary to verify residency status. Payment can be made in cash or by charge (MasterCard or Visa; no debit cards).

For more details, call the Dearborn Health Department at 313-943-2090.

Christopher and Megan Soroka at their 9th wedding anniversary in 2006 at the Ritz Hotel in Dearborn.

On Jan. 2, it will be three years since Christopher Soroka’s wife, Megan, was murdered by a disgruntled ex-employee at Cheli’s Chili Bar in Detroit.

For Megan’s husband, Christopher, each hour and each day still remains a struggle.

“It doesn’t get easier,” he said recently. “It actually gets worse.”

In the blink of an eye, he says, Megan’s life was taken and, along with her life, he lost his, too.

But he says his wife Megan, a 1975 Dearborn High School graduate, also positively touched a lot of other people’s lives in metro Detroit and Dearborn, where Christopher still lives today.

So this Saturday, Oct. 3 at the Dearborn Hills Golf Course, he is holding a golf outing in his wife’s honor, the third such event since her death. As animal lovers and owners of Shih Tzus, proceeds from the outing will go to a Shih Tzus Rescue in Royal Oak, he says.

“Megan was a very positive person,” he says. “She was a little ball of fire and touched a lot of people. This golf outing is a good way to bring people together to share their thoughts and memories.”

Christopher, who owns The Bar, 16010 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, tells this story of how he met his wife, Megan.

“We met in October 1996 and were married May 31st 1997,” he says. “Our first date was at a small table outside the main dining room at the Ritz (in Dearborn). In May we were married at that table. Megan and I knew of each other 14 years prior to our meeting. After about a year together, we were discussing places we have been because we knew some of the same people. We both had attended an opening of a club named the Vault in Detroit some 15 years earlier. I told Megan I saw her there. I went on to describe what she was wearing the color of her hair and how it was cut and who she was with. Megan never left me since that day.”

Christopher continues to run The Bar, a place they purchased together in 2004. But it hasn’t been easy, he concedes. Megan worked there when she was just 18 years old and it was called The Holiday Bar. So there are naturally a lot of memories there.

“It is very difficult to be in Dearborn, particularly a business she used to work at and one we took on as an endeavor together. I love this city but it is hard to be here.”

Even so, Christopher continues to keep The Bar going, thanks to a great staff of workers and the memory of a wife whose view on life was always from the perspective that the glass was half full.

While the golf outing for Megan is sold-out for this Saturday, those who want to make a donation in Megan’s name to the Shih Tzus rescue in Royal Oak can do so by clicking HERE.

The home of Dearborn City Councilman Robert Abraham suffered severe fire damage Saturday night in a blaze believe caused by an electrical failure.

No was home at the time of the fire, except the family’s pet dog, Dublin. The animal was killed in the blaze.

The fire did considerable damage and it will be at least six months to a year before the family can return to their home. Councilman Abraham said fire officials told him the blaze appears to have started in the basement ceiling and kitchen floor. The blaze was so severe by the time Dearborn Fire arrived at 8:54 p.m. that the entire kitchen essentially fell into the basement. An official determination by the Dearborn Fire Department on the exact cause of the fire should be known in a week or two.

Councilman Abraham said while the fire to the family’s home and the loss of their pet dog has been hard on he and his wife and their children, they are grateful no one was injured in the fire. He said the outreach from neighbors and people in the community offering their support to he and his family has been heartwarming and greatly appreciated.

“We have had overwhelming support from the community,” he said. “We are so very fortunate . . . Thank God no one was hurt or home at the time. We lost a lot but we will get through this.”

Abraham said many people have offered gifts of financial assistance to his family, as well.  While those offers are sincerely appreciated, he said the family invites anyone interested in making such a gesture to instead give a donation to the Dearborn Animal Shelter in Dublin’s memory.

Those interested in making a donation to the Dearborn Animal Shelter can do so online at www.dearborn-animals.com, by phone at 313.943.2697 or by mail to Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter, 2661 Greenfield, Dearborn, MI, 48120.

Our prayers and support go out to the Abraham family.

First it was cats, than dogs, than more cats. Now, it is chickens. Yes, chickens in Dearborn.

Dearborn officials found 10 chickens in the garage of an east side home.

Fresh from cleaning up a home where hundreds of Chihuahuas lived and died in squalor, Dearborn officials now tell Deepsaidwhat.com that they are working with a homeowner to have her remove 10 chickens from the garage of her east side home.

City officials found out about the chickens after a neighbor complained about the smell. Dearborn officials went to the home and found 10 chickens in the garage. The owner of the home told officials that she kept the chickens as pets for her young children.

While that might be okay for families who live on a farm, the reality is that in a city such as Dearborn with more than 100,000 residents keeping chickens as pets is against the law.

The owner of the home now has seven days to get rid of the chickens or could face misdemeanor charges and fines. The fact the homeowner has already gone to Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr.’s office to save her chickens, telling officials that her children are “attached” to the birds, suggests that this matter will not be quickly resolved.

We aren’t sure what is going on in Dearborn but this chicken case now brings to five the number of homes found with an excessive number of “pets.”

1. In July, the city quietly removed some 50 cats from a home on the west side of Dearborn
2. In August, hundreds of Chihuahuas lived and died in squalor in an east side home. Cleanup costs, along with city police, fire and other city officials could drive the cleanup bill to nearly $100,000
3. In late August, some 20 cats were found in an abandoned home
4. In September, an elderly woman on the east side called city officials to have some 25 cats removed from her home. All of the cats were healthy but the woman became unable to manage having all of them in her home, city officials say.
5. Finally, in September 10 chickens were found in an east side home.

Tickets are now on sale for Dearborn’s “Smoke on the Grill” charity fundraiser, which will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1 at Ford Field Park.

The event, which includes dinner, drinks and entertainment, benefits Dearborn public school students through the Parent Teacher Student Associations (PTSAs) and the Dearborn Goodfellows.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly Jr. will serve as honorary chairman for the event, which helps raise money for new technology, uniforms and other items students need but aren’t covered in the school’s budget.

Money also goes to the Goodfellows to help them pay for all the great things they do in the community all year round, including buying holiday gifts for those in need. Tickets this year are $30.

Please call Gary Kuhlmann at Park Place Catering at 313-274-4499 to reserve tickets.

If you were planning to take part in the Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter’s 5K for K9s walk/run on Sept. 20 you’ll have until May 2010 to get into shape.

The Dearborn Animal Shelter and GoodBoy Events have cancelled the Sept. 20 event and have now decided to hold the run next May in conjunction with the Mutt Strut, which will celebrate its fifth year in 2010.

The good news is the Dearborn Animal Shelter will be holding another event on Sept. 24 called what “Must Love Dogs Singles Event.”

This event takes place at the Buffalo Wild Wings on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Cost is $20 and includes appetizers, nonalcoholic beverages and a chance to win a date for two at Buffalo Wild Wings. All proceeds will benefit the Dearborn Animal Shelter.

To register, visit www.DearbornAnimals.org  or call 313-943-2697. The event is limited to 40 singles (21 and over) and their dogs.

Kelle S. Sisung, development director, Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter, says the event is part of the Dearborn Animal Shelter’s “Dog Nights in Dearborn.”

“Kiernan’s Steak House launched Dog Nights in August and the event brought almost 200 people (and some pooches) to their Silky’s patio and they raised $5,300 for our shelter,” Sisung said. “It was great to see so many people out and about on Michigan Avenue. Buffalo Wild Wings is now generously opening their patio for singles and their pooches.

“Dog Night is part of the nonprofit’s continued attempt to infuse some energy into our downtown business district, which so desperately needs,” Sisung said.