Michigan Gov. Snyder’s budget proposal will cut deep into school budgets across the state and Dearborn could feel the pain to the tune of $14 million. In addition to the cuts in revenue, our district may face as much as a $5 million increase in the amount paid to the State’s pension fund.

So Dearborn School Supt. Brian J. Whiston is asking community leaders and parents to contact the Governor’s office and explain how the impact these cuts will have on children in Dearborn. As residents of this city, we need to do all we can to ensure that at a minimum our per-student funding isn’t reduced. So please consider dropping a letter to the Gov.

Whiston’s letter begins below:

Dear Community Members,

Now that Governor Snyder has presented his budget proposal, the debate in Lansing will continue for several weeks as legislators work out the details. In order to better understand how this plan will impact our classrooms, I would like to take a moment to provide the following summary of the key components of the Governor’s budget proposal.

Impact on District:

— Per-student funding reduced by $470/student $8,695,000

— 31a At-Risk funds eliminated $4,900,000

— Section 41 Bilingual funds eliminated $435,000

— Total $14,030,000

In addition to these cuts in revenue, the district may face as much as a $5 million increase in the amount paid to the State’s pension fund.

As concerned community members, it’s important that you voice your opinion on the Governor’s cuts. Every parent, business owner, home owner, and community member should contact Governor Snyder at:

Governor Rick Snyder

P.O. Box 30013

Lansing, MI 48909

(517) 373-3400

Rick.snyder@michigan.gov

Explain to the Governor that:

 Reductions in funding at this level will be devastating to our classrooms.

 Dearborn students across the district will see reductions in staff, resources, and services.

 These budget recommendations hit Dearborn harder than other district due to the elimination of needed funds for “At-Risk” and bilingual students.

 Reductions in funding will mean fewer resources, human and material, needed to help students achieve the new state mandated college-ready test scores.

I highly encourage you to contact the Governor’s office and explain the impact these cuts will have on our students, your children.

Fortunately our representatives in the state house and senate are aware of this situation and are working to help Dearborn students. We thank them for their support and caring about our students.

Despite several years of declining state revenue, the Board of Education and the administrative team have remained committed to timely budget planning and being fiscally responsible to the citizens living in our district. Working with our staff and community, the district will continue to take a proactive stance on budget issues and maintain our commitment to devote available resources that meet the academic needs of students.

 As state lawmakers move through the budget process, we will continue to provide you with information on any changes that could impact funding for Dearborn Public Schools. Although school districts do not have the ability to raise revenue locally or control spiraling state retirement costs, we will work to preserve quality instructional programs so that all students will continue to be successful in the classroom.

Sincerely,

Brian J. Whiston

Superintendent of Schools

The car glass in dozens of vehicles parked in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Inkster were shot out by a group of Dearborn Heights teens wielding BB guns Friday night, according to several readers of DeepsaidWhat.com and the owner of a nearby auto glass repair shop who contacted us.

It isn’t clear how many of the damaged vehicles were in Dearborn but the men responsible for the damage have been arrested.

We will share more details as they become available. The auto glass repair shop we spoke to says police from Dearborn Heights and Dearborn stopped in his shop on Saturday alerting him to be prepared for a very busy day of glass repairs on Monday.

The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the non-profit division of the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, brings Dearborn SOUP to Dearborn beginning March 6.

SOUP is a monthly dinner that funds micro-grants for creative projects. This event, modeled after Detroit SOUP (www.detroitsoup.com), is designed to support local entrepreneurs whose ideas will positively impact the community in the areas of the arts, humanities, or “green” initiatives.

The event will take place the first Sunday of every month and will be held at The Glass Academy in Dearborn. Each attendee is asked to donate $5 for admission, which includes a light meal generally consisting of soup, salad and bread; all of which are donated. During dinner, up to four pre-selected individuals will present their ideas. The attendees then vote on a winner and a portion of the proceeds is then granted to fund the winning idea.

To ensure a successful launch, the Dearborn Chamber Foundation is looking for sponsors, local artists who would like to showcase or sell their work and a photographer who is interested in documenting the launch. All the furniture will be made of recycled material so donations of rugs and reusable materials would be appreciated. Interested parties can reach Dee Hamka at (313) 801-4444.

The launch will take place Sunday, March 6 at The Glass Academy located at 25331 Trowbridge (www.glassacademy.com) at the southeast corner of Michigan Ave. and Gulley. Doors open at 6:30 pm. You can keep up to date on  information about Dearborn Soup on Facebook.

David T. Brandon, athletic director for the University of Michigan, will be the keynote speaker at the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce’s Business Builder Breakfast, Tuesday, March 8, 7:30 am at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn. The event is sponsored by Raymond James & Associates.

David T. Brandon was named director of Intercollegiate Athletics at University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in January 2010. A U-M alumnus who played football under Bo Schembechler and later served as U-M regent, Brandon, 57, was previously chairman and chief executive officer of Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza.

“We are excited to host David Brandon and look forward to learning his motivational lessons in leadership,” said Chamber President Jennifer Knott Giering. “It’s important that we offer our membership access to high level key opinion leaders and we are confident his words will be inspiring.”

After joining Dominos in 1999, Brandon led the pizza giant to becoming the largest quick-service restaurant in history. In 2009, Dominos, with 9,000 franchised and company-owned stores in the US and 65 other countries, had global retail sales over $5.5 billion.

Previously, Brandon served as chairman, president and COO of Valassis Communications, Inc. of Livonia. In his 20-year tenure, the company grew from a family-owned business of 75 employees and $30 million in sales to a publicly traded industry leader with 1,300 employees and a total enterprise value of $2 billion+.

The Chamber’s Business Builders Breakfast in March is one of four such events planned for the year. Previous speakers included Ford Motor Company’s Alan Mulally and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing. Individual tickets are available ($30 for members; $35 for non-members) as well as corporate tables ($400) by going to www.dearbornchamber.org.

The Dearborn Chamber of Commerce provides 500+ members with the opportunities and resources to engage and network with other businesses, enhancing financial growth, professional development, and the ability to contribute to a thriving community environment.

We were hoping for the best but feared the worst and unfortunately the latter occurred.

Borders filed for bankruptcy and with that decision will close its Dearborn store as soon as this Saturday, according to some media reports. The store at Ford Road and Mercury is one of four in Michigan that will close, including stores in Utica, Grosse Pointe and the Arborland mall store in Ann Arbor. Its flagship store in Ann Arbor isn’t on the list.

This decision leaves Dearborn without a big name bookstore. But it could translate to more business for Dearborn Music at Michigan and Monroe and even my favorite used book store, Rodegher’s Used Books on Michigan, just west of east of Telegraph.

Here is The Detroit News story.

Dearborn’s  Green Brain Comics welcomes Eagle Award nominated writer Gary Reed for a book signing in honor of the new Deadworld Omnibus. The signing will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 16th from 4-7 p.m. ​

Don’t miss this chance to get a signed copy of the book that reboots the series that’s been called the “grand-daddy” of all zombie comics. The previous collection Deadworld Classics Vol 1 will also be available, which was named by Fangoria.com as one of the top 10 Horror Comics of 2010.​ It was zombies before zombies were cool.

​What could make this event cooler? Well check these next two offers out.

Dress as a zombie and the best costume will win a page of original Deadworld art from Wayne Reid plus an autographed copy of Deadworld Chronicles where the story appeared. Or bring in your best zombie drawing and the winner gets a free Deadworld Portfolio which has 10 full color prints, all by classic Deadworld artist Vince Locke. Now you’ve got plenty of extra reasons to visit ​Green Brain Comics.​

​You can RSVP to the event on the Facebook event page.

Green Brain Comics is located at 13210 Michigan Ave. in East Downtown Dearborn. For more information check the website at www.greenbrain.biz or call 313-582-9444

Travel along Chase Road in Dearborn will be slowed a bit because of new road construction between Ford Road and Warren that will last through July.

The City of Dearborn is urging motorists to find an alternate route. Traffic will be shifted to the east half of Chase Road and reduced to one lane in each direction.

The road project will result in a new water main, new curbs and the resurfacing of Chase Road.

The City of Dearborn’s Department of Public Works yard is open 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month for residents to dispose of furniture and other household materials that normally would require a special fee for curbside pickup.

The next date is Saturday, February 19. The yard is at 2951 Greenfield.

Other items accepted at the DPW Yard on the designated day are dirt, sod, sand, concrete and bricks; firewood, logs and stumps; bathtubs, sinks and toilets.

Not accepted are fuel, tires, ammunition, refrigerators, microwaves or other appliances.

Note that hazardous materials are not acceptable at the DPW yard or at the curbside.

For questions about curbside pickup or to check if materials are acceptable for disposal at the DPW Yard, call DPW at 943-2085.

Kudos to government officials in Grosse Pointe Woods who are cracking down on neon signs along Mack Avenue. Some business owners in that city aren’t happy but neon signs do nothing to enhance a downtown.

Cruise through Dearborn along Michigan Avenue, Telegraph or Warren and neon is everywhere. Neon lights frame grocery store windows, gas stations, party stores and the list goes on.  It simply makes our downtown look cheap. Combine that with the tasteless electronic LED billboards that adorn buildings across our city and you have a tacky cityscape.

One of many distracting electronic billboards along Michigan Avenue in Dearborn.

We’ve written on these pages once before about the need for Dearborn to pass an ordinance to have those flashing electronic billboards banned but such a request has fallen on deaf ears (Denver’s City Council recently banned all LED billboards). Does the strip bar that sits at Michigan and Oakman (the first thing visitors entering Dearborn at the east end of town see) really need to advertise beer and lap dance specials? It just makes our city seem dirty. The signs also are a major driver distraction.

In Grosse Pointe Woods, neon was first prohibited in 2002 as part of an extensive revision of the city’s sign ordinance. The business owners that are now complaining had eight, yes, eight years to remove the neon to become compliant.

We have nothing against those indoor “open” neon signs that sit in windows of some businesses. But they don’t need to flash or be larger than 12 inches across. Yes, you could argue that there are bigger things to focus on in Dearborn and its current budget issues, but making our downtown look more attractive and actually having some rules in place for what is tasteful doesn’t cost anything and can go a long way to improving the aesthetics of our city.

Ditch the neon and the jumbo electronic billboards. The last thing the streets of Dearborn need are high definition versions of a carnival barker screaming at you as you drive by.

Borders book store in Dearborn.

The fate of Dearborn’s Borders book store on Ford Road could be known as soon as Monday or Tuesday. That is when the troubled Ann Arbor, Michigan bookseller could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Filing for bankruptcy would pave the way for hundreds of Borders book store closings and thousands of job losses. It is not yet known if the Dearborn location at Ford Road and Mercury Drive would be spared. The Dearborn store appears to do brisk business, at least the times we’ve been in the store.

According to the WSJ article in today’s paper, Borders has abandoned efforts to refinance its debts, and is preparing bankruptcy papers and seeking financing agreements that would keep it operating during the Chapter 11 restructuring process. Its shares tumbled 33% to 25 cents apiece in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading Friday after WSJ reported its plans.

Borders will seek to close about a third of its 674 Borders and Waldenbooks stores, according to the WSJ. “Borders also would cut swathes of its 19,500 staff as it attempts to reinvent itself to compete with Amazon and its hot-selling Kindle reader, and Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation’s largest bookstore chain and maker of the Nook e-reader,” the WSJ reports.

For the full article, click HERE.