Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad is planning to give a State of the City address this month. Due to COVID-19, this year's address will be done virtually. The
Bill Bazzi, Marine Vet, Becomes Dearborn Heights First Muslim Mayor
Marines, stationed at the Army’s Presidio of Monterey, prepare to go on their annual beach run to celebrate the Marines Corps birthday. (U.S. Marine Corps/Joseph Kumzak)
30 Jan 2021
An immigrant from Lebanon who served in the U.S. Marines has become the new mayor of Dearborn Heights, the first Arab-American and first Muslim to lead the city that has become increasingly diverse and politically divided.
The Dearborn Heights City Council voted 4 to 3 to select Bill Bazzi, 57, a city councilman since 2018, to be mayor during its Tuesday night meeting.
An immigrant from Lebanon who served in the U.S. Marines has become the new mayor of Dearborn Heights, the first Arab-American and first Muslim to lead the city that has become increasingly diverse and politically divided.
During its Tuesday night meeting, the Dearborn Heights City Council voted 4-to-3 to select Bill Bazzi, 57, a city councilman since 2018, to be mayor.
The city s former mayor, Dan Paletko, died last month at 70 after testing positive for the coronavirus. Bazzi, an engineer at Ford Motor Co. for more than 20 years, will serve the remainder of Paletko s four-year term, which ends in January; there will be a November election for mayor and City Council seats.
January 20, 2021
Clean and unmodified. That’s the audit finding for the city of Benton Harbor by auditing firm Rehmann [[ ray-men ]] Robson, their best rating. Benton Harbor City Commissioners heard the annual audit report on Tuesday night during a meeting. Auditor Paul Matz said the city’s fund balance, or cash on hand, went down by $260,000 for the year ending June 30, 2020. However, the amended budget had anticipated a decrease of $683,000, and some COVID funds that have come in from the state may not have been received by the audit date. When asked by Mayor Marcus Muhammad what grade he would give the city’s finances, Matz said he would give them something in the B range.
January 18, 2021
Lake Michigan College kicked off its MLK Week with a celebration on Monday morning. LMC has released the following:
Now is the Time! The MLK Celebration Week, a free, virtual, community-wide effort inspired by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” opened festivities Monday morning with an inspiring kickoff celebration.
The event, attended virtually by more than 240 households, was highlighted by a passionate keynote address from Tékeidra Masters, an 18-year-old graduate of Benton Harbor High School and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America 2020 Midwest Regional Youth of the Year.
In her speech, Masters urged attendees, regardless of race or ethnic background, to no longer remain “voiceless” when it comes to racism in all its forms. She spoke about historic racism and injustices of today, comparing Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, the police shootings and violence against Africa