A presentation by the Dearborn Police Department will highlight the newly formed Crowley Park Neighborhood Association’s community awareness meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 21.

The meeting takes place at the Dearborn Public Schools Long Elementary School, 3100 Westwood, in the cafeteria.  All are invited to attend.

Following the presentation, residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the neighborhood association and its benefits and receive information about how to volunteer to serve as a block captain, work on the newsletter, organize events and run for positions on the board.

The boundaries of the association are south of Michigan Avenue, north of Dartmouth Street, west of Telegraph Road and east of Gulley Road. 

For more information about Dearborn’s many neighborhood associations, call Dearborn City Hall at 943-2216.

The public is invited to a charity hockey game pitting a team of Dearborn police officers and firefighters against Detroit Red Wings alumni and current Red Wing Chris Chelios.

The game takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, at the Dearborn Ice Skating Center (DISC), 14900 Ford Road.

Tickets are $10 per person and are available at the door; children ages five and under are free. The event will also feature raffles of sports memorabilia and autograph signings by active and alumni Red Wing players.

All proceeds will benefit the Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive charity organization and the Dearborn Police Charities organization.

So Circuit City, the second largest electronics retailer in the U.S., announced today it will begin liquidating its assets after failing to reach an agreement with its creditors and lenders.

This means Dearborn will be left with another vacant big box store. And given the economy, it will likely be a long while before we see the site at Ford Road and Mercury Drive occupied again. Nationally, the move will put 30,000 people out of work. At one point during its free fall, Circuit City fired thousands of veteran salespeople and replaced them with lower-paid and less-experienced workers, believing that sales wouldn’t suffer as a result. They did big time and the damage to the company’s reputation, let alone its revenue, was never undone.

The upside out of all of this is that perhaps with the demise of Circuit City, people might take some time to drive over and support one of Dearborn’s own, Adray Appliance, 20219 Carlysle. In our book, it remains the best photo and electronics store around. The staff is courteous and knowledgeable and many in the photo and electronics departments have been there for more than 20 years. That to us says a lot. Adray has also given a lot to Dearborn, supporting many of the little league baseball teams I played on when I was a kid, along with many hockey teams.

Trouble is Adray is off the main path and many Dearborn folks either don’t know about them or would rather go to a big box national chain to buy their products, saving maybe a few bucks in the process, if anything at all.

We can all complain about the lack of retail in our city and the lack of quaint shops locally owned but if we residents don’t even support our home grown stores – and there are many beyond Adray we can list here – what do you think the outcome will be here long term?

Middle school students interested in enrolling at the Dearborn Center for Math, Science, & Technology (DCMST) for the fall, 2009 semester can pick up an application packet at any Dearborn Public Schools middle school office but they must do it by Jan. 23. Students planning to become a resident of the district, but do not currently attend a Dearborn Public School, have until March 5, 2009 to apply.

The Dearborn Center for Math, Science, & Technology is a community of learners sharing a high interest and achievement in Math and Science.  To be eligible to enroll in the DCMST program, students must successfully complete Algebra One in 8th grade and attend a Dearborn Public high school. Students must go through a competitive application process based on middle school grades, Math and Science ability, Algebra test scores, and teacher recommendations. 

This challenging four-year program provides an in-depth, project-based, problem-solving approach that integrates technology with Math and Science. Students attend the Center for three class periods each day and complete the remainder of their academic schedule at one of three Dearborn high schools. All students participate in individual research. Upperclassmen, enrolled at DCMST or any of the district high schools, have the opportunity to enroll in advanced placement and college courses. Last year students at the DCMST earned an average of 10 college credits and took AP courses in Calculus BC, Computer Science, and Statistics.

 The average grade point average for DCMST students in 2007 was 3.83 and the current senior class has an average ACT score of 27. Four Valedictorians and 8 Salutatorians have graduated from the program. The DCMST Class of 2007 received over $1.75 million in Scholarship offers and that number grew to $2.6 million for the class of 2008.

 For further information about the Dearborn Center for Math, Science, & Technology, please visit their web site at http://dcmst.dearbornschools.org or call (313) 827-2720.

Well, we have finally switched to a new platform and a new server. It took a bit longer than we would have liked to move and we still are in the process of carrying over three years of stories, along with photos and video.

We made a host of improvements, the majority on making the site operate more reliably and viewable from multiple types of Internet browsers.

You’ll also notice on the right rail of the page that we have added a community calendar that we have simply titled “Upcoming Events”. Simply click on the event and the pertinent information will appear. So if you have an upcoming event we’ll post it here free of charge for you. Please send along the information to our email address at the top right of the page and we will be happy to add it to the Upcoming Events section.

More visible improvements to the site will be forthcoming. As always, DeepSaidWhat.com welcomes your views and encourages lively – but civil – discussions about Dearborn. Comments are unedited, but submissions reported as abusive or unrelated to a posted story may be removed.

Thanks for reading.

The Michigan Department of Transportation is on a fast path to permanently remove the traffic signal at Fordson and Telegraph, a move that likely will encourage motorists traveling north on Telegraph between Oxford and Cherry Hill to drive even faster.

According to residents who live near the intersection, MDOT officials have already switched the signal to a flashing amber and the plan is to keep it that way for the next 90 days. After that, the traffic signal is set to be removed altogether.

It isn’t entirely clear why officials at MDOT want to remove this particular signal but for those who have tried to turn from southbound Telegraph to head north on to Telegraph, it has become increasingly difficult at peak travel times because traffic no longer stops at the light resulting in fewer gaps in the flow of vehicles. It also has become more dangerous for students walking home from Dearborn High School who have used that signal as a way to cross Telegraph.

A resident on Newton Street alerted us here at DeepSaidWhat about the pending change, explaining that the flashing amber will stay for 90 days, unless residents contact MDOT to complain. If enough residents call, MDOT may reassess their plans and perhaps return the traffic signal to the formal full operation.

Residents can contact Mike Budai at MDOT at 313-375-2400 to make clear why the traffic signal should remain. Callers should be prepared to explain why the signal should remain in operation.

Macy’s is closing 11 stores, but Dearborn’s Fairlane location will remain, a good thing for the mall as it is one of the key anchors at the Fairlane Town Center.

Macy’s cancelled out its 10 new store openings in 2007 with this announcement that it is closing 11 stores that have been experiencing declining sales with little hope for future growth.

The 11 stores being closed will leave big holes in several malls where Macy’s has been a tenant for more than 20 years.

In a company statement, Macy’s said in 2009 it had modest store opening plans for six to eight stores. The company currently operates about 850 stores under the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s brands.

Stores to shut are in Los Angeles; Colorado Springs and Westminster, Colo.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Hawaii; Indianapolis; Brooklyn Center, Minn.; St. Louis; Natrona Heights and West Mifflin, Pa.; and Nashville, Tenn.

Just a friendly reminder, the third and final installment of 2008 Summer Tax Bill is due Jan. 14, 2009. Homeowners should make checks payable to the City of Dearborn. Late payments will be charged 1 percent per month on unpaid balance from July 1, 2008.

Public Invited to Take Part in Jan. 21 Brainstorming Session

Are their ways to make the Dearborn Homecoming better? Now in its 30th year, the City of Dearborn is inviting the public to take part in a brainstorming session on Jan. 21 to generate new ideas to make the annual event at Ford Field Park even better.

One idea the Homecoming Committee is looking at is whether to change the schedules of some existing activities, including considering offering the fireworks on Friday and Saturday.

The public brainstorming session will run from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, in the City Council Chambers, 13615 Michigan Ave. The idea session is open to service clubs, community organizations and charitable groups that staff the food and activity booths at the festival. Also invited are the businesses in west Dearborn that benefit from the traffic generated by the festival each August.

The City is looking forward to a lively discussion from the audience about possible updates to the successful festival.

“We always have to consider our finances and staff resources when we are thinking about new activities,” said Dearborn spokeswoman Mary Laundroche, who also is the Dearborn Homecoming co-chair. “But we know our residents love Homecoming, and they must have terrific ideas that can help keep our community festival fresh. Suggestions that have a general appeal and are affordable will be pursued for 2009, or beyond.”

Residents can also email their ideas for new Homecoming activities to mlaundroche@ci.dearborn.mi.us, or call the Department of Public Information at 313-943-2285.

Dearborn residents with fallen branches or other yard waste from recent wind storms can drag them to the curb for pickup on their normal trash collection day beginning today and running through January 9.

Depending on weather conditions, Dearborn Department of Public Works crews will collect the storm debris as close as possible to residents’ regular trash pickup day.

Dearborn residents may also call the Department of Public Works at 313-943-2085 to request a pickup of storm debris, which must be placed at the curb.