The field of candidates considering a run for the 15th District seat in the Michigan House of Representatives is expanding.

The Capitol building in Lansing.

We reported here earlier this week that Dearborn Councilman George Darany and Linda Tafelski, a retired Dearborn schoolteacher, were the only two who had officially declared their candidacy for the seat of state Rep. Gino Polidori, D-Dearborn, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

Well, the list of candidates officially running has grown and now includes the following on the Democratic ticket: Hope Buxton, a Dearborn business owner, and Alex Shami, a former Dearborn school board member.

It now appears that Dearborn Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini,who finished as the second top voter getter in the last election and now serves as council pro-tem, is being urged by Republican party leaders to run for the position. The same is true for Bill Runco, a Dearborn lawyer and former district court judge, who has had a bumpy political history in Dearborn.

Other Democrats considering running for the position include Mike Berry, a Dearborn business owner who previously ran for Dearborn City Council; Fay Beydoun, active in Dearborn politics who works for American Arab Chamber of Commerce and Stephen Dobkowski Jr., who previously ran for Dearborn City Council.

This should be an interesting August primary.

Award winning documentary filmmaker and Dearborn native Tom McPhee will share his latest film, An American Opera, with Dearborn High School students in the school’s auditorium on March 2.

Tom McPhee

McPhee, who grew up on Long Boulevard and attended Dearborn High School (DHS), has won numerous awards for his documentary work.  He also owns two production companies and is executive director of the World Animal Awareness Society.

 His latest work, An American Opera: The Greatest Pet Rescue Ever, tells the story of the vets, owners, officials, and rescuers who worked through the chaos during the days that followed hurricane Katrina to save and reunite thousands of pets with their owners. The work was not easy and there were others who had a different plan to deal with all the abandoned animals.

McPhee will begin his visit at 11:00 a.m. when he sits down for a special discussion with students in the Advanced Video class.  From there, he and the video class will join about 300 other students in the school’s auditorium for a private screening of the film. McPhee will follow up the movie with a question and answer period.

“This is going to be an exciting event that will provide our students with multiple opportunities for learning,” said Sousen Dobbs, a teacher at Dearborn High and event organizer.