The late John W. Tanner, a Dearborn resident for 45 years and a lawyer who worked in the city of Dearborn’s legal department, gave to our community in numerous ways. From his work serving on the board of directors of the Dearborn Goodfellows and Smoke on the Grill charity organization to Scouting and being active in Dearborn Lions football, Tanner was passionate about giving back to the city he called home.

Thanks to his daughter, Alison Anhut, his giving ways will continue.

John W. Tanner

She and her family are on the committee for The John Tanner Dearborn Youth Football Association (DYFA) Scholarship and are turning to friends, family and residents for support to expand the scholarship opportunity to all Dearborn high school students. Tanner, an Edsel Ford graduate, was one of the founding members of the DYFA. After his death at just 54 on Oct. 7, 2008, the DYFA awarded a scholarship to one DYFA athlete in his name.

The DYFA now wants to make the $1,000 scholarship an annual tradition and expand it to one graduating senior from each of Dearborn’s three high schools (Dearborn, Edsel Ford and Fordson) who have continued to play football throughout high school, completed two years of the DYFA program (in either football or cheerleading) and are pursuing a college education.

The idea to expand the scholarship to three was School Board member Hussein Berry’s (president of the DYFA board) and Jamal Al’s, who approached Tanner’s wife, Beverly, and asked if the Tanner family would like to be involved. Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., and Councilman Robert Abraham, among many others in our city, also are on the committee helping to raise funds to support the scholarship.

“My family and I are honored and are looking forward to carrying on my father’s name within this organization,” Anhut said. “My dad was one of the founding fathers of the DYFA and dedicated to its success. He was very passionate about charity work in general. My family and I cannot think of a better way to honor him and his vision than to continue working hard to serve and support the DYFA and our community.”

Here is where friends, family and residents can help.

To help raise funds for the scholarship, a dinner is going to be held on March 25th at 6 p.m. at Park Place in Dearborn. Tickets are $30 per person. There also will be a raffle at the dinner where a $5 ticket purchase could win you a first prize payout of $2,500, $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third. The plan is to sell just 3,000 tickets but if a minimum of 2,000 are not sold the raffle will revert to a 50/50. Monies raised also will be distributed to the DYFA to keep registration fees nominal and to continue to encourage youth participation.

In addition, plans are in place to hold a silent auction (donations for auction items are still being accepted) and there is the opportunity for those wanting to advertise in the March 25 dinner program, as well.

With everyone’s schedule pretty packed these days, attending an evening dinner may not be so easy to do. If that is the case, you can simply purchase a raffle ticket to help the cause or do both. All you have to do is contact Alison Anhut at azd18@yahoo.com or her mother, Beverly Tanner at tanner@ameritech.net

It’s all for a good cause and helps support the DYFA, an organization that continues to improve and help develop kids ages 8 to 13 with the ideas of teamwork, hard work and positive influence.

Here is one you can tell your friends about Monday morning. Perhaps the biggest Olympic upset in hockey since the Miracle on Ice was led by Dearborn native Brian Rafalski, who scored the first two American goals Sunday night to stun Canada, 5-3 and advance Team USA to the quarterfinals.

Rafalski, a Red Wings defenseman, also assisted on the fourth goal for Team USA. Ryan Kesler of Livonia closed out the America scoring with an empty-netter.

And of course, Ryan Miller of Michigan State University (Go State!) was the winning goalie.

Even better about this win is that it comes just one day short of the 30th anniversary of America’s greatest hockey victory, the win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid.

The city of Dearborn has launched a new money-saving program aimed at helping  lower-income persons or families purchase a newly renovated Dearborn home, which was once foreclosed.

The Dearborn Department of Economic & Community Development is now accepting applications for this program, called First Time Homebuyer Assistance program, but they will only be available for a limited time.

The program, according to a city of Dearborn press release, offers many benefits, including the ability to subsidize the mortgage principal amount so that house payments will be affordable. And, the homeowner might also quality for $5,000 towards the down payment or the closing costs.

To be eligible, an interested person must be a first-time homebuyer, successfully complete an eight-hour HUD approved counseling program, be “mortgage ready,” and have annual household income that is at or below 120 percent of area median income. Other eligibility requirements will apply.

The new program is part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was authorized to assist states and local governments in addressing the effects of abandoned or foreclosed properties.

The City of Dearborn would acquire and rehabilitate eight or more foreclosed properties with the intent of selling to income-qualified homebuyers.

For further information, call the Dearborn Economic & Community Development Department at 313-943-2180, extension 7. More details can also be found at www.cityofdearborn.org, on the Department of Economic and Community Development page.

The City of Dearborn’s official website now has a new look.

Gone is the clumsy 1990s looking website, replaced now with a site that looks and feels much more progressive.

Dearborn's new website is easier to navigate.

We haven’t run through all of the new features but it is much more intuitive and easier to navigate.

As a way to reduce costs, Dearborn’s IT Department and communications team reached out to the webmaster from the Dearborn Public Schools to help them redesign the new site.

This first collaboration between the city and our schools could lead to other actions where the two sides pool resources to save tax dollars.

Other cost-saving ideas under discussion  include looking at whether combining snow removal, grass cutting and even having a joint newsletter for residents might be more beneficial than the city and school continuing to do each of these separately.

Whether or not any of this is even practical or if it will save money still has to be determined. But the fact the two are  talking is good sign for all taxpayers.

Nomination forms for the 2009-10 Alberta Muirhead Teacher of the Year Award, sponsored by Alberta Muirhead and coordinated by the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, are now available on the district website at www.dearbornschools.org or the Chamber website, www.dearbornchamber.org.

For those of you who may not know Alberta Muirhead, she and her husband John were founders and longtime owners of Muirhead’s, a Dearborn shop that started as a toy store in 1946 and developed into one of the most successful department stores in the Detroit area. In 1983 Mr. Muirhead passed away, and in 1990, after 43 years in the retail business, Muirhead decided to close her store at Michigan and Military and dedicate her energy to a longstanding passion for community involvement and “giving back”.  She later donated her building – that still bears the Muirhead name – to Oakwood.

Forms for the Alberta Muirhead Teacher of the Year Award are also available at all Dearborn Public Schools, and the district Administration Office, 18700 Audette.

Students can nominate new or veteran teachers whom they feel have made outstanding contributions to the teaching profession.

- Preschool through fifth-grade students are asked to describe how their teacher has created a classroom where learning is positive and fun.

- Middle school students (grades 6-8) will need to explain how their teacher connects classroom learning with everyday life.

- Students in high school must describe how their teacher is preparing them to be successful beyond high school.

Adults are allowed to assist in the application process, but nominations must come from students. Applications will be assessed on quality of the nomination, not on the number received. Award judges are members of the Dearborn Chamber Education Committee and are not provided with the teachers’ names. 

Teachers selected to receive the Teacher of Year award are being recognized as positive role models who consistently provide unique, productive, positive classroom experiences.

Teachers selected receive a $1,000 cash prize, a plaque commemorating their achievement, and will be part of a select group of Dearborn teachers who have been recognized by the community for their dedication and passion for teaching.

Completed forms must be turned in to the Chamber Office by March 26, 2010. Please mail both sides of the nomination form to the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, 22100 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI 48124, or fax to 313-584-9818.

Beginning Feb. 16, and for a limited time, Dearborn residents can order a tree to be planted on the easement in front of their home for just $25.

The Parks Division of the City of Dearborn’s Department of Public Works offers this program. Orders will be taken on a first call, first order basis for the 250 available trees.

Residents can choose from an assortment of trees; however, city personnel must approve the location of the tree.

Dearborn residents only are urged to call the Parks Division at (313) 943-2318 if they are interested.

Residents can either place an order or request a selection guide, which offers more information about the 10 types of trees that are available.

The following species of trees are available in 2010: Celebration Maple, Yellow Wood, Corzam or Corinthian, Japanese Pagoda, Katsura or Caramel, Maidenhair, Golden Rain, Hardy Rubber and Corktree. Spring Snow Crabapple is available only for areas where there are overhead wires.

Trees are planted by a contractor and have a one-year warranty. Planting will take place in early April and should be complete by early June.

The contractor is responsible for planting, mulching, staking, pruning, watering and cleanup after initial planting.

Residents are responsible for the follow up watering after the planting. It is highly recommended that residents retain the mulch ring around the base to keep the moisture and decrease damage from grass cutting.

Dearborn has been deemed by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA for the past 22 years. Cities with the “Tree City USA” designation must maintain specific standards, including a viable tree management program.

Dearborn residents with low to moderate incomes – with special attention for those ages 60 and older — can receive free tax preparation help from AARP volunteers. This service is offered by the City of Dearborn’s Senior Services Division.

Assistance is available in completing the following 2009 tax forms: Michigan Home Heating Credit, Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit, state income tax and federal income tax.

Locations, dates and times for the free tax assistance is listed below. No appointment is necessary; however assistance is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Dearborn Senior Center (inside the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue). 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays, through April 15. (This service will not be provided on Friday, April 2 – Good Friday.)

• Kennedy Plaza (5111 Bingham). 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18.

• Hubbard Manor West (22077 Beech, at Mason). 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays, Feb. 19 and 26.

• Townsend Towers (7000 Freda, at Blesser). 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays, March 4 and 11.

Those considering taking advantage of the free assistance are advised to bring the following:  2008 tax returns, 2009 tax forms and records of all income (including Social Security, earned interest, dividends and pensions). Also bring receipts for health care costs, medical insurance premiums and tax payment receipts for city, school and county taxes.

Here is something all of us can do that could benefit our city’s Internet connectivity.

In case you missed it, Google announced Wednesday that it would build and test an experimental high-speed fiber optic network that could be available in several communities and reach as many as 500,000 people. The service, 100 times faster than what is available for many users today, could be available as early as next year, according to some news reports.

Consumers in those communities will be able to sign up for the service, which would offer connection speeds of 1 gigabit per second, Google said. Many high-speed home Internet connections operate at less than 10 megabits per second.

The possibility of becoming a city for Google to test its new network has already set off a flurry of interest among consumers and businesses. Residents in West Sacramento, Calif., Houston and Portland, Ore., among other cities, have already set up “Bring Google Fiber” groups on Facebook.

This is where all of us come in. We can submit an application as to why you think Dearborn would be a good testing ground. The application, sent to us by a reader, is pretty short and can be accessed by clicking HERE.

A worker installs one of the new decorative lamps along Ford Road.

In an effort to add curb appeal as well as light to the area, the City of Dearborn is installing 137 streets lights along Ford Road between Miller Road and Mercury Drive.

The Michigan Department of Transportation agreed to pay to replace the street lights that were removed during the Ford Road street work with standard street lights, but the City stepped in to add funds to allow for more attractive street lights, the city said Monday in a press releases.

The lights to be installed along Ford Road will have decorative polls and luminaries similar to those currently on Michigan Avenue.

The work is scheduled first for the westbound side of Ford Road at Miller and will head in the direction of Mercury. When that side is done, the work will head back on the eastbound side from Mercury.

“By making the area more attractive visually, we continue our constant efforts to keep Dearborn a desirable place to visit, live and do business,” said Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., took to the local papers and websites, including Deepsaidwhat.com, penning a column to respond to criticism over the police department’s investigation into an FBI shooting that the city had no role in.

In his column, the mayor points out that “the Dearborn Police had no involvement of any kind in the execution of the multi-agency operation.”

This is an important point; particularly since politicians such as U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) was among those who criticized the Dearborn Police Department for having a role in the raid when it did not.

Mayor O’Reilly’s column begins below:

Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr.

Any comments criticizing the Dearborn Police Department or their handling of the Investigation of the shooting at a warehouse near Michigan Avenue and Miller Road are inappropriate and ill-informed. The Dearborn Police Department under the leadership of Chief Ron Haddad has conducted the investigation of this unfortunate incident in a thorough and professional manner.

I must stress that the Dearborn Police had no involvement of any kind in the execution of the multi-agency operation. When a potential crime occurs in our City, it is the duty of our law enforcement agency to gather the facts and turn the results over to the appropriate Prosecuting agency. This is as true for an FBI shooting as for any other type. Our duty is to gather all possible facts relating to the incident from every possible source. Only after we are certain that we have examined all relevant information do we complete the report and forward it.

The incident in Dearborn can be described as a sting operation in a warehouse that was to apprehend persons fencing stolen goods or otherwise actively engaged in a criminal act. The FBI agents and other participating agents were there and armed in the expectation that the other parties in the transaction would also be armed. When the shooting victim and his associates arrive they were also armed. It is not difficult to understand the inherent danger in that situation. When the agents attempted to arrest the parties suspected of criminal acts, at least one party apparently refused to surrender. The agents claim that gunfire ensued at that time.

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