By Charles Sercombe This year’s Hamtramck Labor Day Festival was, with apologies to baseball legend Yogi Berra, like a 1980s déjà vu all over again. (Editor’s note: Who’s Yogi Berra and what’s with “déjà vu all over again”? Hint: Google the phrase.) That seemed to be the opinion of many old-timers who remembered when the [...]
By Charles Sercombe To tax or not to tax? That’s one question Hamtramck voters won’t likely be asked in the Nov. 3 General Election. City officials had planned to ask voters to approve an extra three mills on the property tax roll to pay for a new fire ladder truck and ambulance. The tax would [...]
By Charles Sercombe The issue of gay rights was once again addressed by the Hamtramck City Council on Tuesday. In one of the more stranger votes taken, a so-called majority of two councilmembers voted to support a proposed federal hate crimes prevention law commonly referred to as the “Matthew Shepard Act.” How can just two [...]
By Charles Sercombe Too bad the city’s new fire truck didn’t come a week sooner. It could have come in handy for the Sterling Oil plant fire. No matter, though, the Fire Department welcomes new equipment any time. The truck is a standard pumper and cost the city $329,000. It was budgeted two years ago [...]
By Todd A. Heywood Michiganmessenger.com Residents and civil rights advocates are appalled that Asm “Kamal” Rahman, a leading voice in the successful ballot initiative to overturn a local anti-discrimination ordinance last year, is now sitting on the boards of civil rights groups in southeast Michigan. “Kamal has misled a lot of people in the past [...]
By Ian Perrotta Review Special Writer Every four years, the World Cup unites people from all over the world with the game of soccer. This past summer in Hamtramck, the International Soccer Academy (ISA) accomplished the same feat every week. Starting in July, the ISA began the 16th year of its free “Soccer-in-the-Park” program, with [...]
By Charles Sercombe Looking back at last Thursday’s big fire at the Sterling Oil plant, fire and city officials say the response went off as planned. “The response was outstanding,” said City Manager Bill Cooper. Residents living nearby the plant and those living in the public house project were evacuated as planned. Wayne County officials [...]
By Charles Sercombe If the H1N1 flu strain hits Hamtramck, the public school district is prepared to handle a pandemic. Also known as “Swine Flu,” medical experts say there is a possibility half the population of the country could come down with it. Some are saying this is developing into a national crisis. Vaccinations for [...]
By Charles Sercombe Get ready to have some fun this weekend. The 29th Hamtramck Labor Day Festival is partying down on Jos. Campau from Caniff to Carpenter. The weekend will feature carnival rides and games, ethnic food, vendors and live music. For Detroit area rock and rollers, the festival is a showcase of some of [...]
By Charles Sercombe It’s not often that I step outside of my role in reporting the news. But in a panel discussion held Monday evening and led by Congressman John Conyers, it got personal. In a nutshell, John Conyers managed to turn a thoughtful discussion on hate crimes into a hate rally against me and [...]
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