Justin Meram throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Cleveland Indians home game? No way. If the Columbus Crew SC soccer star was going to toss a first pitch for the first time at a Major League Baseball game, it was going to be at a Detroit Tigers game at Comerica Park. That’s exactly what happened July 6. Meram, a 28-year-old Shelby Township native, threw the first pitch before a game between the Tigers and San Francisco Giants. He bounced the baseball off his instep, then delivered what could have been called a strike to outfielder Mikie Mahtook, who was behind the plate.
Read More
In 2006, Hyassant Najor, Market Development Manager at Level One Bank, returned to work at what was then known as Bank of Michigan. Najor had taken a break from work to take care of her young children. Now ten years later, Bank of Michigan has been acquired by Level One Bank, but Najor stands strong still with a recent promotion to prove it.
Read More
By the mere nature of my career, I have had to learn an important skill — how to network. Over the years, I created a workshop on the very subject called Naturally Networking. It is now part of my consulting practice. The best place to test your networking skill is at the Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference.
Read More
Iraq held its first beauty pageant in 1972 and then went for 43 years without the competition. Then in 2015, despite harassment and death threats from those who considered it immoral, the contest resumed. The Miss Iraq 2017 pageant ceremony, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities, was held on May 25 at the Babylon Warwick Hotel in Baghdad. For the first time in history, women of Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, Chaldean/Assyrian and Yezidi origin were invited to participate together. Unfortunately, not all the communities were able to do so.
Read More
Uncertainty in Washington makes the long-term outlook for affordable health insurance murky, but it’s clear that in the short term, buying health insurance on the open market will be costly. Premiums for people buying insurance directly from health insurers are expected to skyrocket for 2018, after an average 17.2 percent increase for Michigan plans in 2017. To be clear, the huge rate increases will only affect those who buy their own insurance, “individual” plans. People insured through their employers in “group” insurance plans are somewhat insulated from the volatile market
Read MoreIn response to the Sunday, June 11 raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Iraqi leaders, activists, and organizations quickly went to work to fight the mass deportations of Iraqi nationals, mostly Christians. Bishop Francis Kalabat sent out a statement that the Church was working with many agencies to try and “stop the bleeding.” He wrote, “Many who were picked up are not hardened criminals but for the last decades have been great citizens. The Genocide bill that was just passed by Congress last week to protect Christians goes against this very thing.”
Read More
As early as 5 a.m. on Sunday June 11, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials began raids into homes, and other establishments including the beach, and even a hospital. They arrested more than 100 Iraqi nationals, mostly Christians, in the Metro Detroit area.
Read More
Summertime for many school-aged kids means sleeping in, hanging out and having fun. Although there is room for some of that, experts are encouraging parents to have some structure and a strategy for the summer.
Read More
Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Fareed Yasseen, visited the Chaldean Foundation on Saturday, April 29 for a brief meet-and-greet with members of the community. Educated in Iraq, Switzerland, and the United States, Yasseen served as the Iraqi Ambassador to France from May 2010 to when he stepped down in October 2016, and was awarded the Republican Medal of Honor.
Read MoreExpected to open next month inside Shenandoah County Club, the Chaldean Cultural Center has been more than a decade in the making but it’s a museum that covers thousands of years of Chaldean history.
Read MoreThe U.S. has about 750 military personnel in Iraq, not counting the 100 who have worked out of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad since before this crisis began. None of the 750 are engaged in ground combat, but that does not mean they are not at risk.
Read MoreOnce in a while, someone comes along that defines a generation. Michael George is as close as you can get to that kind of person. That is how Mike Sarafa describes his uncle. He is among the masses who share a similar sentiment and their own feelings about a community icon.
Read MoreInside the ballroom overlooking the golf course at Shenandoah, more than 200 people waited until after 1 a.m. on Election Day for Klint Kesto to announce his win as State Representative in the 39th District. It was an historic night. “I did not make history,” said Kesto. “We made history. I could not do this alone. Again, I say thank you.”
Read More
Justin Meram has a firm grasp of what it means to be the first Chaldean to play a professional sport in the United States. “I’m proud to say who I am,” he said. “I look at this as a great opportunity to get our community’s name out there in places where they’ve never heard of Chaldeans.”
Read MoreIt is estimated that more than 50,000 Chaldeans live on the eastside of Metropolitan Detroit, primarily in Sterling Heights and Warren, and the community is growing. To accommodate the needs of the faithful, the St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese is set to open another church.
Read More