The American Human Rights Council and the Dearborn Police Department are urging the public not to engage with outside groups expected to attend Dearborn’s city council meeting on Aug.18. Far-right influencer and activist Jake Lang may attend the meeting.

Chief of Police Issa Shahin says outside groups have come to the city to seek attention and provoke confrontations in the past. Shahin says the most powerful thing the community can do is refuse to give them an audience.

Tuesday’s council meeting is the first since Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Senate. 

Additional headlines for Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

Attorney General Nessel warns about scammers

Michigan’s attorney general says scammers posing as banks or credit unions are targeting customers.

Dana Nessel says they use spoofing technology to make their caller ID look legitimate. When the target answers the phone, the scammer claims there’s an issue with the consumer’s account and offers to resolve it in exchange for personal information they can use to steal their money.

Nessel says people who get a call they’re not expecting should hang up and call their financial institution directly.  

Healthy Homes Resource event

The Wayne County Treasurer’s Office and the City of Detroit are holding a Healthy Homes Resource and Foreclosure Prevention Event this Saturday, Aug. 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents can receive assistance with their homeowner’s property exemption application, meet with representatives from the assessor’s office, water department, and more.

Attendees will also have a chance to win a flat screen TV, gift cards and more.

Those who need a ride can call 866-313-2520 to schedule a ride with the Lyft rideshare service. The event will be held at Joesph Walker Williams Center at 8431 Rosa Parks Boulevard.  

Veterans meeting

Detroit’s Civil Rights, Inclusion, and Opportunity Department (CRIO) is hosting a Veteran’s Task Force meeting next Wednesday, Aug. 19 from 2:30-4 p.m. over Zoom.

The meeting is an opportunity for veterans to have their voices heard, share input, and tell city officials about their needs. The event is in partnership with Council member Mary Waters and the Office of Veteran Affairs.

Grant for experimental artists

The non-profit arts organization Culture Source is announcing the Flourish Fund in partnership with the Andy Worhol Foundation.

The grant supports experimental artist-organized projects in Southeast Michigan. The Fund offers six $10,000 grants toward innovative, public-facing projects across the seven counties of Southeast Michigan. 

Applications close Sept. 11.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

The 45^th annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games was held at Huntington Place in Detroit earlier this month. 

When the games began in 1981only 77 veterans gathered to participate. Now, over 500 vets compete in more than 20 events. 2026 marks the first time the games were held in Detroit and brought people from across the nation to the city.

“Detroit is proud to be home of more than 22,000 veterans,” Victoria Westbrooks addressed the crowd on behalf of Mayor Mary Sheffield. “And we are committed to supporting those who have served our nation. Hosting this milestone event is a reflection of that commitment and our city’s spirit of resilience.”

One of the many competitors was Lisa Maddox, who served in the Army for nine years. Maddox competes in many events including pickleball, table tennis, softball, basketball, field events and air pistol. She says she enjoys the wheelchairs games not only for sports, but for the unique opportunity it presents.

“There’s a camaraderie that not just having a disability but also being a veteran that is here. That is not the same in other adaptive competitions,” Maddox said.

Maddox says vets have a deep connection.

“Even though we’re different services we all went through what I call a ‘similar suck’ in BASIC training or bootcamp. It’s hell. And we all went through that BASIC training so that’s the similarity.”

William Ward served in the military for 16 years and has participated in the games for many years. At the 2026 games, he competed in the wheelchair slalom, a sort of obstacle course race.

“This is the one event that’s one of the toughest,” Ward says. “I stopped doing it for like the last two years and because it’s always a challenge, one of the hardest ones. I don’t know my results yet, but I think I did pretty good.”

 The Detroit games were the fourth for Air Force Veteran Eva De Jesus. She says the event has helped her grow as a person.

“It’s more than sports,” De Jesus says. “For me, it’s the community, the people you meet, how you see people in, sadly, worse conditions than you are and do more than you do. So, for me it’s just a learning and beautiful experience to be here.”

The 2026 Wheelchair Games’ opening ceremony was held on July 8 and it ended with a closing ceremony on July 14.

This story originally aired July 15, 2026.