The Arbor Day Foundation has renewed Dearborn’s “Tree City USA” status for its efforts to maintain a healthy tree canopy. 

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Timothy Hawkins, Dearborn’s public works director, says the city has kept the title for 38 years. 

“We continually make the investment to be a Tree City, and we continually plant more than we remove to maintain our tree city status,” Hawkins said.

He says the city planted 1,200 trees in 2024 and removed about a 1,000 due to disease or construction.

To qualify for Tree City USA status, cities must adhere to the standards laid out by the Arbor Day Foundation, including maintaining a dedicated department for tree management, passing a tree care ordinance, and spending a minimum of $2 per capita annually on its forestry program.

“We’re proud of this designation and plan on keeping our status as a Tree City USA community for many years to come,” said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud in a news release. “We understand the importance of trees not just to our neighborhoods, but to public health and air quality, which is why we’re intentional in our tree planting efforts.”

Other headlines for Thursday, June 5, 2025:

• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says there’s an increase in recreational nitrous oxide use, or laughing gas, leading to more emergency room visits.
• Detroit’s Kronk Gym is making its return to the city under new management and at a new location — the Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center.
• Smoke from Canadian wildfires will linger over metro Detroit through the first half of the day on Friday. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has issued air quality alerts for the entire Lower Peninsula and the eastern Upper Peninsula.
• Outlier Media is hosting an audio recording training with Detroit Documenter and assistant producer for WDET’s The Metro, Jack Filbrandt. The training will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. June 12 at Tech Town.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

On this episode of Detroit Evening Report Weekends, we listen to the last story in WDET reporter Nargis Rahman’s series Shustho. 

The four-part series explores the barriers Bangladeshi women face in accessing high-quality health care, and efforts to bridge those gaps. 

Michigan is home to the third largest population of Bangladeshis in the U.S., most living in the metro Detroit area. 

In this story, we discuss how Bangladeshi mental health care workers are working toward breaking the stigma and filling the gap for more counselors in the Bangladeshi community. 

Listen to the episode using the media player above. 

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The Embassy of Bangladesh returns to Michigan for another mobile consular services pop-up. Plus, the City of Detroit is hosting the Detroit Senior Olympics. Read on to learn more. 

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Embassy of Bangladesh pop-up

The Embassy of Bangladesh is returning to Michigan for another mobile consular services pop-up. The next one will be held May 31 through June 1 at the Al Ihsan Islamic Center in Warren. The event will include walk-in services on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents from surrounding states are also welcome to attend. 

The following services will be provided in the consular pop-up:

• Issuance of No Visa Required (NVR) Seal
• Biometric Enrollment of E-Passport Application
• Power of Attorney/Attestation

For more information about each service, check the mobile consular camp notice.

Detroit Senior Olympics

The City of Detroit is hosting an event for seniors next month. The Detroit Senior Olympics takes place June 9–14. Participants must be 49 or older and can compete in categories like arts and crafts, baking, and sports. The event takes place at multiple locations.  An awards dinner for competitors will take place in July. Register by Thursday, May 15 at tinyurl.com/detroitsenolympics. 

Generational wealth workshop

Outlier Media is hosting a workshop this week on generational wealth. The workshop goes over how to build generational wealth for you and your family. Participants will also learn how to build credit, buy a home and become financially responsible. The workshop takes place this Thursday, May 15 from 5–7 p.m. at TechTown Detroit, 440 Burroughs Street. Visit outliermedia.org for more information. 

Rising Voices meeting

The nonprofit Rising Voices is hosting monthly meetings. The next meeting will deal with issues of importance for Asian Americans, and will take place at TechTown Detroit on Thursday, May 15 from 6–7:30 p.m. Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month. Register at bit.ly/RVMonthlyMeeting. 

Foster parents needed

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is raising awareness for Foster Care Month. About 10,000 kids are in the foster care system in Michigan — 200 of whom need permanent placements. MDHHS is looking for people to become foster care parents. For more information, visit Michigan.gov/HopeForAHome. 

Elder care workshop

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is hosting a workshop to share results of a new report on elders and housing. The webinar will go over Muslim family life and the responsibilities of caring for elders. Organizers will discuss integrating the intergenerational care framework into schooling and housing, and increasing culturally competent services. The webinar takes place on Zoom on Thursday, May 22 at 1 p.m. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Michigan has now moved to universal blood lead testing for children under six years old through universal testing. 

Lead is a naturally occurring toxin that harms children, impacting their health and development.  

Angela Medina, care coordination section manager at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), said children can get assistance if they have elevated blood lead levels.

“Previous to universal testing, Michigan was considered a targeted testing state, meaning all children that are enrolled in Medicaid should be tested for lead at ages one and two, and all other children not enrolled in Medicaid should have a conversation, their parents should have a conversation with health care providers about certain risk factors to determine if they’re at risk for lead exposure, and if they are, then they should be tested,” she said.

However, now with universal testing, the requirement is now that physicians test all children at ages one and two, regardless of their insurance.

Children with elevated blood lead levels, at 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or higher, are eligible for MDHHS services and through other local health departments to lower the blood lead level.

That includes in-home nursing case management to educate families about nutrition and safe cleaning, and connecting with the lead Safe Home Program for an environmental investigation to identify the source of exposure to remove it, she explained.

The new changes expand the coverage for all children under 6 years old to get tested, including those on all insurance plans.

“The only way to know if you have an exposure to lead is to have your blood tested, and the only way to treat is to remove that exposure source. If a child is being exposed to lead, it’s very important that we go through these processes to identify and remove that exposure so they can continue to grow and develop in a healthy way,” she said.

She said children should get tested at 12 months, and then again at 24 months.

“This is typically when exposure levels peak for most children. So both of those testing intervals are very important to make sure the child continues not to be exposed to lead,” she expanded.

Medina says the new expansion of coverage will allow more kids to get tested.  She said this is preventative health service under the federal Affordable Care Act.

“It must be covered without any additional co-payments or co-insurance charges,” she said. “Most private insurance is covered by the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid also covers blood lead testing, so insurance companies should cover the cost of the blood lead test the children are receiving.”

She said if you have a child who’s never been tested for lead and they are under the age of six, talk to your health care provider about getting tested.  

For more information, visit michigan.gov/mileadsafe. 

The Michigan Global Talent Initiative released a report saying Michigan is on track to add 125,000 college-educated immigrants to the state’s job market as part of the state’s Sixty by 30 goal.

The goal aims to have 60% of Michigan’s workforce to obtain a post-secondary degree or professional credential by 2030.

Steve Tobocman, executive director at Global Detroit, says the state has added nearly 55,000 new college educated foreign born individuals, or immigrants, to the job market since 2019.

“We created an ambitious plan with business and state government and local Chambers of Commerce to almost double that and raise the number of high-skilled immigrants joining the Michigan economy to 120,000 to 125,000 by the year 2030,” he said.

Tobocman says Michigan is also the first state to develop a comprehensive immigrant inclusion strategy to help the group reach its goals.

“If we had done nothing, had no strategy around immigrant talent, we probably would have added 65,000 college-educated immigrant workers to the workforce by 2030, which would roughly mean about 12% of the overall goal,” he said,

Tobocman says Michigan has over 38,000 international students who account for 70% of the graduate school students in advanced STEM fields. However, students need support to integrate into jobs and stay in Michigan post-graduation.

“While the nation is having its own debates about border security and the right frame of immigration, this kind of talent initiative is one that has received bipartisan support, that the first appropriations happened under the Republican legislature,” he said.

Still, he says, the initiative is seeking funding to continue these programs.

From May 20-22, Global Detroit and the city of Detroit will co-host “Welcoming Interactive,” gathering leaders to welcome immigrants and provide resources.

Tobocman’s conversation with WDET’s Nargis Rahman was featured on The Metro this week. Take a listen below.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has expanded its support for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. 

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The National Institute of Justice reports that four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced domestic violence.  

Lorna Elliott-Egan is the director of tribal government services and policy at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She says there are about 4,000 open cases in Michigan of MMIPs. 

“When we look at Native American data, we generally know that the impact is much more than the data reflects, because it’s not always easy to collect those numbers,” she said. “You can’t look at your neighbor and know whether they’re Native American or not, unless they tell you and are they enrolled in a tribe.”

Elliott-Egan says there is grant funding for domestic violence and crime victim programs for members of the 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan. 

“They have their own domestic violence programs, human services programs, health clinics, their own tribal police, and so each one of those tribes is working sort of off of a federal template to create a murdered and missing indigenous persons plan for When these things occur,” she said.

Elliot-Egan says the state is working on a resource hub for Native American residents to find information in one place. 

Other headlines for Thursday, May 8, 2025:

• The TRUE Community Credit Union is providing $75,000 over five years to the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) to set up a recovery center for substance use disorders.   
• The Hamtramck Drug Free Community Coalition is hosting its 16th Annual Hamtramck Health Hike from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 17. The first 400 people will receive freebies. Register at tinyurl.com/HealthHike. 
• The city of Warren is hosting its second annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Celebration from 12-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, at the Warren Community Center, 5460 Arden Ave. The event will feature music, food and vendors.
• The supermarket La Jalisciense is expanding to Taylor, Michigan. The supermarket offers Mexican cafeteria style foods and groceries. The new store, La Jali, is an expansion of its Southwest Detroit store that’s been family run for over a decade. The new store is located at 9411 Telegraph Rd.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

University of Michigan President Santa Ono says he’s leaving Ann Arbor to take the same job at the University of Florida this summer.

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Ono announced the move in an email to the U-M community Sunday night. He said it’s been an honor to lead the school, which hired him away from the University of Cincinnati in 2022. 

Ono faces a lawsuit from eight former U-M workers accusing the school of firing them over their support for Palestinians.

The Detroit News reports the plaintiffs are also suing the Board of Regents and other administrators, alleging the university violated their First Amendment right to protest.

Three of the former employees took part in a sit-in at the president’s office. The other five demonstrated outside the U-M art museum. A spokesperson had no comment on the case. 

–Reporting by Pat Batcheller, WDET News

More headlines for Monday, May 5, 2025:

• The Michigan Global Talent Initiative wants 60% of the state’s workforce to get a post-secondary education or professional certificate by 2030.
• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is joining efforts to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day on May 5.
• The Division of Victim Services provides grant funding to federally recognized tribes for domestic violence through the StrongHearts Native Helpline, an anonymous confidential hotline for Native Americans and Alaska Natives. To contact the helpline, call 1-844-7Native or visit strongheartshelpline.org to chat.
• The city of Detroit is launching a Summer Youth Arts Employment Training Initiative to train and hire teens for summer jobs.
• Dearborn’s Economic Development Department and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce is hosting a resource fair from 4-8 p.m Wednesday, May 14, at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.