A 64-year-old Dearborn man's daily battle with uncleared sidewalks has sparked a conversation about winter accessibility, while the city cracks down on snow emergency violations to keep streets safe for everyone.

Watch Faraz Javed's video report: Dearborn works to clear sidewalks and streets after snow emergency

Faraz Javed is 7 News Detroit's Dearborn beat reporter. If you have a story idea for him, email him at Faraz.Javed@wxyz.com

Kenny Rehandorf doesn't drive after a drunk driver crashed into him years ago, and right now, he can't afford a car. Working for a temp agency at $13.73 an hour, his three to four weekly grocery trips become treacherous journeys when snow falls, and sidewalks remain uncleared.

"It's people not shoveling or salting their sidewalks," Rehandorf said.

His usual 30-minute walk to Kroger on Michigan Avenue and Outer Drive can take an extra 30 minutes when sidewalks are covered in snow. The mile-long trek becomes even more dangerous when he's carrying groceries.

"I'm really frustrated, especially if I have to carry some items. I try not to bring anything breakable, like eggs or any glass, just in case I do slip and fall. At least I won't hopefully get cut," Rehandorf said.

He has fallen multiple times on his grocery runs.

When 7 News Detroit's Faraz Javed shared Rehandorf's story with Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor joined me to see the challenging path firsthand, particularly near Kroger along Outer Drive.

"For example, this is not a city road, but sometimes there are stretches of roadway, which technically nobody is responsible for shoveling, which makes it extremely difficult," Hammoud said.

The mayor acknowledged that while some areas may not be the city's governmental responsibility, Rehandorf is a Dearborn resident, making it his responsibility to find solutions.

"Kenny, we got your back, and we'll do everything that we can as Dearborn residents, as the mayor of this city, to make sure that you have a safe and easy access to and from work or to and from your grocery store," Hammoud said.

City enforces snow emergency with hundreds of tickets Watch the report on the ticketing: Dearborn issues more than 500 parking citations during snow emergency

The city's commitment to winter safety extends beyond sidewalks to street clearing. During the most recent snow emergency declared on Sunday, Dearborn police issued more than 500 citations by Monday morning to vehicles blocking snowplows.

"We have 300 miles of roadway in the city of Dearborn. We have to plow all of those streets. And so we need to get the cars off the street so that we can get emergency vehicles down the road, and that's so people can safely drive," said Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin.

Lifelong Dearborn resident Darryl Bartlett learned about the city's zero-tolerance approach the hard way, receiving a ticket last year after parking for just 25 minutes during a snow emergency.

"I totally see the benefit of moving the vehicles off the street, especially this street. Garrison is a secondary Main Street, so they plow it very quickly. They try to get this street open in case anything happens on Michigan Avenue," Bartlett said.

The enforcement isn't limited to vehicles. Residents must also clear their sidewalks and driveways within 24 hours of a snow emergency. During last week's snow emergency, about 100 citations were issued to businesses and homeowners for unshoveled sidewalks.

Communication improvements and weather challenges

Mayor Hammoud said the city has improved its communication efforts around snow emergencies, using sirens, social media, and text messages to keep residents informed. The city deploys more than 20 trucks for plowing and salting operations.

However, extremely cold temperatures present challenges for pre-treatment efforts.

"Right now in this cold of temperature, the salt below 20 degrees is actually ineffective and inefficient. And so we don't want to just pour a bunch of salt on the road and then come out and plow it off when we're plowing the snow," Hammoud said.

For residents without parking spaces during snow emergencies, the city offers help finding alternatives.

Rehandorf later texted to say he's already seeing improvements and thanked the city for listening. Mayor Hammoud encourages residents to reach out with their concerns.

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At the Epiphany Glass Studio in Pontiac, art takes on a deeply personal meaning as owner and artist April Wagner transforms cremation ashes into stunning memorial glass sculptures.

Watch Faraz's story in the video player below

Pontiac glass studio turns ashes into memorial art to help families heal from loss

"Very interestingly, human or pet bone material is super similar in chemical makeup to the makeup of our glass formula," Wagner said. "So we're able to take cremation ash and incorporate it into the glass to create one-of-a-kind artworks."

The studio has been crafting art of various shapes and sizes for years, but Wagner recently took her craft in this meaningful direction. Each piece is handcrafted, with a small portion of ashes fused into molten glass, whether ordered online or made in person during special workshops.

Wagner calls the process "healing through beauty," and for many clients, it provides a way to channel grief into something lasting and beautiful.

"People tell me that it's great to have their loved one immortalized in a piece of art or to be able to view instead of just an urn with a bunch of ash in it, something colorful," Wagner said. "If it's the shape of a heart or a flower, or in the case of a pet, if it looks like your cat with the coloration, it just really keeps that memory alive."

For Lish Dorset, creating a memorial piece for her beloved cat Ronnie became part of her healing journey. Ronnie was the first cat Dorset adopted as an adult when she moved out on her own.

"She and I were together on our own for a couple of years, and then I met my husband, she met my husband, and we were just kind of a little trio for the longest time," Dorset said.

When Ronnie passed away at age 13 on Dorset's birthday, the loss hit particularly hard.

"I wasn't expecting to spend my birthday that way, and so it was really, really difficult," Dorset said.

As part of her healing process, Dorset created a glass piece in person at the studio.

"It does make me a little bit emotional when I see it, but it's just a little piece of her and it feels like a little bit of her spirit," Dorset said. "It's just kind of moving throughout the glass piece."

Studio Manager Shannon Teeple explains that the creation process takes about 15 minutes. The studio offers an entire line of memorial pieces available on their website in different styles and colors, and twice a year, provides a unique opportunity for clients to create pieces themselves with the artists.

The workshops bring together people from different walks of life, each with their own story to tell and person to celebrate.

"When I came for the workshop that day, everyone came from a different walk of life, had a different story to tell, and a different person to celebrate," Dorset said.

For Dorset, the experience provided the closure she needed.

"It really was. And now I get to see this every day. And it's just a happy reminder," she said.

From the heat of the furnace to the cool touch of glass, these creations serve as far more than dcor they're bridges between goodbye and forever, helping families hold onto memories in a tangible, beautiful way.

To learn more, visit the studio's website at this link.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

The historic Jackson Home, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his closest advisors planned the pivotal Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965, has found a new home at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

MLK's Selma planning headquarters relocated to Henry Ford Museum after $15 million move

The single-story house, weighing roughly 150,000 pounds and spanning nearly 2,100 square feet, was transported over 850 miles from Selma, Alabama in two sections. It marks the first historic home added to Henry Ford's collection in more than 40 years and will officially open to the public this summer.

"The home in which Martin Luther King and all of his lieutenants planned the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights Act, the march that became the Voting Rights Act, in 1965," said Cynthia Jones, Director of Museum Experiences at the Henry Ford. "It's just a fascinating history because it's a history of a home, of a family that was welcoming a movement maker as a place of rest, as a place of restoration, as a place of meetings."

The preservation project began with an unexpected phone call to the museum's president from Jawana Jackson, whose parents, Dr. Sullivan and Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson were close friends and allies of Dr. King. Jawana, who knew King as "uncle Martin," dedicated herself to preserving the powerful legacy of her family's home.

"Our president got a phone call, and it was a woman named Jawana Jackson. We had never been friends with her before. We didn't know her. She called us blind," Jones said.

Over the past year and a half, museum staff have been meticulously restoring the home. The project salvaged 4,300 original bricks to restore foundations and chimneys, while preserving nearly 6,000 artifacts from the historic residence.

"The sconce was on the living room wall. And so when we look at photos like this photo of Joanna, you can see that in the background. And so we're matching these family photos, this family history to the moment so that we can share with the public all of the amazing things that happened here," Jones said.

For Jones, the most compelling aspect of the project is the family's courage during a dangerous time in civil rights history.

"That moment of choice-making, of a family that was putting their young daughter, Joanna Jackson, at risk by standing for what they believed was right," Jones said.

When the Jackson Home opens this June as part of Greenfield Village, visitors will be able to step inside and experience a key chapter of civil rights history firsthand.

"So understanding that each and every one of us has history unfolding every day in our home, I think it's going to be a lesson and a takeaway that people receive out of this," Jones said.

The relocation from Alabama to Michigan carried a price tag of approximately $15 million, with an additional $15 million required for ongoing maintenance and preservation. The museum is seeking donations to support the project's continued preservation efforts.

To learn more, click on this link:

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A new locally produced television series is providing aspiring actors in Metro Detroit with opportunities to showcase their talents while helping to revive Michigan's film industry.

Watch Faraz's report in the video player below

Local TV series gives Metro Detroit actors their big break

"Firing Line," an eight-episode series set to premiere in May, is being filmed at locations throughout the region with a budget of $50,000 per episode. The production has garnered strong support from businesses in Garden City and Westland.

For metro Detroit-based actors Felicia Hage and Taje Brandon, the series represents a dream come true. Hage, 32, moved from Moldova more than a decade ago and is experiencing her first acting role.

"This is my first time actually doing acting," Hage said. "It's a blessing for me because I never thought I'm going to experience this."

Brandon, 31, grew up in Ypsilanti and has long harbored entertainment aspirations.

"I always had dreams of being on TV, being an entertainer, period," Brandon said.

The series is co-directed by Detroit-based filmmaker Young Ra and based on a novel written by his wife, AJ Brown. Brown describes the show as a second-chance romance with relatable characters.

"I wanted it to feel like the girl next door vibe where she finds herself again while finding love at the same time," Brown said.

Young Ra and Brown have worked in filmmaking for over a decade, with one of their primary goals being to revitalize Metro Detroit's film industry. Young Ra pointed to the challenges facing local actors after Michigan lost its film tax incentives.

"Growing up, we never had an industry in Michigan. We finally got that tax break where the major studios were coming, then we lost it," Young Ra said. "So it wasn't really any work out here. I couldn't just go to a cast and call and get a cast for Chicago Fire. So I said, you know what, I'm going to start doing my own thing. If I can't get casted, I'm going to start doing the casting."

The production features both local talent and Hollywood actors, including JD Williams, Keith Robinson, Rama Montakhabi, and Chris Maher. Maher, who has experienced the struggles of pursuing an acting career, offered advice to aspiring local actors.

"Just filming anything and getting those reps in, getting some practice and getting your name known, even locally, is super important," Maher said. "Because you never know when that big production is going to roll into town. Or they say, 'hey, we need people from this area. Who do you have?'"

Maher reflected on his own challenging journey in the entertainment industry.

"Sleeping on the couches for a long time, showering in Planet Fitness. My dinner would sometimes just be like a rotisserie chicken or something for a few days," Maher said. "Those are the days, but at the same time, while I was struggling the most, I made the most monumental decisions."

Young Ra emphasized the importance of expanding one's perspective beyond local boundaries.

"You have to broaden your horizons. If I just stay stuck in Michigan and never travel, I can't tell you about nothing else. I can only tell you the story for me being in Michigan," Young Ra said. "Once I started venturing, went to New York, I went to Cali, and I started seeing different things which was possible and opportunities, it started elevating my thinking."

To learn more about "Firing Line" and get involved with other productions, visit Young Ra's Instagram @young_ra.

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Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud was sworn in for his second term Saturday alongside the city's 35th council and city clerk at a packed ceremony at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center.

Watch Faraz's report in the video player below

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud sworn in for second term, focuses on housing and growth

Hammoud, the city's first Arab American and Muslim mayor, who was re-elected in a landslide last November, outlined his administration's accomplishments and future priorities during the inauguration.

"We brought down over $100 million in additional resources for the city of Dearborn. We invested over $30 million in parks and green spaces, over $25 million in flood preparedness and prevention. We are the second safest large city in the state of Michigan," Hammoud said.

The mayor emphasized that his second term will continue focusing on public safety and city services while shifting attention toward housing development. Dearborn is one of the fastest-growing cities in Michigan and the Midwest, creating increased demand for housing stock.

"Looking forward to the second term, I think it's a continuation of the first. It's continuing to invest in green spaces that bring neighbors together to build those bonds. It's a continuation on improving our public safety efforts, our city services. But there's also going to be a shift in focus towards housing, ensuring that we have a greater housing stock," Hammoud said.

First-time Councilmember Devon O'Reilly was also sworn in during the ceremony. O'Reilly plans to focus on supporting local entrepreneurs during her term.

"I want to make sure that the Dearborn that my daughters grow up in is as amazing as the one that I grew up in," O'Reilly said.

O'Reilly addressed misconceptions about the city's diversity, noting that Dearborn has more churches than mosques and serves residents of all backgrounds.

"We've got more churches than mosques. We've got all sorts of bars and restaurants that cater to any number of individuals. We're an incredibly diverse community, and we know that here. In Dearborn, we all get along," O'Reilly said.

Community members attending the inauguration expressed enthusiasm for the new term. Pastor Rachel Kain of the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church said she looks forward to building partnerships across the diverse community.

Her husband Michael Kain praised the city's culture and walkable downtown areas, describing the community atmosphere as "intense in a very, very good way."

Hammoud acknowledged that challenges lie ahead but emphasized the importance of listening to residents and focusing on local priorities rather than outside criticism.

"Challenges will always be there. I think the game plan is to hunker down and listen to our residents, to have honest conversations, to ignore the outside noises, and to focus on the issues that matter most to our residents, and to focus on the work. Dearborn, we know who we are, and that's the way we move forward," Hammoud said.

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Police are on the scene of a home in Ypsilanti, where we're told a man has barricaded himself inside with a sword.

Watch Faraz Javed's report from the 6 a.m. show

Police standoff enters second day after man barricades himself with sword in Ypsilanti home

Neighbors tell us the man locked himself inside of his home on West Cross Street, near the First Baptist Church and less than a mile away from Eastern Michigan University, around noon on Sunday, Jan. 4.

Police tell us the standoff began as a neighbor dispute police arrived, and the man approached police with the sword before retreating back into his home. We're told the man is not a threat to the public, but residents are asked to avoid the area of Wallace Boulevard and Oakwood Street.

Neighbors say SWAT officers have been on scene since yesterday afternoon, after a wellness check turned into a standoff with a man believed to be armed with a sword.

A concerned neighbor, who did not want to be named, tells me the man practices martial arts, and that his mother-in-law lives on the first floor of the home.

"He was having a really hard week, and a wellness check was called, and its managed to escalate into basically a highly militarized situation," the neighbor said. "The SWAT has taken over our block, and occupied it, and created this perimeter and has maintained for the last 15 hours."

Throughout the day, SWAT officers have tried multiple times to make contact, at one point using flash bangs and tear gas after breaking windows on the upper floor.

Neighbors also describe seeing law enforcement deply drones and other tools in an effort to resolve the situation.

"And since theyve been doing all of that, we havent seen or heard from the man upstairs, there was one moment where he became very agitated, after they began throwing projectiles in the room. And we havent heard from him since, and that was about 5 hours ago," the neighbor told us. "I feel like the next step for us, as neighbors, is to talk about, how we want to respond to mental health crisis collectively."

Jake Vedder never let the lack of mountains in his hometown stop him from pursuing snowboarding greatness.

Watch Faraz's report in the video player

Michigan snowboarder chases Olympic dreams ahead of crucial qualifiers

The 27-year-old from Pinckney, Michigan, is a professional snowboarder who made his Olympic debut in 2022. Now he's preparing for qualifiers in China this month that could secure his spot in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

"I've been so committed at this dream since I was 13 that it's been every single day, eat, sleep, breathe, waiting for the moment to become an Olympian," Vedder said.

Vedder's journey began at age 5 when he received a snowboard for Christmas. Growing up in a state without major ski resorts, his path to professional snowboarding was far from conventional.

"For sure, I wasn't expected to be where I'm at from, again, coming from where I'm from," Vedder said. "I remember having a teacher in school who I'm like, 'I want to be a professional snowboarder.' And it's like, 'oh, that's not really a thing.'"

The turning point came when Vedder won the Youth Olympics, proving his small-town origins wouldn't limit his potential.

"I remember telling one of our big bosses on our team, I'm a dog. Like, I'm ready to fight. Like, I have that grit, that Metro Detroit grit mentality," Vedder said.

His training regimen focuses heavily on injury prevention, recognizing the dangerous nature of his sport.

"A lot of my stuff in the offseason is building up my strength, but really it's a lot of injury prevention. Like, my sport is super dangerous. You could have some guy cut you off, and you could be flying upside down over a 100-foot jump," Vedder said.

Competing as an individual athlete against the world's top 100 snowboarders every weekend means facing frequent setbacks. Vedder has learned to embrace the challenge.

"You're going to have bad days. You're not going to win. You're going to have way more losses than you are going to have wins. So like, understand that, but just know that like, when you have those wins, you're climbing 10 steps up the ladder," Vedder said.

His advice extends beyond sports to all aspects of life.

"Everyone always wants to talk about sports, but business, life, relationships, if you commit to it fully, it's all going to work out exactly how you want it to work out," Vedder said.

As he prepares for the crucial qualifiers, Vedder credits his parents as his biggest supporters.

"The amount of sacrifice they've made for me and to believe, again, believing in this dream of where we're from, a spot with no mountains and no one's really done it in our area, their support is unmatched for sure," Vedder said.

With his sights set on Italy 2026, Vedder remains confident in his abilities.

"I'm ready to just go out there and perform my best. Like, I perform my best when I'm just level-headed and feeling good. I'm dangerous right now," Vedder said.

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