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noteworthy NOTEWORTHY continued from page 13 the Christian minority and secular Muslims worried that religious extremism is growing in the country. The Najaf provincial council’s decision followed a similar measure taken in August by authorities in the southern port city of Basra. Violators will stand trial. – Associated Press Iraqi Christians Seek Seat Quota in Next Legislature Representatives of Iraq’s Christian community are demanding that legislative-seat quotas for Christians and other minority communities should be established in the new election law, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports. Lawmaker Yonadam Kanna, general secretary of the Democratic Assyrian Movement, told RFI that “a five-seat quota has been proposed for the Christian community in the draft election law, which is the same number granted under the provincial-elections law.” He said this quota is “the bare-minimum” alternative to implementing a proportional-representation system. Lawmaker Khalid al-Asadi, of the Shi’ite United Iraqi Alliance, told RFI that “a quota of one seat should be allocated to each minority group.” Al-Asadi added that communities that feel they should have more seats should “contest the elections just like other major communities.” Hikmat al-Hakim, a spokesman for the Higher Committee of Roman Catholic Chaldean Organizations in Iraq, told RFI that if the five-seat proposal is rejected, “the Christian community will initiate talks with the major blocs on the possibility of joining them in return for higher representation.” He said a coalition with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law list is possible. – Reprinted with permission of the Assyrian International News Agency (aina.org). People In the News Omar George was the lone Chaldean in this year’s 40 Under 40 list from Crain’s Detroit Business. As the founder of Waste One Management in Clinton Township, George “has made a career of turning trash into cash,” Omar George Randall A. Denha Jay Yasso Crain’s said in its October 5 issue. The firm, which started in 2008, has about 1,000 clients and revenue of .5 million – a number George expects to double next year. Randall A. Denha and Jay Yasso have been named 2009 Michigan Super Lawyers. Dehna was named a Rising Star in Estate Planning and Probate. He is an attorney with Giarmarco Mullins & Horton, PC in Troy and has just announced that he will start his own practice in Birmingham early next year. Yasso got the nod in the Entertainment and Sports category. He practices with Hertz Schram PC in Bloomfield Hills. The Michigan Super Lawyers selection and approval process is solely based on peer review and votes. Asker Perlmuter, PLC has partnered with James Y. Rayis, who has joined the firm’s law practices in business and commercial, international, corporate, corporate government and government contract/procurement law. Rayis was previously director of Global Justice Project Iraq, a U.S. State Department-funded program analyzing and advising James Y. Rayis Jibran (“Jim”) Manna on the independence of the Iraqi judiciary and legal structures. He is a former partner at large law firms in Detroit and Atlanta. Jibran (“Jim”) Manna has rejoined Re/Max Classic as an associate broker in the Farmington Hill office. 14 CHALDEAN NEWS NOVEMBER 2009
Community Bulletin Board Good Eats Norman Acho has opened INYO, a Pan-Asian restaurant on Woodward Avenue in downtown Ferndale. The restaurant puts an emphasis on Asian/European ingredients with a contemporary flair from chef Kenny Wee. Inyo also has a full bar with extensive wines and saki choices and a signature martini list. Visit www.inyorestaurant.com. Look Out Rachael Ray! Chaldean cookbook author Samira Cholagh demonstrated how to prepare her eggplant salad live on Fox2 News on October 6. That salad as well as Cholagh’s potato chop and kibbie were on sale at Hiller’s Markets through October 19 with proceeds benefitting the Chaldean Foundation of America’s Adopt-a-Refugee Family Program. Cholagh is the author of Treasured Mideast Cookbook. Terrific Two Supporters of the Adopt-A-Refugee-Family celebrated the program’s second anniversary at a party on October 16. Among the speakers that evening was Fr. Frank Kalabat of St. Thomas Chaldean Church. The Chaldean Federation of America program helps thousands of families who have fled Iraq and now live in squalid conditions in countries like Jordan and Lebanon. Learn more at www.adoptarefugeefamily.org. Mr. President Devone Mansour has been elected Executive Board President of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The four-year position entails representing the medical student body at national meetings, presiding over meetings with administrators, faculty and students; and advising MSU’s medical school expansion campuses at the Detroit Medical Center and Macomb University Center. The son of Hilal and Rozana (Ikhlas) Mansour is focusing on anesthesiology and international health in med school. The Good Fight Many Chaldeans were among the hundreds of women who attended the Fifth Annual Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Friends luncheon on September 30 at Shenandoah Country Club. The event raises funds for the Francee & Benson Ford Jr. Breast Care & Wellness Center at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. Pictured here are Jen Martin and Michelle Jonna with keynote speaker Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker (left), and Suzie Sarafa Nelson and Karen Yono. Making Strides The Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce put together a team for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event on October 10. More than 20 chamber members walked five miles around Belle Isle Park in Detroit and raised nearly ,000 in the process for the American Cancer Society – the third highest of any group. Sandra Hanna and Sharon Hannawa organized the team, Faye Burke raised the most funds (,185), and Ron Asmar of Vineyards Deli is donating a portion of proceeds from sales of Flax Bars to the team. You can still donate to the cause until November 30 by visiting www.cancer.org/stridesonline and searching for Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. Have an item for the Bulletin Board? Send it to Chaldean News, 29850 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, MI 48034, or e-mail info@chaldeannews.com. NOVEMBER 2009 CHALDEAN NEWS 15
