Domino’s founder to build new town, university

Naples, Fla. ” The founder of Domino’s Pizza plans to build a Roman Catholic university and college town covering more than 5,000 acres in southwest Florida.

Tom Monaghan, who also formerly owned the Detroit Tigers, announced Nov. 20 that the developer, Barron Collier Cos., will donate 750 acres to build the town near Naples.

The school will be called Ave Maria University.

It will be the latest of Monaghan’s Catholic schools and organizations, including Ave Maria School of Law, Ave Maria College, a convent and a foundation called the Ave Maria Foundation. They are located in southeastern Michigan.

Monaghan said he started the foundation in 1983 “to help get as many people to heaven as possible.”

Muslim teens balance sports, Ramadan

Detroit ” For Muslim teens who play high school sports, observing Ramadan and its monthlong fasting from sunrise to sunset is a challenge.

The holiday began this year on Nov. 6, during football playoffs and other games. Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk during what they consider their holiest time of the year.

Despite the difficulties, many in the Detroit area are running, tackling and winning games on empty stomachs and parched throats.

“You get tired,” said Abdullah Babar, a 17-year-old senior at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High. “You get really tired fast.”

The Detroit area has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States.

In Dearborn, all but four of the 65 players at Fordson High School football team are Muslim. Fordson coach Jeff Stergalas said Ramadan, based on a lunar calendar, fell this year right before a tough playoff game. He arranged a dinner so his players could break their fast together after playing.

Babar also played with his team in a playoff game this month. He practiced all week without food and water, and kept the fast on game day.

United Methodist pastor detained in West Bank

Jerusalem ” A United Methodist pastor from Washington state was among a group of protesters detained after demonstrating against Israel’s construction of a security fence near the West Bank town of Tullkarem.

The Rev. Gordon Hutchins said he was released Nov. 19 after four days in custody and rejoined the Lutheran group he had been traveling with.

“The people of Palestine are being systematically destroyed,” he told United Methodist News Service.