Brooklyn, NY - Williamsburg Among the Worst Unhealthy Neighborhoods

Brooklyn, NY - The city Health Department released a study done by a survey, on more than a dozen medical indicators in the New York City's communities. As part of the survey, residents across the city were asked to rate their health conditions and those of their neighbors.

The study, by city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden, notes that a stunning 43 percent of residents in Williamsburg/Bushwick rated their health as fair or poor.
Nearly one-third of residents in Williamsburg/Bushwick area are obese, 56 percent don't exercise at all, one-third are without a regular doctor, and nearly 4 in 10 are uninsured/underinsured.
Such unhealthy environments are "bad for kids," said Claire Barnett, of the New York Healthy Schools Network. "If you're not healthy emerging out of childhood," she said, "it's going to be harder to become a healthy adult."

Brooklyn, NY - City Impressed by Large Rock Found in Neighborhood

Brooklyn, NY - A Brooklyn neighborhood is welcoming a large rock.

The seven-foot high boulder appeared on a street in Fort Greene, and was pulled from the ground by a contractor digging a new sewer line.
Residents of Vanderbilt Avenue are stopping by to visit the rock, which will eventually find a new home at a Queens park. "Maybe it wouldn't be a big deal if I lived in Colorado and there were mountains," said Susan Raskin, who can see the rock from her front door. "But I live here. This is a big thing."

The jagged boulder weighs about 10 tons. City officials were so impressed by the rock that they decided to save it. The Parks Department will relocate the boulder to a new park in the Elmhurst section of Queens. "A rock of this size and scale is just perfect for what we're trying to do," said Queens park commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski. "We're very excited about this rock."

Woodbridge, CT - Woman Accused Of Embezzlement Located by Police

Woodbridge, CT - A secretary convicted of embezzling money from a Jewish center, was arrested after police found her living under another name in the area.

Patricia Hubyk, 56, of Robert Treat Drive in Orange, was arrested on third-degree larceny charge based on a complaint filed by the Jewish Community Center on Amity Road.
Hubyk is accused of stealing $4,839 from the center while working as an accounting assistant there. Over a four-month period, Hubyk skimmed donations and membership fees that she was supposed to deposit in the bank, police said. The center filed the complaint alleging the missing funds shortly after Hubyk left the job.

After obtaining an arrest warrant for Hubyk, police had difficulty locating her. But investigators recently discovered that Hubyk was living under an assumed name in an Orange apartment. When officers arrived, Hubyk knew why they were there, police said. "She told us her real name and said she knew what it was all about," said Woodbridge police Sgt. Frank Cappiello.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Commercial Burglary+

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY +Commercial Burglary+ NYPD of the 90th Pct on the scene requested ESU for help in a perp search of a possible burglary this morning in a commercial establishment at 111 Lee Avenue and Williamsburg Street East.

Manhattan, NY - Suspicious Substance Found in Former President Clinton's Office

Manhattan, NY - NYPD from the 28th Pct and Secret Service agents were all on the scene late Friday for a suspicious white powdery substance found at former President Clinton's office in the Harlem section of Manhattan.

A staff member opened a package delivered to the former president's office that contained the white powdery substance and a letter, and called authorities, said Secret Service spokesman Richard Staropoli. He described the letter as a "rambling diatribe," but would not say if it contained threats. Clinton wasn't in the office at the time, but was in the city. "The situation has not affected the president or Mrs. Clinton in any way whatsoever," Staropoli said.

Police and ESU were called to the office building at 55 West 125th Streett, and said that it appeared that the powder was intentionally placed in the package, but it was not a large enough amount to cause a cloud, but they were trying to decide whether they would need to decontaminate any of the 47 people who were on the floors where the package was being held as a precaution. Officials determined through a field test that the substance was inert and not toxic.
The package was turned over to the Secret Service for investigation, but officials would not comment on the specifics of the letter, how it was addressed, who sent it, or the type of substance found in the package.

Clinton signed a 10-year lease for the 8,300 square foot penthouse floor of the 14-story building in 2001. The Secret Service takes up 300 square feet of the space.

Queens, NY +Pipe Bomb Explosion+

Queens, NY +Pipe Bomb Explosion+ NYPD of the 102nd Pct on the scene callinig for a level one mobilization for pipe bombs that were found at 85th Road and 75th Avenue, one bomb has exploded additional bombs are on location, Bomb Squad on the scene and FD is standing by.

Woodbury, NY +Route 17 Traffic Alert+

Woodbury, NY +Route 17 Traffic Alert+ Expect larger than normal traffic delays at the Harriman Toll Plaza due to a motor vehicle accident on Route 17, use caution.

Lakewood, NJ +MVA Hit-N-Run+

Lakewood, NJ +MVA Hit-N-Run+ A deer was struck by a vehicle on North Lake Drive near Hope Road, but was gone when police arrived.

Nathan Zlikovitz of Lakewood called police to report the accident, which happened as he was driving on North Lake Drive, said Sgt. Robert Smith. Patrolman Robert Anderson responded to the accident and is investigating, Smith said.
The deer ran off after being struck, Smith said. Zlikovitz was able to drive his car from the scene of the accident, Smith said.

Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Package+

Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Package+ The US Secret Service and the NYPD of the 19th Pct are on the scene at 540 Park Avenue and East 63rd Street at the Regency Hotel with two suspicious packages out side the hotel, FD Bat. 12 and NYPD ESU division are all on the scene awaiting the arrival of the Bomb Squad, EMS enroute.
Level one mobilization has been called for traffic control.

U/D: 11:19
Bomb Squad properly identified the tow packages.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada - Committee To Look Into Chassidic Schools

Montreal, Quebec, Canada - Charley Levy, the executive director of the Association of Jewish Day Schools, has been appointed to a Quebec government committee formed to study children from minority groups within the province’s school system.

It’s expected that one of the issues the consultative body will examine is chassidic schools that are operating without a permit and whose students are not being taught the province’s mandatory curriculum.
Levy said that the education ministry has told him of three schools that are allegedly not obeying the law: the secondary schools for boys operated by the Skver and Belzer communities, and the Rabbinical College of Canada’s high school, which is under Lubavitch auspices. They have a total of about 400 students, he said.

Not only are these schools unlicensed, they are not following the Regime Pedagogique. The Education Act stipulates that all children in Quebec from six to 16 years of age must be in a legal school program and taught the mandatory curriculum. This applies equally to schools receiving government funding or not, and to children who are home-schooled.
At the three schools in question, high school-age boys concentrate on religious studies.

New York, NY - Weekend Wind Could Turn Wicked

New York, NY - Strong winds could do mischief with power lines tomorrow night and Sunday across the New York City and Long Island areas.

Residents should pull in outside furniture and anything else that could be damaged or blown away by the wind and do damage.
The forecast calls for heavy rain and strong gusty winds overnight into Sunday that could gust up to 50-60 MPH especially over the Eastern Long Island coastline, tree and power line damage is likely. While the rain will end on Saturday the strong winds will continue into Sunday.

London - Integration Aside When Blair Opens Jewish School

London - Prime Minister Tony Blair came to the opening of the ultra-Orthodox girls school Yesodei Hatorah, but the irony was inescapable. A week earlier, the minister of education declared that religious schools must take at least 25 percent of pupils from other faiths into their programs. Indeed, at a time when the British policy of multi-culturalism is coming under intense scrutiny, Blair was at the opening of an institution of a community that has flourished under multi-culturalism.

Addressing a crowd of community leaders, Blair said that "a faith school is about people celebrating their faith, the faith they believe in and guides their life, but doing so in a way that is entirely compatible with being full members of British society. This is the right way for this balance to be struck.

‪The Jewish community in Britain, which comprises nearly 300,000 members, experienced some anxiety last week. As part of the new education program, the Blair government announced that faith-based institutions would have to include in their student population at least 25 percent pupils of different faiths.
Even though the education minister said this would apply to new schools that receive government funding, rumors circulated that this would be broadened to apply to private schools as well. And the Jewish communities became concerned that this would endanger their schools.
In Britain, there are more than 37,000 Jewish pupils, studying in 37 religious schools and receiving generous support from the government. These schools are committed to adopting a British curriculum and are subject to oversight by the Education Ministry.
In return, the schools receive up to 90 percent funding toward the building of the school and teachers' salaries.

Monsey, NY - Large Turnout To Oppose Proposed Wal-Mart

Monsey, NY - The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter on Route 59 in Monsey would lead to as many as 3 million vehicles visiting it a year, a traffic engineer said at a meeting at the Spring Valley Village Hall.

Brian Ketcham said an average day would find 8,000 vehicles at the new Wal-Mart, with up to 10,500 at the store on Sundays.
There would be more traffic, more intensely felt on Route 59 as well as nearby local roads, over longer periods of time, he said. "The consequences are huge," said Ketcham, a Brooklyn traffic and environmental engineer who was hired by the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, which opposes the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The alliance, a Manhattan-based group that says it fights for the rights of small businesses, sponsored a public information forum at Spring Valley Village Hall, where people like Ketcham exclusively pointed out the negative effects the box store would have on traffic, public safety, air quality and the local economy. "We are not here to lay out the pros and cons, so much as the cons," alliance director Richard Lipsky told the 200 people who packed the auditorium.

The proposed 215,000-square-foot store would be built on the 22-acre site of the former Rockland Drive-In Theater in Monsey. It would have a full-service grocery, a 1,750-square-foot gas station, a tire-lubrication service area and 992 parking spots, and would add 500 jobs to the area and could revitalize a section of the Route 59 shopping district, the developer, National Realty & Development Corp. of Purchase, has said.
But Spring Valley Deputy Mayor Noramie Jasmin opposed it because they had local concerns. "It will kill our community," she said.

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY +Child Struck+

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY +Child Struck+ A motor vehicle accident with a child that was hit by a bus in front of 1578 Union street And Troy Avenue, Hatzolah responding to the scene.

U/D: 08:49
Hatzolah cannceling additional units, city on the scene.

Mahopac, NY +Parking Rage+

Mahopac, NY - A shopkeeper got so angry about the way a man had parked his car that he climbed into a forklift, placed the fork under the car and lifted it off the ground.

W. Safrah, 51, of Ossining, also punched out both the offending car and the man who parked it, said Lt. Brian Karst of the Carmel police. He was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and assault.

Karst said the episode was at a strip mall on Route 6 in Mahopac. Safrah felt the car, though legally parked, was blocking his access to a storage container or trash bin and got into a heated argument with the driver, who was an employee of another store and was no longer in the car.  Safrah then punched the side of the vehicle, denting it. Then he took the controls of a forklift in the parking lot, maneuvered its lifting mechanism under the car and lifted it upward. The car was not moved out of the parking spot, however.  
After lifting the car, Safrah punched the driver in the mouth. The victim was injured but not seriously, Karst said.

The car was eventually lowered from the forklift.  Safrah was released pending an appearance in Carmel Town Court, still to be scheduled.

Lakewood, NJ - Landlords Protest $3,000 Fine at mayor's Residence

Lakewood, NJ - A crowd of about 40 Orthodox Jewish men railed against the political establishment, in the front yard of the mayor's home. "This has never happened before," said one man after another.

What sparked the protest at Mayor Meir Licht-enstein's 14th Street home was outrage about a Municipal Court decision.
"I don't know why they came to my house, why this was about me. This was a judge's decision. I think it's despicable that people come to someone's house like that, harassing my family," Lichtenstein said.

Municipal Court Judge Philip Miller found a member of the Lakewood Landlords Association guilty of failing to obtain certificates of occupancy for a rental property and overcrowding. In all, he was fined $3,000 and ordered to serve 40 days in jail. The jail sentence was stayed, giving the landlord time to appeal the verdict and obtain the necessary COs, the attorney for the group said.
"He's shocked to say the least. People with DWIs are getting off with fines," said Marcel Katz, a founding member of the landlord association, which is suing the township in Superior Court.
More than 40 landlords allege that Lakewood quality-of-life ordinances are unconstitutionally vague. The landlords say they're being held responsible for the wrongdoing of tenants, who violate leases and don't follow codes, and should be the ones who are fined.

In the meantime, the township is moving forward with the prosecution of code violation summonses, which carry fines as high as $750 each.

Zamberk, Czech - Teen Blamed For Vandalism at Jewish Cemetery

Zamberk, Czech - A 14-year-old boy with mental illness has been blamed for vandalizing the Jewish cemetery in the north-central Czech Republic.
Due to his condition, the unidentified boy will not face prosecution for pushing over or breaking 53 gravestones during the desecration at the 18th-century cemetery in Zamberk, near the Czech-Polish border, said Usti nad Orlici police spokeswoman Eva Sichrova.

Similar desecrations at Jewish cemeteries in other parts of the country have been blamed on right-wing extremists. But in this case "it was only a 14-year-old student from a special school who suffers from mental illness," Sichrova said.

New London, CT - Plot To Steal Nuclear Submarine Uncovered by FBI

New London, CT - The FBI uncovered a plot to steal the nuclear submarine, Trepang – one of America's newest and sail it off from its base in New London, Connecticut, in to the Atlantic and sell it, and that also allegedly involved launching a missile attack on a major East Coast city as a diversion.

Brooklyn, NY +Officer Shot+

Brooklyn, NY +Officer Shot+ Three people including a police officer have been shot at 14 Auburn Place and North Elliot (88th Pct) EMS requested forthwith and additional units to respond for crowd control, ESU enroute.

Officer being transported by RMP escorted by Highway units over the Brooklyn Bridge to Bellvue Hospital, NYPD level one mobilization has been called, Major crime scene investigation on going, Aviation on scene for air-mail watch.

Perp possibly pulled officers weapon and shot him in the leg.

Livingston Manor, NY +Counterfeit Money Printing Operation Ceased by FBI

Livingston Manor, NY - The FBI and the office of the sherrif mike shiff has shut down a massive operation of a couple from Monticello, NY that was printing fake but very realistic looking US dollar bills in Livingston Mannor, NY, The couple was arrested by the FBI.

Also are the New York State Police Detectives Squad investigating a few other people from the Hudson Valley Area that where involved in this operation. We urge retailers in Orange and Sullivan counties to be on the look out for fake bills which looks very real, said a spokesperson for the NY State Police.

Palm Springs, CA - Firefighters Killed and Residents Evacuated In Fast Desert Fire

Palm Springs, CA - Three firefighters were killed and two critically injured and more than 200 residents were ordered to leave their homes as a fast-moving brush fire threatened two small communities in the desert near Palm Springs, fire officials said.

Whipped by warm gusting winds, the Esperanza fire started shortly after midnight and later had spread to 4500 acres, Riverside County Fire information officials said.

U/D: 15:57
Fire officials say that they believe the cause of the Fire is arson and the burned out fire truck where three firefighters died this morning has been declared a crime scene.
400 people are trapped at a recreational parking lot surrounded by fire, firefighters have zero control over the fire.

U/D: 17:08
Another fire Fighter has died, and a 5th is in very serious condition.

U/D: 18:06
Up to 3000 Firefighters are combating the blaze to help battled the 10,000 Acres that's on fire.
The FBI and ATF are on the scene, with many more agents enroute.
ATF said that a professional arsonist started this fire with the intention to cause massive damage. And a reward of 100K is offered for finding the person who set this.

U/D: 23:18
Fire has been 5% contained. 24,000 Acres, and 15 miles of fire are still burning.

FBI says they are reciving numors leads.

Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A motor vehicle accident with a pedestrian that was struck on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue "P" Hatzolah responding.

New York - DOT To Install Route 17 Barriers Ahead of Schedule

New York - The state Department of Transportation is responding to a rash of crossover head-on crashes on Route 17 with promises to install $10 million worth of barriers by the spring - two years ahead of schedule.

The DOT, under pressure from the public after six people have been killed in crossover head-on crashes in the past 15 months, said that the first stretch of Route 17 to get the barriers will be from the road's interchange with I-84 to the New York State Thruway in Harriman.
The DOT said it is also considering reducing the speed limit to 55 if engineering data supports the change. The speed limit on Route 17 was raised to 65 from 55 in May 2004, and they are also working with the state police on enhanced enforcement in the Route 17 corridor. "A critical component of our efforts must be a fundamental change in driver behavior," said DOT Regional Director Robert Dennison. "Many of these devastating accidents have occurred due to drivers traveling at high rates of speed. It is incumbent upon drivers to pay attention to posted speed limits and other safety measures."

Some 13 people have died in Orange and Sullivan counties since 1994 in crashes involving cars crossing the grassy median on Route 17 and colliding head-on into cars.

Moscow, Russia +Cargo Ship Has Problem Docking to Space Station+

Moscow, Russia - Russia says that a faulty antenna has prevented a cargo ship from fully hooking up to the international space station.

U/D: 14:51
Cargo ship has linked securely with space station.

Vladivostok, Russia - Vandals Profane Synagogue

Vladivostok, Russia - Unknown people have scribbled profane words and painted fascist symbols on the walls and the door of a synagogue in Vladivostok.

Vladivostok rabbi Israel Zilberstein discovered the act of vandalism this morning upon arriving at the synagogue.
The rabbi is currently preparing an appeal to law enforcement and the Vladivostok administration.

Five days ago Vladivostok witnessed a meeting of skinheads, Zilberstein said, adding that the meeting and the act of vandalism could be linked.

New York, NY - More and More Human Bones Are Being Found at WTC

New York, NY - Human skulls, ribs, vertebra, teeth and other bones are being found in recent days at the World Trade Center terror attack site, and they have been shielded from the elements and are so well-preserved that experts predict they will yield decent DNA. 

The body parts are believed to belong to Sept. 11, 2001 trade center victims, 40 percent of whom still have not had any remains identified more than five years after the attack. That could change when scientists analyze the new bones — found after utility workers doing routine labor opened up an inactive manhole that had been paved over and forgotten.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +MVA/Traffic Alert+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +MVA/Traffic Alert+ A serious motor vehicle accident on 18th Avenue and 50th Street medics requested, avoid the area.

Tiburon, CA - Synagogue Expansion Debated

Tiburon, CA - A passionate Tiburon crowd clashed over a controversial synagogue expansion proposal that proponents call a matter of religious freedom.

More than 300 people packed a room to hear discussion on the contentious plan to expand Congregation Kol Shofar with a new multipurpose room, kitchen and four new classrooms.
Lavey Derby, the congregation's senior rabbi, said he can't fathom how Jewish people could be denied access to practicing Judaism in adequate conditions. But neighbors say the project is simply too big and overly ambitious.

The Tiburon City Council is expected to make its decision on the project at its November 15th meeting.

Queens, NY +MVA/Traffic Alert+

Queens, NY +MVA/Traffic Alert+ A motor vehicle accident with injuries on the north bound lanes of the Van Wyck Expressway right before the Long Island Expressway, Hatzolah on the scene.

South Blooming Grove - New Village Seeks to Draft Zoning

South Blooming Grove - Creating a committee for zoning was the newly elected board's top priority, and a move required by law.

Residents of the 4.98-square-mile southern portion of the Town of Blooming Grove voted overwhelmingly to incorporate as a village as a way to control development and fight high-density housing from a growing and expanding Kiryas Joel.
The Village Board unanimously appointed four people to the commission, with the option to name more to serve in the future.
Appointed were: Sonia Ayala, Julius Sas, Joe Vojta and Robert Corrado. Sas and Vojta are the husbands of Trustee Dorine Sas and Village Clerk Barbara Vojta. Attorney Joseph McKay, who is advising the board, said that is not a conflict.

New York, NY - Cabs Standing Still in Traffic, Fares Moving On Up

New York, NY - The cost of standing still, like everything else in New York City, is going up.

The price of an average cab ride went up by $1 when the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission voted unanimously to double the amount charged on the meter when a taxi sits idly in traffic. The vote raised the cost of "wait time" from the current 20 cents per minute to 40 cents.

Pskov, Russia - State of Emergency When Dozens Die in Alcohol Poisoning

Pskov, Russia - Pskov has imposed a state of emergency after more than 400 people were taken to hospital and 15 died as a result of drinking tainted alcohol.
The state of emergency was declared in the Pskov region, about 700 km (435 miles) west of Moscow, but other regions across the country also reported mass outbreaks of alcohol poisoning with dozens of deaths.
Public health officials who seized alcohol on sale in the Pskov region found it contained substances usually used in medicines. The substances react dangerously when mixed with alcohol. Many of the people who needed medical help are suffering from liver problems.

Russia's is the world's biggest consumer of vodka, but its penchant for the drink causes major health problems.

Spring Valley, NY +Major Traffic Delays on NYS Thruway+

Rockland County, Spring Valley, NY +Major Traffic Delays on NYS Thruway+ Due to a motor vehicle accident on the south bound of the New York State Thruway near Exits A&B, two lanes are closed causing major traffic delays in the area.

Texas - Large Profit for Exxon Mobil

Texas - Exxon Mobil Corp. profit rose to $10.49 billion in the third quarter, making it the second largest quarterly profit ever for a publicly traded U.S. company.

New York, NY - Traffic Agent Arrested for Forged License Tag

New York, NY - An NYPD traffic-enforcement agent was arrested in Bedford Park after police noticed his car had a forged temporary license tag.

Cops caught M.D. Rashid, 41, seated behind the wheel of a 1995 Nissan Quest with an illegally altered fake Pennsylvania license tag attached to his rear windshield. The officers noticed the expiration date on the tag was written in two different handwriting styles.
He was charged with forgery and possession of a forged instrument.

Jerusalem, Israel - Three Men Charged for Assaulting Officer at the Western Wall

Jerusalem, Israel - Three Israelis assaulted a senior officer who had come to pray at the Western Wall with his family.
The officer Stern, an observant Jew, had to be escorted away from the site by dozens of police and security personnel.

The three men Yisrael Ariel, 67, Itamar Puzen, 33, and Daniel Alchi, 72, called Stern a "Nazi" a "criminal" a "Hitler" and an "impure" who could not pray at the Wall. They were charged with creating a disturbance in a public place, insulting a public official and taking part in a disturbance for shoving and cursing.

Brooklyn, NY +Prospect Expressway Traffic Alert+

Brooklyn, NY +Prospect Expressway Traffic Alert+ An accident with an aided that jumped in front of a moving vehicle at the inbound of the Prospect Expressway by Ocean Avenue has NYPD shut down the Expressway, requesting NYPD Highway for the A.I.S. For the possible job.

New York - Governor To Make Decision on Removal of State Comptroller by Friday

New York - Governor George Pataki said he will make a decision on whether to seek the removal of Comptroller Alan Hevesi by Friday and he's already interviewing potential prosecutors.
Pataki is seeking thousands of records related to the state Ethics Commission finding Monday that the one-term Democratic comptroller broke the law when he failed to repay the state for using a staffer to chauffeur his wife.

Hevesi, seeking re-election in two weeks, acknowledged the arrangement after it was made public by his Republican opponent in September, issued an apology, and paid $83,000 that he calculated was owed to the state. He faces a criminal investigation by the Albany County district attorney and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office is reviewing whether he fully compensated the state.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ +MVA+

Englewood Cliffs, NJ +MVA+ A motor vehicle accident on the Palisades Interstate Parkway between Exit 1 and Exit 2, multiple agencies are on the scene operating, Hatzolah Central and Monsey are also responding.

Sullivan County, NY - New Reservation System for DMV

Sullivan County, NY - Sullivan County's Department of Motor Vehicles will save a spot for you at a service window starting Dec. 1. Just call ahead and avoid one of life's enduring headaches.

It's all part of making government more consumer-friendly, local officials say. "People would rather have root canal work than go to the DMV," said County Clerk George Cooke, "and we're trying to change that."
Over the past 10 years, Sullivan County's DMV has added two rows of benches, a television set, an information booth, a ticketing system for waiting in line and a mobile van that makes stops in five towns around the county.

Sullivan hopes to keep its reservation system going through the summer, a time when 100 people can show up in a 15-minute span. "It will be insane trying to (arrange) it," said Sullivan's deputy clerk for motor vehicles, Moniquka Diaz-Corley. "We're going to see what we can do."

Argentine +Prosecutors Request Arrest for Former Iranian President+

Argentine - Prosecutors have asked a judge for an arrest warrant against a former Iranian president in the bombing of a Jewish center in 1994.

New York - Drivers Cautioned About Deer

New York - It's that time of year when motorists have to be on the lookout for deer and even moose. The state Department of Environmental Conservation says more than 60,000 collisions between deer and vehicles occur each year throughout New York
state.
Nearly two-thirds of them take place during the peak period from October through December. Most occur between 6:30 and 7:30 a-m and 4:30 and 6:30 p-m.

Fall is the season for deer, and experts say they become more active and less cautious in their movements during this time of year. Autumn is also the season for moose in New York state.
Moose can be more difficult to see at night because of their darker coloring and because they're so tall that their eyes don't usually reflect vehicle headlights back toward motorists.

Israel - New Jewish Friendly Service for Cell Phones

Israel - The company MazelMobile, aims to make cell phone "more Jewish," according to Evan Lazarus, president of technology company Lazbro Inc, which launched the service.

MazelMobile has started a service that sends subscribers a daily text message containing important Jewish dates, wisdom and Jewish information directly to their cell phones.
The company also declared that in line with its commitment to community building, it will give 1 USD per subscriber back to Jewish organizations that resell its services via their affiliate program, and “organizations, synagogues, and charities can sign up for a MazelMobile.com affiliate number, and instantly create their own fund-raising program,” says Mr. Lazarus. “We felt it was time to give the cell phones of the Jewish community a distinctively Jewish identity. At the same time I could give something back to my own community through the mobile Tzedakah program.”

Newark, NJ - Plane From UK to US Makes Emergency Landing

Newark, NJ - A Continental Airlines plane flying to the United States from Britain safely made an emergency landing in Iceland.

A faulty gauge caused Continental Flight 29 to land as a precautionary measure, Continental spokeswoman Julie King said. "There was a gauge that indicated there was an issue with one of the engines and we landed as a precautionary measure," she said. "Maintenance checked it out and we are in the process of refueling the aircraft."

The Boeing 757-200 departed from Gatwick Airport and was scheduled to land at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey before being diverted to Keflavik Airport in Iceland.
All 166 passengers and eight crew members were safe, King said.

Lebanon - Israeli Jets Fire Over German Navy Ship

Lebanon - Two Israeli F-16 warplanes have flown low over a German naval vessel patrolling off the Lebanese coast firing twice, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said. The jets also activated infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket attack.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Germany's naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping maintain a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

Washington, DC - FBI Alerting The Public of an Email Scam Using the FBI Director's Name

Washington, DC - If you receive what appears to be an e-mail from FBI Director Robert Mueller saying you could be eligible for a big cash payment, it's just a scam.

The FBI has issued an alert warning consumers of an e-mail hoax using Mueller's name, and it is followed by a second e-mail threatening federal charges if the recipient doesn't respond to the first. The FBI advises recipients: "Do not respond."

The first e-mail with Mueller's name also includes official information taken from the law enforcement agency's web site about FBI Identification records and a Certificate of Ownership. The follow up e-mail with the threat claims to be from a lower-level official.
It demands a fee be sent to "FBI Nigeria" which will issue the certificate.

It's the second scam in two months to pose as coming from Mueller.

Scranton, PA - Few Details Given on Hasidic Group Given at Meeting

Scranton, PA - Hill Section residents who came hoping for details about the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Hasidic group that plans to buy a former neighborhood school left a presentation on Orthodox Judaism mostly unsatisfied.

“It was very informative, but we really need someone from that group here,” North Webster Avenue resident Patricia McGovern said after the hour-long discussion organized by University of Scranton theology professor Maria Johnson, Ph.D.
At the outset, Dr. Johnson told the 80 people who turned out at the Immaculate Conception Church Hall for the presentation that neither she nor co-presenter Ahron Davidson knew much about the Nadvorna Hasidic community led by Rabbi Alter Rosenbaum.
Mr. Davidson, said he had no first-hand knowledge of the group but believes its members are simply looking to get out of the big city and find a place “where they can make something of themselves.” “I do know one thing,” he said. “I will give them a chance to come in. I will not pre-judge them.”

Al Alunni, a Moscow resident who previously lived near the Satmar Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel in Orange County, N.Y., attempted to talk about the experience there but he was cut short by Dr. Johnson, who tried to keep the discussion focused on the city’s long-established Orthodox Jewish community and its beliefs and practices. “I understand what they’re talking about,” Mr. Alunni said later, “but I don’t think they understand what’s coming here.”

Long Beach CA - Man Pleads Guilty for Calling Bomb Threat to JetBlue Flight

Long Beach CA - A Florida man has pleaded guilty to calling in a bomb threat to the Long Beach Airport after he arrived too late to board his flight as was reported at that time on VOS IZ NEIAS.

Yechezkel Wells was arrested August 26th shortly after he called 9-1-1 from a pay phone and said there was a bomb on a JetBlue flight from Long Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In his plea agreement, Wells acknowledged he made the call to try to keep the plane from leaving.

Court documents say Wells did not have a bomb and was upset that an airline employee wouldn't allow him to board because of federal rules that require airlines to close a flight 30 minutes before takeoff.
Wells remains free on bond. He faces probation to five years in prison when he's sentenced in January.

Naples, Italy - Wall Near Synagogue Sprayed With Swastikas

Naples, Italy - A wall next to the Jewish synagogue in Naples was defaced overnight with four swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti.
Giulia Gallichi, who discovered the graffiti, said one of them read: "Thanks Hitler." She said it had been years since the last episode involving anti-Semitic graffiti in the southern Italian city.

Naples Mayor Rosa Russo Jervolino said the episode was "deplorable" and expressed her solidarity with the Jewish community.

Brooklyn, NY - Former Comverse CFO Cooperates With The Government In Its Prosecution Of His Ex-Boss

Brooklyn, NY - Former Comverse Technology Inc. chief financial officer David Kreinberg implicated his ex-boss as he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud in the US probe of illegal manipulation of employee stock option grants.

Kreinberg, 41, is the first executive to plead guilty in the biggest probe of corporate wrongdoing since late trading of mutual funds three years ago led to $4.3 billion in penalties.
Former Comverse chief executive Jacob "Kobi" Alexander directed a scheme to systematically backdate stock option grants, Kreinberg claimed in Brooklyn federal court. Contrary to Comverse's securities filings, Kreinberg told US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis "the company was in fact issuing backdated options with an exercise price lower than the fair market value on the grant date."

Kreinberg, facing up to 15 years in prison, may help prosecutors extradite Alexander, who was arrested in Namibia last month. The former Comverse finance chief agreed to cooperate with the government in its prosecution of Alexander, and in related civil lawsuits as part of a separate $2.4 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

California - FBI Investigating Jewish Donors on Influencing Rep. Harman on AIPAC Trial

California - The FBI is looking into allegations that Jewish donors to the Democratic Party unduly influenced Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee for help on dismissing the AIPAC trial.

The Justice Department refused to comment, and the dimension of the inquiry is not clear, but it appears to deal with some major Jewish donors to the Democrats who lobbied Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House minority leader, to keep influence Harman on the AIPAC trial.
But several Jewish and congressional officials familiar with the inquiry said, that the investigation is in it's earliest stages and is likely to lead nowhere.

Sydney Australia - Orthodox Rabbis Block Bar Mitzvah Over Non-Kosher Circumcision

Sydney Australia - A traumatic row over a boy’s circumcision forced a Sydney mother to move her son’s bar mitzvah from an Orthodox shul to a Progressive temple at the 11th hour, because rabbis from the Sydney Beth Din (SBD) ruled that his circumcision was not kosher.  

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick and Rabbi Yoram Ulman, two judges at the Jewish court, noticed that the circumcision, conducted by a Jewish doctor in 1993, was incomplete. “We immediately called one of the mohelim to check, and he confirmed that further circumcision needed to be done,” Rabbi Gutnick said.  
He said he told the boy’s mother, that her son could either be operated  on under local or general anaesthetic, and that “In order to become Jewish he has to be [properly] circumcised there’s nothing we can do about it. We feel terrible it’s devastating,” Rabbi Gutnick said.  

But the mother said “I didn’t want my son to have that trauma [of another circumcision],” “I spent the week in tears,” she said.
The single mother, who had an adult bat mitzvah following her Progressive conversion, said she had to inform the 100 or so guests of the change of venue “due to a technical problem” just days before the occasion.
She also said that the pain had been magnified because her son had a bris milah, conducted in the presence of Rabbi Kamins, eight days after he was born. “You don’t take your 13-year-old son four days before his bar mitzvah and give him a general [anaesthetic]. He didn’t want to do it. Just imagine if there had been an infection,” she said.

Rabbi Kamins said it is the first time he has ever heard of such a case.

Carmiel, Israel - Three Arab Men Kidnap and Assault a Young Woman

Carmiel, Israel - Police are asking the public’s help in the investigation of an assault that occurred on a young woman.

The incident began when the 20-year-old Carmiel resident was walking along one of the city’s streets when a white BMW vehicle containing three unidentified Arab men pulled up in front of her, they all stepped out and dragged the woman inside the car; they proceeded to drive to the Tzafes area where two of the men assaulted her for a number of hours while the third kept watch.
They then drove her back to the spot they had kidnapped her from.

Carmiel Investigations Unit Chief Roee Waldman said the woman later made her way to a Nahariya hospital, where she underwent several operations. Police intervened immediately after the woman arrived at the hospital, but there are no suspects in the case as of yet.
Police are now asking residents to come forward with any information that may advance the investigation.

New York - Ruling Lifts Landlord's Responsibility From Installing Radiator Covers in Apartments

New York - In a blow to tenants' rights, the state's highest court ruled that landlords are not required to install radiator covers in apartments, even if children live there.

The unanimous ruling by the Court of Appeals will protect landlords from lawsuits if toddlers burn themselves on exposed radiators. The ruling is a victory for landlords and places increased responsibility on tenants to ensure that housing is safe for children.
Noting that no law explicitly requires landlords to install radiator covers, the decision said the responsibility for installing them lies with the tenant.

New York - Increase Penalties for Failing to Pull Over on Police Order

New York - Governor George Pataki will sign a bill that would increase criminal penalties for not obeying a police officer's command to pull over.

Jerusalem, Israel - Bleach War Against Immodest Women

Jerusalem, Israel - More and more women in the Geula neighborhood have been complaining of being sprayed with bleach.

For Instance one vendor at one of the local clothing stores said she felt something wet dripping on her shirt as she was walking down the street. At first she thought someone poured water over her, but later realized that she had been sprayed with bleach. “This is Bitul Torah, “she said. “Don’t they have anything else to do but look at women and determine whether they are modest or not? I thought we should perhaps organize a demonstration and declare, ‘we are modest and do not want to be burned,’ but obviously this did not materialize.”

The attacks mark an escalation of the religious battle against what they refer to as the ‘promiscuity’ on the haredi streets and the infiltration of ‘fashion’ that often times does not correspond with the strict dress codes in the community. Clothes that may seem modest to most people are considered to be ostentatious if they have shiny or colorful elements to them. Similar claims are made against women who wear overly-tight outfits.

Until recently they focused their battle against the clothing stores: Last week yeshiva students arrived at a women’s clothing store on Amos Street and destroyed thousands of shekels worth of merchandise with bleach. The store was shut down immediately and a men’s clothing store was set up in its place.
Another one was burned down and according to the salesperson, a yeshiva student paid a visit to the store and demanded that she “stop selling immodest clothes” and even warned her that “stores are going to be set on fire tonight.” The following morning she learned that a women’s clothing store on Hagai Street, just two streets from where she worked, was set ablaze.

On the evening the store was set on fire a rally was held at Jerusalem’s Sabbath Square during which Rabbi Yaakov Sofer spoke of the “spiritual deterioration of the Geula neighborhood." The rabbi said “those stores should be closed down – to show the entire world that we are Jews. This is the last place remaining on earth; if it is destroyed, the whole world will be annihilated.”

Framingham, MA - Outrage Over Swastika on Van

Framingham, MA - Vandals painted a bright green swastika on the side of a van used by residents of a Wellington Avenue group home for those with psychiatric disabilities.

Bill Taylor, the president and CEO of Advocates Inc., the agency that runs the group home, said the swastika was found by residents and staffers of the home. "It was a shock to everybody," said Taylor. "This was something that shocked everyone who has seen it. I’ve never seen one I could touch."  
There have been no problems with neighbors of the group home, which houses six residents, and Taylor said he does not know if the act was random or an expression of the growing dislike for social service agencies in town.
Police spokesman Lt. Paul Shastany described it as "crudely painted."
Police do not have any suspects, but Shastany said there is no tolerance for a hateful symbol being tossed around. "I have no idea what possesses someone to do this," said Shastany. "This is a priority for us. It’s not something we tolerate well within this Police Department, and we hope the community feels the same way as we do."

Sound Beach, NY - Husband Accused of Trying to Hire Hitman on Wife

Sound Beach, Long Island, NY - A man is held on $1 million cash bail on charges that he tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife.

Gary Katz, 51, of Sound Beach, was arraigned in Suffolk County District Court on conspiracy and criminal solicitation charges.
Katz met with a man to discuss killing his wife, then showed the man where they lived, but the would-be hit man informed police.
Katz and his wife have two children and they have been married for nine years and were in the process of a divorce, Katz' sister, said.

If convicted, he faces eight and one-third to 25 years in prison.

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A motor vehicle accident with a pedestrian that was struck in front of 935 Eastern Parkway between Albany Avenue and Troy Avenue, Hatzolah responding.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Mobilization for Perp Search of Past Homicide+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Mobilization for Perp Search of Past Homicide+ NYPD are calling for a level one mobilization and requesting ESU, Aviation and K-9 Units to assist for a perp search at Fort Hamilton Parkway and 62nd Street, Police pursuit a vehicle that is wanted for a past homicide and carjacking. Vehicle has now been located at Pathmark on 13th Avenue and 60th Street, but still searching for perp.

Brooklyn, NY +RMP MVA+

Brooklyn, NY +MVA+ A motor vehicle accident on Kings Highway and East 24th Street involving a RMP, NYPD ESU responding Hatzolah on the scene requesting coordinater also to respond.

Lakewood, NJ +MVA+

Lakewood, NJ +MVA+ A motor vehicle accident on Madison Avenue and East County Line Road, Hatzolah transporting one aided with injuries.

Chicago, I'll - Judge Rules 9-Year-Old Need Not Get Circumcised

Chicago, I'll - A judge ruled that a 9-year-old need not be circumcised as his mother wanted.

A dispute between the boy's divorced parents about whether to circumcise him escalated into a court case, and Cook County Judge Jordan Kaplan declared in his ruling that granting the boy's father an injunction blocking the procedure, the boy could decide for himself whether to be circumcised when he turns 18.

In a statement, the Doctors Opposing Circumcision said the judge's ruling protected "the boy's legal right to bodily integrity."
"The ruling opens a very interesting question," said the group's John Geisheker. "If the benefits of circumcision are not available to a 9-year-old, what does that say about infants?"

The practice of circumcising infant males is rare in Europe, while it is declining but remains common in the United States.

Jerusalem, Israel - Zaka Motor Scooter Stolen

Jerusalem, Israel - A motor scooter belonging to Zaka's Jerusalem branch was stolen, the organization said.
This was reportedly the second time one of the group's scooters had been stolen.

Brooklyn, NY - Navy Yard Expands Industrial Space

Brooklyn, NY - The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation launched its expansion project. Mayor Bloomberg broke ground for an industrial building on Perry Street that's being developed for multi-tenant occupancy.

It's the first of seven buildings included in the three-year expansion, the largest at the Navy Yard since World War Two. The project will create 400,000 square feet of industrial capacity, focused primarily on food manufacturing and processing. Plans are currently being finalized for phase two of the expansion, which will include 1.5 million square feet of added industrial space in the yard's eastern section.

Colmar, France - Man Fined for Zyklon B Letters to Jews

Colmar, France - A French man was fined 700 euros (USD 878.7) for sending Jews letters with the inscription "Jew equals Zyklon B", the gas used by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews in the Holocaust.

A police court in the eastern city of Colmar found Emmanuel Rist guilty of sending the letters, which included a Star of David and a drawing of a can with the message on it. The letters were sent to a local Jewish organization, and two prominent members of the Jewish community.

Newburgh, NY - JetBlue Coming to Stewart Airport

Newburgh, NY - JetBlue to announce what they say will be a “significant announcement” having a “large impact on air service in the Hudson Valley,” the startup of JetBlue service at the Newburgh airport.

At present, JetBlue flies from Newark, LaGuardia and JFK as well as Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. It is expected to service Florida destinations from Newburgh.

Venice Beach, CA - Eruv for Beach Raises Environmental Fears

Venice Beach, CA - Orthodox Jews who want to use a strand of fishing line several miles long to create a eruv for the Beach's boardwalk are getting entangled in a dispute with beachfront residents and California environmentalists, who fear the string will snag birds and spoil the ocean view.

The 70 or so families who attend a synagogue on Venice Beach's boardwalk are asking coastal regulators for permission to string the eruv above one of Southern California's most popular stretches of sand, and that would entail stringing 200-pound test fishing line between lamp posts. It would also involve erecting 20-foot metal poles that would extend above 19 welcome-to-the-beach signs.

The problem for the environmentalists they say is that California law calls for the protection of public views along the coast and the habitats of nesting shore birds. Also do they fear that this will endanger California's least terns that nest nearby and it will fly into the fishing line and get killed. The residents say that the galvanized steel poles that will be erected to hold up the fishing line along the beach will be an eyesore.

The Coastal Commission staff, which has been working with the Orthodox group to try to resolve the environmental concerns, may recommend approving the eruv for a three-year trial, said Peter Douglas, executive director. "We try and accommodate religious practices any way we can," he said. "It's just that we have a balancing act to do, taking into account other public interests including wildlife impacts."

Philadelphia, PA - Robbers Pull Off Biggest Bank Heist

Philadelphia, PA - Two masked men robbed a northeast Philadelphia bank of several hundred thousand dollars, the biggest bank robbery in recent city history, the FBI said.

Investigators declined to say how much was taken from the PNC Bank, but FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said it was much more than the $250,000 taken in a large heist two years ago.

Two armed men in dark-colored hooded sweat shirts and ski masks rushed an employee outside the bank as she was arriving for work just after 8 a.m., authorities said. The teller opened the door for other bank employees as they arrived, as normal, and the workers were held hostage while the robbers cleaned out the vault, teller drawers and ATM machines, the FBI said. During the robbery, the men used handheld radios to apparently communicate with others outside the bank, Williams said.
"This was not a robbery that was based on a desperate need for cash. This was a deliberate, planned robbery."

The robbers locked the employees in the vault before fleeing. The employees escaped by unlocking the vault from the inside.

Brooklyn, NY +DWI Arrest+

Brooklyn, NY +DWI Arrest+ NYPD of the 70th Precinct have arrested 22-year-old A. Rosenthal, of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, NY for driving while intoxicated on Parkville Avenue in the Parkville section of Brooklyn.

New York, NY - Bloomberg Flying to Chicago for Lieberman

New York, NY - Mayor Bloomberg will be a guest at a reception in Chicago, for Senator Lieberman's re-election campaign. With him will be Senator Lieberman's wife, Hadassah. Mr. Lieberman was originally meant to be at the reception, but on the invitation, they are now promoting just Mr. Bloomberg and Hadassah Lieberman as the replacement stars.

Monroe, NY - Assemblywoman Snares Funds for Larkin Drive Plan

Monroe, NY - Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt appears to have unsnagged plans for a major road project by securing $150,000 from the state to replace what would have been local contributions to the planning costs.

The project is known as the Larkin Drive extension, and its goal is to ease traffic congestion in Monroe by turning what is now little more than a mall entrance into a thoroughfare that runs parallel to Route 17.
The state has set aside $750,000 for designs and an environmental study, but local governments had to pony up another 20 percent.
Planners had hoped to meet that requirement by collecting $37,500 each from Orange County, the Villages of Monroe and Kiryas Joel and the Town of Monroe.
All parties agreed to contribute this year except the Village of Monroe, whose leaders said they were strapped for cash and reluctant to pay for a solution to traffic caused by growth in surrounding communities.

Promoters enlisted the support of Rabbitt, who contacted Gov. George Pataki's office and recently got what she says was an oral agreement to provide $150,000 from the state Department of Transportation to cover the entire local share.

Larkin Drive is the road leading to the Harriman Commons shopping center. The project would extend the road 1.5 miles westward and connect Routes 105 and 208, siphoning traffic off other Monroe roads and speeding access to Kiryas Joel and Harriman Commons.

B'nei Brak, Israel - Rabbis Call for Supervision of Arab Workers

B'nei Brak, Israel - Rabbis of B’nei Brak have issued a call for increased supervision over the Arab workers employed in their city, many from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas in Israel illegally.

The rabbis have appointed a supervisor to oversee the matter. The crackdown stems not from security concerns, although Arabs transported across checkpoints together with groups headed for the area have carried out attacks in the past. Rather, the rabbis are concerned with the rise in incidents of Issur Yichud problems with the Arab workers.
The initiative was put forward by the Yad L’Achim counter-missionary organization and supported by Rabbi Vozner, Rabbi Landa and Rabbi Karlitz.

Monroe, NY - Assemblywoman Snares Funds for Larkin Drive Plan

Monroe, NY - Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt appears to have unsnagged plans for a major road project by securing $150,000 from the state to replace what would have been local contributions to the planning costs.

The project is known as the Larkin Drive extension, and its goal is to ease traffic congestion in Monroe by turning what is now little more than a mall entrance into a thoroughfare that runs parallel to Route 17.
The state has set aside $750,000 for designs and an environmental study, but local governments had to pony up another 20 percent.
Planners had hoped to meet that requirement by collecting $37,500 each from Orange County, the Villages of Monroe and Kiryas Joel and the Town of Monroe. All parties agreed to contribute this year except the Village of Monroe, whose leaders said they were strapped for cash and reluctant to pay for a solution to traffic caused by growth in surrounding communities.

That's when Rabbitt, contacted Gov. George Pataki's office and got what she says was an oral agreement to provide $150,000 from the state Department of Transportation to cover the entire local share.

Larkin Drive is the road leading to the Harriman Commons shopping center. The project would extend the road 1.5 miles westward and connect Routes 105 and 208, siphoning traffic off other Monroe roads and speeding access to Kiryas Joel and Harriman Commons.

Paris, France - Paper Won't Publish Holocaust Survivor's Memorial Notice

Paris, France - A newspaper in the east of the France refused to publish a notice in memory of a French Jew, a Holocaust survivor of the Auschwitz death camps.

Fred Wolfson died in 1966, at 43 years of age. On the 40th anniversary of his death his family asked to publish a notice in his memory stating that "He passing was due to complications caused by the barbaric Nazis."
The important newspaper, L'Est Republican refused to publish the notice stating that they refrain from publishing notices that entail "political or ideological content." Instead of the original text, the newspaper suggested writing "the trauma of the death camps."
 
The family contacted several Jewish organizations and human rights institutions who granted assistance, but the so called "politically oriented" notice has not been published thus far.

Tel Aviv, Israel - Despite ban, Rabbi Still Takes Money for Weddings

Tel Aviv, Israel - Tel Aviv Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, continues to take payment for conducting weddings, even though by law, rabbis employed by the state are not allowed to accept payment for such work, which is considered part of their jobs.

As Tel Aviv chief rabbi, Lau receives a full-time salary from the Tel Aviv Religious Council. Nevertheless, Lau was paid $500 for a wedding he conducted in Tel Aviv last month, and he conducts about 10 weddings a month.
Lau's associates admitted that he continues to take payment for weddings, even though he announced he had ceased this practice, and even though he knows such payments violate the law. They said he donates "the lion's share" of payments to charity, but that does not make the payments legal.

Gaza City, Gaza - Palestinian Gunmen Kidnap Media Photographer

Gaza City, Gaza - Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a Spanish photographer working for the Associated Press news agency in the Gaza Strip.

The news agency said the photographer was getting into a vehicle outside his home in Gaza City when four gunmen seized him.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

U/D: 15:11
The kidnapped pohtographer has been released.

New York - Thousands Flock to Ceremony of Satmar Rabbi's Child

New York - Thousands of Satmar Chasidim from around the world gathered for the ceremony: Their leader, Satmar Rabbi, was marrying off a child, for the first time since becoming Satmar grand rebbe.

At the ceremony. Men and boys wearing dark, furry hats known as shtreimels packed the square and pressed against metal barriers surrounding the chuppah, keeping men and women separated during the ceremony, with women gathered on the opposite side of the chuppah. Afterward, men and women ate and danced in separate locations until being united after midnight.
When the women joined the men, they were seated behind a partition. It was during that part of the celebration that the bride and groom danced together for the first time.

Monsey, NY - Neighborly Approach Helps Synagogue Plan

Monsey, NY - The developer of a synagogue in a residential neighborhood is working with residents to address their concerns about the proposed three-floor, nearly 10,000-square-foot building.

Kahal Noam Elimelech Litzenks is planning to build the synagogue on Dolson Road near its intersection with Remsen Avenue on a triangular piece of land that is just short of an acre. The synagogue would serve 15 to 20 families. The congregation has been in existence for more than 20 years and was housed in a building on Central Avenue in Clarkstown.
The town's Planning Board had previously approved development plans by a group called Lakewood Minyan at the site in 2003, but since then, the property was sold to the congregation and the plans were changed slightly, it includes the addition of a parking lot that would have 23 parking spaces.

Elizabeth Diamond's family has lived on Hilltop Place, which sits directly behind the proposed synagogue, for 47 years, like most of her neighbors, she was upset to hear that a synagogue was proposed adjacent to her home, especially considering that another one is being built about 300 feet away, but in speaking with congregation officials, many of her concerns were alleviated. "My concern is that it is going to be turned into a yeshiva," said Diamond, 41. "We don't want it to be a school."
But, Harry Jeremias, the congregation's coordinating member, said he had spoken with Diamond and had reassured her that there would be no yeshiva at the site, and that a 6-foot fence would separate the synagogue from her property.
"We will accommodate what they request," Jeremias said. "That's what sets us apart from other projects in Monsey that brings in shuls or synagogues. It's not an issue. Every neighbor understands and knows that we are sensitive to their concerns."
Diamond said she appreciated the congregation's willingness to listen to neighbors' concerns.

Karrada, Iraq - US Seeks Missing Soldier

Karrada, Iraq - U.S. forces combed part of Baghdad for a missing soldier.

Military officials said the soldier, a translator, may have been abducted. U.S. forces backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters sealed the mixed neighbourhood of Karrada with checkpoints and conducted door-to-door searches. "We are going to use all available resources -- ground forces and aviation assets," a military spokesman said.

Bayonne, NJ +Route 440 Traffic Alert+

Bayonne, NJ - A tanker, carrying the chemicals sodium hypochlorite, flipped on the highway near Avenue C in Bayonne. Route 440 in Jersey City and Bayonne is closed in both directions.

Amherst, MA - EMT Dies Just After Stopping To Help Accident Victims

Amherst, MA - Bradley Skikne, an Emergency Medical Technician at the University of Massachusetts, was traveling along Route 2 in Athol when he came across a three-car head-on accident and stopped to assist, staying there until MA State Police and an ambulance arrived.
About an half an hour later, state police, tracking the license plate on Skikne's car, called his home to thank him for his help, said Rabbi Simcha Levenberg who knew Skikne since 2004, but they didn't know that a half hour after helping on the scene, Skikne was involved in a one-car accident in which he was killed.

Skikne was driving west on Amherst Road in Pelham when he apparently lost control of his 2004 Toyota Matrix. His car, went off the side of the road, up an embankment, then rolled back onto the road. Skikne, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The road was closed for four hours.

"It was very eerie (getting that call). But that was Bradley; he was always about helping other people," Levenberg said. He was an Orthodox Jew, deeply connected to his religious faith and an EMT at University Health Services and had served in the same capacity in Acton, Levenberg said.

Frank W. Wozniak, 86, of Dracut, was killed in the Athol accident when his car was struck by a car driven by Steven P. Harte of Easton, police said. Harte is facing several charges including drunken driving.

Manhattan, NY +MVA Car vs Motorcycle+

Manhattan, NY +MVA Car vs Motorcycle+ A motor vehicle accident on the West Side Highway at 24th Street with a car into a motorcycle Hatzolah responding.

Germany - World War II Bomb Explodes on Highway

Germany - A World War II bomb has exploded during construction work on the A3 highway, killing one worker and injuring several motorists who were driving by.

The worker had been cutting through the road surface near the south-western town of Aschaffenburg when his machine struck the bomb and triggered it. "The explosion seems to have been too small for it to have been an aircraft bomb," a police spokesman said.
The A3 Autobahn linking the cities of Frankfurt and Würzburg has been blocked off in both directions.

South Whitehall Township, PA +Fatal MVA+

South Whitehall Township, PA - A fatal motor vehicle accident with a 21-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident near Clarksburg, MD.

Danielle M. Goren, 21, of South Whitehall Township, died after she lost control of her vehicle, which crossed the highway median and collided with a flat-bed truck on Interstate 270, she was pronounced dead at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Md.

Namibia, South Africa - U.S. Wants Extradition of Former Software Executive

Namibia, South Africa - The U.S. has requested the extradition from Namibia of Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, accused in the United States of hatching a scheme to pocket millions of dollars by secretly manipulating stock options, the U.S. Embassy spokesman said.

The request was submitted. No date was set for an extradition hearing for the former chief executive of voicemail-software maker Comverse Technology Inc.
Alexander was granted bail by a Namibian court earlier this month on condition that he hand in his passport, stay in the Windhoek district and report twice a week to an Interpol inspector.

Prague, Czech Republic - Jewish Cemetery Desecrated

Prague, Czech Republic - A Jewish cemetery has been desecrated in central Czech Republic. 
Police spokeswoman Eva Sichrova said that about 50 tombstones were overturned at the Jewish cemetery in the town of Zamberk, 75 miles east of Prague. Some of the tombstones were broken, she said. 
The cemetery, dating to the early 18th century, is no longer used for burials and was completely renovated in the 1990's

Scranton, PA - Meeting Aims to Explain Orthodox Judaism

Scranton, PA - A University of Scranton faculty member hopes to foster better understanding of Orthodox Judaism as members of a Hasidic community from Brooklyn, N.Y., prepare to relocate to the city.
“I really don’t know how much Christians know about Orthodox Judaism or about the Orthodox community already here,” said Maria Poggi Johnson, Ph.D., an associate professor of theology. “I suspect it’s not much.”

Dr. Johnson will be joined by Ahron Davidson, for a discussion about the beliefs and practices of Orthodox Judaism at Immaculate Conception Church Hall, Taylor Avenue and Gibson Street.
The presentation comes as a Hasidic Nadvorna group from Brooklyn pursues the $400,000 purchase of the former East Scranton Intermediate School on Quincy Avenue from the Scranton School District. It plans to use the building as a school for the children of 80 to 100 families who would relocate from Brooklyn.

The newcomers are expected to settle in the Hill Section, which is already home to the city’s long-established Orthodox community.

Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Package+

Manhattan, NY +Suspicious Package+ FDNY EMS on the scene at 625 8th Avenue between West 40-41st Streets with a 10-29 (report of explosives) for a EDP with a suspicious package at location.

U/D: 14:49
NYPD are calling for a level one mobilization, for the suspicious package. Bomb Squad has been notified.
All bus and train have been diverted.

U/D: 15:11
NYPD ESU is closing down the Williamsburg Bridge due to an escort that's being done for a snippr that has to get to location.

U/D: 15:47
NYPD have the EDP in custody.
FD and Bomb Squad remaining on the scene.

Rockford, I'll - Racist Vandalism in Neighborhood

Rockford, I'll - Police in Rockford are investigating at least two incidents involving racist vandalism on the city's northeast side.

In one case, a couple who are of Swedish descent found a swastika and an anti-Arab slogan spray-painted on their garage. They believe the intended victims were the family next door, who are of Arabic descent.
In the second incident, a Jewish family in the same neighborhood found a swastika painted on their front door.
Rockford Police Sergeant Klint Kellet said the cases are being regarded as criminal damage to property pending further investigation.

Staten Island, NY +Fall Victim+

Staten Island, NY +Fall Victim+ Hatzolah on the scene for an aided that fell off a roof near Forest Hill Road.

Beirut, Lebanon - Israel Jets Fly Over Lebanon Despite French Appeal

Beirut, Lebanon - Israeli warplanes swooped low over Lebanon, a day after they rejected a call by France's defense minister to halt violations of its neighbor's airspace.

The planes conducted mock raids over much of southern Lebanon and residents saw them flying low over the capital Beirut, but neither Hezbollah guerrillas nor the Lebanese army fired anti-aircraft rounds at them as they have done in previous years. The Lebanese government and the United Nations say the over flights, violate both the latest truce and the terms of Israel's earlier pullout.

Israel said its combat planes would continue to fly over southern Lebanon to ensure that weapons are not smuggled into southern Lebanon from Syria to resupply Hezbollah.

At the United Nations, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie called Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace "extremely dangerous" and said they should stop immediately. She said an Israeli aircraft may mistakenly be seen by U.N. troops as having hostile intent, possibly triggering a "very serious incident".

Plandome, NY +Synagogue Fire+

Plandome, NY +Synagogue Fire+ Manhasset Fire Department on the scene at the Synagogue of The North Shore at 1001 Plandome Road for a working fire in the basement, Engin and Ladder from Roslyn also responding to the scene, fire is D/W/H.

U/D: 12:02
FD calling for a 2nd alarm eqiv. first two fast teams on duty, requesting 3rd fast to respond and additional engines.

U/D: 12:10
Fire is now a 3 alarm, 10 departments are operating on the scene.

U/D: 12:31
Fire Department requesting all available manpower to respond to the scene.

Brooklyn, NY - Sanitation Agent Targets Innocent Store Owners With Bogus Tickets

Brooklyn, NY - A New York City Sanitation agent has been caught on camera breaking a light bulb on the street and then writing a ticket to the store owner where the broken bulb was.
A video showing the agent dropping a long fluorescent bulb in the street, and then writing a $300 ticket to the HK Tea and Sushi Restaurant for improperly disposing of the lights. The ticket was issued less than one hour from when the video camera caught the agent breaking the bulbs. Shortly after the ticket was issued, a sanitation truck cleaned the broken bulb from the curb.

Brooklyn State Assemblyman William Colton is furious that the sanitation department would target hard working store owners with bogus tickets. Colton will be holding a news conference outside the restaurant today.

A spokesman for the Sanitation Department, Vito Turso, says his department is investigating and will look at the videotape.

Manhattan, NY +Protest+

Manhattan, NY +Protest+ NYPD on the scene requesting ESU to respond in to 2332 Broadway between West 84th Street and 85th Street for a group of protester that have chained themselves together in front of location, ESU for the removel.

Jerusalem, Israel - We Used Banned Bombs in War Against Lebanon

Jerusalem, Israel - The Israeli Army dropped phosphorous bombs on Hezbollah guerrilla targets during their war in Lebanon this summer, an Israeli cabinet minister said, confirming Lebanese allegations for the first time.

Until now, Israel had said it only used the weapons - which cause severe chemical burns - to mark targets or territory.
But cabinet minister Yaakov Edri said Israel used the weapons in its 34-day war against Hezbollah. "The Israeli Army made use of phosphorous shells during the war against Hezbollah in attacks against military targets in open ground."
White phosphorous is a translucent wax-like substance with a pungent smell that, once ignited, creates intense heat and smoke. The Geneva Conventions ban using white phosphorous against civilians or civilian areas.

The United States acknowledged last year that U.S. troops used white phosphorous as a weapon against insurgent strongholds during the battle of Fallujah in November 2004, but said it had never been used against civilian targets.

Far Rockaway, NY +MVA with Overturned+

Far Rockaway, NY +MVA with Overturned+ A motor vehicle accident with one vehicle that overturned on Beach 9th Street and Dinsmore Avenue, Hatzolah responding with two ambulances and requesting ALS to head in as well.

Moscow, Russia - Leading Gallery, Painter Attacked

Moscow, Russia - A group of young men stormed into a leading Moscow art gallery, destroying an exhibition of paintings by an ethnic Georgian artist and injuring its owner for his Jewish last name.

The attack took place amid on Marat Guelman, a leading arts expert and a political consultant. He said that about 10 men he described as "militarized characters, fighters,'' burst into his gallery in central Moscow. "They stormed into the gallery, made the girls stand against the wall, began smashing everything down, then burst into my office and started beating me up and then they left,'' Guelman, 45, had to undergo surgery for face injuries. "My face was smashed into meat,'' he said.
It was posted on several nationalist Web sites, that Guelman is an "enemy of Russia'' and about his Jewish last name.

Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation, but human rights groups say authorities are turning a blind eye to the growing wave of xenophobia and racially motivated attacks in Russia. This year, 39 people have been killed in apparent hate crimes and a further 308 attacked, according to the Sova rights center which monitors xenophobia.

Washington, DC - Two-Thirds of Religious Hate Crimes are Against Jews

Washington, DC - More than two-thirds of religious hate crimes compiled by the FBI were against Jews. Only 11.1 percent of the crimes were anti-Muslim, despite recent claims by Muslims of rampant bias against them.

Half of the crimes resulted in assaults against the victims, while the rest usually involved intimidation. Sixty percent of the offenders were white and 20 percent were black.

Monsey, NY +Fatal Pedestrian Struck+

Monsey, NY - A middle-aged woman was struck and killed by a car late Friday night as she attempted to cross Route 59 near Requa Lane.

Ramapo police late last night could not identify the woman, who was pronounced dead shortly after the accident at the scene by paramedics from Rockland Paramedic Services.
Police closed off Route 59 in both directions from Robert Pitt Drive to Route 306 until about midnight as the Police Department's accident investigation team was working the scene. Monsey Fire Chief Andrew Schlissel said two firetrucks responded to provide police with lights as they examined the scene.

No charges had been filed against the 83-year-old male driver, who was eastbound in his 1997 Toyota Camry.

The death was the second on the heavily traveled road in as many months. The notoriously congested corridor of Route 59 from Kennedy Drive in Spring Valley to Route 306 in Monsey is known for its heavy pedestrian traffic. A lack of sidewalks forces many onto the roadway.

Lakewood, NJ +Serious MVA+

Lakewood, NJ +Serious MVA+ Police on the scene with numerous Hatzolah also on the scene requesting two medevacs for a serious motor vehicle accident with aided trapped inside the vehicle at 11th Street and Route 9 aka Madison Avenue.

U/D: 22:05
2 helicopters have now landed in Jamesway parking lot.
Route 9 closed in both directions.

Israel - Four Die After Flu Vaccinations

Israel - The government of Israel has suspended flu vaccinations nationwide after four men who had been inoculated died in the past week, the Health Ministry said. "I ordered to stop the vaccinations until things are made clear," Israeli Health Minister Yaacov Edri told reporters.
"We have started to investigate everything related to this case," he said. The ministry said it had asked the French firm Aventis, which manufactured the vaccine, to conduct its own investigation.

Staten Island, NY +MVA+

Staten Island, NY +MVA+ A serious motor vehicle accident on Richmond Hill Road and March Blvd involving multiple aided including one Hatzolah member, Hatzolah requesting BLS and ALS to respond on a rush.

Mechanicstown, NY +Power Outage at Galleria Mall+

Orange County, Mechanicstown, NY +Power Outage at Galleria Mall+ Fire Department requesting all hands and calling a 2nd Alarm to the Galleria Mall at Crystal Run at 1 Galleria Drive for an electrical problem that's effecting the entire mall, large outages with fluctuating power in some sections.

Hollywood, FL - Synagogue's Neighbors File Federal Appeal of Settlement

Hollywood, FL - City officials made their peace with a Lubavitch synagogue earlier this year, but a turf battle between the Orthodox Jewish synagogue and its Hollywood Hills neighbors is not over yet.

Six neighbors have taken their dispute to a federal appeals court, complaining that the synagogue, City Hall and a federal judge each cut them out of the picture when Hollywood in July settled a discrimination case filed by them, as was reported here on VOS IZ NEIAS.
In their appeals brief, neighbors argued the settlement created a "zoning change" that affects their enjoyment of their homes.

The neighbors, who live within 300 feet of the synagogue, claim they were not allowed to oppose such a zoning change when U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard denied them a chance to appear before her in July.
Lenard erroneously ruled the case was a religious discrimination dispute and the zoning change was incidental, attorney Vincent Vaccarella wrote on behalf of the neighbors.

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Borough Park, Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A motor vehicle accident with a pedestrian that was struck on 18th Avenue and 46th Street, Hatzolah on the scene requesting an ambulance.

Wellington, FL - Donor Sues Rabbi over Ark

Wellington, FL - When Loretta Miller's husband of more than 26 years died in October 2003, her rabbi suggested she donate an ark to house the Torah -- in his memory.

Miller is suing Rabbi Mendy Muskal of a synagogue in Wellington, he claims the rabbis family used the $18,000 she donated to boost their lifestyle, take a family trip to Israel and deliver an ark that cost only $2,000.

Sometime before the scheduled October 2004 unveiling of the ark memorializing Jordan Miller, his widow said, she learned she had been "duped." While at the Muskals' home, Loretta Miller said, the rabbi took her into his garage and showed her a wood cabinet with mahogany veneer on top of plywood. "It looked like somebody did it as a hobby and it just looked horrible," she said. "It looked like an armoire."

Muskal denies all of Miller's allegations and says he's confident a court will agree he did nothing wrong. "We'll be proven to be meritorious in this," he said, adding that donations are not spent on a dollar-for-dollar basis. "We need those funds for operating and programming. That's how we're able to provide half a dozen classes a week for free." 
On the advice of his attorney, Muskal declined to comment on the cost of the ark or who built it.

Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+

Brooklyn, NY +Pedestrian Struck+ A motor vehicle accident on East 9th Street and Kings Highway, Hatzolah responding.

Washington, DC - Lobbyist Abramoff To Do Time in Cumberland, Md.

Washington, DC - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff will report Nov. 15 to a federal prison in Cumberland, Md., to serve a 70-month sentence for fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with the purchase of Florida-based SunCruz Casinos.
U.S. District Judge Paul Huck granted a request by prosecutors and Abramoff’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, that Abramoff serve his time at the Cumberland facility because it is within driving distance of Washington. They said in a court filing that Abramoff was cooperating in the Justice Department’s Washington influence peddling investigation and would continue to assist prosecutors while in prison.

Abramoff and his partner, Adam Kidan, pleaded guilty in January to defrauding lenders of more than $60 million in the SunCruz gambling casino scandal in Florida.

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +Bicyclist Struck+

Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY +Bicyclist Struck+ A serious accident with a bicyclist that was struck on the corner of East 23rd Street and Avenue "N" Hatzolah on the scene requesting an ambulance forthwith and medics and back up medics to respond with a rush to the scene.

Gaza - Masked Gunmen Kill Senior Fatah Militant

Gaza - Masked gunmen killed a senior Fatah militant in a Gaza Strip refugee camp in what appeared to be another deadly episode of an increasingly violent power struggle with the governing Hamas movement.

Fatah blamed Hamas for the attack that killed Mohammed Shahadeh, commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the Bureij camp, and ordered its forces across the Gaza Strip to go on alert, Fatah officials said.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Felton, CA - Holocaust Survivor Wants Her Paintings Removed From Auchwitz

Felton, CA - Dina Babbitt once made a deal with Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who subjected concentration-camp prisoners to horrendous medical experiments.
He needed someone to illustrate his perverse racial theories with portraits of Auschwitz's prisoners. A trained artist, she agreed to do the work as the price of saving her mother, as well as herself, from the concentration camp's gas chamber.

As things turned out, Babbitt, her mother and the portraits survived. She eventually settled in northern California, while seven of her paintings wound up in a museum at Auschwitz dedicated to preserving a historical record of the Holocaust.
Ever since discovering in 1973 that they were there, Babbitt has tried to get them back. Museum officials have steadfastly stonewalled her request, once invoking the legal principle of work for hire - the concept that the patron, not the artist, holds the rights to a commissioned work of art. "A museum official wrote me saying that legally the only one who might have a claim on the paintings was Dr. Mengele, and he wasn't likely to exercise it," said Babbitt, 83. "Their position is finders keepers."

Congress has adopted resolutions recognizing "the moral right of Dina Babbitt" to the paintings and urging diplomatic efforts to have them returned. Gallery and museum directors, including a former head of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, have petitioned on Babbitt's behalf. Last month, 450 cartoonists from this country and abroad sent a petition to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Teresa Swiebocka, curator at the Auschwitz museum, explains that the petition by Babbitt's supporters doesn't alter the situation. "We haven't any reason to change our attitude of a few years ago," she said. In a statement they said, the museum notes that Babbitt wasn't the only prisoner to create artworks in Auschwitz. What if they, or their heirs, asked for them back, the museum asks - for the example of the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work will make you free") sign that marked the camp's entrance. It was produced by an inmate who was a master ironsmith.

Babbitt, was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, her family was Jewish, albeit they only went to services on Yom Kippur, a day of fasting.
"There was a lady who brought to synagogue an apple with cloves in it, supposedly so the aroma would distract her from hunger," Babbitt said. "But I think she took little bites of the apple."