Police Cracking down on Drunk Driving

As the clock runs out on 2007 tonight, police departments across North Jersey will have additional officers on the streets looking for drivers who got behind the wheel after having one too many.

Police will be on the lookout for the usual telltale signs: erratic driving, slow driving and cars without headlights. Anyone caught driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of 0.08 percent will be arrested, police chiefs said.

“We’ll have Breathalyzer operators on duty,” said Little Ferry Chief Ralph Verdi. “If somebody’s drinking and driving and they come through town, they’re going to get caught and they’re going to get arrested.”

Police chiefs are eager to show they mean business when it comes to drunken-driving enforcement. Of 772 auto accident deaths in New Jersey last year, 341, or 44 percent, were alcohol-related, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2005, alcohol was a factor in 38 percent of New Jersey traffic deaths.

New Jersey lowered the legal blood-alcohol level to 0.08 percent from 0.10 percent in 2004. First-time offenders caught driving with a level over 0.08 but under 0.10 will lose their licenses for three months and pay $250 to $400 in fines. First-time offenders with a blood-alcohol level over 0.10 will lose their licenses for seven months to a year and will be fined $300 to $500.

For the New Jersey State Police, the annual New Year’s drunken-driving crackdown began Friday at 6 p.m., said Sgt. Stephen Jones. In North Jersey, troopers are paying particular attention to the highways that feed the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, including Routes 80 and 95 and the New Jersey Turnpike, Jones said.

Jones said the state police typically make more drunken-driving arrests around Memorial Day and Labor Day than on New Year’s Eve, perhaps because so much emphasis is placed on enforcement at the end of the year.

“The actual New Year’s Eve night, I think people plan that out a little more in advance,” Jones said. “They’ll plan to stay places overnight or they may take public transportation. There’s generally more forethought.”

Still, police chiefs said they aren’t taking any chances.

In Ridgewood, the enforcement push was scheduled to begin Saturday. Officers planned to do “walk-throughs” in the village’s half-dozen bars and in restaurants that serve liquor, said Chief William Corcoran.

“Our bartenders are keenly aware of their responsibilities,” Corcoran said. “It’s important we walk through the bars. Our mission is to keep the residents and community safe. We don’t need any needless deaths.”

Officials in several departments said they planned to pay overtime for extra officers using money from the state’s Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund. The Division of Highway Traffic Safety, which administers the fund, requires that 50 percent of any grant be used to pay for overtime patrols. The remainder may be used to buy equipment or provide training related to drunken-driving enforcement.

In Lyndhurst, roving patrols will look for drunken drivers, using money from the Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund to cover the overtime, said Chief James B. O’Connor.

The Palisades Interstate Parkway Police plan to station officers along the highway in New Jersey, where both the Rockefeller and Alpine lookouts will be open, officials said.

Woman injured in crash on GSP

CLIFTON — A driver was left with serious leg injuries and traffic was snarled for two hours following a crash on the Garden State Parkway this morning, police said. At about 8:30 Monday morning, Diane Nachbaur, 49, of Woodcliff Lake slammed her car into the guardrail on the northbound Garden State Parkway just before the Exit 155P ramp to Route 19, according to Sgt. Stephen Jones of the state police. He said no other vehicles were involved and that Nachbaur may have fallen asleep at the wheel. Nachbaur was airlifted to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, where she was undergoing surgery, police said. One witness, who didn’t want to be named, said she saw a woman with a mangled leg lying face down in a pool of blood on the highway. “It looked like her leg was torn off,” the witness said. “It was horrifying.” A man and a young girl stood by watching, but it was unclear if they were related to the driver. northjersey.com

Agudath Israel speak’s out against BLOG’S

There was a time, not terribly long ago, when disturbed individuals bent on broadcasting angry fantasies had only soapboxes in public parks from which to rant. And respectable people knew, if only from the ranters’ appearance, to keep well out of spittle range.

Today, though, the very means of mass communication that enables so much worthy information to reach such large numbers of people at the speed of light – the Internet – has also been harnessed to spread madness, hatred, lies and (not a word to be used lightly but here entirely appropriate) evil. And so, close on the heels of the swindlers and pornographers who have colonized so much of cyberspace, have come the gaggle of electronic soapboxes known as weblogs, or blogs.

The writer of a recent article in the Agudath Israel monthly The Jewish Observer expressed chagrin at discovering the nature of many Jewish blogs. Often anonymous as well as obnoxious, some of those personal opinion-diaries, he found, display utter disregard for essential Jewish ideals like the requirement to shun lashon hora or forbidden negative speech, and hotzo’at shem ra, or slander; to show honor for Torah and respect for Torah scholars. I would have added basic fairness to the list. And truth.

There are, of course, responsible bloggers, in the Jewish realm as in others, writers who seek to share community news or ideas and observations with readers, and to post readers‚ comments. Some explore concepts in Jewish thought and law, others focus on Jewish history and society.

But just as an unfiltered e-mail account quickly reveals that the bulk of electronic communications are from people we would really not wish to ever meet in person, so are responsible blogs, in the Jewish realm as in the general, decidedly in the minority. And even many responsible blogs allow postings of comments from people with very different value systems. As one poster on a Jewish blog, “Joe,” noted: “The whole reason people gravitate to blogs with active comment sections is because of the gosip [sic] and back and forth jabs and insults… If thats [sic] not your thing, fine, but anyone who reads or posts on a blog cant [sic] seriously claim that lashon hara bothers them.”

NO ONE knows exactly why the Internet appears to bring out the worst in people, but there is little doubt that it often does. And the cloak of anonymity seems to unleash truly dark, ugly alter egos. As a popular Jewish blog’s founder told the Forward in June, “There’s a lot of testosterone on the Internet, a lot of swagger… anything can happen.” Like maliciousness and mayhem. Recently, for example, a 13-year-old Missouri girl who was targeted on a non-Jewish social-networking site for verbal abuse by classmates became so distraught that she hanged herself in her bedroom with a belt.

Another recent e-outrage, although with a happier ending, was perpetrated by a Milwaukee teacher who presented himself anonymously on a blog as a critic of the local teachers union. In an attempt to garner sympathy for union members, he wrote that the two youths who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999 “knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs: One shot at a time.” Only because of the implicit threat of violence, and the resultant involvement of law enforcement, was the teacher’s ruse uncovered. Less prosecutable offenses, although malevolent, misleading and violative of the laws of civil discourse, are, needless to say, of no interest to the police.

AND SO, many blogs have become showcases for carefully concocted stews of truth and falsehood well stirred and generously seasoned with gall and spleen. The Jewish sites among them like to malign guilty and innocent people alike – extra points for Orthodox Jews and triple-score for rabbis.

On some sites, targets’ guilt is established purely by rumor, innuendo, anonymous accusations and alleged association with accused or confirmed wrongdoers. Innocent until proven guilty? Not in the blogosphere.

Indeed, if a Jewish blog were fully reflective of Jewish values, even those who are actually guilty would not be subject to “open season” maligning. Truth may be “an absolute defense” in American libel law, but not in Jewish law; true statements are precisely the focus of the prohibition of lashon hora. It might strike some as strange, but the Torah teaches us that the evil of such speech is inherent, not a function of falsehood.

Perhaps even more disturbing is the apparent gullibility of so many visitors to those blogs, who, from their own postings, seem ready to swallow any accusation or character assassination, as long as the charges are sufficiently salacious or forcefully asserted. Some of the many adulatory comments posted on offensive blogs may have been planted by the blogerrai-meisters themselves, but many certainly seem to be from other citizens anxious to join in the fun.

Responsible bloggers don’t deserve to be lumped together with the louts and understandably chafe at having their entire enterprise tarred with the sins of individuals. Unfortunately, though, those individuals and their sins comprise the bulk of the blogosphere. Those who counsel avoidance of blogs are no different from those who advise against frequenting dark, crime-ridden neighborhoods. There may be bargains to be had in such locales, maybe even a good library or pizzeria. But they are scuzzy places to spend time in.

The Internet in general is, pace the popular arbiters of societal propriety, not a healthy place to hang out in. That is why many Orthodox Jewish religious leaders have frowned upon its use altogether for recreational purposes. They feel that the windows it opens to every corner of the wider world allow in not only some sunlight but much pollution of the most pernicious sort.

But even if business or other life exigencies require individuals to utilize the Internet, there are dark corners of the Web that are filled with venomous spiders, that pose extraordinary risks and should be avoided at practically all costs. The blogosphere is a particular infested corner.

New Jersey;Year End Review

This year, New Jerseyans prayed that Gov. Jon S. Corzine would recover after a car crash left him with near fatal injuries that were no doubt worsened by his reluctance to buckle up at speeds up to 91 mph.

Corzine’s rocky year nearly turned tragic in April when his sport utility vehicle collided with a guard rail on the Garden State Parkway as his driver, a state trooper, was speeding at 91 mph en route to Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Princeton.

Corzine, who was not wearing a seat belt, was hospitalized for 18 days, broke 15 bones and lost more than half his blood. He emerged as an advocate for buckling up and taped a federally funded public service announcement promoting it. Imus and Rutgers

Corzine’s rush that night was for another national story with Jersey origins: radio host Don Imus and the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. After the team made a surprising run at the national championship that ended with a loss in the finals, Imus dampened spirits with racially charged comments aimed at members of the team.

Imus was fired from CBS radio — actually, just hours before Corzine’s crash. Imus met with the team at Drumthwacket, sued CBS radio for lost wages, then recently returned to the airwaves on ABC radio.

Death penalty abolished

For a change, New Jersey made world-wide headlines without giving fodder to late-night comedians when it became the first state to repeal the death penalty.

This month’s signing of the repeal drew attention from across the country and the globe, as the Colosseum in Rome — site of gruesome gladiator fights centuries ago — was lit in support of Corzine’s signing the repeal.

Some critics, however, pointed to a public opinion poll that showed split views on whether to repeal and strong support for keeping capital punishment for the most heinous murders. While some families of murder victims lobbied for the repeal, others vowed to work against those politicians who pushed it. Slayings shock Newark

Every year dozens are murdered in New Jersey’s largest city — yet none gripped the city, state and country like the execution-style shootings in a Newark schoolyard of three Delaware State University students and a friend planning to enroll. One victim survived.

The August shootings also swirled together themes of gangs, illegal immigration and child sexual assault, as one of the six suspects is an illegal immigrant who was free on bail on child rape charges at the time of the shootings. Several suspects are members of the dangerous MS13 street gang.

The families were also upset when they learned that the television show “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” based an episode called “Senseless” on the shootings. Clerk foils Fort Dix plot

After an electronics store clerk told the FBI that a customer asked him to transfer to a DVD footage of men firing assault weapons and yelling about jihad, five men were arrested in May in what federal investigators call a plot to attack Fort Dix and kill U.S. soldiers.

The five, all foreign-born Muslims, are scheduled for trial in March. A sixth pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell firearms and ammunition.

The trial seeped into dirty Jersey politics when the wife of one of the court-appointed defense lawyers ran for a state Assembly seat in Burlington County. Her Republican foes mailed an ominous-looking flier filled with masked men carrying guns insinuating the candidate would be soft on crime and terrorism. The mailing drew a rebuke from the federal judge on the case. Bryant indicted

Longtime Camden County legislator Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, head of the influential Senate budget committee, was charged with with creating a no-work job at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to boost the school’s state funding.

Sen. Bryant, who pleaded not guilty, declined to run for re-election in November.

Government corruption

State senators, mayors of big cities and the 23-year-old president of a local school board found themselves among New Jersey’s growing hall of shame for elected officials as law enforcement netted some large names in their bid to clean New Jersey government.

In addition to Bryant, state Sen. Sharpe James, D-Essex, also a member of the budget committee and former longtime mayor of Newark, was indicted. James was accused of using city credit cards to pay for personal trips and selling city property on the cheap to a travel companion. All have pleaded not guilty.

The offices of a third member of the Senate budget committee, Joseph Coniglio, D-Bergen, were raided by FBI agents in November in a separate investigation related to state grants. Coniglio has denied any wrongdoing. None of the three ran for reelection.

In September, 11 public officials from Atlantic to Passaic counties were charged with taking bribes from phony roofing and insurance firms set up by the FBI. Those arrested include Assemblymen Alfred E. Steele, D-Passaic, and Mims Hackett Jr., D-Essex, who is also the mayor of Orange. Both resigned from the Assembly. The roundup also snared municipal and school board officials, including the 23-year-old president of the Pleasantville Board of Education. Six of the 11 have pleaded guilty.

After a two-week disappearance, Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy resigned and admitted he lied about his Vietnam War service to get a bigger benefits check. Voters: Quit spending

Following the budget debacle of 2006, when a stalemate between Corzine and the Legislature shuttered state government over the governor’s proposal to raise the sales tax, things appeared smoother midway through 2007.

State leaders approved the largest-ever property tax rebate, sending 10 percent to 20 percent back to most homeowners, depending on income. They approved a budget three days before the July 1 deadline, remarkably early for a Legislature that usually waits until, or past, the last minute.

Then in November, Corzine, Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. took a hit when — for the first time in 17 years — voters unexpectedly rejected ballot questions.

Each of the three were vested in the questions: Corzine and Codey supported and funded the drive to borrow $450 million for stem-cell research, and Roberts was the driving force behind a measure to dedicate the proceeds from the 2006 sales tax hike to property tax relief. While Democrats maintained their control of the Legislature, the votes were seen as their first statewide rebuke since the tax revolt of the 1990.

Corzine and the toll roads

Most likely to appear on next year’s list is Corzine’s toll-road transaction – monetization, or financial restructuring, as he now calls it. That’s because the details won’t be known until Jan. 8, when the governor finally explains the plan that has been source of much speculation and scrutiny through the year.

The plan basically calls for the state to get a lump sum of cash up front, to be paid back through future toll hikes, in order to pay down existing debt and free up funds for other priorities.

Corzine’s reluctance to detail the plan caused even Democratic legislative candidates to say they will oppose it on the campaign trail. He has acknowledged the plan may spark a backlash but says the state needs to change its fiscal direction and urged people to wait to hear the details before deciding whether to support it.

Warren Grove fire

Thousands of people were driven from their homes when a large portion of the South Jersey coastal region burned in May from an errant flare dropped from an Air Force fighter jet.

The blaze burned more than 17,000 acres in the heart of the Pinelands and encroached on the developed environs, destroying three homes and damaging more than a dozen others.

It was the latest scare to residents in Ocean, Burlington and Atlantic counties who live around the Warren Grove Gunnery Range, a military training facility.

The fire renewed calls to shut the range that have arisen through the years after other incidents — an F-16 firing 40 rounds of ammunition that landed on an elementary school roof in the middle of the night in 2004, a 2002 crash that left a jet in the middle of the woods near the Garden State Parkway and an errant dummy bomb in 1999 that sparked a 12,000-acre fire.  courierpostonline

Gary Schaer Helps Orthodox Jews From Signing Papers On Shabbos In NEW JERSEY

Shabbat-observant Jews who find themselves hospitalized on Saturdays will now be able to keep the Sabbath and fill out admission paperwork after sunset, thanks to a new bill signed into law last week.

Gov. Corzine signed two religious-themed bills that were part of a seven-bill package pushed by North Jersey legislators to promote religious diversity in the state. The bills are meant to provide accommodations and protections for religious observance across the private and public sectors, according to the package’s sponsors.

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-dist. 36) authored the bills in the Assembly in the spring, and Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-dist. 37) introduced them in the Senate soon after. The new laws are an important step forward for New Jersey, Schaer said.

The first bill guarantees alternate testing dates for applicants seeking a state-issued license when the test date conflicts with a religious observance. The second bill provides religious accommodation to patients when entering a licensed health-care facility.

“The governor supported and signed this bill because it responsibly addresses situations where religious observance may prevent a person from signing hospital admission papers on a particular date,” said Gloria Montealegre, spokesperson for Gov. Corzine.

Although life-threatening situations can override Shabbat observance, not all hospital visits are immediately life-threatening, Schaer said. This bill allows the patient to avoid making a decision to break the Sabbath.

“It simply makes it easier for people, and I think that’s a positive thing,” Schaer said. “It’s one less decision that one has to make in a difficult and trying situation.”

Asked how often these cases came up to require legislation, Schaer answered, “If it’s once, it’s enough.”

“Clearly there are many faith communities which have certain needs,” he said. “Those needs have not been met. New Jersey prides itself — and rightfully so — on its diversity. This is one more way New Jersey can reaffirm the importance of diversity in the state, not only racially and ethnically, but religiously as well.”

Schaer hopes that the lame-duck legislature will pass one more bill from the package before the end of the session. The bill in question would require employers to accommodate employees who choose not to work on their holy days. For example, if a Shabbat-observant retail store employee was asked to work on a Friday night or Saturday and refused on religious grounds, the employer would be required to provide an alternate date for that employee to work.

For Linda and Stanley Rutta of Englewood, this bill is long overdue.

Stanley Rutta works for a Netherlands-based computer company that services the retail industry. Two weeks ago he received a memo about vacation time in 2008. The company defined the start of the retail season in October, and accordingly no requests for vacations between Oct. 15 and Dec. 14 would be approved. Sukkot begins on Oct. 14 and is followed by Shemini Atzeret.

Three vacation days would be offered to employees before Oct. 15 or after Dec. 14, according to the memo. If Schaer and Weinberg’s bill becomes law, Rutta’s company would have to allow him to take off on the holidays.

“This legislation is very significant and long overdue,” said Linda Rutta. “They’re planning the retail season in October. Because of that stretch it’s affecting us more.”

More companies require weekend hours now than they did 30 years ago, when her husband began working, Rutta said. This requirement has kept her husband from advancement because he won’t work on Saturdays or Friday afternoons, while recruiters ignore applications from people who say they won’t be available on weekends, she said.

“You have to go begging to get your holidays off,” Rutta said. “It has become onerous. and we need federal protection for the wage-earners.”

New Jersey has not been as accommodating to religious needs as it should be, Weinberg said.

Her interest in the legal protection of religious observance was sparked as a result of the Torah Academy of Bergen County Mock Trial Club. In 2005 the team found itself unable to compete in a national competition because it conflicted with Shabbat. In the end, the National High School Mock Trial Championship board of directors made special arrangements so TABC could compete but then said the board would not make any future accommodations. To protest that decision, the New Jersey Bar Association and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers created a separate competition that did not conflict with weekend religious observance.

“Our environment was so unaccommodating,” Weinberg said of the incident. “It was those kinds of issues that we’re attempting to call attention to in this legislation, to remind people that they have to be accommodating.”

Other measures in the package would require New Jersey colleges and universities to accommodate students whose religious obligations prevent participation in testing that falls on holidays.

Schaer was hopeful that this bill would pass within the first two quarters of next year.

The package includes two other bills that would affect the state’s health-care governance. One ensures nursing home residents the right to receive food in line with their religious dietary laws, such as kosher or halal. The second bill ensures that doctors make their medical decisions — end of life issues, for example — in accordance with the patient’s religious beliefs.

Those bills still require work before they pass out of the legislature, Schaer said. The assemblyman was hopeful that they would all pass by the end of 2008, though.

“It’s an important recognition of the role all faith communities play in our state,” he said. “We’re excited by the bills and very gratified.”Jewish Standard

Passaic New Jersey Motor Vehicle Accident. Both Cars Everyone Wearing Seat Belts only minor injuries

Passaic New Jersey–Last night at about 6:00 there was a two car accident at the corner of Aycrigg And Pennington. The accident happened after one of the cars ran the stop sign. Hatzolah Of North Jersey transported one patient to Hackensack University Medical Center and the other two Patients refused medical care. One of the cars were totalled. Editor’s Note: Please make sure to wear your seat belt.

Cop killed wasn’t wearing seatbelt

PATERSON — An off-duty police officer who was killed this week when he lost control of his vehicle did not appear to be wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, a state police spokesman said.

Christopher Dotter, a 13-year veteran of the Paterson Police Department, died early Monday after he crashed on Interstate 80 near exit 60. Dotter was traveling at 2:26 a.m. in the right lane when he began to drive off the side of the road, state police said.

It has not been determined if the force of Dotter’s crash caused his seatbelt to come undone, said Sgt. Stephen Jones, a department spokesman. It was also unclear if a seatbelt would have saved the 43-year-old officer’s life. NorthJersey.com

Housing agency tough on drugs

By MEREDITH MANDELL HERALD NEWS

PASSAIC — In the last 12 months, the city’s Housing Authority has put 30 families on an eviction list and more than 150 people on a “no-trespass” list as part of a tougher stance against drugs and crime on its premises.

And while some are lauding the program, others say it does nothing more than uproot families or tear them apart.

“I try to tell him don’t go out there and get into trouble, but I can’t control what he does,” said Margaret Jackson, whose son, Calvin Stegal, 19, has numerous arrests for drugs and one arrest for beating up another tenant, according to Jose Colon, the authority’s security director. Jackson sobbed when she learned she has been put on the authority’s eviction list.

“I got nowhere to go,” she said.

Bill Snyder, the authority’s executive director, says the action reflects the authority’s more rigid enforcement of the federal “one strike” policy. The rule gives public housing authorities the right to evict a resident if any member of their household or a guest is caught using illegal drugs or is involved in drug-related criminal activity on or near the premises — even if the resident was unaware of the activity.

The rule has stirred controversy across the country, including in Philadelphia, New York City and Chicago. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the rule in HUD v. Rucker. The suit was brought by four California residents who were evicted.

Bryan Zises, a spokesman for the Chicago Housing Authority, told the New York Times that the exclusions helped the agency provide a safe environment for residents.

“At the end of the day, we’re landlords, and we need to be as good a landlord as we can for the people who live there,” Zises said in an Oct. 1 New York Times article.

Snyder’s efforts are part of a larger project to get the authority back on its feet after a federal audit last year found the agency improperly handled $2.4 million in funding. Now that the finances are in better order — with a surplus of $40,000 recorded at the end of November — Snyder said that his mission is to focus on some of the quality-of-life issues that plague the authority’s properties.

Residents have mixed feelings about his “tough love” approach.

Resident Leader Katie Johnson said she has noticed fewer drug dealers in the park behind her home on Sixth Street. She attributes the change to Snyder’s aggressiveness.

“He processes stuff faster and the policemen are doing more raids and the lawyers are working faster,” Johnson said, adding that, along with the one strike policy, the installation of cameras in hallways and the authority’s new contract for services with the county Sheriff’s Department, has helped matters.

Mary Williams says she believes the policy is disruptive. She said she was forced to forsake her 19-year-old son, Mark Williams earlier this year when he nearly got her evicted from her Vreeland Village apartment. Mark had been arrested several times on drug possession charges.

In May, the housing authority sent Mary Williams, a resident of public housing since 1994, an eviction notice just about the same time she was laid off from her job. As part of a mediation agreement in housing court, Williams agreed to bar her son from coming to her home in exchange for being able to stay on the premises. Mark is in the Passaic County Jail awaiting his next court date.

“If I accepted my son, then I would have been homeless,” she said. “That (policy) pushes him into the street. He’s really immature. Now, he’s going to be worse with no support, no foundation.”

Williams, a single mother, said that her son had been unruly and depressed for several years. Williams said she blames herself for not having paid enough attention to him, having worked many 10-hour days at her job. Williams tried to enroll Mark in a drug rehab program, but her insurance refused to pay for the treatment, she said.

Williams said she understands the reasons for the policy and values the housing authority’s efforts to keep the apartments safe. “I want to be able to walk peacefully, too,” she said. “I don’t want to have to worry that some guy is going to be breaking into my house.”

Jackson, whose son Calvin caused her to be listed for eviction, said that her son is bipolar and harbors a lot of anger. She said his father has not been a part of their lives.

“He needs to be evaluated and counseled — someone to talk to.”

Once on the eviction list, the matter is referred to a mediator and most cases are resolved to the tenants’ benefit, Snyder said. In some cases, when the mediator cannot resolve matters the case is referred to a judge, he said. Those put on the “no trespass” list are forbidden to set foot on any Housing Authority property.

Jackson said she is worried about the future because she has three grandchildren living with her, a 4-year-old, and twin 1-year-olds. Jackson said she too is bipolar and receives a $600-a-month Social Security disability check. Jackson said if she is evicted, she and her grandchildren will be out on the street.

Advocates say that kicking out those with trouble does not resolve some of the complicated issues they face: drug abuse, poverty and, in many cases, untreated mental illness.

“The one strike policy is easy to apply, but actually dealing with the psychological needs, evaluating households, and determining who is the victim of drugs and who is profiting from drugs, that, they always don’t do,” said John Bart, a an attorney for Northeast New Jersey Legal Services.

He also said the policy unfairly deems tenants guilty by association.

“I don’t think innocent heads of households should lose their public housing because of acts by other people that they are not aware of or in control,” he said.

Bart said, often in his one strike cases, his clients have various disabilities that could impair their ability to understand the rules, read or understand notices.

He will argue in court to prevent an eviction that the Housing Authority did not give his clients the extra accommodation it is required to provide under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Snyder, the director of the city Housing Authority, said he feels sympathetic toward residents and their problems. But, he added, over the past several years, with national cutbacks for housing authorities, officials have tighter resident services budgets and the focus has been placed on programs for younger children.

“I’d loved to be the mental health agency, the social agency,” Snyder said. “But we are a housing authority. We don’t have the financial wherewithal to provide the services that every resident needs or claims to need.”

Five Car Accident brings out 15 Volunteers from Hatzolah E.M.S.

Passaic New Jersey Five car motor vehicle accident. on the corner of Brook Ave and Passaic Ave in the heart of the Jewish Community. The accident occurred at approximately  1 am early this morning. Hatzolah Of North Jersey E.M.S. was first on scene at the accident. Hatzolah E.M.S. requested Paramedics as well as Fire Department for one aided in the back seat that was trapped in one of the cars. Hatzolah E.M.S transported four patients with paramedics aboard and Passaic E.M.S. transported one patient. All of the 5 patients were transported to Saint Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson. One of the drivers of one of the cars was under 18. Passaic Police and Passaic County Sherrif also on scene. One resident who heard the crash said he heard the accident and he was amazed by the 15 Hatzolah Volunteer’s that responded so quickly. He said, “It’s truly amazing to have such a reliable organization”.

Passaic has yet another fire

PASSAIC — A fire at 220 Sixth St. destroyed one second-floor apartment, leaving heavy water and smoke damage in several nearby apartments and on upper floors. The Saturday night blaze also forced the city Housing Authority to relocate 12 residents, while 10 others found alternate lodging on their own, Sgt. Hershel Rawls of the Passaic Police Department, said Sunday.

In all, eight apartments were vacated as a result of the fire, according to the police report, Rawls said.

No residents were hurt in the blaze, although two firefighters sustained minor injuries and were treated and released from St. Mary’s Hospital, said Deputy Fire Chief Allen Roman.

A third firefighter suffered more serious injuries to his ankle including torn ligaments, Roman said. He was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson where he was treated and released.

Roman said the firefighter will be off duty until his ankle can be surgically repaired. The fire was reported just before 11 p.m. and the blaze was brought under control by 11:23 p.m., Roman said. Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, investigators believe it was possibly started by someone smoking in bed. Northjersey.com

Watch out for scammers, cops warn

Englewood police are warning residents to beware of offers that sound too good to be true — especially if they involve a chance to join in on a winning lottery ticket.

The warning came as a result of two scams in the past two days, they said.

In one, a couple approached a man on the street Saturday morning with an offer of a lifetime: If he gave them $5,000 up front, they would split the proceeds of a winning lottery ticket when they cashed it — a classic flimflam scheme, police said.

The victim offered them $3,000, and the couple, a Hispanic male and a heavyset Hispanic female, took the cash. Then they drove the victim to his house to pick something up and drove away with his cellphone and iPod, police said. The couple were driving a red Nissan, police said.

Bogota police said a woman was approached Friday in a similar scam.

Police said the perpetrators have targeted Hispanic residents. The incidents are under investigation. NorthJersey

Fire Chief says Fire is suspicous

PASSAIC — Police and fire officials are investigating a two-alarm blaze on Oak Street Friday morning as possibly suspicious, fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said.

The fire was discovered at 9:35 a.m. by a passer-by who saw smoke billowing from 402 Oak St., which left the building’s only residents, a father, who was not identified, and his 12-year-old son, homeless, Trentacost said.

No one was at home at the time of the blaze, which firefighters brought under control at 10:15 a.m., Trentacost said.

Investigators said the fire, which erupted in the rear of the basement and rapidly spread throughout the house, may be suspicious because the blaze started in an uninhabited area. Also there appears to be a dispute about ownership of the building, Trentacost said.

No further information about the alleged dispute was available, nor was the cause of the fire immediately determined, Trentacost said.

Fighting the blaze, however, proved physically demanding, Trentacost said. “You have to open up ceilings and walls,” he said. “It’s a very labor-intensive fire.”

Firefighters called the second alarm almost immediately after they arrived at the house on Oak Street, and were assisted by fire companies from neighboring towns.

But the morning was still difficult as two firefighters were treated at the scene for exhaustion, while another was treated for debris that flew into his eyes, Trentacost said.

The worst from the fire was the thought that the Christmas holiday was probably ruined for the 12-year-old youngster who lost his home.

“It’s a sad thing to do when you’re pulling kids’ toys out,” Trentacost said. Northjersey

Passaic Police Officer catches Clifton thieves

CLIFTON — Police arrested two men and two juveniles suspected in-several strong-arm robberies of middle-aged men and women committed this month in Clifton and Paterson, authorities said Friday.

The four males, 16- to 20-years-old, were apprehended early Friday, shortly after three of them allegedly attempted to rob a 52-year-old man returning to his Prescott Avenue home in Clifton, Detective Capt. Robert Rowan of the Clifton Police Department said.

The would-be victim, sensing he was about to be robbed, pretended he had a pistol by stuffing his hand in his pocket. The three would-be attackers fled, Rowan said.

Witnesses provided a description of both the would-be robbers and their getaway vehicle, allowing a Passaic police officer to pull them over shortly afterwards, Rowan said.

A Clifton detective discovered a 10-inch knife in the vehicle.

Within a few hours of their arrest, Clifton Detective Robert Tillie used a cell phone found on one of the juveniles to link the four to a recent Paterson robbery, in which a 49-year-old, mentally disabled man was assaulted for $15 and his cell phone, Rowan said.

Clifton police were attempting to see if the four males also are responsible for several robberies in and around the Lakeview section of the city, including one committed Wednesday night in which a 54-year-old woman was robbed of her end-of-the-year bonus check and $400 earmarked for her family’s Christmas presents, Rowan said.

In the meantime, Clifton police have charged both Paterson men — Maison Booker, 20, of Sheridan Avenue and Raheem Beal, 18, of Ryle Avenue — with unlawful weapons possession, conspiring to commit robbery and employing a juvenile in commission of a crime.

Booker and Beal were being held Friday at the Clifton Municipal Jail. Bail information was not immediately available.

The juveniles, both 16, were charged with juvenile delinquency and were being held in the Passaic County Juvenile Detention Center in Haledon, according to authorities.

Cops Looking for FedEx Truck,Truck Jacked

NEW YORK (AP)  — Gun-toting carjackers made off with a FedEx delivery truck after accosting the driver at a stoplight in Manhattan early Friday, police said. Forced out of the truck and into another car, the driver was found around 1:30 a.m. in Brooklyn, police said. They were interviewing him later Friday. The driver wasn’t hurt, police and FedEx Corp. spokesman Steve Barber said. The FedEx Express truck was headed to a company facility in Newark, N.J., Barber said. While the driver was stopped at a traffic light on the far western side of midtown Manhattan, two men confronted him, brandishing a gun, according to police. Police and Barber said they didn’t know the truck’s contents or their value. Police described the truck as an 18-wheeler.

Two Passaic juveniles charged with attempted homicide in stabbing of Passaic Teen all involved go to Passaic High

PASSAIC — Police have arrested and charged two juveniles with attempted homicide for allegedly stabbing a 17-year-old boy during an attempted robbery Monday afternoon.

Investigators believe one of the arrested youths, who are 15 and 17 years old, is responsible for stabbing the boy in the chest, piercing his lung, said Capt. Ross Capuana of the Passaic Police Department’s youth services division. The victim, whose injuries were described as “life-threatening” before he underwent surgery, remained in stable condition at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center Thursday, Capuana said.The alleged attackers were also charged with unlawful weapons possession and conspiracy to commit an unlawful act. They were held Thursday at the Passaic County Juvenile Detention Center.

Police anticipate additional arrests in the case, in which a group of bandana- and scarf-masked young men mobbed and assaulted the victim and another 17-year-old boy after they refused to hand over their North Face brand jackets. The other boy was not seriously injured.

Both the victims and their alleged attackers are students at Passaic High School, police said. NorthJersey.com

Web site provides info on airport checkpoint wait times

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Want an idea of how much time you’ll spend at security checkpoints before heading to the airport?

Now there’s a way to find out.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is making the information available on its Web site: www.panynj.info.

The information is being provided by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

It’s based on historical averages at the region’s three major airports — JFK International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia Airport. nj.com

Borough Park, Brooklyn NY – Rabbi and Assistant Are Arrested in Tax Scheme.

Borough Park, Brooklyn NY – A rabbi of a Brooklyn-based Hasidic sect, was arrested Wednesday [as reported on VIN News] with his executive assistant in Los Angeles on charges that they arranged and profited from inflated charitable donations that saved the donors millions of dollars in federal income taxes

Under the scheme, officials said, the Rabbi spent more than a decade soliciting contributions for charities by promising to secretly refund as much as 95 percent of the money to the donors. The donors could then claim tax deductions on the full amount while paying as little as 5 percent, officials said.

They had taken in some $8.7 million in contributions solicited Of that, they held on to almost $750,000, the indictment said.

The case was broken, in part, with the help of a secret cooperating witness, a Los Angeles businessman identified in the indictment only as R. K. In one year alone, before he turned state’s evidence and agreed to record his former colleagues secretly, R. K. contributed about $1.7 million to the Spinka sect’s scheme. [nytimes] Vosizneias

Passaic Councilman Marcellus Jackson Resigns

TRENTON — A contrite Marcellus Jackson pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges Tuesday and then announced his resignation from the Passaic City Council.

On the steps of the federal building with his lawyer, he said misty-eyed, “I accept full responsibility in what I’ve done today. I dearly apologize and I am going to pay the price, and then move onto the next chapter of my life.”

Jackson, 38, pled guilty to one count of obstruction of interstate commerce by extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Jackson’s attorney, Miles Feinstein, said that the sentencing guidelines for his conduct are in the range of 42 months. Feinstein said he will ask the judge to go lower than the guidelines because of the plea agreement and his remorse.

“It is a sad day that a person who gave so much of himself to the city, and the community is in court for something like this. It’s tragic for himself, his family and his citizenry.” NorthJersey.com 

Councilman Marcellus Jackson admits that he took $26,000 in bribes from an undercover agents posing as members of an insurance brokerage. Jackson says he took the money in return for helping steer city contracts to the company.

Fare hikes to be aired in Teaneck, Manhattan

The Port Authority hopes to draw more people to its public hearings in Teaneck and Manhattan today that will address plans to raise tolls on Hudson River crossings from $6 to $8 during peak hours.

The agency also plans to raise PATH fares 50 cents to $2, and off-peak E-ZPass tolls on the bridges and tunnels by $2. Peak hours are 6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 8 p.m. on weekends.

The agency’s final 5 p.m. hearings will be held today in the Marriott Teaneck at Glenpointe, 100 Frank W. Burr Blvd.; and the Malcolm X/Betty Shabazz Center, 3940 Broadway, Manhattan.

Port Authority spokesman Marc LaVorgna said the agency advertised in local newspapers and on the Internet, but no more than four people have attended each of the four public hearings.

LaVorgna said the public comment period ends on Dec. 27, and the authority could vote on the fare hikes next month. He said people can also send their comments to the authority via e-mail or the U.S. Postal Service.

“You don’t have to come to the hearing to be heard,” he said.

Under the plan, the 20- or 40-ride PATH card would increase from $1.20 a trip to $1.50 — which, along with the other fare hikes, would help generate an additional $300 million in revenue, PA Executive Director Anthony Shorris has said.

However, drivers in low-emission vehicles that get at least 45 miles to the gallon could qualify for a $4 bridge and tunnel crossing toll, discounted for helping to reduce greenhouse gases, Port Authority officials say.

Port Authority officials say the increases would be fair and equitable and are long overdue because they would pay for a long list of capital projects — such as eventually replacing all tollbooths with electronic toll collection. NorthJersey.com

Clifton house destroyed by fire

CLIFTON – A two-story house on Alfred Street was destroyed by fire late Monday, police said.

There were no reported injuries in the house, but several animals apparently perished, said police Lt. Pat Ciser. Neighbors reported flames moving from the back to the front of the house as city firefighters battled the blaze.

None of the houses adjacent the burning building was damaged, Ciser said. NorthJersey.com

Teen in hospital after stabbing on Paulison Ave.

PASSAIC — A 17-year-old boy was reported in “life-threatening” condition Monday night after receiving a lung-piercing stab wound from a group of bandana-wearing thugs, police said.

Police had no immediate suspects and were exploring the possibility that a street gang was behind the attack, said Capt. Ross Capuana of the Passaic Police Department.

At about 3:45 p.m., the teenage victim was walking with a friend along Paulison Avenue near School 11 when they were attacked.

About 15 young men, believed to be between the ages of 16 and 21, assaulted them, according to eyewitnesses. The attackers covered their faces with bandanas and scarves and tried to rob the two young males of their coats. They ended up roughing them up instead, police said.

The 17-year-old, who Capuana said might be a Passaic High School student and did not appear to have a troubled history, fell to the ground as his attackers scattered. It could not be confirmed if he attended Passaic High School.

But the juvenile did not realize he had been seriously stabbed until he tried to take off his coat and found it torn and soaked in blood, Capuana said. The friend was not seriously injured in the attack, he said.

The teenager was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital and later transferred to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, where he was to undergo surgery Monday night, Capuana said.

Capuana said that while the 17-year-old was conscious, alert and able to speak, doctors considered his condition “life-threatening” until he emerged from surgery. His condition was not known Monday night.

Passaic Councilman to plead guilty today

Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson has a date in federal court today to plead guilty to corruption charges growing out of a bribes-for-votes probe that netted 11 public officials across the state.

Jackson, 38, a Baptist deacon who was reelected to the City Council in May, was expected to admit his guilt during a scheduled 11 a.m. hearing before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton, her chambers said Monday.

He would become the sixth defendant to be convicted as a result of an FBI sting code-named “Operation Broken Boards.”

J. Gregory Reinert, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, said the office does not comment on upcoming pleas.

Clifton defense attorney Miles R. Feinstein confirmed that Jackson intends to plead guilty at the hearing. He declined to comment further.

The councilman was arrested Sept. 6 on charges that he solicited and accepted $16,500 in bribes in exchange for using his influence to steer business to representatives of an FBI undercover company.

The insurance brokerage, Coastal Solutions of Egg Harbor Township, employed cooperating witnesses and undercover agents who passed out more than $150,000 in bribes during the probe.

Former state Assemblyman Alfred Steele of Paterson and four past and present members of the Pleasantville Board of Education have so far admitted they accepted payoffs to influence the award of public contracts.

Three others — Orange Mayor Mims Hackett Jr.; Keith Reid, the former chief of staff for Newark’s council president; and James McCormick, a former Pleasantville school board member — have been indicted for allegedly extorting bribes and are awaiting trial.

Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera and Jonathan Soto, a former councilman, also arrested in the September sweep, have been granted 60-day continuances in their cases.

Between January and May of this year, authorities charged that Jackson met in Egg Harbor Township, at an Atlantic City hotel, and in cars in Clifton and Newark to accept bribes from the FBI’s operatives. Many of the meetings were recorded by the FBI.

Initially cautious, Jackson appeared to relax as the cash payments flowed.

“I appreciate it, baby. Good things is going to happen,” he allegedly said on April 5 after accepting $6,000 from one of the cooperating witnesses.

Rivera said Tuesday that Jackson has been a “longtime friend” and that “I have my prayers for him.”

“I wish him the best,” he added.

Rivera said he didn’t believe that Jackson’s plea would affect his case, “One thing doesn’t have to do with the other,” he said. He referred all further questions to his attorney, Henry E. Klingeman.

Jackson, 37, an inspector for the Passaic Valley Sewage Commission, has served on the City Council for more than six years. He first ran for election in 2001 and lost, placing sixth in a field of eight candidates. But the council appointed him to serve out Rivera’s council term after Rivera was elected mayor. Jackson then sought to be elected in a November special election. At that time, the state attorney general announced it would not try to bar Jackson from the ballot, despite a prior drug conviction.

Jackson has played an active role in city political life as the former president of the city’s Democratic club and the lone black councilman on the seven-member council. Jackson is a deacon at the Calvary Baptist Church in Garfield.

Since his arrest in September, Jackson has continued to attend City Council meetings and play an active role in politics.

Calvin Merritt, president of the Passaic chapter of the NAACP, said even if Jackson pleads guilty, he will consider him a friend.

“If he did what the government is saying, I would say it was an error of judgment on his part,” he said, then added: “Friendship goes beyond things like this. You can tell who your true friends are when trouble arises.” NorthJersey.com

We at P.C.J.N. wish Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson  all the best on behalf of the Passaic/Clifton  Jewish Community.

Charedi Rabbis Approve Internet Use for Business

Israel – The Rabbinical Commission for Media Affairs, established by leading Haredi rabbis, published in the todays Haredi press an announcement permitting the use of the internet “solely for business purposes, through kosher means.”

The rabbis explained that the need to solve the problem presented by the internet came from the growing use of computer information systems, email and the internet in the business world.
According to the rabbis, “after consulting with experts, we have found a solution to the impasse which will allow those requiring it to access email only or sites connected to their livelihood.”
“This special solution was reached after much labor and sophisticated, technical investments aimed at removing the serious dangers of spiritual obstacles and injuries.”

The rabbis turned to communications companies that provide filtering services to create a solution for the God-fearing community in a special track under their supervision. [Ynet] (vin)

Abbas rules out talks with Hamas

PARIS (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ruled out dialogue with rival Islamic militant Hamas, and said Monday that without international support Gaza is “heading into disaster.”

Abbas, speaking at an international donors conference in Paris, said Gaza is already “close to catastrophe,” and would head into disaster without continued international aid.

Gaza has been virtually cut off from the world since Hamas seized control of the territory by force in June. Israel and Egypt sharply restricted border access in response, and the blockade has further deepened poverty there. NJ.com

New Jersey mulls becoming among few to ban Iran investments

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey on Monday was expected to move toward becoming one of the few states to prohibit state pension money from being invested in companies doing business in Iran.

The move is designed in protest of the country’s links to terrorism and its nuclear ambitions.

Most American companies are barred from doing business in Iran, but the state Senate was slated to vote on legislation restricting the state from buying stock in international companies that do business with Iran. The Assembly voted 78-1 in June to approve the measure.If approved by the Senate it goes to Democratic Gov. Jon S. Corzine for his signature.

Corzine’s administration has said it would prefer maximum freedom to make investment choices, but has said it was reviewing the bill.

Florida earlier this year became the first state to approve such a law, according to the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C-based nonprofit that pushes states to divest public money from counties linked to terrorism.

Florida’s law also banned investments in Sudan, and the board governing Florida’s public employee retirement fund authorized it to divest nearly $1.3 billion invested with 21 companies doing business in the two nations.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October signed legislation to end state investment in companies that do business with Iran.

“Divesting is a key component of preventing Iran from their efforts to oppress their citizens, terrorize their neighbors and spread hatred throughout the world,” said New Jersey Sen. Robert Singer, R-Ocean. “New Jersey shouldn’t be complicit in perpetuating human rights violations and the spreading of terrorism.”

New Jersey Assemblyman Neil Cohen cited anti-Israeli comments made by Iranian leaders. Nj.com

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The So Called “Rabbi” Friedman harassed by zionists

Rabbi Moishe Arye Friedman, who is the Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox Anti-Zionist Community of Austria, his wife Lea and six of their seven returned to their home in Vienna recently after almost two months in Iran at the guest house of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

After returning they founded out that all their belongings have been stolen.

“Austrian Zionist Jewish Community leaders have admitted having conducted burglary and theft at my house,” Friedman told Press TV on Sunday.

In a statement last week to the Austrian Press Agency (APA) the Austrian Zionist Jewish Community known as the IKG (Israelitische Kultus Gemeinde) officially admitted being behind the burglary, he said.

Accordingly, the family filed the formal criminal complaints against the IKG, and criminal proceedings are currently under way against the perpetrators.

This is not the first time the community commits crimes against its opponents in Austria.

Back in Dec 2002 the IKG –in an unsuccessful raid attempted to occupy and terrorize –attacked the synagogue of Austrians Orthodox Zionist Community headed by Rabbi Friedman.

In addition to the burglary the IKG filed various complaints against Friedman’s interviews and lectures at Iranian universities, where he praised Tehran for allowing freedom of speech and free scientific research on the Holocaust.

Last Week the Austrian prosecutors finally rejected and entirely closed all the files against the Rabbi.

Clifton Police Officer Was Injured When Route 19 Turns Into A Car Skating Rank

Clifton New Jersey- – Clifton Police got several reports at about 6:45 Pm of several cars spinning out of control near the Broad Street exit on Rt 19. The Clifton officers got on scene and advised their dispatcher that they should call the State to come salt the Highway due to the Highway being like an Ice Skating Rank. Moments after the officer advised the dispatcher of the condition of the Highway another passenger car skid right in to one of the Police cruisers. The police officers car was pushed about 30 feet forward all-though their was very little damage to the vehicles. The Officer was taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Passaic by Clifton Fire Dept E.M.S. No one else was reported to have any injuries. The Route 19 Highway was closed down by the Passaic County Sherrifs Dept. untill the salt trucks come to salt the Highway and is safe.P.C.J.N was the first to report this story.

Arabs fire rocket, stab elderly Jewish woman

 Palestinian Arab terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired another rocket at nearby Jewish towns on Friday afternoon, causing damage to a factory. The factory workers were able to reach the safety of the facility’s bomb shelter in time, and there were no injuries.

In other weekend violence, a 73-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed in the head by a young Palestinian Arab man while entering a restroom at a public beach in the coastal town of Ashkelon on Saturday. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital in moderate condition. The assailant was subdued by bystanders and arrested by police.

In Gaza, four Palestinian Arabs were killed and another 30 were wounded on Friday when a grenade was hurled at the funeral procession of a terrorist killed by Israeli forces a day earlier. Hamas officials said the grenade attack was part of a clan rivalry. israeltoday.co.il

Men’s mikvaot pose health hazard

Dozens of men’s mikvaot (ritual baths) across the nation are a potential health hazard due to poor accessibility, United Hatzalah of Israel, the haredi rapid-response first aid organization, has warned “If, God forbid, there is a major crisis in a mikve, such as a gas explosion, poisoned water or a collapsed roof, I don’t want to think of the consequences,” Hatzalah spokesman Yerach Toker said on Wednesday. Hatzalah volunteers, he said, had routinely run into serious obstacles that slow down first aid crews when responding to emergencies that take place inside men’s mikvaot. The most common emergencies are heart attacks, drownings and slipping accidents, Toker said. Also, the steamy, humid environment occasionally causes dizziness and even a temporary loss of consciousness. Hatzalah crews complain that after arriving on the scene they are often delayed many minutes at the entrance to the mikve by barriers that prevent non-members from getting inside. The most common obstacles are pay-activated or card-activated turnstiles and doors. “Just a few weeks ago a Hatzalah crew was called to evacuate a man from a mikve who complained of chest pains,” Toker said. “But the volunteers were held up close to half an hour. Fearing that he had suffered a heart attack, the man was prevented from walking. But since the only available exit was via a turnstile, it was impossible to remove the man. “An emergency door was blocked by a closet filled with towels and clothes. But even after the things blocking the door were moved, it was impossible to open the locked door. It took another 10 minutes until someone with a key showed up.” Rabbi Menachem Blumenthal, head of the Jerusalem Religious Council’s mikvaot division, who is responsible for 27 men’s mikvaot, said the problems facing first aid organizations were not new. “We are aware of the difficulties in getting in and out of mikvaot that are governed by electronic turnstiles,” he said. “But an adequate solution is provided as long as there is a caretaker with a key to the emergency door on the premises during opening hours.” Blumenthal said while it was commonly believed that hassidim and Sephardim are the primary users of men’s mikvaot, more Lithuanian haredi men have begun using them. Immersing oneself in a mikve before Shaharit (morning prayers) is considered an act of added sanctity and preparation. Streams of Judaism more aware of Kabbala (the mystical, esoteric aspects of Judaism) emphasize the purification process undergone by immersing in a mikve. Jpost.com

Not very smart but true

 Tonight at 500 Broadway their was a report of fire at a Delta Gas station on the corner of Broadway and Brook. The call came over as a gas fire coming out of the ground from the gas lines. It turns out yes their was a fire on top of the snow multiple Police And Fire Trucks pulled up. The Chief who was first on scene after Police,went over to the fire and realize it was a Fire on top of the snow .The Fire Dept Quickly hosed it out and the fire was put out. After a small investigation they found out that the Gas attendant took Gasoline and poured it on the snow to melt the snow. Which is extremely dangerous. Well now the Gas Station has to deal with the arson Squad as well as several other agencies and fines.