Fell off a ladder at 40 feet

 A worker remained hospitalized Monday night after he fell 40 feet off a ladder that had been propped atop a scaffold, a fire official said.The accident occurred about 1 p.m. Sunday. Two workers working on a scaffold were repairing an exterior wall of Van Houten Plumbing, at 810 Main Ave.

But the wooden scaffold only stood 16 feet from the ground and the workers, whose identities were not released, apparently needed to be higher.

So they set up a 24-foot-tall ladder. One climbed it. The other held it in place. Then the scaffold broke. “Both gentlemen went flying,” fire Chief Patrick Trentacost said.

The two men were taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, Trentacost said.

The man on top of the ladder suffered serious neck and head injuries and was listed in critical condition Monday night, Trentacost said.

The other worker’s injuries were unknown. NorthJersey.com

Final Update Lakewood High School students, parents arrested after large fight

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Police arrested about a dozen students and adults at a large fight at the local public high school that involved up to 150 students at its peak.

The fight started at about 10:45 a.m. between two non-students in the Lakewood High School parking lot, but soon spread to the nearby lunchroom, Lakewood Deputy Police Chief Charles Smith said during an afternoon news conference.

Students told local newspapers that they thought there might be a gang-connection with the fight; Smith said gang activity was one of several possible motives detectives were investigating.

The most serious injury involved a student who needed stitches for facial injuries, Lakewood police Lt. Michael Mooney said.

About 75 officers from Lakewood and surrounding towns were needed to break up the brawl, Smith said.

Police and students told The Star-Ledger of Newark that students were hitting police officers and one another, and throwing chairs and tables. Police had to bring in dogs and pepper spray at least one student.

Charges against the students and adults included trespassing, disorderly conduct, fighting and tumultuous behavior, Smith said.

Adults arrested included the two non-students blamed for starting the fight, as well as parents who came to the scene after hearing about the fight.

At the afternoon news conference, school district Superintendent Edward Luick said officials decided not to cancel school, and not to notify parents, because the school wanted to maintain order.

The high school has had fights before, Luick said, but never one that required such a large police response.

Luick said students involved in the fight faced penalties including suspension. The school will be back in session Tuesday, Luick said.

Lakewood has been the site of heightened tensions in recent years, with its Orthodox Jewish and Hispanic communities expanding as its black population shrinks.

Last month, a 37-year-old Lakewood man was arrested and charged with attempted murder in the beating of an Orthodox rabbi.

7 die after Hamas fires on Arafat rally

Palestinian Fatah supporters take part in a rally to mark the third anniversary of the death of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Gaza November 12, 2007. Gunfire killed at least five people on Monday at a Fatah memorial rally for Arafat that drew hundreds of thousands of supporters of the defeated faction in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, a medic said. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA)

Police break up fight between cops Shame Shame Shame

CLIFTON — It was definitely not OK at the Corral

A Paterson police sergeant had to separate two female Paterson police officers who got into a brawl at The New Corral Saturday morning.

The fight started when one of the police officers stormed into the eatery and began exchanging heated words with the other officer, who was eating with the sergeant at the time. A struggle between them ensued and the sergeant was forced to intervene. Both Paterson and Clifton police responded to the restaurant, although a police report on the fight was not available Sunday. The Clifton police report said those involved were “G.O.A.,” or gone on arrival, Clifton police Sgt. Andre Moreira said Sunday.

Paterson police officials refused to comment on the incident on Sunday, other than to confirm that an “altercation” took place at the Hazel Street restaurant. They also refused to confirm the names of the three officers involved.

“The chief and internal affairs are investigating it,” Police Director Michael C. Walker said. NorthJersey.com

Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchim Convention

The cavernous space at Pier 94, last night draped in black velvet with hundreds of tables elegantly decked out to serve 4,300 dinner guests, and more than a dozen 30-ft flat screens that allowed the guests to follow events on the podium, offered an illustration in brilliant contrast.

It was at this same Pier some 68 years ago, when the Chabad leader responsible for transferring the headquarters of the war-ravaged Chabad-Lubavitch movement from Europe to the U.S., disembarked the Drottingham at the New York Harbor, to a small, waiting entourage of Chabad Chasidim. 

The name Chabad was then barely known to anyone outside of the observant Jewish community. Upon his arrival in the U.S. Rabbi Joseph. I. Schneersohn sent a few of his Chasidim—there were only a few at the time—to begin the arduous task of seeking out Jewish children, and as was often the case, pleading with their parents to allow them to devote a few hours a week to Jewish education.

Few of the Chabad Shluchim at last night’s conference find themselves pleading with parents today. Instead, they are constantly expanding and building to accommodate ever growing numbers of Jewish children enrolling in their outstanding pre-schools, Hebrew schools and day schools around the world.

 

Man Lights Cigarette and Catches His Oxygen Tube on Fire

LAKE CARMEL, N.Y. (AP)  — A man hooked to an oxygen tank in his Putnam County home seriously burned his face when he tried to light a cigarette. 

Kent Police say 65-year-old Frank Covone of Lake Carmel is in the Westchester Medical Center burn unit following the
1 p.m. accident at his home on Cottage Road yesterday.

Police Sgt. Ronald Yeager says Covone needs oxygen to breath. He had a tube in his nose when he decided to smoke. The match exploded the oxygen tube.

Yeager says a health aide in the house saw a flash and heard Covone call out. She called 911.

Police Covone’s chair was burned but Lake Carmel firefighters prevented serious damage to the house.

School children will not be able to visit United Nations

Manhattan, NY – Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg says he won’t let city school children visit the United Nations building if it doesn’t fix fire safety hazards by March.

“If the United Nations does not adhere to these deadlines, the city will be forced to direct the cessation of all public school visits to the United Nations,” Bloomberg wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The 17-acre compound, has fewer than 20 percent of 866 violations found by city fire officials fixed.
Alicia Barcena, the U.N. undersecretary-general for administration and management, said “We are using money from savings and other budgets,” Barcena said. “We need New York City to feel safe, and we are going to do the best we can.”

Vosizneias.com

Major Riot/Fight In Lakewood At Public School

A source tells TheYeshivaWorld.com that a few hundred students at the Lakewood High-School (public school) are rioting at this time for an unknown reason. Reports of Lakewood police officers being assaulted as well. Numerous PD agencies responding. (East 7th Street @ Somerset Avenue) Further details to be posted shortly.

                      Update 12:34                                                                                                                   

Police are on the scene at Lakewood High School, where multiple students have been arrested after a large fight broke out.A police spokesman says one student has also been taken to a local hospital for a laceration.Police say they learned about the fight shortly before 11 a.m. Monday. Officers from neighboring Jackson, Toms River, Brick and Howell are helping at the scene.Police don’t have any information about why the fight broke out or exactly how many students have been arrested

Dual offices didn’t hurt most N.J. incumbents

It’s now illegal to hold more than one elected office in New Jersey, but that didn’t keep 14 state legislators who are also mayors or county freeholders from being sent back to Trenton last week.

Once something is banned, the practice is supposed to end, but not when it comes to the state Legislature.

About two months ago, Governor Corzine signed into law a measure that effectively bans future dual office-holding in New Jersey, meaning you can no longer hold two publicly elected offices at the same time.

The new law, however, contains a grandfather provision that allows anyone who is currently holding two elected offices to continue doing so. That means it doesn’t apply to the 17 state lawmakers who already hold other offices at the municipal or county level along with their legislative offices.

For example, state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, can continue serving as the mayor of Wood-Ridge while still representing the 36th District. And he can run for both offices – just as he did Tuesday — as many times as he wants in the future, as long as he keeps winning the elections. NorthJersey.com

2 Girls Ejected From Car On Route 21

PASSAIC — Two girls were hospitalized on Sunday after they were ejected from an SUV that was being driven by an unlicensed driver, police said.

The two girls, 7 and 13 years old, were flung from the Ford Explorer when the vehicle, which was traveling south on Route 21, lost a wheel, hit the median and rolled over behind the Aspen Place public housing complex shortly after 11 a.m., police said.

The 7-year-old girl landed in the southbound lanes of the highway, while the 13-year-old flew over the center divider and landed in the northbound lanes, Detective Andy White said Sunday.

It was lucky no one died in the accident, police said. It was not known whether the two girls were wearing seatbelts, police said.

“Thank God no cars were coming that way at that time,” White said.

All eight passengers in the vehicle, including the driver, Maria Argumendo, were taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson. One suffered a serious neck injury, but it was unclear who that was.

The accident remained under investigation on Sunday and police had not yet determined what caused the Explorer’s rear wheel to fall off. Argumendo, of Sherman Street, was issued a summons for being an unlicensed driver, White said. NORTHJERSEY.COM

Olmert to Demand PA Accept Israel as Jewish State

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to demand that the Palestinian Authority accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state in upcoming negotiations. This will be Israel’s precondition for any further negotiations with the PA, according to Channel 2 TV.

The report said that by making this simple demand, Olmert will be forcing the PA to give up its hope of making Israel accept an Arab influx into its borders (the “right of return” of “refugees”). If the PA accepts the condition, it will become that much simpler for Olmert to make concessions of his own

Until now, however, the PA negotiators’ position has been to reject this condition.

According to a report by Ynet, the PA’s negotiating team will refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in the declaration expected to be signed at the Annapolis Mideast summit November 26. Israeli and PA negotiating teams are scheduled to meet Monday following an incident in which lead PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala), the former PA Prime Minister, was held up Sunday for half an hour at a security checkpoint on his way to Jerusalem for the meeting.

Israeli police seek evidence against PM

JERUSALEM – Police raided more than 20 government buildings and private offices Sunday morning, seeking evidence in a series of criminal investigations of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, potentially weakening his position ahead of a crucial Mideast peace conference in the United States.

The early morning sweep came just as Olmert’s popularity, which plummeted after last year’s inconclusive war against Lebanese Hezbolah guerrillas, has begun to rebound.

The raid Sunday targeted more than 20 locations, including the Industry and Trade Ministry, the Postal Authority and Jerusalem’s City Hall, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

 

Changes to Medicare are leaving some patients stuck with the bills

Flo Nibbling, 76, a Medicare recipient, for years never paid a cent for medical emergency treatment in her home or ambulance transport to the hospital. Then, in July, she fainted. It was the beginning of a stroke. A bill for $444.35 from the company that treated her arrived soon after. The bill noted that Medicare had denied the claim. Formerly, Medicare had paid 80 percent of the bill and her secondary insurance would have picked up the rest.

Nibbling says she hasn’t paid the bill because she doesn’t have the money.

“I’d rather die in my living room,” Nibbling said, “than pay bills such as this.”

Nibbling’s experience is the result of recent changes to Medicare’s billing system, that has municipalities fighting with hospitals over emergency medical care bills. State officials say Medicare billing, along with a decline in the number of ambulance corps volunteers, are resulting in a near-crisis for the state’s emergency medical services, or EMS, system.

“To prevent a crash of the system, we have to conduct preventative measures,” said David Gruber, assistant commissioner for the state Department of Health and Senior Services, by telephone last week.

Medicare at one time accepted bills from multiple emergency service providers who responded to a single 911 call. Then it announced it would accept only one bill, even if two providers were involved. Finally, last year, Medicare phased in new payment rates for EMS providers that drastically realigned who would get how much. As a result, patients are getting bills for what Medicare won’t pay.

Meanwhile, hospitals are making slimmer profits on the highly skilled technicians they send out, while ambulances dispatched by municipalities are pocketing money hospitals used to get.

HERALD NEWS

Brawl among inmates forces jail lockdown for hours.

PATERSON — Warden Charles Meyers temporarily locked down the Passaic County Jail Saturday after officers broke up a brawl involving 40 inmates from rival gangs just after midnight Friday, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Bill Maer. Some inmates suffered minor injuries but no officers were injured, he said. The inmates involved were taken to a super maximum security point. “Issues of this nature happen from time to time,” Maer said. “It’s the responsibility of the sheriff and the warden to initiate procedures to guarantee the security of the Passaic County Jail.” NorthJersey.Com

Breaking News!!! An outbreak of Staph infection hits N.Y.C. Hospital

An outbreak of MRSA staph infection has hit 9 babies at New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital another 12 babies have tested positive.