Yeshiva World News

(PHOTO LINK AT END OF ARTICLE) Coming on the heels of the very  successful “The Great Southern California Shakeout” state-wide drill which drew 5,000,000 participants, Hatzolah of Los Angeles is conducting a Disaster Preparedness & Safety Fair BBQ for the community.

This event is an opportunity to visit with public service members from several sectors including:  CERT, California Highway Patrol, Coroner’s Office, Department of Water and Power (DWP), LA Department of Health, LA Fire Department, LA Police Department.

This will be an opportunity for the community to meet with the different organizations to discuss disaster preparedness as well as watch several presentations. LAFD will conduct a demonstration of a vehicle extraction, DWP will conduct a high voltage and power safety demonstration, LA Department of Health will have a mobile health unit.

And to prevent hunger disasters, a Barbeque!

This will be a great time to ask questions and the kids will love it.

The Disaster Preparedness & Safety Fair BBQ will run from 1pm to 5pm on Sunday, November 23, 2008.  It will be held at Shaaery Zedek Congregation, 12800 Chandler Blvd., Valley Village.  Cost is $36 minimum donation per family.

PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos taken at last years BBQ.

(YWN Desk – NYC)

An experienced firefighter stretching a hose to a home’s burning attic was killed Sunday when a ceiling collapsed, throwing him to the ground and knocking off his helmet and oxygen mask.

The firefighter, Lt. Robert J. Ryan Jr., was unconscious when colleagues found him and pulled him from the two-story home in Staten Island. He was pronounced dead a while later at a hospital.

It was unclear whether Ryan, 46, was in the attic or was below it when the ceiling fell, firefighters said.

One resident in the home at the time escaped unhurt, the fire department said.

The electrical fire, in the New Brighton neighborhood, was reported about 12:30 a.m. and was brought under control an hour later.

Ryan’s engine company was the first to arrive to tackle the flames, which appeared to have been caused by faulty wiring, firefighters said.

Ryan, a 17-year veteran of the fire department, was promoted to lieutenant in March 2001. After Sept. 11, 2001, he was assigned to an engine company that had lost all its members in the World Trade Center attack, which killed 343 firefighters.

He was burned in a fire a few years ago and spent more than a year recuperating before returning to work.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a somber hospital news conference Sunday morning, asked city residents to pray for Ryan, who was married with two children and two stepchildren.

“He was a brave man who lost his life protecting the city,” Bloomberg said.

(Source: WCBSTV / YWN-55)

Three Lakewood men have been indicted on charges of bias intimidation of two Frum men in connection with attacks and robberies of the two in separate incidents.

In the 13-count indictment handed up by an Ocean County grand jury, Devon Hardy, 20, is charged with the attempted murder of Rabbi Yakov Jack Goldbaum, 41.

The indictment, handed up Monday, charges Hardy, Jose Diaz, 42, and Timothy Swift, 18, all of Lakewood, with first-degree robbery with a knife and first-degree bias intimidation during an attack on Rabbi Goldbaum outside his home in Lakewood about 1:00AM on July 8 – reported HERE on YWN.

Police said at the time that Goldbaum was attacked from behind and robbed of his wallet. He was critically injured, bleeding from an abdominal wound, when his wife called for help, they said.

The indictment charges the three suspects with third-degree aggravated assault, third-degree possession of a weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Hardy, Diaz and Swift, as well as Liduvina Garcia, 40, of Lakewood and Jessica Martinez, 21, of Seaside Heights are charged with two counts each of fraudulent use of Goldbaum’s credit cards on July 8.

Hardy and Diaz are also named in the indictment in connection with an attack on David Davidovish – as reported HERE on YWN.

Davidovish, a Meshulach from Eretz Yisroel, was in his car in the parking lot of a Route 9 convenience store in Lakewood May 25 when Diaz and Hardy struck the windshield with a baseball bat. He suffered minor injuries. The windshield was broken, and a computer was taken from his car, they said.

Hardy and Diaz are charged in the attack with first-degree robbery, first-degree bias intimidation, third-degree aggravated assault, possession of a weapon — a baseball bat — for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.

(Source: Asbury Park Press)

The FDNY says two of its trucks have collided in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, sending a dozen firefighters to hospitals. Five are in serious, but stable condition, while seven have minor injuries.

It happened around 6:30PM at Seventh Avenue and West Tenth Street. Both trucks were responding to an alarm at a building in the area.

One truck was heading south on Seventh Avenue. The other was going east on West 10th Street.

No other vehicles were involved in the wreck.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident.

(Source: WCBSTV / MyFoxNY)

Mayor Bloomberg’s approval rating has dropped to its lowest point in three years – a 9% nose dive that shows New Yorkers are angry with his change in term limits and plan to raise taxes on homeowners.

A Marist poll out Friday showed 59% of voters think he is doing an excellent or good job, down from 68% a month ago.

It’s the first time his popularity has fallen below 60% since August 2005.

But perhaps more damaging for the billionaire-turned-politician is that his lead over rivals for next year’s mayoral race is thin.

Only 51% of those surveyed said they would vote for Bloomberg in a match-up against Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens/Brooklyn) compared to 37% for the Congressman.

When pitched against Comptroller Bill Thompson he leads 52% to 32%.

Of those polled. 12% were undecided.

Both rivals waged a vocal battle against his push to change term limits.

The slim lead “can be troublesome for an incumbent,” said Marist pollster Lee Miringoff who added that “51% is about as slim a majority as you can have at this point.”

Since the last poll, the City Council voted to change term limits so Bloomberg could run again and the mayor has threatened to pull $400 rebates to homeowners and hike property taxes 7% to plug a budget hole.

Says Miringoff: “He is popular but the numbers have declined so the question is are we looking a short term fallout from the term limit or are we seeing a trend line with people being dissatisfied because of the economy.”

(Source: NY Daily News)

CBS2HD Reports: One New Yorker has a plan to protest fare increases for buses and subways that are expected to wallop commuters next year: He’s calling for a one-day boycott.

Louis Kenny has been passing out fliers calling for a boycott on the day fares are expected to go up June 9, 2009. He says people should walk, take a bike or call in sick to work that day instead of relying on public transportation.

The Metropolitan Transportation Agency says it needs to raise fare revenue by 23 percent because of a massive budget shortfall.

In calling a boycott, Kenny says, ”It’s time to show the MTA who really runs New York City’s public transportation.”

Kenny says the agency should reinstate the 50-cent fare on the Staten Island ferry and charge more for advertising.

If the proposed budget is approved and the state Legislature doesn’t come up with more money for the MTA, the service cuts could go into effect as early as June.

In addition to fare hikes, the MTA is expected to slash service, which includes subway lines and bus routes.

Joe Johnson uses the M8 bus several times a week to get from his home in TriBeCa to his doctor, and wants the MTA to spare the line.

“I need this bus,” says Johnson, who lost his leg three years ago to diabetes, and has been wheelchair-bound ever since. When he learned the MTA wants to shut down his route, he realized getting around was about to get even tougher.

“It’s gonna make it more difficult than it already is,” he says.

The MTA said it chose to shutdown the M8 route because it has relatively low ridership and there are alternative routes available.

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled that he would pursue a far more ambitious plan of spending and tax cuts than anything he outlined on the campaign trail, setting the tone for a recovery effort that could absorb and define much of his term.

In the Democrats’ weekly radio address, Mr. Obama said he would direct his economic team to design a two-year stimulus plan with the goal of saving or creating 2.5 million jobs, “a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office” on Jan. 20, an indication that he would begin pushing his plan through Congress even before taking office. Mr. Obama is coordinating with the Democratic leaders of Congress, who have indicated they will begin work in December.

The following is the text of Barak Obamas weekly radio address:

Good morning.

The news this week has only reinforced the fact that we are facing an economic crisis of historic proportions. Financial markets faced more turmoil. New home purchases in October were the lowest in half a century. 540,000 more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in eighteen years. And we now risk falling into a deflationary spiral that could increase our massive debt even further.

While I’m pleased that Congress passed a long-overdue extension of unemployment benefits this week, we must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. We have now lost 1.2 million jobs this year, and if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.

There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better. But January 20th is our chance to begin anew – with a new direction, new ideas, and new reforms that will create jobs and fuel long-term economic growth.

I have already directed my economic team to come up with an Economic Recovery Plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011 – a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face that I intend to sign soon after taking office. We’ll be working out the details in the weeks ahead, but it will be a two-year, nationwide effort to jumpstart job creation in America and lay the foundation for a strong and growing economy. We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels; fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.

These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis; these are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long. And they represent an early down payment on the type of reform my Administration will bring to Washington – a government that spends wisely, focuses on what works, and puts the public interest ahead of the same special interests that have come to dominate our politics.

I know that passing this plan won’t be easy. I will need and seek support from Republicans and Democrats, and I’ll be welcome to ideas and suggestions from both sides of the aisle.

But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action. Right now, there are millions of mothers and fathers who are lying awake at night wondering if next week’s paycheck will cover next month’s bills. There are Americans showing up to work in the morning only to have cleared out their desks by the afternoon. Retirees are watching their life savings disappear and students are seeing their college dreams deferred. These Americans need help, and they need it now.

The survival of the American Dream for over two centuries is not only a testament to its enduring power, but to the great effort, sacrifice, and courage of the American people. It has thrived because in our darkest hours, we have risen above the smallness of our divisions to forge a path towards a new and brighter day. We have acted boldly, bravely, and above all, together. That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come. It is time to act. As the next President of the United States, I will. Thank you.

Sullivan County officials and the district attorney are trying to find a way to protect consumers from fraud at the hands of fly-by-night contractors.

They’re pitching everything from creating a Web page with a list of registered contractors and a clearinghouse of information, all the way up to licensing requirements.

But several town supervisors are already coming out against the idea.

Sullivan County officials hosted a meeting in the Government Center on Friday attended by most of the supervisors, in what was described as a first step.

Dean Tamburri, a field representative for Laborers Local 17 and member of the county’s labor committee, pointed out that Rockland County has mandatory licensing and posts information on a Web page. Other counties, including Orange and Ulster, are moving in this direction, he said.

Several supervisors, however, expressed doubts licensing would protect consumers from fraud, while also saying this would add more government.

“I have spoken to a lot of people and there is not a lot of support,” Forestburgh Supervisor Jim Galligan said. “In my personal opinion, a license doesn’t make a person honest.”

District Attorney Steve Lungen argued that some system needs to be put in place. He noted the county licenses electricians, and his office is not getting complaints about electricians.

But he continually gets complaints about contractors, and the losses are in the millions over the past five years, Lungen said. Elderly people are losing tens of thousands on bad jobs. Either the contractor takes the money, does a little work and leaves, or the contractor does a terrible job.

He said in most cases, he can’t prosecute because the contractors are technically breaking no laws.

“This is no small issue in the county,” Lungen said. “This is substantial. They (consumers) need to be protected. We are not doing a good job of doing that.”

(Times Herald Record)