Baltimore, MD - Nov. 17, 2017: Dear Community Members, The Pikesville Precinct has recently experienced several thefts of vehicles in our area. These vehicles were left running, unattended, keys in the ignition, and the doors unlocked in front of the victim’s residence. Please do not leave your vehicle running and unattended.  If you must warm up your vehicle, please ensure that you comply with current Maryland laws.  Click here for more information regarding the laws addressing this issue. Please be vigilant of suspicious subjects or vehicles roaming and traveling through your neighborhoods. If you notice suspicious activity, safely get a good description of the subjects and contact 911. We do offer Free Home Security Surveys where an officer will respond to your home a...
Baltimore, MD -  This Shabbos, November 18th - Parshas Toldos Yeshivas Ner Yisroel will hold its annual citywide  Shabbos of Chizuk. Rebbeim and chavrei hahanhala will spend Shabbos in various Baltimore shuls and neighborhoods, where they will share words of Torah and chizuk with alumni and friends. for schedule click here
Please be Mispallel for the Vishnitzer Rebbe of Monsey, who was taken to the hospital for on Thursday afternoon. The Rebbe has reportedly not been feeling well the past few days, and was complaining of general weakness. He was taken to Good Samaratain Hospital near Monsey, and transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on Thursday night. The Rebbe, Hagaon HaRav Mordechai Hager Shlita, is the elder of the admorim today. The Rebbe, who is around 95-years-old, is known for his devotion to learning Torah: He learns around 18 hours a day and asks his Chasidim to study at least two hours every day. He has thousands of Chassidim around the globe. Please be Mispallel for Mordechai ben Margulia.
The House passed a nearly $1.5 trillion tax bill that differs from legislation approved by the Senate Finance Committee. A comparison of the Republican-written measures: —Personal income tax rates: House bill condenses current seven brackets to four: 12, 25, 35 and 39.6 percent. Senate measure retains seven brackets but changes them to 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 38.5 percent. Under current law, top bracket is 39.6 percent. The Senate bill ends the reductions in 2026; they’re permanent in the House version. —Standard deduction: Used by about 70 percent of U.S. taxpayers, currently $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for married couples. House, Senate bills both double those levels to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for couples. —Personal exemption: Both b...
Airlines are bumping fewer passengers off oversold planes after taking to heart the public anger over a man being violently dragged from his seat earlier this year. The U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday that airlines bumped 2,745 passengers between July and September. That is about one in every 67,000 passengers, and it is the lowest rate since the department started keeping track of bumping in 1995. The rate has dropped steadily this year, especially since April when video surfaced of Chicago airport officers yanking a 69-year-old man off a United Express plane to make room for an airline employee. United and other airlines responded by making changes, including raising the compensation paid to encourage passengers to voluntarily give up seats on oversold flights. ...
The Trump administration announced a major gang sweep Thursday, with the arrest of more than 200 members of the violent street gang MS-13. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department said “Operation Raging Bull” was conducted across the United States from Oct. 8 to Nov. 11, and concluded with the arrest of 214 members of MS-13. “We will not rest until every member, associate and leader of MS-13 has been held accountable for their crimes,” said Thomas Horman, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This was the second phase of a federal effort to target MS-13. The first phase involved 53 arrests in El Salvador in September after an 18-month investigation. In a statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said more than 1,...
The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee are saying President Donald Trump’s son-in-law hasn’t been fully forthcoming with the panel’s probe into Russian election interference, asking him to provide emails sent to him involving WikiLeaks and a “Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite.” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein sent a letter to Jared Kushner’s lawyer Thursday saying the collection of documents he has provided the committee is “incomplete.” The committee gave Kushner a Nov. 27 deadline to provide the additional documents, including the emails and Kushner’s security clearance form that originally omitted certain contacts with Russian officials. The re...
Phone companies will have greater authority to block unwanted calls from reaching customers as regulators adopted new rules to combat automated messages known as robocalls. Rules adopted Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission represent the latest tools against robocalls, which pester consumers, sometimes multiple times each day, and often push scams. The agency, which regulates the country’s phone, broadcast TV and internet services, also hopes that recent big fines will help deter scammers. Phone companies can already block some calls that trick consumers by showing up on Caller ID with fake numbers. The new rules make clear that they can block additional calls that are likely scams, such as numbers that start with a 911 area code, or one that isn’t currentl...
The Pentagon says it accidentally retweeted a tweet that urged President Donald Trump to resign. Without mentioning the content of the original tweet, a Pentagon spokesman, Col. Rob Manning, said it “would not be endorsed by the Department of Defense.” The tweet was posted Thursday by a person whose Twitter handle is @ProudResister. It said, “The solution is simple. Roy Moore: Step down from the race. Al Franken: Resign from congress. Donald Trump: Resign from the presidency. GOP: Stop making sexual assault a partisan issue. It’s a crime as is your hypocrisy.” Manning says the person who had retweeted the item was an authorized operator of the official Defense Department Twitter account, which has 5.2 million followers. Manning said the person “...
Baltimore, MD - Nov. 17, 2017 - Staff with responsibility for taking cash to the bank or transporting valuables will always be vulnerable to robbery. But you can take a number of precautions to reduce the risks involved and make your cash less inviting to thieves. For example: •             If possible, never leave the business alone with cash deposits.  Robbers are much more likely to attack a single person. •             Install a large floor safe to allow for safe storage of cash when bank deposits are not practical. •             Don’t announce to unnecessary employees when and w...
Updated as of Nov. 17, 2017 at 12:08 PM - The following is information that was obtained from the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s office today regarding this case. This is a criminal case where the defendant is charged with BURGLARY- 4TH DEGREE and MALICIOUS DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY at a community member’s residence. Jessica Baldwin Bowes, Policy and Legislative Affairs, NW Liaison reported the following latest details regarding State vs. Danard McDaniels, case number 6B02366013. Mr. McDaniels appeared in court today. He was arraigned and advised of his right to an attorney. The prosecutor did not make him an offer. The Court scheduled a trial at the Wabash Courthouse in Room 6 on 12/22/17. The Early Resolution Chief Patricia Deros reported that the ju...
My nephew, Yisroel Meir Shonek, who was celebrating his aufruf exactly five years ago, along with his wife Miriam welcomed a new baby girl into the family this week whom they named Tzirel Nechama, after my mother. On a closely related note, our own (Tzirel) Nechama is celebrating her Bas Mitzvah this coming Sunday evening. Special Mazal Tovs to the Tzirel Nechamas and their families. When Eisav comes back from the field, he is so wiped out that he is on the verge of death. He demands of Yaakov, who was cooking up a lentil soup, "Pour me some of that red stuff!" The pasuk continues to say that for this, he was called Edom (red). This name has endured as a reference to Eisav throughout the generations. Why would we designate an eternal name for Eisav based on this seemingly insignificant e...
Baltimore, MD - Nov. 17, 2017 - Listen to Rabbi Moshe Hauer: Toldos 5778 - The Ambiguous Pact with the Plishtim - 2nd Aliyah Click here to listen
The landscape of Devin P. Kelley’s life was a veritable forest of red flags. Mr. Kelley, who last week shot to death 26 worshippers in a Texas church and wounded some 20 others, over the years was convicted of beating his wife and stepson, fracturing the latter’s skull; faced charges of animal cruelty; had been investigated for threats against family members; threatened to kill his military superiors; was caught sneaking guns onto an Air Force base; and escaped from confinement in a mental health facility. The Air Force has admitted that it did not, as required, submit Mr. Kelley’s name to federal authorities for inclusion in a national database that would have prevented him from buying firearms from a licensed dealer. But there is a two-word phrase in the previous par...
The newest Bank of Israel notes, the 20 and 100 shekel denominations, will begin entering circulation this coming week. The first bill will be presented to President Reuven Rivlin. The Bank of Israel beginning on Thursday, be distributing the new 20 and 100 NIS bills through the banks of the commercial banks, ATMs and post office branches. On Wednesday, Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug will hand over the new notes to President Reuven Rivlin at an event to be held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. The new notes, like the new series, show advanced standards of security, innovation and accessibility, and incorporate a variety of security signs against counterfeiting. For the benefit of the blind and visually impaired population, the value of the notes in the new seri...
Congress on Thursday sent President Donald Trump a sweeping defense policy bill authorizing a $700 billion budget for the military, including billions of dollars more for missile defense programs to counter the growing nuclear weapons threat from North Korea. The defense authorization bill for 2018 sailed through the Senate by voice vote. The House had approved the measure earlier this week. Lawmakers say the tens of billions of extra dollars are sorely needed to restock a U.S. military depleted by years of combat and a broken budgeting process that leaves the U.S. armed forces unsure of how much money they’ll get each year. But there’s a catch. While the $700 billion military budget is a powerful political statement, the $700 billion plan remains notional until Congre...
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez exited his federal bribery trial after a mistrial Thursday with an eye on a 2018 re-election effort, but with him neither acquitted nor convicted, the cloud from the investigation remains. The mistrial gave Democrats hoping to hold onto the seat in next year’s midterm elections cause for optimism and spurred Republicans to keep the pressure up. The stakes are high given that Republicans have a narrow 52-48 Senate majority and head into the midterm election under a historically unpopular Republican president. Menendez, himself, was buoyed by the decision. “To those who were digging my political grave so they could jump into my seat, I know who you are and I won’t forget you,” Menendez said. A bi-partisan group of la...
The Trump administration said it will allow the importation of body parts from African elephants shot for sport, contending that encouraging wealthy big-game hunters to kill them will aid the vulnerable species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a written notice issued Thursday that permitting elephants from Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back as trophies will raise money for conservation programs. A licensed two-week African elephant hunt can cost more than $50,000 per person, not including airfare, according to advertised rates. The change marks a shift in efforts to stop the importation of elephant tusks and hides, overriding a 2014 ban imposed by the Obama administration. The new policy applies to the remains of African elephants killed between January 2016 and Dece...
Women of the Wall (WoW) and supporters were at the Kosel Thursday morning, 27 Cheshvan, ahead of Rosh Chodesh Kislev. In addition to their regular prayers, they left the area allocated to them and then began dancing and singing in the Kosel Plaza, mixed dancing, with Sifrei Torah in hand R”L. Kikar Shabbos News quotes eyewitnesses, who explained when they were done with their prayer service, they headed towards the Kosel Plaza singing and dancing, a gender-mixed group, without passing through security and without listening to calls to halt. Kosel Heritage Foundation officials responded: “Unfortunately, this is a group that came to the Kosel this morning to create a provocation and a media event, well-aware their actions were contrary to the rulings of the High Court of ...
There has been a rise of hundreds of percent in the past five years in the recruitment of girls entering IDF fighting units according to data from the November 2017 recruitment that began this week. In 2017 about 2,700 girls joined the combat units, including the mixed battalions and other units. This is a 350% increase compared to the number of female soldiers who enlisted in 2012. Five years ago, the IDF absorbed 600 girls for combat duties, a year later the number of girls more than doubled and stood at more than 1,300, and the figure rose until it reached its peak this year, compared to last year’s 30% increase in the number of girls who enlisted to combat units. The IDF attributes this year’s increase to the number of exemptions given to the soldiers in the mixed ...
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