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February 15, 2018 at 10:47 pm
Amtrak’s president and CEO says the railroad will consider suspending service on tracks that don’t have speed controls in place by Dec. 31. That could affect service in much of the United States.
Richard Anderson told a House subcommittee on Thursday that Amtrak is concerned about delays in installing GPS-based positive-train control systems on tracks it uses but doesn’t own.
Railroads face a year-end deadline for installing the systems, known as PTC, but many are seeking an extension until 2020.
PTC is designed to automatically slow or stop trains that are going too fast. It can take control when an engineer is distracted or incapacitated.
It’s activated on Amtrak-owned tracks from Boston to Washington, D.C., and in Michigan. Elsewhere, Amtrak operates on...
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February 15, 2018 at 10:43 pm
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 15, 2018 - A white 4 Door Honda Civic with Maryland tag number 2BF2517 was stolen today between 10:00am & 2:30pm from the church parking lot next to Seasons. There are no identifying scratches, dents, or bumper stickers. Police were notified.
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February 15, 2018 at 10:17 pm
In the holiest room on earth, the Holy of Holies, on top of one of the holiest objects in existence, the holy Ark, stood two figures - the “Keruvim”. The Keruvim were two figures carved out of solid gold, each with the appearance of a human face and wings that stretched heavenwards. The Gemara explains that one symbolized the Jewish nation and the other symbolized Hashem Himself.
One would imagine that Hashem would be represented by perhaps a cloud, similar to the Clouds of Glory, or perhaps a fire, similar to when He first appeared to Moshe at the burning bush. Why would Hashem specifically choose a human face to represent Himself? What was Hashem relaying to us by doing so?
We can answer this by addressing another question: when the Jewish nation traveled through the desert...
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February 15, 2018 at 9:23 pm
Philanthropists Sheldon and Miriam Adelson donated five armor plated ambulances to Magen David Edom (MDA) for use in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel’s northern border.
An MDA emergency service headquarters under construction in Ramle will be named after the couple.
The Adelsons laid a cornerstone for a new School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Ariel’s university in June.
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February 15, 2018 at 9:23 pm
he British government has named and shamed Russia as the culprit in a massive ransomware attack last year that targeted Ukraine and then spread across Europe, costing companies more than $1.2 billion in damages. Known as the NotPetya attack—which caused chaos in June 2017—it initially hit Ukraine’s financial, energy, and government sectors before affecting companies such as British health-goods producer Reckitt Benckiser and Dutch delivery company TNT.
In an unusually blunt and public accusation, a U.K. government minister accused Russia of “ripping up the rulebook by undermining democracy, wrecking livelihoods by targeting critical infrastructure, and weaponizing information.”
In a further statement, the U.K. government said the decision to publicly...
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February 15, 2018 at 9:23 pm
NEW YORK -- - A former New York City high school teacher has been accused of paying students to dismantle fireworks for gunpowder so he could eventually make a bomb. Christian Toro was charged in a federal complaint Thursday with offenses including unlawfully making an explosive. His twin brother, Tyler, also has been arrested in the case.
It isn't immediately clear who will represent the two in court.
According to the complaint, the case grew out of a bomb threat called into a school in December. Neither of the brothers were on the radar of law enforcement before the investigation.
At a news conference Thursday evening, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill and other officials said tips from staffers at the school were crucial to crackin...
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February 15, 2018 at 6:27 pm
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency has broken months of silence about his frequent premium-class flights at taxpayer expense, saying he needs to fly first class because of unpleasant interactions with other travelers.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt spoke about his flight costs on Tuesday in a pair of interviews in New Hampshire, following a first-class flight to meet with the state’s Republican governor and tour a toxic waste site.
Pruitt told the New Hampshire Union Leader he had some “incidents” on flights shortly after his appointment by President Donald Trump last year.
“We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment,” said Pruitt, who confirmed to the newspaper that he had flown first class...
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February 15, 2018 at 6:25 pm
A car chase in Florida that reached speeds of 100 miles per hour ended with no arrests and the driver of the vehicle waiting at the sheriff’s office for a ride home, WPTV reported.
Joseph Cooper, 28, frantically called 911 after the accelerator on his BMW X5 got stuck while getting on the I-95, the station reported on Tuesday.
“Get out of the way!” Cooper could be heard yelling on the 911 call, according to the station.
He told dispatchers his 2003 SUV wouldn’t slow down or stop, and requested traffic assistance on the crowded freeway.
"I think my gas pedal is stuck on my car and I’m on I-95,” Cooper told dispatchers.
Dispatchers tried to solve the problem over the phone as the vehicle flew down the interstate, asking Cooper if he had tried to ...
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February 15, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped this week to their highest level in nearly four years, a sign that the prospect of higher inflation is steadily increasing the cost of borrowing to buy a home.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.38 percent this week, up from 4.32 percent last week and the highest since April 2014.
The rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans rose to 3.84 percent from 3.77 percent last week.
Recent wage gains and rising prices are stoking concerns about inflation picking up, which has caused investors to seek higher interest rates. Mortgage rates are closely aligned with the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, which has climbed above 2.90 percent from 2.78 percent just two ...
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February 15, 2018 at 6:20 pm
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is signaling his openness to a 25-cent fuel tax increase to help pay for his infrastructure proposal in a meeting with members of Congress.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware says in a statement that Trump said he'd be willing to provide leadership on a 25-cent increase in the federal gas and diesel tax, which hasn't been increased since 1993.
Trump made the comments in a meeting with lawmakers Wednesday to discuss his infrastructure plan.
The White House is declining comment on his discussions in the closed-door meeting. But a spokeswoman says "everything is on the table" in the infrastructure plan, the gas tax has "pros and cons" and Trump was "leading a thoughtful discussion" on ways to address the nation's infrastructure problems.
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February 15, 2018 at 6:18 pm
Rashi records a fascinating tradition in regard to the bars that supported the planks that comprised the walls of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.
There were two rows of bars external to the full length of each of the three walls. Additionally there was a hole bored through the middle of the planks through which the בריח התיכון, the middle bar, comprised of acacia wood, was inserted.
Rashi asserts that this bar was a single bar that was actually seventy cubits long that traversed the entire length of all the walls. It miraculously bent in a ninety degree angle as it traveled along the south side turning when it reached the western wall and once again flexing as it made its way down the eastern wall, encompassing the full distance of two walls that were thirty cubits each and the te...
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February 15, 2018 at 5:43 pm
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff says suspect in Florida high school shooting bought a drink at Subway, stopped at a fast-food restaurant after rampage.
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February 15, 2018 at 5:35 pm
Leonia, NJ - A town that recently banned nonresident drivers from using its side streets as a shortcut to the busy George Washington Bridge into New York will replace imposing “Do Not Enter” signs with more welcoming versions, in an effort to lessen confusion and allay fears of local business owners.
Leonia Mayor Judah Zeigler said the new signs will be more understated and “business friendly.”
In January, Leonia began closing 60 residential side streets to nonresident commuter traffic in response to thousands of drivers being routed through the town by navigation apps when traffic is tied up at the bridge, the world’s busiest.
At least one person has sued the town over the restrictions, and a group planned to march in protest Thursday.
The signs will stil...
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February 15, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Dallas - A Texas elementary school teacher who died almost a week after getting sick from the flu became a talking point online after her husband said she didn’t immediately fill her prescription for an antiviral drug after deeming the $116 insurance co-pay too high.
While her husband told the Wall Street Journal that he picked up the prescription the day after she refused it and she then started taking the medication, Heather Holland, 38, died three days later on Feb. 4.
Doctors told The Associated Press that while it’s ideal to start taking antiviral medication as quickly as possible, it’s no guarantee that one’s condition will not drastically worsen.
Antivirals make it “not zero, but less likely” that complications will develop, said Dr. Will...
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February 15, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Jerusalem - Israel’s attorney general on Thursday praised a police investigation into the prime minister over corruption allegations, saying it was conducted “thoroughly” and “by the book” even as the Israeli leader has shrugged off its conclusions.
In a speech at Tel Aviv University, Avihai Mandelblit lauded the more-than-yearlong probe into a pair of corruption scandals that have engulfed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, culminating this week when police recommended that he be indicted on bribery and breach of trust charges in both cases.
The recommendations now go to Mandelblit, who will review the material before deciding whether to file charges.
“The investigations were carried out by the book, exactly as is expected by law enforcement authorit...
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February 15, 2018 at 5:26 pm
Washington - The United States doesn’t have a “bloody nose” strategy for North Korea, senators of both parties and a Trump administration official said Thursday, rejecting claims the U.S. wants to strike the North’s nuclear program in a way that avoids an all-out war.
The harmonized message could quell speculation that President Donald Trump is contemplating limited military action to demonstrate U.S. resolve toward North Korea without provoking a wider conflict. Such a strategy would be widely seen as dangerous given the North’s capability to inflict a devastating retaliation on U.S. ally South Korea.
A senior White House official, at a briefing Wednesday, told lawmakers that no such approach has been adopted, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and James Risch, ...
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February 15, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Parkland, FL - A Broward County Sheriff’s Office report says Nikolas Cruz confessed to being the shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
According to the report, he told interrogating officers that he “began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds” on Wednesday afternoon.
The report adds that Cruz told officers he “brought additional loaded magazines to the school campus and kept them hidden in a backpack until he got on campus to begin his assault.”
Cruz told investigators that as students began to flee, he decided to discard his AR-15 rifle and a vest he was wearing so he could blend in with the crowd. Police recovered the rifle and the vest.
The police report adds that Cruz purchased the rifle in February 2017, ...
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February 15, 2018 at 4:55 pm
It’s important to keep things fresh. After all, repetition and familiarity can lead to taking things for granted. That’s why I thought it might be a good idea this year to shake things up a bit. For starters, while there has been an expansion into “Green” in recent years, most Esrogim are still yellow. The Torah actually never identifies an Esrog as the fruit which we are supposed to take on Succos, Rather, it says “Pri Eitz Hadar” (Emor 23:40) So I’m thinking an Esrog – be it yellow or green, is way too flashy anyway. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to use a fruit with a more conservative appearance? A date or a fig would do nicely. Indeed, they are less loud in color and at least they are amon...
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February 15, 2018 at 4:35 pm
As I sat at the formal breakfast honoring the initiation of Gemara study by the fifth grade of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim, I was overcome by the intense meaning of this moment. My grandson along with another 90 fifth graders are about to embark on their career of Talmud study. This career is the lifeblood of our people.
Throughout history the winds of change are constantly blowing. Our current period is experiencing a typhoon. There is almost no place on Earth which has been spared by this storm. Even our communities are suffering under the weight of this storm. However, within our community we have a bunker which remains a safe place. In this bunker we can be secure that our grandparents will be proud of our grandchildren. That secure bunker is our Talmud. For those who commit themselves to ...
