BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon is expected to announce her 2020 political plans next week, WJZ has learned. Dixon, the city’s one-time mayor, resigned in January 2010 amid a scandal involving her misuse of gift cards intended for the needy. Dixon also ran for mayor in 2016, narrowly losing in the primary to Catherine Pugh. Pugh ultimately became mayor and was herself forced to resign amid a scandal involving her self-published book series. Pugh pleaded guilty last month to four federal charges in the “Healthy Holly” case.
Parshas Vayeitzei - Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP! Baltimore, MD – Dec. 6, 2019 Parshas:  Vayeitzei Today:    8 Kislev       Chatzos today: 11:58 AM Hadlakas Nairos: 4:25 PM Shkiah:                 4:43:11 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  5:34 PM     Kiddush Levanah: Friday night, Nov. 29, 11:57 PM – Wed., Dec. 11, 6:19 PM Kiddush Levanah may only be said at night
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. winter flu season is off to its earliest start in more than 15 years. An early barrage of illness in the South has begun to spread more broadly, and there’s a decent chance flu season could peak much earlier than normal, health officials say. The last flu season to rev up this early was in 2003-2004 — a bad one. Some experts think the early start may mean a lot of suffering is in store, but others say it’s too early to tell. “It really depends on what viruses are circulating. There’s not a predictable trend as far as if it’s early it’s going to be more severe, or later, less severe,” said Scott Epperson, who tracks flu-like illnesses for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are differen...
Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that Israel is headed to its third round of elections with the course of a year. “Elections are coming,” Lieberman told the Yediot Achronot daily in an interview. Unity talks had reached a dead end, he said, and he had decided against empowering a narrow government because “the combination of dramatic defense and economic decisions and a narrow government is likely to create a large rift and polarization in [Israeli] society.” On Tuesday, a meeting between Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly broke down after just 45 minutes. Though the addition of Lieberman’s eight mandates to either the right-wing or a left-wing bloc, including the A...
Racist graffiti was discovered at a New York Holocaust museum for the second time in two weeks. The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove was defaced with swastikas and other vandalism. “It’s shocking because we’re a museum and education center,” Deborah Lom, acting director of development at the museum, told Patch on Thursday. “And now, we’re faced with this incident right here,” she said. “That makes it even more shocking to us.” In a statement on Thursday, the center said, “We are shocked and saddened about the appearance of this representation of Nazi ideology. Ironically, we learned about this symbol of hate appearing here on the same day we hosted a major public event on anti-Semitism.&rdq...
U.S. officials are reportedly investigating whether Friday's deadly shooting at a naval air station in Pensacola, Fla., was terrorism-related. A U.S. official said the suspect in the shooting was an aviation student originally from Saudi Arabia and officials are investigating any ties to terrorism, The Associated Press reported. Military personnel from around the world attend the Naval Air Station Pensacola. The Navy has said that the alleged shooter and three victims were dead at the air station. Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Megan Isaac had told The Hill in an email earlier Friday that multiple injured personnel have been taken to hospitals. “There was an active shooter incident at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida this morning. The b...
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s just a week into the holiday shopping season, and Amazon is already having trouble getting packages to shoppers’ doorsteps on time. The company said the delays are due to bad weather in parts of the country and the large amount of orders it received during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when it offered steep discounts. “Delivery promises vary and may be longer than normal based on order volume and the fulfillment and delivery capacity available in a given area,” the Seattle-based company said in a statement. “We will work directly with customers who are experiencing an issue with their delivery.” It’s an embarrassing setback for Amazon, whose reputation with shoppers depends on delivering ord...
 
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 6, 2019 - When an organization runs a 24-hour charity campaign it is all hands on deck.  It’s not unusual for people from all corners of the community to come together to volunteer and help the campaign reach its goal.  A busload of students arriving from a different school to help with a campaign - now that’s a little unusual! The students of Yeshivat Mekor Chaim (YMC), however, did not think twice when presented with the opportunity to spend some time during their day making phone calls for the Ohr Chadash Academy (OCA) 500k campaign on November 25. YMC was excited about our participating in OCA’s campaign. It was a great opportunity for our students to have hands-on experience engaging in important chesed by helping to raise needed...
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — After a photo surfaced of West Virginia correction officer trainees giving what appears to be the Nazi salute, state officials quickly suspended some employees and the governor ordered the firing of those involved. The image, showing more than two dozen trainees with their arms raised and faces blurred, was released Thursday by the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. A line of text reading “Hail Byrd” tops the picture, which an agency spokesman said was a reference to the trainees’ instructor. Before the photo was made public, the agency’s secretary, Jeff Sandy, released a memo describing the image of Basic Training Class Number 18 as “distasteful, hurtful, disturbing, highly insensitive, and complet...
WASHINGTON (JNS) — Julian Castro, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary and current Democratic presidential candidate, said on Thursday that if elected, he would keep the U.S. embassy in Israel in Jerusalem. U.S. President Donald Trump relocated the embassy there from Tel Aviv in May 2018, just months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel“s capital. “The actions of this president when it comes to Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East has been counterproductive in helping ensure a two-state solution,” Castro told JNS on a conference call for members of the media. “I believe that he made a mistake in moving the embassy to Jerusalem without making that part of a larger, negotiated peace agreement and a two-state solution.” “...
DALLAS (AP) — The Homeland Security Department is backing away from requiring that U.S. citizens submit to facial-recognition technology when they leave or enter the country. The department said Thursday that it has no plans to expand facial recognition to U.S. citizens. A spokesman said DHS will delete the idea from its regulatory agenda, where privacy advocates spotted it this week. The advocates and lawmakers accused DHS of reneging on repeated promises not to force American citizens to be photographed leaving or entering the United States, a process that is required for foreign visitors. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., called the administration’s retreat “a victory for every single American traveler who flies on a plane.” He credited public pressure for the abou...
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — An indoor ski slope that has been the most visible feature of the long-delayed American Dream megamall in New Jersey for more than a decade has finally opened. Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn took the first official run down the 1,000-foot slope Thursday. Mall owner Triple Five says it’s the only indoor slope in North America. The ski slope was one of the first elements built more than a decade ago and could be seen from the adjacent New Jersey Turnpike. The retail and entertainment project began in 2003 next to the Meadowlands sports complex but stalled because of financing problems. Triple Five took over in 2010 and began a phased opening in October. All elements are expected to be open by spring. The ski slope measures 180,000 square f...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make her first visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial on Friday and will bring a 60 million euro donation to help conserve the site, the museum said on Thursday. “Auschwitz is a museum but is also the biggest cemetery in the world … (memory) is the key to building the present and future,” museum director Piotr Cywinski told the Reuters news agency ahead of Merkel’s visit at the invitation of the Auschwitz foundation. Merkel said the donation, half of which comes from Germany’s federal government and half from the regional governments, would ensure the memorial is preserved. “I am very happy that we could agree that the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial will get additional money,” she said after meeting German st...
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)’s Passaic, N.J. Branch on Wednesday published a Facebook post claiming that African-Americans “are dying so that Jews can live.” In the post, NAACP Passaic shared a Disclose.tv article titled “Israel gets $50 billion while America cannot afford clean water for Flint.” It claims that the Democrats have tried to push to give $400m to Flint for “the worst public health crisis the United States has endured in recent memory,” but were rebuffed by Republicans. It then claimed Israel had “demanded” the US increase its budget to $50 billion. The NAACP has yet to comment on the post. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
When Naftali Bennett was appointed last month as Israel’s defense minister, it was seen as a temporary political move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shore up his right-wing flank until a new government could be formed. Yet with the Jewish state likely headed towards a third election in less than a year, Bennett, who heads the New Right Party, will likely hold the office for several months, and is already making significant changes to the nation’s defense policies in just three weeks on the job. Since taking office, he has immediately responded to all missile fire from Gaza and Syria; has announced not returning the bodies of terrorists killed in Israel to their families; approved construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron; and instituted a hardline policy on...
The state of political discourse in these United States today — unfortunately, including much of the American Jewish world (including our corner of it) — was well exemplified in the reactions to something Senator Chuck Schumer of New York did not long ago. When Long Island Representative Peter King announced his retirement from Congress, some were pleased. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, never one to hide her deeper feelings, tweeted, simply, “Good riddance.” Mr. Schumer, however, although a Democrat, issued a warm tribute to the Republican soon-to-be retiree, who not only is a member of the other party but someone with whom the senator has strongly disagreed on a number of occasions. Mr. Schumer tweeted that Mr. King, during his service in the House of R...
Baltimore, MD -  Dec. 6, 2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Binyomin Schuck and Shira Goldberger (Atlanta) on their engagement Mazel Tov Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Schuck and Rabbi and Mrs. Menashe Goldberger יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian officials expressed “great concern” Thursday over a report by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor that includes a warning that Palestinian stipends to attackers and their families could constitute a war crime. Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Malki said the prosecutor’s office’s report was “based on misleading narratives of a political nature … rather than an objective and accurate description of the relevant facts.” The Palestinians have long sought redress with international bodies such as the ICC for what they consider Israeli crimes. President Mahmoud Abbas’s government appeared to have been caught off guard by the language of the criticism found in the report. The Pale...
OSWIECIM, Poland (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced a feeling of “deep shame” during her first-ever visit on Friday to the hallowed grounds of the former Nazi German death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Adolf Hitler’s regime murdered more than a million people. Merkel noted that her visit comes amid rising anti-Semitism and historical revisionism and vowed that Germany would not tolerate anti-Semitism. She said Germany remains committed to remembering the crimes that it committed against Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals and others. Speaking to a gathering that included former Auschwitz inmates, she said she felt “deep shame in the face of the barbaric crimes committed by Germans here.” “Nothing can bring back the people who...
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