Rockland County, NY - The Rockland Department of Health took action against restaurants in Monsey and Spring Valley that had numerous sanitary violations Eli's Bagel Shop, 58 North Myrtle Ave., Spring Valley, was fined $1,300 for 16 violations including hundreds of mouse droppings, insecticide stored near food and dirty equipment. Inspectors ordered the shop closed until it was cleaned. When...

New York City - The MTA announced Wednesday it was launching a pilot program with CNN that will place TVs at subway or commuter rail stations to broadcast news and system delays. The broadcast would be similar to the one CNN airs in airports. The monitors could also be used to broadcast emergency information, officials said. It's unclear which stations will be involved in the program and how...

New York, NY - After a spike in construction accidents in recent months, the City Council has passed several measures intended to increase safety on building sites. The package of bills passed today includes one that would allow buildings inspectors to classify maintenance violations as immediately hazardous. Those violations include problems such as loose material and debris, unsafe storage...

Manhattan, NY - NYPD of the 20th Pct are on the scene at 2248 Broadway and are requesting ESU for burnt money from a previous bank robbery that was found at the loading dock of the above location. NYPD Major Case Squad responding as well...

Albany, NY - Governor Paterson has signed legislation to permit horizontal drilling for oil and natural gas while promising enforcement of environmental safeguards to protect water quality. Mr. Paterson says the measure revises New York's rules for siting drilling rigs to include additional wells and the new drilling should lead to more efficient recovery of oil and gas while reducing...

St. Louis, MO - Arguing that anti-Semitism "is vile, shocks the conscience, and has no place in our system of justice," the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today asked a Missouri appeals court to order a lower court to investigate allegations that anti-Semitic comments permeated a St. Louis jury room during deliberations about a civil matter. Karen Aroesty, ADL St. Louis Regional Director, issued...

Sullivan County, NY - Emergency authorities are shutting down the hamlet of Roscoe and evacuating the Roscoe Motel because heavy rain has caused severe flooding in the area. Local residents also report that a portion of Route 206, between Roscoe and the Delaware County town of Colchester, has been washed away. The Livingston Manor Fire Department has been called to shut down Old Route 17...

Turkey - Two Israeli brothers were electrocuted to death during a family vacation to Turkey on Wednesday afternoon. The siblings, Nir and Shai Hachim, aged 14 and 18, were taking part in a foam party organized by the 5-star 'Venezia Palace' luxury resort hotel in Antalya. Initial reports indicate that the machine generating the foam short-circuited and electrocuted the two youths and a...

Borough Park, NY - A City Hall rally to celebrate a new law that took effect yesterday making it a felony to assault city marshalls, and traffic enforcement agents/officers provided an opportunity for Sen. Kevin Parker's primary opponents to dredge up an incident the has been dogging the Brooklyn lawmaker for years. Councilman Kendall Stewart, who attended the rally, insisted the bill that...

Washington - Mondale promised to raise taxes. Dukakis was in the tank. Kerry was for the war before he was against it. All mistakes, mistakes that should never have been made and errors that turn the course of an election. We hear about them all the time. But now, just as the memory of Bill Buckner's error took a backseat for Red Sox fans when their team finally won the World Series, John McCain...

Albany, NY - Hard economic times, layoffs, and rising food and fuel costs are boosting the number of New Yorkers receiving food stamps to nearly 1 million households. Records and interviews show 1.8 million New Yorkers get help from food stamps to pay for basic groceries. That's up by 30,000 adults and children over the last two years and an increase of more than 500,000 since 2001. In...

New York City - New York City says a $68 million effort to modernize its water meters will help save money and water by flagging leaks fast. The Department of Environmental Protection announced plans Wednesday to install a wireless, automatic meter-reading system citywide. The network will measure customers' water use four times a day. Readings are now taken four times a year, meaning leaks...

Williamsburg, NY - In an update to a VIN News story about a an offensive billboard placed by H&M clothing on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the Williamsburg area. The original advertisement was replaced; however, it was only slightly less offensive than the first. Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niderman, executive director of the United Jewish Organization (UJO) of Williamsburg, together with a...

New York, NY - Bill Gates and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that they would spend $500 million to stop people around the world from smoking. Tobacco could kill as many as one billion people in the 21st century, most of them in poor and middle-income countries, according to World Health Organization estimates. In an effort to cut that number, Bloomberg's foundation plans to commit $250...

Melbourne - Hard-to-find documents detailing the history of Australia’s Jewish community are becoming more readily available since the National Archives in Canberra commenced digitising its massive collection. The National Archives maintains such a large number of government records that immigration documents alone fill 22 kilometres of shelf space. Senator John Faulkner launched the...