Denver, CO - At least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama at his Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver. All are being held on either drug or weapons charges. one of the suspects told authorities they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle … sighted at 750 yards." Law enforcement sources tell Maass that...

New York - The New York State Thruway Authority and State Police Troop T Thursday announced that "Operation Summer Brake" will take place beginning Monday, August 25, 2008 through Friday, August 29. "As the summer travel season comes to a close, the Authority reminds motorists to drive responsibly and to remain alert and aware of their surroundings," said Thruway Authority Executive Director...

Manhattan, NY - A group of public housing residents held a vigil in Downtown for the five-year-old boy who died after falling down an elevator shaft. Members of Community Voice Heard had a moment of silence and lit candles in honor of Jacob Neuman, who fell 10 stories down the elevator shaft at the Taylor-Wythe Houses in Williamsburg, Brooklyn last week. The vigil was held outside the New...

Boston, MA - It was a shock to Misha Defonseca's readers this year when she admitted that the best-selling story of her tortured childhood during the Holocaust was false, but her U.S. publisher saw it as an opportunity to undo a stinging, 7-year-old court judgment. Jane Daniel says she never would have been ordered to pay Defonseca and her ghost writer $32.4 million over her handling of...

Denver, CO - Democrats opened their national convention on Monday, seeking peace in the family as they pursue victory in the fall for Barack Obama and his historic quest for the White House. An appearance by the ailing, aging Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and a primetime speech by Obama's wife, Michelle, headlined the convention's first night. In excerpts released in advance, the...

Postville, IA - A day after drawing fire from Iowa’s governor, the Agriprocessors meapacking plant took heat from a presidential candidate. Democrat Barack Obama alluded to the controversial plant while answering an immigration question from a voter here today. “We’ve got to crack down on employers who are taking advantage of undocumented workers,” he said. “When you read about a...

Israel - Kosher beef may not be high up on the list of priorities set by Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez during his visit to Israel. But a determined group of rabbis hopes to bring his attention to their concerns regarding a veterinarian practice that they say makes thousands of Uruguayan cows treyf. Since Israel imports approximately 30 percent of its beef from Uruguay, the rabbis have...

New York City - Credit market woes hit Wall Street again Monday, with the Dow dropping more than 200 points, in a thinly-traded session also influenced by zigzagging oil prices. Investors seemed to take in stride a report showing that existing home sales rose to a five-month high in July, topping forecasts, while home prices fell. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was down 241 points...

Brooklyn, NY - Kings County Supreme Court Judge Ambrosio denied motion in the Satmar split between the two groups of Rabbi Aaron and his younger brother Rabbi Zalman Tietelbaum, in a 10 page document released today. In his decision Judge Ambrosio points out that the court cannot get involved in the Satmar leadership. Therefore he dismissed, the class action of getting back funds of any sold...

Brooklyn, NY - JTA is reporting that PETA An animal rights group is calling for a New York state investigation into kapporos in Brooklyn. For the second year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has complained about the High Holidays ritual of swinging a chicken over one’s head, a sin transference ceremony. In a letter sent Monday to the state agriculture department’s Kosher Law...

Houston, TX - Last week, the Orthodox Jewish day schools in Houston were notified by the Department of External Funding of the Houston Independent School District of a significant funding allocation to their schools. This year’s private school allocations resulted in $610,000 being directed towards a number of private educational institutions. The Houston Orthodox Jewish day schools were...

Jerusalem - A mishmeret tzniut, roughly translated as "modesty squad," is a vigilante body, usually with some form of rabbinic license, that has taken upon itself to enforce normative ultra-Orthodox behavior. The mishmeret tzniut derives its power from its ability to identify and manipulate the zealotry of the haredi majority. There are a multitude of such bodies representing different...

Sacramento, CA - Marijke Melman stepped out of her Arden Arcade home Saturday to begin the three-block trek to the synagogue with her two small children. In the past, the walk could take up to an hour because her kids – Erez, 3, and Yosha, 1 1/2 – would get tired and need to rest. On this passed Sabbath, they arrived at the synagogue within 10 minutes. The difference? For the first...

New York City - YORK – A Rockland County man, who was indicted recently by a Rockland county grand jury on similar charges, has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for allegedly pretending to be a doctor. District Attorney Robert Morgenthau Monday said Z S, 41, of Monsey, paid young women to submit to gynecological exams in a Park Avenue medical office as part of a phony insurance...

Brooklyn, NY - Hatzolah Paramedics responding Code-1 as per Hatzolah members on the scene at a construction site at Ditmas and East 98th Street for an aided that fell off a scaffolding and sustained serious injuries and is unconscious. ...