New York - New York Senate Democrats aren't saying if they are backing a new leader, but insist they are united a week after a power play by an insurgent coalition. Several Democratic senators emerging from a closed-door meeting in Manhattan gave vague, incomplete answers to questions of whether Sen. Malcolm Smith of Queens is stepping down or being replaced. On Monday, two party members...

Williamsburg, NY - The New York City jail chaplain who was suspended after arranging a bar mitzvah for the son of an inmate at the facility known as the Tombs spoke out to Eyewitness News Friday. Rabbi Leib Glanz admitted that he is concerned about the allegations that he gave special treatment to Orthodox inmates, but refused to discuss them. "I would wish that I can make comments, but I...

Washington - The American Jewish Committee has set up a memorial fund to benefit the family of the security guard killed Wednesday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Stephen T. Johns, 39, was killed Wednesday afternoon when a gunman entered the museum and started shooting. To donate, the organization is asking you to send checks made payable to the American Jewish Committee, with "Holocaust...

Myrtle Beach, SC - After seven hours of deliberations over two days, an Horry County jury on Thursday found a Myrtle Beach man not guilty of murder in the shooting death of another man outside a Garden City Beach beachwear store. The verdict immediately sparked outrage among the victim's family members and prompted claps from the relatives of Eli Eliyahu, who had been on trial since Monday in...

Brooklyn, NY - A councilman who's running for Public Advocate is criticizing the Department of Education for not requiring hand sanitizers in classrooms to help combat the spread of swine flu. Bill de Blasio, a Brooklyn Democrat, said Friday he sent letters to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other agencies more than a month ago proposing to have hand sanitizers installed in all school...

Washington - The dawn of digital television is getting a big reception today. But the big question is whether some TV owners will be getting any reception at all. Television stations across the U.S. will be shutting off their analog signals and begin broadcasting exclusively in digital. Here at WRGB and the Capital Region's CW, we will be switching to our digital signal at 11:59 p.m. The...

Jerusalem - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is considering assessing an $11 million fine for damage caused to U.N. facilities in Gaza against Israel. Ban said he was acting on recommendations made by a committee established to determine the damage caused by Israeli security forces to U.N. buildings in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Touching on the situation in the Gaza...

New York - Consumers are being urged to immediately stop wearing a certain type of chenille robe made by Blair LLC due to a fire hazard that is believed to have killed at least six people. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Blair LLC, based in Warren, Pa., on Thursday said they were issuing the second recall notice in two months after receiving reports of six deaths due to the robes...

Albany, NY - After meeting behind closed doors with attorneys from both sides, state Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara declined to take sides in the ongoing war over control of the Senate and instead directed the warring factions to try to work it out themselves. At first, McNamara said he would look over the order to show cause filed by the Senate Republicans in response to the Democrats'...

Jerusalem - What’s behind Nir Barakat’s decision to close the Safra parking structure? Mayor pro tem Kobi Kachlon tells Radio Kol Chai: “I met the Mayor this week and told him, ‘[the Hebrew word] Barakat [numerically] equals [the Hebrew word] Shabbat—so protect it.’ ” [702] In a Friday afternoon interview on Radio Kol Chai, Jerusalem replacement mayor the Hon. Kobi Kachlon...

Brooklyn, NY - A Brooklyn schoolgirl died of swine flu over the weekend, the first city student to die of the virus, the Daily News learned Thursday. Sarah Michel, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Intermediate School 609 in Brooklyn, died late Sunday night. An autopsy Thursday confirmed the H1N1 virus was the cause, school and city officials said. "It's just terrible. I don't know what to...

Montreal, Canada - Having children is a joy that most couples hope to experience. For some, however, that joy remains elusive because of fertility problems. "We have the technology to help most couples conceive, but to make this technology accessible to all cultures, we must deliver it within the context of their traditions and values," says Dr. Hananel Holzer, a fertility expert at the...

Albany, NY - State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. claimed yesterday that his home office was burglarized hours after he helped Republicans orchestrate a historic power grab in Albany. Espada told reporters that the break-in on Tuesday at his Westchester home has left him shaken -- and he suggested his political opponents were involved. "Things are on the precipice of violence . . . People will get...

Tehran - Iranians packed polling stations from boutique-lined streets in north Tehran to conservative bastions to choose Friday between keeping hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power or replacing him with a reformist who favors greater freedoms and improved ties with the United States. The fiery, monthlong campaign unleashed passions that could bring a record turnout. The mass...

New York City - It’s back, bigger, and more timely than ever. Last year’s Orthodox Union “Emerging Communities Fair,” in which residents from the New York metropolitan area were encouraged to consider relocating, returns this year on Sunday, June 14 as “OU Emerging Communities: Job and Home Relocation Fair,” featuring 22 localities across the country and an emphasis on JOBS, JOBS...