Postville, IA - A technicality has held up the sale of a struggling kosher slaughterhouse in northeast Iowa, but the trustee charged with overseeing the plant is confident the sale will be completed soon. Agriprocessors, Inc. bankruptcy trustee Joe Sarachek says a technical issue concerning the way the sale was drawn up stopped Judge Paul J. Kilburg from approving the sale Wednesday in U.S...

Williamsburg, NY - It started with rival protests and ended with a shouting match, but when the dust settled, the city’s plan to rezone a wide swath of South Williamsburg for low-income housing scored a major victory. North Brooklyn’s Community Board 1 voted 22–12 to support a city proposal to allow two developers to erect 1,851 units of housing units — 905 of which would charge...

Washington - Over the last several years, without many people realizing it, the U.S. government has changed the focus of its anti-drug efforts, deemphasizing marijuana in favor of prescription drugs. A CBS News survey of government and nonprofit anti-drug groups has found a retreat from anti-marijuana campaigns over the past several years as prescription and over the counter drug abuse has...

Jerusalem - Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, head of the Petah Tikva Hesder Yeshiva, has declared it permissible for a blind man to "feel" his date if he intends to marry her. "This is the way a blind man gets to know his partner," the rabbi said in response to a halachic question he was asked. "It may even be correct to say that he is required to touch her." Sherlo was then asked to base his ruling on...

New York - CIT Group, a major lender to small- and mid-sized U.S. businesses, said on Wednesday that bailout talks with the government had ended, a development that heightened the chances the company would file for bankruptcy. "Discussions with government agencies have ceased," CIT said in a statement. "There is no appreciable likelihood of additional government support being provided over...

Nizhyn, Ukraine - Philanthropist Mouli Cohen and his wife Stacy Cohen have provided funding for and important Jewish cemetery in Nizhyn. The city of Nizhyn located in northern Ukraine was once a major center of Hasidic Judaism. Today, Jews who visit the Ukraine come to Nizhyn on a regular basis to see the local Jewish cemetery and to pray at the site of the tomb of the the Hasidic master, the...

Washington - Efforts to bring together Jewish and Muslim communities hit another snag when an imam at a major Muslim conference gave an incendiary speech in which he said Jews were to blame for the Holocaust. The speech came during the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, which was attended by rabbis who have been trying to build closer relations between Muslims and...

New York - We got on board because we were striving for truth, and guess what? We’re still striving! So please, make sure your seat belts stay fastened because we’re sitting beside you now, and we hope to take you right along with us! It was the most idealistic and dedicated who helped make us the people we have become. After deciding to be observant, however, we all inevitably realized...

Mount Kisco, NY - A Westchester County hospital is notifying about 2,800 patients of possible exposure to hepatitis C, the state health department says. The department says a surgical technician who worked at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco about two years ago may be linked to the infection of 10 patients at a Colorado hospital she later worked at. It's alleged that the technician...

New City, NY - Bernie Madoff's former accountant is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges, federal authorities said this afternoon in court papers. The filing -- signed by a federal prosecutor and David Friehling's defense lawyer -- indicates that the accountant plans to waive indictment and plead guilty in Manhattan federal court. "Please take notice that the United States...

Boston, MA - A North Shore-based philanthropist is using $5 million of his own money to restore the retirement savings of his employees who lost their nest eggs to admitted swindler Bernard L. Madoff. Ronald I. Lappin today began restoring the funds to 60 employees of his company, Salem-based Shetland Properties, Inc., and to his private charity, The Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation. The...

Brooklyn, NY - Motor scooters — those cool Vespa-like mini-Harleys that put the buzz in so many European cities — aren’t just convenient, they’re also Zen. “When you’re driving a scooter, you’re at one with Brooklyn,” said Chaim Seewald, owner of ScootNY. The six-week-old Downtown outlet features a lineup of motorized bicycles and scooters from four different brands (though...

New York - Stocks gained more than 3 percent after Federal Reserve minutes showed the central bank sees the recession ending "before long" though it said unemployment will remain a problem. Technology stocks had gained more than 3 percent following encouraging earnings, while a slew of economic reports fueled the notion the economy was showing stronger signs of a turnaround and boosted the...

New Jersey - State Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today two separate lawsuits charging 10 defendants with mortgage-related fraud. According to the lawsuits, filed on Friday, the companies promised to help modify mortgages for people struggling to keep their homes. But instead of providing assistance, they pocketed the fees paid by homeowners. "It is some of the most egregious conduct...

Virgina Beach, VA - Police have found 1 1/2-year-old Naomi Hilel, who was in a minivan that was stolen this morning at a Virginia Beach 7-Eleven. They said she was found in good condition walking around a hotel parking lot unattended in Newport News. Her parents reunited with her this afternoon. Virginia Beach police are still looking for Matthew R. Nash, 24, a white male who is 5 feet 11...