Jeffrey Hensiek
Rubashkin loses bid for new trial
A federal judge denied a motion for a new trial for former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda Reade on Wednesday rejected a motion that accused her of a conflict of interest in Rubashkin\’s case. The defense for Rubashkin, a vice president with the kosher meatpacking firm in Iowa, claimed Reade should have recused herself.
Obama: Yemen devices a ‘credible terrorist threat’
Calling it a \”credible terrorist threat,\” President Barack Obama said apparent explosive material was found on two U.S.-bound packages from Yemen, triggering searches of flights with other packages from Yemen and an investigation into whether al-Qaida was behind a new terror plot.
Suspicious packages intercepted on way to Chicago
U.S. law enforcement has warned Jewish groups to be on the lookout for packages mailed from overseas in the wake of suspicious packages addressed to Jewish institutions in Chicago.\n\nThe Associated Press quoted President Obama as saying Friday that the packages found on planes headed for the United States constituted a \”credible terrorist threat\” and had been addressed to Jewish organizations in the Chicago area.
Iran loads fuel rods in nuclear plant
Iran began placing uranium fuel rods in the Bushehr nuclear plant. Once the 163 fuel rods are set inside the core of the nuclear power plant, Bushehr will be fully operational. The plant should begin generating electricity in early 2011, Iranian Press TV reported Tuesday, citing Iranian officials.
‘Fiddler on the Roof’ writer Joseph Stein dies at 98
Joseph Stein, the Tony Award-winning writer of \”Fiddler on the Roof,\” has died. Stein died Sunday in Manhattan after fracturing his skull in a fall. He was 98.
Messianic building won’t serve as polling place
A polling place at a messianic Christian center in New York was changed after Orthodox Jewish voters protested. Jewish voters complained to the city\’s Board of Elections after the Life in Messiah evangelical group\’s building was announced as a polling place for four election districts from Midwood in Brooklyn, according to the New York Daily News. The voters said their strict adherence to Jewish law would not allow them to enter the building.
Commemorations to mark Kahane assassination
A commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Rabbi Meir Kahane\’s murder will be held in a Jerusalem hotel, despite opposition. The memorial event for the leader of the extremist right-wing Kach Party is scheduled for Tuesday evening at the Jerusalem Ramada Renaissance Hotel. The event is titled \”Kahane was right.\”
Mitzvah project is a cut above
A beauty salon in Encino was buzzing on a Sunday afternoon in late August. More than 200 people visited Epic the Salon throughout the day, getting haircuts, looking longingly at bake-sale goods and browsing through hundreds of items up for silent auction. As they swayed to the music of a DJ, the guests knew their money was doing more than changing their hairstyle: Every penny spent at the day’s event would go to City of Hope — a biomedical research, treatment and educational institution with a focus on fighting cancer and other serious diseases.\n\nThe event, dubbed Cuts for a Cure, was held in loving memory of Barbara Klass. After a two-and-a-half year struggle with lymphoma, Klass succumbed to the disease in August 2009.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.