Community Briefs

Chabad Telethon Hits New Heights

West Coast Chabad Lubavitch once again pulled out the big guns for its 23rd annual “L’Chaim — To Life!” telethon on Sunday, Sept. 14. Celebrities like Academy Award-winner Jon Voight, singer Christopher Cross and actors Jeffrey Tambor, Mindy Sterling and Darryl and Evan Sabara touted Chabad’s cause to an estimated viewing audience of 20 million people, resulting in the biggest take ever — more than $5.7 million in pledged donations — $300,000 more than last year’s telethon.

The event, which aired on KCAL 9 in Los Angeles, was co-hosted by talk show host Dennis Prager and Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, the energetic director of West Coast Chabad Lubavitch. (For more Chabad Telethon coverage, see the upcoming edition of The Circuit). — Gaby Wenig, Contributing Writer

Whole Foods Drops Empire

If you’re looking for Empire Chicken at your local Whole Foods market, you may be disappointed. The southern region of Whole Foods — the leading retailer of natural and organic foods — decided to drop Empire because of its use of antibiotics and animal byproducts in the feed, said Mike Hacaga, the meat coordinator for the southern region of Whole Foods.

But kosher carnivores need not fear: Whole Foods will now carry Wise Kosher Poultry. Bearing the USDA certified organic symbol, Wise is kosher enough for Whole Foods, whose guidelines demand no animal byproducts and antibiotic-free chickens. Wise Kosher also carries Orthodox Union certification.

Whole Foods recently began tightening its quality standards on a national level, and in auditing their purveyors, found that Empire did not make the cut.

Empire said it cannot make the changes necessary to meet the Whole Foods’ standards.

“It’s certainly something we would like to pursue, but we would have to make sure there was enough volume to warrant it,” said Jan Price, Empire’s marketing vice president.

Wise Chicken will likely cost more than Empire, but “our customers will pay for the quality,” said Elizabeth Carovillano, marketing director at the southern regional offices of Whole Foods. “But whenever we can offer organic we will, and it was really an effort to choose a better bird because in our opinion, organic is better.” — Leora Alhadeff, Contributing Writer

GOP, Dems Expect Court RulingRecall

In a recall election where the players and issues seem to change daily, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ Sept. 15 decision to postpone the gubernatorial recall election has left Jewish Republicans fuming and Democrats feeling vindicated. However, both parties are expecting that the ruling will be overturned either by an 11-judge “en banc” panel of the 9th Circuit or the Supreme Court.

At issue: punch-card chads. A three-judge panel postponed the Oct. 7 election citing that the punch-card voting machines still used in six California counties, including Los Angeles, are prone to error. The 9th Circuit is the same court last year that ruled the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was unconstitutional due to the use of the words “under God.”

“The decision is being viewed as being partisan by some in the recall movement, but it’s the principle that was enunciated by the 5-4 decision,” said Democrats for Israel Chair Howard Welinsky, referring to the 2000 Supreme Court presidential election ruling. He added that the chad issue only impacts the electoral process if the difference in votes is less than 1 percent.

Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Granada Hills), who was stumping at a Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) event for candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday, said he expects the ruling will be reviewed and overturned.

“The recall ought to go forward,” Richman told The Journal. “I think the 1.6 million Californians who signed the initiative should get their chance to vote.”

Jeff Daar, chair of the Democrats of the San Fernando Valley, said that his office is still operating under the assumption that the election will go on as originally scheduled.

“If we don’t keep working diligently, keeping our guard up, we’ll have even less time to organize, mobilize and educate for an October election,” he said.

Republicans haven’t lost a beat either. RJC Southern California Chair Bruce Bialosky, who turns 50 on Oct. 7, told members to call in sick on Election Day to help get out the vote.

“All I want for my birthday is a new governor,” he said. — Adam Wills, Associate Editor