Cell Towers added to roof of 706 Eastern Pkwy

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — The rooftop of 706 Eastern Parkway has been a mess of cell phone antennas and towers for quite some time hosting as many as three separate companies equipment up there. Today a crane deployed and added another two truckloads of radio equipment to the roof, and residents are up in arms.

Rooftops have been dubbed as the “landlords gold mines” after they began renting the space out to the cell companies to ‘house’ their communication equipment.

More in the Extended Article.

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Two Chabad Girls High School to Merge

ORANGE, CT [CHI] — Beth Chana Academy of Orange, Connecticut and Bnos Chomesh Academey of Valley Stream, Long Island announced today a merger of the two high schools, effective 2008-2009 school year. The combined high school will be housed at the Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy campus under the directorship of Rabbi Sheya Hecht; Mrs. Dena Gorkin will serve as principal.

The school will retain the ‘Beth Chana Academy’ name. The Keren Bnos Chomesh’ scholarship fund will be established to help eligible students and their families offset tuition costs.

The schools’ merger will enable the two institutions to pool their resources, combine complimentary strengths and create a Chabad high school for girls that will offer the best of both worlds – a small school atmosphere with the vitality and amenities of a large school.

R”L: 5-year-old Brooklyn Boy Dead in Elevator Shaft Plunge

NY Daily News

WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn — A 5-year-old Brooklyn boy trying to escape a stuck elevator plunged 10 stories to his death this morning in a Brooklyn housing project, police said.

The boy, Jacob Neuman, and his 8-year-old brother Israel were heading to school when the tragedy occurred just before 9 a.m. in the building, where residents complained of constant problems with the elevators.

More in the Extended Article.

Tbilisi’s Jews Anxious But Hopeful

by M. Phillips – Lubavitch.com

TBILISI, Georgia — Within Georgia’s Jewish community, many have fled to Tbilisi, others got aboard planes evacuating Jews to Israel, and still others, on vacation in other parts of Georgia when the fighting erupted, cannot get back to Tbilisi.

Mikvahs for the Physically Challenged

PALM BEACH, FL [CHI] — The Mikvahs for the physically challenged are nearing completion, and interest is not only being expressed by residents of Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties , but also from women as far away as Georgia and Texas.

Since construction began, we have heard from cancer patients, women with multiple sclerosis, and other forms of paralysis, who are overwhelmed with our vision, and who have refrained from using a Mikvah in the past, due to the lack of a proper facility that enables them to perform this Mitzvah with the dignity and the privacy that they require. Only a handful of such Mikvahs exist today in the United States.

Olympic Rabbi runs a Spiritual Marathon at Beijing Games

By Tal Dvir, Haaretz Correspondent

BEIJING, China — There is one man at the Beijing Olympic village who is not officially classified as an athlete, but runs as many kilometers as the competitors. He too began preparing for the Olympics many years ago and he too has put forth a lot of effort. He’s running a “relay race” which he has not yet completed. “It was more than worth it,” the man who was appointed “Beijing’s Olympic rabbi” told Haaretz on Monday.