NORTH
The beginning of the ski season on Mount Hermon brought with it more than
34 injured skiers and snowboarders last week, according to the Local
website.
Casualties were evacuated to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed,
where doctors treated patients of all ages with varying degrees of
injuries.
Two people suffered particularly severe injuries last Tuesday.
One man, 28, fell while skiing and sustained injuries to vertebrae of his back
and neck. He was taken to the trauma room, where his condition stabilized to
moderate by the end of the week, the Local website reported. In the second
incident, a 39-year-old man suffered a heart attack and was airlifted to
hospital by helicopter in critical condition. Doctors in the cardiology
department saved his life, and he was taken to intensive care in stable
condition.
The majority of casualties sustained injuries to their hands
when trying to break a fall.
Dr. Hussein Amer, director of the emergency
department at the Ziv Medical Center, said that every year during the ski season
the hospital receives dozens of casualties from the Hermon. He called on hikers,
snowboarders and skiers to take all necessary precautions to prevent
injuries.
“It is important to prepare your body before skiing or
snowboarding, to stretch in order to increase flexibility as well as [doing]
exercises at the end of the day to prevent cramps and pulling muscles,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of wearing protective gear and to avoid taking
unnecessary risks.
Mateh Asher wins award for shelter maintenance
After
years of effort and investment, the Mateh Asher regional council last week won
the prize for outstanding maintenance of public shelters. At an event at the Tel
Aviv exhibition grounds, council head Yehuda Shavit received a certificate of
excellence from the Council for a Beautiful Israel and the Interior
Ministry.
Shavit said that the award was the latest in a line of
certificates that the regional council has received, illustrating its desire to
excel in areas such as service to its residents, financial management,
preparation for emergency situations and education. He also praised the defense
and environmental protection units for their remarkable work and investments in
maintaining and refurbishing shelters.
58 northern educational
institutions go green
Director-general of the Education Ministry Dalit Stauber
certified 18 schools as “constant greens” and 138 schools as “green,” the Local
website reported. Of those schools, 58 are located in the North. The newly
certified “green” schools joined 538 other educational institutions that had
previously earned “green” titles. The certification recognizes significant
environmental education that takes place in schools.
CENTER
Hod Hasharon
gears up for Tu Bishvat
Hod Hasharon was set to celebrate Tu Bishvat with a
variety of special activities over the weekend, the Local website reported. The
green-fingered community was due to plant over 1,000 trees and plants in honor
of the festival of trees. The activity, involving residents, visitors,
schoolchildren and kindergarteners alike, has in recent years become a
traditional cooperative activity throughout the city.
Today, an event
including tree-planting and other activities is due to take place that will be
accessible to disabled residents. The event is the fruit of collaboration
between the Hod Hasharon municipality and the community resources and volunteers
unit and the Access Israel NGO. It is the only event in Israel that is fully
accessible to people with all types of handicap, according to the Local
website.
Vandals caught red-handed in Ramat Gan
Police caught three
suspects red-handed while they were spray-painting graffiti on a gate in a
public area of Ramat Gan, the Local website reported this week. The Ramat Gan
Municipality stepped up policing operations following increased incidents of
vandalism of public property around the city. During a routine patrol one night
last week, a municipality policing team spotted three rubber-glove clad suspects
in the middle of spraying graffiti on a gate. The team also found a bag
containing stencils and a variety of spray paint bottles on the
suspects.
Police took the three suspects, who are not Ramat Gan
residents, to the Merhav Dan police station, where the authorities filed a
complaint against them for destruction of public property and
vandalism.
Rehovot resident arrested for stealing from youths
Police
arrested a 20-year-old Rehovot resident after receiving a report that two girls
were robbed at knife-point on Sderot Chen last weekend, the Local website
reported. The thief stole the girls’ cell phones and wallets.
The girls
told police that they were walking in the street when the perpetrator approached
them and ask if they had money that they could change with him for a bill, and
asked them for directions. According to their testimony, he then pulled out a
kitchen knife and threatened to stab them if they did not do what he told them
to.
After robbing them, he reportedly called a taxi, using one of their
cell phones, and fled the scene.
A police officer identified the taxi
just moments after the incident and found the stolen cell phones and wallets on
the suspect. The suspect confessed to police that he had robbed the two
complainants.
Police were investigating whether the suspect was connected
to two other similar incidents.
El Al to compensate passenger over
massive canine feud
The Ramle Magistrate’s Court ordered El Al to compensate a
passenger with NIS 15,000 after refusing his request to bring two massive
90-kilo dogs back to Israel with him from Germany, the Mynet news website reported last week.
According to the report, the Ramle resident had
booked his ticket months in advance and made the necessary arrangements to
transport the dogs, including obtaining permits from El Al. However, when he
arrived at the airport in Berlin, the airline officials informed him it would
not be possible for the dogs to board the plane. Among other reasons, the El Al
representative said that the dogs’ cages would not fit on the plane.
El
Al rejected the passenger’s claims, saying that he had not coordinated with the
airline over the dog’s cages and that the company was not aware of their
exceptional size.
The court ruled that the airline had breached its
contract with the passenger, and he was subsequently forced to stay longer in
Germany and to find an alternative solution to bring the dogs to Israel. Judge
Zacharia Yamini ruled that El Al must compensate the passenger for damages,
including the payment of international phone calls, accommodation expenses, car
rentals and compensation for days of leave.
SOUTH
California bar mitzva
boy forgoes gifts for new MDA ambulance
A new Magen David Adom ambulance with a
special story was due to arrive in Ashkelon this week, after 13-year-old Robert
Leeds from Los Angeles donated his bar mitzva money to Sacramento’s newest
sister city. Leeds requested that instead of bringing money and gifts for him,
guests donate cash toward a new lifesaving vehicle for the city that suffered a
rain of rockets during the recent Operation Pillar of Defense.
“I realize
that in life I have been very blessed,” The Sacramento Bee quoted Leeds as
saying in a statement released by Sacramento Council member Steve Cohn’s office.
“This is my Bar Mitzva statement and the responsibility that I am taking on.
It’s my hope to show Israel and the city of Ashkelon that I stand with them and
that’s what becoming a man means to me.”
Cohn used the Hebrew term “tikun
olam” (working to repair the world) to describe Leeds’s decision and said it was
“a great story of a young man seeing a need and making a difference.”
The
Sacramento City Council voted to make the coastal city its 10th sister city last
August. Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin sent Leeds a certificate of appreciation on
behalf of all of the city’s residents, which was presented to him at a ceremony
in Sacramento attended by dignitaries of both the US and Israel.
Drivers
suspected of stealing fuel from rehab village
Managers of a rehabilitation
center in the South filed a complaint at the Ofakim police station two weeks ago
over the suspected theft of fuel by drivers employed by the institution to
transport patients for medical treatments and other needs.
The Local
website reported on Sunday that, following an undercover investigation, police
arrested three drivers suspected of stealing fuel from the village over a long
period of time.
“I was amazed at the audacity of drivers who are
entrusted with driving disabled children from the institution, and who stole
fuel on a regular basis… for profit,” said Southern District Commander Yoram
Halevy in response to the arrests.
Eilat readies for Israman Samsung
triathlon
Some 1,100 athletes were ready to test their limits at the Israman
Samsung 2013 triathlon, due to take place today in Eilat.
Masses of
supporters were expected to congregate on the shores of the Red Sea to watch the
competitors swim, run and cycle in the Iron-distance race. The competition was
launched in 1999 as a small, intimate event and has evolved into a major
competition that has won international recognition and exposure. Last year, 800
athletes took part in the event.
Road 12 will be closed for the event,
and the city’s promenade and bike paths will be used in the competition.
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