Binyamina high-school team through to finals of international robotics contest

Local news from the north, south and center.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Hundreds attend Mimouna celebrations in Bat Yam. (photo credit: NIR KEIDAR)
Hundreds attend Mimouna celebrations in Bat Yam.
(photo credit: NIR KEIDAR)
NORTH
An Israeli team of young engineers from the ORT Binyamina High School, called Team 1690 Orbit, got through to the finals of an international robotics competition for ninth to 12th graders.
The championships will be held on April 22–26 in St. Louis, Missouri.
The annual competition, called FIRST, challenged the teams of students to raise funds, design a team brand, hone teamwork skills and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors.
Volunteer professional mentors guided each team. In a preliminary round held in Maryland, Team 1690 Orbit’s robot Rafiki beat 58 other teams from around the world. The team was also awarded the Delphi Excellence in Engineering Award, which “celebrates an elegant and advantageous machine feature.”
Competition organizers say the experience is as “close to real-world engineering as a student can get.” Founded in 1989, FIRST aims to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills that inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities such as self-confidence, communication and leadership.
Nazareth woman electrocuted in her backyard
A 59-year-old woman from Nazareth was electrocuted on Sunday. A preliminary examination of the incident revealed that the woman had been electrocuted as the result of exposure to an electrical wire in her garden. A Magen David Adom team was called to the scene and pronounced the woman dead after a long attempt to resuscitate her. The circumstances of the incident were under investigation.
Father of three gets Passover windfall of NIS 40 million
A 50-year-old resident of the North had a particularly happy holiday after finding out that he had won NIS 40 million in the national lottery held on April 7. The man is married, has three children and works in sales. He said that he does not take part in the lottery on a regular basis but noted that “In the last two months I had a feeling that something good was going to happen, and I started to purchase lottery tickets twice a week.”
CENTER
Hundreds attend Mimouna celebrations in Bat Yam
Some 500 people attended Mimouna celebrations hosted by the Bat Yam Municipality and the Federation of Moroccan Jewry last Saturday night.
Among the celebrants were Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau; Chairman of the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry Sam Ben-Sheetrit; Chairman of the Zionist Druse Movement in Israel Yussef Nasser al-Din; former science minister Prof. Shimon Sheetrit; and President of the Jewish Community in Morocco Jacques Kadosh.
The event was held at the Moroccan-designed Bellagio events hall. The revelers enjoyed the traditional moufleta and Moroccan sweets, as well as performances by singers Mike Koruchi and Dudu Deri.
Bat Yam Mayor Yossi Bachar welcomed the guests, saying, “The Mimouna festival symbolizes, above all, unity and bringing together different parts of Israel. In Bat Yam we are continuing the wonderful traditions that Moroccan Jewry brought us, and we open our doors to everyone who wants to celebrate with us.”
Ben-Sheetrit described Mimouna as “a gift of Moroccan Jewry to Israel.”
Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa Rabbi Lau said the festival long ago extended past the borders of Moroccan Jews. “We see this beautiful tradition at the beginning of summer after the days of the holiday of freedom as an expression of hospitality and the desire for unity and love of Israel.”
Canadian Hadassah-WIZO participants tour Israel
Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW) members and friends will arrive in Israel next week for a 10-day tour of the country. CHW’s mission aims to provide participants with a new understanding of the organization’s accomplishments, as well as highlighting the challenges facing Jews in Israel today.
Participants will visit many areas of the country and will experience Remembrance Day and Independence Day.
They will also get to see with their own eyes where their donations to CHW have gone by visiting projects such as daycare centers, youth villages and schools, Hadassah-University Medical Center and the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center.
This is the first mission to be led by newly elected National President Claudia Goldman. She says that during her two-year term, she will concentrate on partnership through three components: Israel, volunteers and donors.
“My vision for CHW is based on the belief that each child we help is a life changed. Each woman we support is a life improved. Each family we impact becomes strengthened. CHW makes it possible to fulfill the dream of making the world a better place, and we will continue to reach this goal by working hand in hand with our partners in Israel, our volunteers and donors. CHW’s Mission to Israel enables us to foster these relationships,” she says.
Man stole tires to pass vehicle test
A man in his 30s confessed under investigation this week that he had stolen tires in order to pass his vehicle test.
The owner of the stolen tires went to the Rosh Ha’ayin police station, where she told police that while driving her car she had felt that the vehicle was not stable. She said that after checking her car, she saw that her four tires had been replaced with different ones.
Police opened an investigation and located the suspect, a resident of central Israel, who was taken in for questioning.
The suspect confessed to the charges and told police that he had wanted his car to pass the test, but it had not passed previously because there was a problem with his tires. He said he did not have money for new tires, so to pass the test he stole tires from another vehicle. At the end of the investigation the tires were removed from his vehicle, and the suspect gave them to the police.
The Rosh Ha’ayin station commander said it was a “serious offense, all the more so when it is done in violation of another person’s safety and thereby endangering other drivers.”
Swimming season opens in Tel Aviv
Swimming season will begin on April 20 and will end on October 12, the Tel Aviv Municipality announced this week. Lifeguards and first-aid services will be available on numerous beaches between 7:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. in April and May; until 5:45 p.m. in June; and until 6:45 p.m. in July and August. In September and October, the same hours as April and May will apply. Inspection and cleaning services will be provided on all the declared and undeclared beaches from 7 a.m. until the evening.
The municipality appealed to the public to follow instructions given by lifeguards and inspectors and to swim only in the declared beaches during the lifeguards’ working hours. It stressed that unsupervised swimming is dangerous and strictly prohibited.
SOUTH
Gas explosion in Ashkelon apartment injured woman
A woman suffered light injuries on Sunday after a gas leak resulted in an explosion in an Ashkelon apartment.
The apartment was severely damaged, and the woman was given treatment by medical teams. Three firefighting crews were needed to extinguish the fire caused by the gas leak.
Rivers closed to visitors due to danger of flooding
Police and the Nature and Parks Authority warned the public of floods in the Dead Sea area at the beginning of the week, due to heavy rainfall. Several rivers were closed to visitors, namely Darga, Hatzatzon, Tor, Tamarim, Wadi Kelt and Og. The public was warned not to enter the rivers even if they were dry or the current was weak.
Kiryat Gat man charged with attacking girlfriend
A 31-year-old man from Kiryat Gat was charged this week for allegedly attacking his partner and seriously wounding her. According to the indictment filed at the Beersheba District Court, three weeks earlier the man had smashed a bottle while in a drunken state, threw his girlfriend down and slashed her neck with a fragment of the bottle. Israel Radio reported that the suspect had been charged a week earlier with hitting the woman with a bat.


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