The Prisons Service, Israel Police and Fire Service, in cooperation with the University of Haifa, presented scholarships to 44 students at the university as part of the Carmel Fire Victims Scholarship established by the groups, the Local website reported.Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, University of Haifa President Amos Shapira, Prisons Service head Aharon Franco, Fire Service head Shahar Ayalon and Israel Police deputy commander Yisrael Yitzhak were expected to attend the ceremony, Local reported.The scholarships were awarded for the second year.Each student received a personal scholarship in the name of one of the 44 victims of the Carmel fire and promised to keep in touch with the family of the victim and to ensure that their name lived on, according to the report. The scholarships were funded by donations, including from University of Haifa Board of Trustees chairman Leon Cherny.At the ceremony, students were expected to tell the story and experience of each of the victims of the fire, according to the Local report. At the end of the ceremony, the students and families were to meet with one another.Motorcyclist shot while riding in Shfaram
A 25-year-old Shfaram resident was shot in his upper body while riding a motorcycle over the weekend, police said. Paramedics took him to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa in critical condition. Police were investigating the incident.Students get urban sociology lesson from Acre mayor
Urban sociology students at the Western Galilee College received a hands-on lesson in their field of study from Acre Mayor Shimon Lankry last week, the Local website reported. Lankry, who hosted the seminar students in his office in the city, spoke to the students about changes taking place in the city, such as cultural, economic and demographic changes as they relate to urban sociology.“When we speak about social justice,” Lankry told the visiting students, “so a child in Acre must receive more opportunities and tools than a child in Tel Aviv; therefore, children in Acre receive more,” according to the report.Lankry also discussed the Acre Municipality’s social worldview and the programs it is initiating and running, including the development of human capital, community policing initiatives, the establishment of youth centers to help increase employment levels among young people and various other initiatives to increase the public’s sense of safety in the city, Local reported.First snow of the year falls in the North Three centimeters of snow fell in the lower Carmel early last week in Israel’s first snowfall of the winter.CENTER
Bringing nightlife to those late in life
Whoever said nightlife in Israel is only for youngsters has not visited the Ahuzat Poleg assisted living facility in Tel Yitzhak. Ahuzat Poleg recently opened what it claimed is the first bar designed for those in their golden years.“Not only young partygoers can enjoy a lively and happy bar atmosphere,” a spokesperson for Ahuzat Poleg declared this week, announcing the opening of the new bar. The bar will offer beer, wine, soft drinks, snacks and “an authentic and real atmosphere.”Adding to the “golden touch,” even the bartenders are elderly residents of the assisted living facility who underwent special training before coming out of retirement to serve their peers.TA shelter to protect against biological, chemical agents
The Central Planning Committee approved a plan to convert the National Theater parking lot into a nuclear, biological and chemical bomb shelter this week. The parking lot is already designated a public shelter to protect up to 5,000 people against conventional rockets and weapons.As part of the plan to upgrade the four-story underground parking facility to protect against chemical weapons, special air filters will be installed to prevent contaminated air, possibly containing weaponized chemical and biological compounds, from entering the shelter. Each shelter in the parking lot, one on each of the four floors, is already equipped with ventilation systems that provide air during times of emergency when the shelters are occupied. The new system will install air filters on the ventilation systems.In addition, the planned system includes special one-way valves to ensure that air expelled from the shelter is not returned inside. Secondly, the system is designed to build a higher air pressure level inside the shelter than exists outside, thereby ensuring that if a breach in the air seal opens, air will only exit and contaminated air will not enter.Lastly, the upgrade to the shelter includes the installation of decontamination rooms, designed to remove contaminants from individuals entering the underground facility. The decontamination rooms are equipped with special showers and washing equipment.The project is expected to cost NIS 2 million, in addition to the NIS 2m. already invested in the initial construction of the conventional shelter. The project is partly being funded by the IDF’s Home Front Command, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality and the regional planning council. The planning council, however, credited Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai for the initiative.“This decision came about because of Ron Huldai,” committee chairman Ofer Shahal said, adding that the project will serve as a massive pilot program ahead of upgrading other municipal shelters in Tel Aviv and throughout the country.Police nab suspect in Bnei Brak security guard shooting
Police arrested a man suspected of shooting a female security guard in Bnei Brak on Monday morning. The security guard returned fire and possibly wounded the man, police said. The security guard was lightly to moderately wounded and was taken to Ichilov Hospital in the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. Police were investigating the motives for the shooting.Motorcyclist falls off B-G Airport highway overpass A motorcyclist was thrown off a seven-meter-high highway overpass on Route 1 at the Ben-Gurion Airport Interchange Sunday morning. Magen David Adom paramedics took him to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in serious condition.SOUTH
Eilat to build new NIS 6m. skate park
As part of continuing efforts to make Eilat an international sports competition destination and host city, the Eilat Municipality and the Government Tourism Corporation has issued a tender for the construction of a skateboard park in the city, with a budget of NIS 6 million, the Local website reported.The skate park is planned to be part of a new outdoor sporting and leisure compound that aims to connect the tourist centers of the city with other areas, according to the report. Other parts of the area are planned to include a musical fountain, an “extreme park,” a visitors’ center, an amphitheater, open green areas and other facilities and attractions. The total budget for the project is NIS 40m. The first phase is being funded by the Finance Ministry, the Tourism Ministry, the Eilat Municipality and in cooperation with donations from the Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund, Local reported.The skate park is designed for tourists, locals and professional skaters from Israel and abroad, the municipality said. Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevi described the park as “a new additional layer, upgrading the city of Eilat and its establishment as an international sports city and will be an additional attraction for sports and extreme sports enthusiasts from the city and beyond,” Local reported.Routine noise complaint turns into large-scale drug bust
Police in Eilat last week made an unexpectedly smelly discovery while responding to a late-night noise complaint in the city, turning a routine call into a large-scale bust.When officers knocked on the door of the apartment from where the noise was emanating, they were overwhelmed by a strong smell of marijuana, the Local website reported. The officers immediately entered the apartment and began conducting a search of the home.What they found was a large-scale drug growing operation, including 113 marijuana plants, a converted greenhouse, digital scales, lighting systems and irrigation equipment, all used for growing the illicit plant, Local reported. Police seized the plants and equipment and arrested a 53-year-old man from the southern city, according to the report.The underworld and the underpants Police in the South found an unusually large amount of one of the most dangerous drugs in a man’s undergarments last week.After receiving intelligence information that a large drug deal was going to take place, officers followed the suspect’s car and detained him on suspicion of taking part in the illicit business deal, the Local website reported.When searching the suspect’s car, officers were disappointed to not find any drugs. But when searching the suspect’s body, officers discovered 90 grams of heroin in his underpants. Police arrested the suspect for possession of the large quantity of drugs.