Club Med beach is returned to Parks Authority Following years of restricted access to beaches in the North that were formerly a part of the Club Med resort, the Club Med beach in the Mateh Asher Regional Council was transferred from the hands of the Israel Lands Authority to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority last week when the lease for the beach expired, the Local website reported.INPA director-general Shaul Dolstein said of the news, “This is a day of celebration, wherein after years in which access to the beach was restricted by a private resort, the Israel Lands Authority, under the authority of Benzi Liberman, made a great decision to return the beach to the entire public,” reported Local. “Just as Palmahim Beach was returned to the INPA, so too will the Achziv National Park, and we will advance the rehabilitation and preservation of the nature and heritage in order to return it to its rightful and central place on the map of Israeli holiday and hiking spots.”
Kfar Bialik gets two recycling centers The Zevulun Regional Council recently completed the construction and installation of two new recycling centers in Kfar Bialik. The centers are part of a regional master plan to reduce waste in the council, the Local website reported regional council chairman Dov Yeshurun as saying.The recycling centers in Kfar Bialik enable the separation of trash and waste into categories of cardboard, newspaper and paper waste, plastic bottles, clothing and fabric, plastic bags, glass bottles and aluminum cans.Zevulun Regional Council Sanitation and Environmental Protection Department manager Rachel Sella said of the new center, “As part of the plan to reduce waste we are working to install recycling centers in the council’s towns and are educating youth and children to lead green, healthy lives and encouraging residents to recycle,” according to the report.Students get a taste of real-world investment Business administration students from the Karmiel Academic College got a taste of the world of investment banking and trading last week when they were given a tour of one of the largest investment houses dealing with futures trading, GHF in Haifa. The students, who are doing internships in finance and banking, were accompanied by Dr. Gil Cohen, who described the tour’s goals as exposing the students to a dynamic and developing investment house that deals with one of the widest fields in modern capital markets and which is experiencing steady growth. The students, he added, were able to see how the theories they learn in the classroom are applied in actual investment, the college wrote in a statement.During the tour, the students were briefed on the company and the products it trades and received a demonstration on the methods of various trading techniques. The college and the investment house agreed to continue cooperating in the future, the college said.Tractor slams into motorcycles, kills man A man in his 60s died over the weekend after crashing his motorcycle into a tractor that illegally crossed traffic lanes on Route 854 between Karmiel and Migdal Tefen near the village of Nahaf.Two other motorcyclists were injured in the accident, which occurred when the tractor driver cut across the lanes over a solid white line in front of three motorcyclists, whose vehicles slammed into the tractor. Paramedics evacuated the two injured men, in their 30s, to the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya.CENTER
TA announces winners of poetry contests Five winners were selected last week in the Tel Aviv- Jaffa Municipality’s eighth annual Poetry on the Road competition. The project selects the best submitted Hebrew-language poems, which will be displayed in public places throughout the city. Over 100 poems were submitted this year.The competition’s selection jury, composed of Dr. Yael Dar, Dori Manor and Benny Tziper, announced the winners on Sunday. First prize was awarded to Yael Clough-Mor for her poem “Fall”; second prize was awarded to Nitza Peleg for “Shaul”; third place went to Tali Kochavi for “Gem”; Baruch Tor-Raz won fourth place for his poem “Secret”; and the fifth-place prize went to Natali Brown for the poem “The Shapira Neighborhood.” The winners’ poems will be displayed on billboards and other signs in public places throughout the city of Tel Aviv beginning in June. The project aims to encourage Hebrewlanguage poets to write for a younger audience as well as for adults. Prof. Zohar Shavit, who directed the competition, congratulated the winners and said she hopes, “as in the past, that after winning the Poetry on the Road competition, the writers will be encouraged to continue with poetry.”
Pride parade hopes to pass through Ra’anana After many years of holding events in Tel Aviv and several years in Jerusalem, this year’s Pride Parade events may also take place in Ra’anana. The Six Colors Coalition, which operates throughout the country to strengthen ties in the gay and lesbian communities, is advancing a program to bring the events to smaller cities like Ra’anana, Rishon Lezion and Hadera.Organizers of the initiative are in the early stages of organizing the march and said that in the coming weeks they will decide on a date and concept for the event, the Local website reported. They expect to coordinate their activities with the Ra’anana Municipality.Accident victim saves five lives A 26-year-old man who was killed in a road accident saved five other lives last week, as his wife and parents agreed that his organs be donated for transplant to those in need.Roman Karotov, according to his loved ones, cared deeply about other people. A 53-year-old man received his liver, a 51-year-old man his lungs and a 58-year-old woman got a kidney at the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva. A 37-year-old woman received the other kidney. All recipients were doing well, the hospital said.SOUTH Ashkelon rids pine trees of damaging larvae The Ashkelon Veterinary Department has begun performing a special treatment to prevent larva damage to pine trees in the city, the municipality announced last week. In recent months, it said, the pest control unit treated 437 pine trees against caterpillars, which it called a major pest to the pine trees and a danger to humans, the Local website reported.The larvae spin nests that can be seen hanging from pine branches. They tend to appear in September and develop through the winter, feeding on pine needles. The threads can cause damage to humans, including burning the skin and eyes and causing serious eye infections, depending on the sensitivity of the victim, Local quoted veterinary officials as saying. The treatment includes removing the cocoons and larvae from the trees, treating the trees with pesticides and injecting special substances into the cocoons in some cases.The veterinary unit said that residents who come into contact with the larvae hairs should flush the affected area under running water and seek medical care.Ashdod notes 50% increase in recycling The Ashdod Municipality reported a significant 50-percent increase over the past year in recycling in the city following the installation of 25 recycling centers in addition to hundreds of collection points in residential neighborhoods. The campaign that has been taking place in recent years includes advertising messages, public relations activities, environmental education and the installation and deployment of recycling centers, the Local website reported.“Recycling centers are being added throughout the city,” said Ashdod Municipal Sanitation, Inspection and Parking Department director Danny Elgarat, noting that the recycling centers accept plastic and glass bottles, fabric, paper and cardboard, according to Local. Elgarat praised the public for proving its care and concern about the environment and reducing waste by recycling rates.Residents can find a list of all the city’s recycling centers on the municipality’s website or by calling the municipal hotline, 106.