City Notes: Paula Sharp Gallery to host launch party in Haifa

The gallery opened in March 2013, following Sharp’s return to Israel after some 30 years in the arts and education industries in New York.

By JULIE STEIGERWALD
Yaakov Agam, ‘The Star of David.’ (photo credit: Courtesy)
Yaakov Agam, ‘The Star of David.’
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NORTH
The Paula Sharp Gallery is hosting a launch party and collection viewing at next Thursday, June 19 at 8 p.m., at the Auditorium Mall in Haifa’s Carmel Center.
The gallery’s collection features works by artists such as Lea Nikel, Yosl Bergner, Menashe Kadishman, Ygael Tomarkin, Shay Kun, Marcel Janco, Zvi Mairovich and Michael Kerzner.
The gallery opened to the public in March 2013, following Sharp’s return to Israel after some 30 years in the arts and education industries in New York. In the future, the gallery aims to feature international artists alongside the Israeli artists currently in the collection.
It also seeks to encourage local talent, and offer art programs and workshops for enthusiasts of all ages.
The Paula Sharp Gallery is regularly open to the public Sunday to Thursday 10:30 a.m to 7 p.m.; Friday 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m; and by appointment.
Nahariya mayor donates 100 tablet computers to city hospital
Nahariya Mayor Jackie Sabag last week distributed 100 tablet computers to dialysis patients at the city’s Western Galilee Hospital, to help those hospitalized pass the long hours of treatment.
Sabag said he came up with the idea for the initiative during one of his regular Friday visits to the hospital, when two patients in the dialysis unit approached him and requested handheld devices to use during the treatment process.
“I decided to distribute 100 tablets so that at any given moment tablets will be available for use to all patients in the unit. This way we can entertain the patients, including those in the children’s dialysis department,” the Nahariya Municipality quoted Sabag as saying.
The mayor has also decided to donate 20 televisions to the children’s dialysis unit.
Haifa launchs new website aimed at youth
The Haifa Municipality was set to launch a new web portal this week, with in-area information area relevant to young people.
The website is said to be segmented by age groups and include information and updates on employment, events, social gatherings, youth communities, information for parents of the young and an interactive social map, the first of its kind in the northern city.
“We are working on the development of an advanced Internet platform and unique services that will place Haifa at the forefront of strategic development for young people,” the Local news portal quoted Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav as saying.
The site will employ unique technology to tailor the content by age group. At the entrance to the site, the page will prompt visitors to select the category most suited to them: soldier, student, parent of a young person, young person or international young person; customized information and services relevant to the selected category will then be presented.
CENTER
Tel Aviv seeks to set record for world’s largest Shabbat dinner
The White City Shabbat outreach group has scheduled a dinner for tonight, aiming to set the record for the world’s largest Shabbat dinner in Guinness World Records.
About 1,000 people are expected to participate in the record-breaking attempt, alongside co-hosts Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, at Hangar 11 at the port.
The dinner is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. with a concert, followed by a Kabbalat Shabbat service, candle-lighting and a short address by Rabbi Lau.
An official Guinness World Records adjudicator will arrive from London for the event.
As of the beginning of the week, registration for the event was at maximum capacity, although the public was encouraged to check for availability due to last-minute cancellations.
Information is available at Relax@WhiteCityShabbat.com and www.eventbrite.com/e/guinness-worldrecords- largest-shabbat-dinner-june-13-630pm-tickets- 11517098953.
2014 TA Pride Parade to take new route
The 16th annual Tel Aviv Pride Parade kicks off today with a different route from that followed in previous years.
Community “happenings” in Meir Park will begin at 10 a.m., before the parade sets out. At 1 p.m. the march will depart from the park, traversing up Bograshov Street, turning onto Ben-Yehuda Street toward Hayar- Yaakov Agam, ‘The Star of David.’ (Courtesy) kon Street and the Tel Aviv promenade before culminating in a massive beach party at Charles Clore Park.
Events marking Pride Week, which started last Friday, are a huge draw of international tourism to Tel Aviv. The city was expecting an estimated 130,000 people, including 30,000 tourists, to participate in Pride events throughout the week.
Sting operation leads to arrests of dozens of drug dealers
A sting operation conducted over the past year led police on Monday to arrest 29 drug dealers from their various homes in central Israel.
A 27-year-old undercover agent recorded drug deals carried out over the past year by the suspects. Of the 29 detainees, 17 were residents of Petah Tikva, Army Radio reported.
After authorities determined that enough evidence had been gathered, some 300 police officers together with Border Police officers and SWAT teams seized the suspected drug dealers from their homes.
The detainees were due to be brought later on Monday to a court hearing, during which police were planning to request remand extensions for the suspects.
Car hits, kills cyclist on Route 40 near Lod
A cyclist died Monday after a car hit him on Route 40 between Lod Interchange and Elad Junction.
Magen David Adom paramedics declared the 52-year-old man dead at the scene. Police opened an investigation into the incident.
Bat Yam man held after 38 animals found in freezer
Police arrested a 66-year-old man in Bat Yam on Sunday, after 38 frozen animal carcasses were found in his home.
The arrest was made after a resident filed a complaint that her neighbor had attacked her and her dog. According to the complainant’s testimony, she noticed from her window that the suspect was storing cat corpses in his freezer.
Investigations conducted alongside a Israel Nature and Parks Authority veterinarian uncovered more than three dozen carcasses of cats and other animals in the suspect’s freezer. The findings were transferred to a vet to determine the causes of death, including suspicion of poisoning.
The arrested suspect was brought to the Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday, and his remand was extended until Monday for psychiatric observation. Police were expected to request a further extension of the man’s detention.
SOUTH
BGU to represent Israel in Mediterranean initiative
 A ministerial panel has chosen Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Center for the Study of European Politics and Society from among all the country’s universities, research centers and think tanks to represent Israeli academia in a new Mediterranean research network.
The center’s chairman, Dr. Sharon Pardo, will serve as Israel’s scientific focal point for the network, which will operate under the auspices of the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The network – which includes Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia – held its first meeting in Turin, Italy, last week.
“The idea is to create a parallel and complementary path to the political dialogue between the OSCE and its Mediterranean partners for cooperation, which will be comprised of researchers from the region,” said Pardo.
The initiative, aimed at supporting multilateral dialogue among the Mediterranean nations, will also focus on dynamics and changes in the basin and initiate ideas to encourage political discourse, according to Pardo.
In September, the collaboration will promote its official launch in Rome, under the auspices of Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini.
Teen found dead off Ashdod coast Police scuba divers retrieved the body of a teenage boy off the coast of Ashdod last week. Rescue workers brought the 16-year-old to the Ashdod Marina and attempted to resuscitate him, before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
Authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of the boy, who had presumably gone missing from his home.