City Notes: A face-lift truly gives a new lease on life

Man charged for attempted murder-suicide; police destroy thousands of suspect eggs; sea mine discovered on Caesarea beach.

By MICHAEL OMER-MAN
eggs_521 (photo credit: (Illustrative photo: Bloomberg))
eggs_521
(photo credit: (Illustrative photo: Bloomberg))
NORTH
In what doctors described as a medical miracle and amazing luck, a Haifa man was brought back to life after 45 minutes without any brain damage at the city’s Rambam Medical Center. Arye Layva, who underwent a face-lift procedure in the hospital’s plastic surgery department last month, collapsed at the entrance to the department several weeks later when arriving for a standard post-operation checkup. Doctors who were in the lobby at the time immediately began attempting to resuscitate Layva, whose heart had stopped, in what seemed at the time to be a stubbornly extended attempt to save the man’s life. But the doctors refused to give up. Rotating between senior doctors and interns, the medical staff continued resuscitation attempts for three quarters of an hour before seeing any signs of life from Layva, who was subsequently diagnosed with a severe heart disorder.
“It’s a little strange to say, but he was very lucky that he collapsed at [the hospital],” one doctor told the Local website. “If it had happened outside, he wouldn’t have had a chance of arriving at Rambam alive.” Amazingly, after 45 minutes without a heartbeat, Layva suffered no brain damage whatsoever.
Man charged for attempted murder-suicide
An 85-year-old Zichron Ya’acov man was arrested this week in a case that police are characterizing as an attempted murder-suicide involving his 80-yearold wife. The man, whose wife was suffering from a severe illness, told police that he wanted to “end her suffering,” police told the Local website.
According to police, the man attempted to slit his wife’s throat before swallowing a large number of pills in an attempt end his own life. At some point during the event, he sent an e-mail to the couple’s children, telling them what he had done. One of their children immediately contacted police, who quickly arrived at the scene and forcibly entered the home. Both of the octogenarians were transported in light condition to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera. The man was undergoing psychological examination and was expected to be charged with attempted murder.
Police destroy thousands of suspect eggs
Nahariya residents found their cheap supplies of eggs destroyed this week by local officials, who warned against buying unstamped eggs sold by peddlers. As part of the operation conducted by the municipal veterinary service in cooperation with Nahariya Police and the Agriculture Ministry, 2,000 eggs were destroyed in one day, Mynet reported.
In a public appeal, municipal veterinarian Dr. Eyal Amitai asked the public to refrain from buying low-priced eggs that he said are likely smuggled from the Palestinian territories and run the risk of carrying salmonella. Residents are urged to buy only stamped eggs sold in licensed shops and grocery stores.
Sea mine discovered on Caesarea beach
Caesarea beachgoers were prevented from reaching the early summer sand and water this week after police discovered a naval mine that they suspect was carried by currents into the shallow waters near the shore. Police closed off the beach to inspect the mine and after determining it was in fact a real mine, sappers dug a hole in the sand and detonated the mine in a controlled explosion. The beach was expected to be reopened following a search for additional mines.
CENTER
Police take service taxis off the roads
A special Traffic Police enforcement operation removed 54 service taxis from the roads this week following complaints by drivers, the Local website reported. Eighty-five taxis were stopped and inspected on Route 412 between Rishon Lezion and Rehovot, and police found gross safety violations in 54 of them. Additionally, 20 of the drivers stopped were found to be operating without a “service line” license.
License plate leads police to young flasher
A 23-year-old Ra’anana man was arrested by police on suspicion of exposing himself to a group of youths in the early morning hours of Friday last week. According to police, the man drove to the Ra’anana street where the youths were gathered, walked toward them and exposed himself. The youths, despite being in a state of shock from the lewd act, managed to write down the license plate number of the man’s car as he drove away, and they reported it to police.
Officers located the man’s house by tracing his license plate number, police said. The man was charged in the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court, and police were investigating the possibility that he was involved in other similar incidents in recent months.
‘At least in prison there’s free food’
Jail is not the worst place in the world, a Tira man told police after being arrested for vandalism in Kfar Saba this week. The 44-year-old was arrested after police received a complaint that somebody was breaking car windows in a parking lot near Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, the Local website reported. During his interrogation, the suspect told police that in addition to the seven cars he vandalized on the day of his arrest, he had damaged five other cars in the same lot just one day before. Pressed for an explanation, the man told police that, due to his financial situation, he was desperate and wished to be sentenced to prison for the free food he would be provided with.
The Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court extended the suspect’s remand for the duration of the investigation.
Police officer allegedly took bribes, sold ammunition
A police officer from the Glilot station was arrested this week under suspicion of accepting bribes, passing intelligence information and selling ammunition to local criminals, the Local website reported. The police Internal Affairs Division was expected to file an indictment against the officer in the coming days.
According to sources in the division, the officer sold over 80 rounds of pistol and rifle ammunition on several occasions. The officer, a 27-year veteran of the police force, was arrested in Netanya while in possession of allegedly stolen ammunition.
SOUTH
Eilat woman awarded for immigration work
For nearly a decade Svetlana Kupershmidt has worked to help new immigrants successfully settle into their new lives in Israel’s most southern city. This week, she was recognized and awarded for her outstanding work, devotion and efforts in the Immigrant Absorption Ministry.
In a ceremony sponsored by the Trade, Industry and Labor Ministry, the Civil Service Commission, the Manufacturers’ Association and New Histadrut of Local Authorities, Kupershmidt was named outstanding worker of the year. At the ceremony, Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak Halevy congratulated the veteran Absorption Ministry employee and thanked her for her work.
Gaza periphery cow wins milk production championship
Despite the hardships faced by Gaza-periphery communities and businesses in recent years, one kibbutz was recognized this week for its record-breaking milk production. The winner, a cow named Sufa from Karmiya, was crowned the country’s champion milk producer for the second consecutive year for yielding 11,000 liters, Ynet reported.
The kibbutz’s dairy farm director told Ynet that although cows are known to be affected by stress, such as the Kassam rockets and mortar shells that have plagued the region’s communities for years, the optimism channeled by local farmers prevented the situation from affecting Sufa’s milk production.
Kiryat Gat police make large drug bust on Route 6
Border Police forces and Kiryat Gat Police made a significant dent in the supply of drugs making its way to the country’s center when they intercepted a shipment of hashish this week. Acting on intelligence information, police waited for a car traveling north on Route 6 in the South and stopped it at a roadblock. After seizing the vehicle, driven by two Beduin residents of the Negev, police took apart the car and discovered seven hidden kilograms of hashish that had already been separated into small portions for distribution.