Architecture meets medicine at international Technion conference

NORTH

Haifa’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology this week hosted the second international conference on architecture, under the banner “Architecture and Healthcare in the 21st Century.”

Event organizers described the event as a “one-ofa- kind opportunity to establish a dialogue between academia, practice and healthcare policy-makers,” providing a forum for professionals in the fields of architecture, bioengineering, design, medicine, social sciences, human resources, healthcare industry and administration, hi-tech and government, who usually attend separate conferences.

The conference invitation made special mention of a lecture by Gianfranco Carrara, a distinguished professor of building design at the Department of Civil, Building and Environment Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome, who was set to speak about “Teaching hospital design: Methods and experiences.”

Guest lecturers were also scheduled to arrive from Canada, China and the US.

The conference was organized by the Faculties of Architecture and Medicine at the Technion, in collaboration with leading hospitals, healthcare providers, the Health Ministry and the Haifa Municipality. Some 300 people were expected to attend.

4 people shot outside Haifa nightclub; 2 suspects arrested

Four people were injured by gunfire outside a Haifa nightclub last weekend.

Three people suffered moderate injuries and one was lightly hurt in the shooting. The victims were believed to be security personnel at the club who were shot by assailants that escaped on a motorcycle.

Police said that they had apprehended two suspects in the shooting.

CENTER Toddler taken to hospital after drinking lighter fluid

A one-and-a-half-year-old was taken to hospital last weekend after drinking lighter fluid in his home in Elad. United Hatzalah volunteers administered first aid before transporting him to the hospital in an intensive care mobile unit for further treatment. The toddler was in moderate condition.

United Hatzalah Elad branch head Moshe Sadon said that the incident obligated the organization to once again urge parents and adults to supervise and store hazardous substances in places that are out of reach of children. “Caution prevents disaster,” he said.

Woman struck by vehicle and killed in Tel Aviv

An approximately 50-year-old woman was struck by a car and killed on Tel Aviv’s Hagdud Ha’ivri Street last weekend.

Magen David Adom paramedics called to the scene pronounced the woman dead after attempts to resuscitate her failed.

The driver of the vehicle that hit the woman claimed she was lying in the street and he did not see her; he was detained for questioning.

Garbage truck hits, seriously injures workman in Ramat Gan

A workman was seriously injured in Ramat Gan on Monday when he was hit by a garbage truck. United Hatzalah volunteers gave the unconscious man first aid treatment before evacuating him to the hospital.United Hatzalah medic Ze’evi Teper said that the truck had reversed and hit the man, badly bruising his head and other parts of his body.

Tel Aviv fashion event provides platform for young designers Young designers, artists and illustrators will have the opportunity to display and sell their work this week via a new Tel Aviv platform called “Public Space.” Organizers say this is the first in a series of events, providing an “independent and fair platform” for young creative talents to expose their art and design work to the local community.

Over 70 artists, designers from the spheres of fashion, art and design, will present their work during the event, which will be open throughout the weekend at the municipality’s youth center on 9 Mazeh Street. The municipality is sponsoring the event.

Two young Tel Avivians are behind the effort: Nir Leblovitz, an entrepreneur in the fashion world who has initiated various events and pop-up stores; and Itai Belish, a Shenkar College of Engineering and Design graduate, graphic designer and exhibitions curator who led La Culture, a nonprofit art event which promotes promising artists and provides the public with reasonably priced artwork.

On the first floor of the building, a pop-up store was set to be established in cooperation with Shpagatz Store – Leblovitz’s men’s fashion initiative – and The Station, which will launch a winter collection for men and women by 30 of Tel Aviv’s young fashion designers.

On the gallery floor, a La Culture exhibition will be held, featuring the work of dozens of artists.

The event will be open on Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

SOUTH

Gunfire in Ashdod apartment seriously wounds man

A 21-year-old man was seriously wounded and lost consciousness from gunfire last weekend in an apartment in Ashdod.

Paramedics provided preliminary medical assistance before evacuating the man to a hospital. Police were investigating the incident.

Unwanted Eilat dogs flown to new homes in Center

Six hundred and fifty stray dogs have been flown to new homes, as part of a rescue project that was started six years ago, the Eilat Municipality announced last week. In the past two weeks, 10 homeless dogs found wandering the streets were flown to Tel Aviv and Ra’anana.

The operation is led by municipal veteran Dr. Oren Abramovich and Arkia Airlines, which transports the dogs free of charge. Also partners in the initiative are the Let the Animals Live NGO, to which the dogs were taken in the early years of the project; and staff of the SOS NGO in Kfar Shmaryahu, Ramat Gan, Herzliya, Rishon Lezion, Tel Aviv and Ra’anana, where the dogs have been received in the project’s last few years.

The idea for the project was conceived in a conversation between Eilat’s municipal veterinarian and his counterparts in Ramat Gan and Herzliya, Dr. Shay Melman and Dr. Yossi Murdoch, about the overcrowding of kennels in Eilat and the need to find a solution. It was thus decided that with the support of Arkia, the dogs would be flown to Herzliya and Ramat Gan; the project later expanded to include additional cities.

Dozens of dogs are found roaming the streets of Eilat every year, and it is often difficult to find them homes due to the unique characteristics of the city and its geographical distance from other cities, the municipality spokesperson explained in a press release.

“The dogs flown to central Israel are adopted immediately upon their arrival, while in Eilat there is no demand – and that is a shame,” notes Dr.

Abramowitz. “This is the time to call on the general public to adopt a four-legged friend or to provide love and warmth to the dogs in the kennel.”

To that end, the veterinary service holds open adoption days at the municipal dog pound, on the last Tuesday of every month. In another measure to encourage adoption, the municipality – though the veterinary service – spays the dogs that are taken for adoption. Furthermore, the municipality helps fund vaccinations and the installation of electronic chips.

Youth caught redhanded, stealing lingerie from female soldiers’ rooms

An 18-year-old suspect was arrested over the weekend for allegedly breaking into the rooms of female soldiers on a kibbutz in the South and stealing their underwear, the Local website reported this week.

At the beginning of the month, Dimona police received a complaint that the women’s rooms on the kibbutz had been broken into and underwear had been stolen.

Preliminary analysis found that the offense was being committed on Friday evenings, when the rooms were empty and everyone was at the pub.

According to the report, Ramat Negev police waited in the residential compound last Friday night and witnessed a young man going into the rooms. When he left, the police detained him and found women’s underwear to be in his possession.

The suspect was taken for questioning to the Dimona police station, where, police said, he linked himself to seven incidents of this kind in recent weeks. A request for a remand extension was filed.