A massive early-morning fire ripped through an assisted living facility in Spring Valley. The fire started at around 1:30AM at the “Evergreen Court For Adults” located at 65 Lafayette Street. Hatzolah and EMS dispached around 20 ambulances and treated many victims. Dozens of trapped residents were rescued by firefighters. Rockland Chaveirim was on the scene assisting as well. Dramatic video footage captured the moment part of the building collapsed. CPR was being performed by Hatzolah on one victim. Local Yeshiva school busses as well as the Rockland Chaveirim Command Center were being used to keep elderly residents warm and to transport them to other locations. One firefighter called a “mayday” but was found and treated for injuries. The cause of the fire was unknown.

Shulem (Sholam) Weiss, who just two months ago had his prison sentence commuted by outgoing President Trump, suffered a stroke on Tuesday night. Sources tell YWN that Weiss suffered the stroke while at his Monsey home, and was rushed by Hatzolah to the hospital where is being treated for the stroke, which appears to be serious. As YWN had reported, former President Trump commuted the sentence of Shalom Weiss the night before he left the Whitehouse. He had already served over 18 years and paid substantial restitution of what is believed to have been the longest-ever white-collar prison sentence: A whopping 835 years. Trump said he commuted his sentence because he is 66 years old and suffers from chronic health conditions. Please say Tehillim for Sholom ben Leah.

The volunteers of Rockland Chaveirim made a Kiddush Hashem on Thursday, as they warmed up freezing cold firefighters at the scene of a devastating fire. As YWN reported earlier, a fast-moving blaze totally destroyed the iconic “Motty’s Supermarket”, located on Main Street in Monsey. As fighter fighters were working to extinguish the blaze, Chaveirim arrived with their command post to allow firefighters to warm up inside. The volunteers also distributed hot pizza and warm drinks to the dozens of firefighters, who were braving the freezing cold and snowstorm at the scene. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but sources tell YWN that it may have been caused by an electrical issue. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Firefighters were on the scene of a working structure fire in Monsey, Thursday afternoon. The iconic “Motty’s Supermarket”, located at 19 Main Street appeared to be totally destroyed in the fast moving blaze, which started at around 12:37PM. Flames had fully engulfed the structure in just minutes. There did not appear to be any injuries, as firefighters braved the snow and cold to fight the blaze. Rockland Chaveirim as well as Hatzolah were on the scene. VIDEOS BELOW CHAVEIRIM OF ROCKLAND (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Rockland Chaveirim has a message for motorists in the Monsey area on Sunday morning: Stay off the roads. “We have responded to dozens of spin-outs and minor accidents so far on Sunday morning”, a Chaveirim spokesperson tells YWN. As Chaveirim was talking to YWN that were responding to a school bus involved in a minor accident with children on the bus. The roads are treacherous and extremely slippery – and Chaveirim is reiterating: please stay off the roads unless you have a real emergency! One of the accidents involved a Monsey Hatzolah ambulance on Viola Road and West maple Avenue. Thankfully, no serious injuries have been reported in the incidents this morning. During last weeks blizzard, Rockland Chaveirim responded to a whopping 2,58 snow related calls. Read about that on YWN here.

With 22 inches of snow walloping Monsey during this week’s two day Nor’easter, it was a memorable week for Chaverim of Rockland which recorded 2,158 snow related calls. Chaverim coordinator Yossi Margaretten described his agency’s call volume as record breaking, with his team of approximately 120 volunteers rescuing stranded motorists, taking women to the hospital to deliver babies, transporting dialysis patients and ferrying people to and from medical appointments. With three weddings taking place in Monsey on Monday night in Ateres Charna, Ateres Chaya Sura and at the Vichovitz-Viznitz Hall, there were plenty of mazel tovs to go around as well, as Chaverim made sure that the chossonim, kallahs, parents and grandparents made it safely to their simchos and then back home again.

Dr Vladimir Zev Zelenko, a NY State certified physician, was denied hydroxychloroquine by a pharmacist at a Walgreens in Monsey, Tuesday. The use of hydroxychloroquine became a political flashpoint last year when President Donald Trump and some others proclaimed it to be a miracle cure despite a lack of studies at the time to back up their claims. Regardless of your opinion on the use of the drug, or your opinion on Dr Zelenko, it is simply outrageous that a pharmacist refused to dispense a non-controled-substance to a doctor. Watch the video below: (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

For those using the Palisades Parkway between Orange County and Rockland Counties, the cell phone “dead zones” have not only been an inconvenience, but dangerous. Many people have needed to reach Hatzolah, Police or other emergency assistance. and have been unable to make the calls. But that is era thankfully over. NY Senator James Skoufis announced the good news on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning. “No more dead-zone while driving past Bear Mountain on most of the Palisades Parkway! I’m delighted to announce that construction has been completed for two cell phone towers in the notorious dead-zone on the PIP between Orange and Rockland counties”, Skoufis wrote. “My thanks to Verizon for doing the right thing for our residents and EMS by expediting this project.

A federal judge has ordered a hearing to decide whether to civilly commit the man charged with stabbing five people with a machete at a Chanukah part in Rabbi Rottenberg’s Shul in Monseyin 2019. A recent psychiatric evaluation found Grafton Thomas remains mentally unfit to stand trial despite months of hospitalization at a federal facility in Missouri, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. A hearing this month will determine Thomas’ prognosis for rehabilitation — and whether he should be civilly committed rather than tried in federal court. Thomas, 38, is charged in an attack at a rabbi’s home in December 2019 that left five people wounded in Monsey. The most critically injured victim, Josef Neumann, 72, died three months after the attack. U.S.

We are amid another recurrence of Covid-19 cases here in Rockland County. This current surge has affected members in the community of various ages from younger to older. It has also led to many more hospitalizations than the last recurrence. The treatment options for patients in all hospitals has increased and patients are being well cared for. – There are currently over 40 Covid cases in Nyack Hospital and over 40 in GSH. There are over 7 ICU cases in each hospital. The city and Jersey hospitals are seeing many cases as well. – There is a new variant of the virus that has been seen in Eretz Yisroel and England that is affecting younger people as well and causing more serious symptoms. We have not seen cases here at this time, but it is important to be aware that this is a concern.