As the Orthodox Jewish population in Jackson continues to grow, Jackson children have been attending yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs in nearby Lakewood. Though the bulk of nonpublic school funding comes from parental tuition, federal and state agencies send funding to the local school district board to help obtain security, nurses, technology equipment, textbooks- and most importantly evaluation and tutoring services for students in nonpublic schools. Ever since a significant number of Jackson children started attending Lakewood yeshivos, Jackson Township has flatly refused to contract with the existing vendors servicing Lakewood yeshivos to provide these vital services.

Around twenty Vishnitz Yeshiva Bochrim who were hospitalized and released on Tuesday for some type of food poisoning, were all re-admitted on Wednesday night. Boro Park and Flatbush Hatzolah responded to multiple homes in Boro Park, and transported the Bochrim back to the hospital, after bloodwork showed abnormalities of some type of salmonella or other infection. As YWN had reported on Tuesday night, the Bochrim had returned from a trip to Ukraine, when they began feeling ill. The entire group landed in NY, and were evaluated by Hatzolah and transported to local hospitals. Some boys in Monsey and in Kaimisha (Catskills) were also transported to the hospital. They all complained of the same symptoms. It appears the group may have eaten spoiled or tainted food on their trip.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has selected Brian Benjamin, a state senator from New York City, as her choice for lieutenant governor, according to a person familiar with the administration’s internal discussions. The person spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Hochul had yet to announce her decision publicly. She is expected to do so this week. If he accepts the job, the 44-year-old Benjamin would become the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. The Democrat, whose district includes most of central Harlem, has focused his legislative career on criminal justice reform and affordable housing.

Days of history and holiness have been lived through by the Gerer community in America, the chassidim who have flown in from Eretz Yisroel, and by an admiring Klal Yisroel community in the Tri-State area, many who have joined some of the uplifting and joyful events. The Rebbe has made the historic move of bringing the wedding of a grandchild to America—and with that the aura of the Shabbosim, the tischen, and other gatherings, all of which has never occurred in the annals of the history of the Gerer Chassidic movement. A tireless and passionate force behind this entire three-week visit—and an important pillar of the worldwide network of the Gerer chassidus—is the renowned philanthropist and askan Reb Shloime Werdiger, chairman of the board of Agudath Israel of America. Observing Mr.

Dr Anthony Fauci infuriated many in the Orthodox Jewish Community after comments he made on “CBS This Morning” regarding “Hasidic Jews who were not getting vaccinated” and caused a measles outbreak in the NYC area. Fauci was responding to a question about “how close are we to getting back to some sense of normalcy where there are fewer guidelines and we don’t think about the Coronavirus on a daily basis….” Fauci responded by saying that all depends on how many people get vaccinated to be able to reach heard immunity. “You have to get to a situation like with measles, like you were like 90 plus percent of people were vaccinated and really got that kind of what we call herd immunity.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul promised more government transparency on her first day in office and by day’s end her administration had quietly delivered it by acknowledging nearly 12,000 more deaths in the state from COVID-19 than had been publicized by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo. New York now reports nearly 55,400 people have died of COVID-19 in New York based on death certificate data submitted to the CDC, up from about 43,400 that Gov. Cuomo had reported to the public as of Monday, his last day in office. “We’re now releasing more data than had been released before publicly, so people know the nursing home deaths and the hospital deaths are consistent with what’s being displayed by the CDC,” Hochul said Wednesday on MSNBC.

Approximately twenty Yeshiva Bochrim who had landed in NYC, were transported to the hospital in Boro Park on Tuesday evening. Sources tell YWN that the victims had all just returned from Ukraine where they visited Mezibuz. The group landed in an NYC area airport, and all boarded a bus which took them to Brooklyn. The bus stopped at the Boro Park Hatzolah garage on 14th Avenue, and a mass casualty incident (MCI) was immediately requested. Around twenty Bochrim, all in their upper teens were complaining of nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, fever and other symptoms. Hatzolah ambulances from Boro Park and Flatbush transported the victims to Maimonides Hospital, Lutheran Hospital and Methodist Hospital. Sources tell YWN that it appeared they were suffering from some type of food poisoning.

Kathy Hochul became the first female governor of New York on Tuesday and in her first hours on the job sought to bring a new sense of urgency to tackling immense problems that went unaddressed during Andrew Cuomo’s distracted final months in office. In an afternoon address, she said she was immediately making masks mandatory for anyone entering schools and would work to implement a requirement that all school staff either be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. She said the state would launch a back-to-school testing program to make testing for students and staff more convenient. “None of us want a rerun of last year’s horrors with COVID-19,” Hochul said.

With Kathy Hochul officially taking the reins as New York’s governor, a historic number of women are currently leading U.S. states — a push towards equality and representation that could continue into next year’s midterm elections. There are now nine women serving as governor in the U.S. That ties a record that was set in 2004 and matched in 2007 and 2019, but it’s still well shy of gender proportionality. Taking over on short notice for a scandal-plagued predecessor in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hochul began her tenure Tuesday with more than enough challenges for a new administration. She also began with an historic opportunity: Hochul is the first woman to hold one of the most prominent governorships in the U.S.

Hours after leaving office, scandal-tainted former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo suffered another defeat Tuesday, losing the special Emmy Award he received last year for his daily, televised briefings on the coronavirus pandemic. The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement that given Cuomo’s resignation amid a torrent of harassment allegations it was taking away the prize and removing any reference to him in its official materials. A message seeking comment was left with Cuomo’s lawyer. Cuomo left office at 12 a.m.