Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh greets attendees of an interfaith Oneg Shabbat to remember the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, at the Park Heights Jewish Community Center. (Photo by Steve Ruark)

FBI searches Mayor Pugh’s home, U of Md. rejects Israel divestment resolution, Towson Hillel turns 21

FBI search City Hall and Pugh’s home

The FBI and criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service on April 25 executed court-authorized search warrants at the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and Baltimore City Hall, FBI spokesman Dave Fitz said. Investigators are also searching a second residence belonging to the Democratic mayor — who has taken a leave of absence amid a scandal over the sale of a children’s book she authored — as well as the Maryland Center for Adult Training, a non-profit the mayor has worked with, Fitz said. The home of Gary Brown, a former Pugh aide, is also being searched. The FBI said they have made no arrests at this time in connection with the raids. Pugh was home when authorities arrived at her house shortly before 7 a.m. ET, a law enforcement official said.

Read more: FBI executing search warrant at Baltimore mayor’s home, city hall

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City to begin removing bufferedRoland Avenue cycle track April 29

The city’sannounced removal and re-working of the contentious Roland Avenue cycle trackwill begin April 29, according to dozens of temporary tow-warning signs nowpeppering the northbound side of the road weaving through one of Baltimore’smost affluent neighborhoods. The signs, affixed to trees stretching from ColdSpring Lane to Colorado Avenue (a bit before Eddie’s), advise drivers not topark along any stretch of the road, or risk having their car towed, between 9a.m. and 3 p.m. from April 29 through May 10 while construction firm P.Flanigan & Sons is at work. The description of their work order: “to removebike lane.”

Read the complete article on Baltimore Fishbowl

University of Maryland College Park
University of Maryland College Park (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

University ofMaryland student government rejects Israel divestment resolution

The student government of the University of Maryland rejected an Israel divestment resolution. The resolution was defeated on April 24 after a five-hour meeting by a vote of 25 against, 9 in favor and 2 abstentions. More than 100 students addressed the Student Government Association prior to the vote, the University of Maryland student newspaper, The Diamondback, reported. Seventy-four students spoke in opposition to the bill, and 55 spoke in favor of it. The meeting took place during Passover, when many Jewish students were home for the holiday. The student government told Fox News that it was not possible to move the vote since April 24 is the last day of the association’s legislative session when bills are heard. Some 650 students signed a petition by #DivestUMD, an initiative of Students for Justice in Palestine. The resolution was endorsed by campus groups including the Pride Alliance, Political Latinx United for Movement and Action in Society and the Muslim Alliance for Social Change, the Diamondback reported. A petition against the resolution was signed by 1,086 students. The resolution called on the university to divest from companies doing business in Israel that “are contributing to and/or exacerbating egregious human rights violations in occupied Palestine.”

Read more: University of Maryland student government rejects Israel divestment resolution

Towson Hillel
Towson University alumni Janna Zuckerman (right) and Heidi Rose hang with the Towson Tigers mascot, Doc the Tiger, at Towson Hillel’s 20th anniversary kickoff event. (Handout)

Towson Hillel turning 21

It’s notevery day that you turn 21. So for this milestone, Towson Hillel will celebrateits 21st with an outdoor family-friendly music festival and fund-raiser on May5 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Tiger Plaza, 251 University Ave., on the campus. Theevent will include family-oriented activities, tables from local organizations,live music from the bands Tall in the Saddle and False Peaks, and a beer gardenfor those over the age of 21. The gathering will also recognize new Hillelboard members and graduating seniors. “Our seniors have an emotional connectionto Hillel,” said Lisa Bodziner, executive director of Towson Hillel.

Read more: Towson Hillel to Celebrate 21st Birthday with Festival

Henry Bloch in 1980 (Bloch family)
Henry Bloch in 1980 (Bloch family)

Henry Bloch of H&R Block dies

Henry Bloch,who with his brother founded the international tax service giant H&R Block,has died at 96. Bloch, a philanthropist who contributed to Jewish causes, amongothers, died April 23 surrounded by his family, a memorialsite said. Bloch returned to Kansas City from World War II at 24 adecorated veteran of the Army Air Corps, having flown 32 missions as anavigator, most over Germany. He started a bookkeeping service. A decade later,in 1955, he and his brother Richard launched a tax preparation service. Itquickly grew, and by the 1970s, Henry Bloch was its face, appearing as anavuncular tax adviser in TV ads. He was so good, other companies asked him toappear in their ads. Richard Bloch, who died in 2004, said they used the“Block” spelling for the company to make sure clients pronounced their namecorrectly. The brothers did not want to hear clients say they got their taxes“blotched.”

Read more: Henry Bloch, Founder of H&R Block and Philanthropist, Dies at 96

Spider-Man character
A Spider-Man character performs during a preview session of “Marvel Universe Live” at Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, April 15, 2019. (Medios y Media/Getty Images)

Watching‘Spider-Man’ movies can decrease spider phobia, Israeli researchers show

It sounds like a teenager’s dream: Could watching superhero movies have actual health benefits? Two Israeli researchers think so. They found that exposing people to short clips of “Spider-Man” and “Ant-Man” films reduced their phobias of spiders and ants. Menachem Ben-Ezra from the School of Social Work at Ariel University and Yaakov Hoffman of the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University published their findings in the Frontiers of Psychiatry journal last week. Study participants who were shown just seven seconds of a scene from a recent “Spider-Man” movie lowered their arachnophobia score — taken before and after the viewing — by 20 percent. They achieved a similar result by showing participants with ant phobia a seven-second clip from “Ant-Man” (which stars Jewish actor Paul Rudd). The phobia scores did not decrease when participants were shown a scene from a general Marvel movie without insects, leading the researchers to conclude that the exposure to the specific insect-themed heroes onscreen did the trick. A news release notes that Ben-Ezra and Hoffman are both avid Marvel movie fans. “Such movies not only help people feel better about themselves, they provide a contra to hectic and stressful lives by showing us the true underlying spirit of one confronting his/her fears,” the release says.–JTA

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