Need to Know for May 7

New City Council President, Preakness horses, Michael Cohen and more

New Baltimore City Council Presidentvoted in

With Bernard C. “Jack” Young now in the mayor’s office following Catherine Pugh’s resignation last week, council members On May 6 voted in Brandon Scott (2nd District) to replace him as city council president until the present term ends in December of 2020, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. Scott, who is also weighing a run for mayor, thanked his colleagues following their unanimous vote, saying he is “deeply honored and humbled by the confidence you have placed in me to lead this body.” And so continues the game of musical chairs with leadership at City Hall in the wake of Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” scandal, which prompted her resignation and multiple investigations, coinciding with a federal probe in which federal authorities raided Pugh’s homes, offices and other buildings around the city last month.

Pimlico: Home of the Preakness (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Maximum Security out for Preakness

Bourbon War, who fell short of qualifying for the Kentucky Derby, will enter the Triple Crown series at Old Hilltop, the Maryland Jockey Club announced May 6, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. He’s a familiar foe to some of the Derby contenders, finishing second to Derby runner-up Code of Honor in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and fourth behind Maximum Security, Bodexpress and Code of Honor in the Florida Derby. Previously, the colt had been considered for the Grade II Peter Pan Stakes, scheduled for May 11 at Belmont Park. The Derby winner, Country House, also seems poised to come to Pimlico Race Course, even if trainer Bill Mott doesn’t sound entirely thrilled with the idea. Mott had previously said he was “elated” when he thought his horse finished second, meaning there wouldn’t be any pressure to pursue the Triple Crown. Of course, the horse that crossed the finish line first, Maximum Security, was later disqualified after stewards determined there was a foul when he impeded the paths of War of Will, Long Range Toddy and Bodexpress.

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Michael Cohen heads to prison

MichaelCohen, a former attorney and fixer for Donald Trump, reported to start histhree-year term on May 6 at a prison called “federal Jewish heaven.” Cohen willserve his time at FCI Otisville, a medium-security prison about 70miles northwest of New York City with a reputation as the lockup of choice forJewish criminals. Some reasons why: It serves kosher foods such as matzoh ballsoup, gefilte fish and rugelach, in part because of its “proximity to NewYork’s sizable Jewish population.” Also, Otisville holds Shabbat dinners andPassover seders, according to Larry Levine, who served an 11-year sentence in10 prisons before setting up the Wall Street Prison Consultants group. Beforeheading to jail on May 6, in an apparent dig at Trump, Cohen told reporters that “there still remains muchto be told and I look forward to the day when I can share the truth.”

Washingtonstate man arrested 6 weeks after social media threat to kill Jared Kushner

Police have arrested a Washington state man for making death threats against Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. weeks after he posted his intentions on social media, The Washington Post reported. Chase Bliss Colasurdo, 27, who lives in the Seattle area, indicated that he wanted to murder Kushner, a key White House adviser and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, whom he deemed a traitor, for being Jewish, among other reasons. Despite expressing his intent to kill Kushner and Trump, the president’s son, Colasurdo was not arrested until he attempted to buy a gun, a representative of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington told the Post. The president, Colasurdo wrote, was an “impotent Jew slave.”—JTA

Doll with human hair — Doll believed to be made with the hair from a Jewish girl killed in the Holocaust. (Courtesy of Anatolian Toy Museum)

Turkish toymuseum says it has doll with hair from Holocaust victim

A toy museum in Turkey has put on display what it says is a doll with hair from a Jewish girl killed in the Holocaust. The object has been on display at the Anatolian Toy Museum since its opening in 2017, the Turkish edition of CNN and other Turkish media reported last week. “Before being killed, girls’ hair was cut and used on the dolls produced for rich German children. This is the tragedy of baby dolls with real hair,” museum director Emrah Ünlüsoy told CNN. He is quoted as telling Hurriyet Daily News that the doll was bought in Germany and that the victim whose hair was used to make it was killed at Auschwitz in 1941. Mass murder of Jews began at that complex of Nazi camps in Poland in 1941. The Nazis sheared and stored hair from underage victims together with adult women’s hair. It was not used in any significant scale for the production of toys. The articles about the display said unnamed Jewish groups took a sample of the hair for genetic testing. The reports did not say whether results have been obtained.–JTA

JBiz Meet-Up

Join Jmore for an evening of meaningfulnetworking
with community, business and professional leaders on May 14 at Green SpringStation. The guest speaker is Richard Manekin, Partner at Workshop Development.

Click here for tickets and more information.

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