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Atlanta VOL. XCI NO. 5
WWW.ATLANTAJEWISHTIMES.COM
FEBRUARY 5, 2016 | 26 SHEVAT 5776
Bomb Threats Connected? By David R. Cohen david@atljewishtimes.com
INSIDE
Israel News ������������������������������3 Local News �������������������������������5 Calendar ���������������������������������� 9 Candle Lighting ��������������������� 9 Opinion ����������������������������������10 Health & Wellness ���������������14 Business ���������������������������������18 Education �������������������������������19 Arts ����������������������������������������� 24 Food ��������������������������������������� 28 Obituaries ����������������������������� 29 Crossword ����������������������������� 30
T On With the Show
Photo by Eli Gray
After kicking off with a pink-accented Sweet Sixteen gala, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is rolling along with Yitzhak Rabin, Jerry Farber and a Casablanca without Rick’s Place. Pages 24-26
WOMEN AT WALL
Israel unveils plans to build an egalitarian plaza at the Western Wall. Page 3
INCLUSIVE POWER
Organizations single out those who do more for people with special needs. Page 6
MUSIC OF PEACE
Noa brings a message of cooperation to a benefit concert for the Arava Institute. Page 27
IS IT THE WATER?
“Brooklynization” alters the chemistry of the water used at Original Brooklyn Water Bagel, but does it make better bagels? Page 28
Latest Scourge Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is rapidly spreading the Zika virus from Brazil through Latin America and the Caribbean, and pregnant women seem to face the biggest threat. Page 15 Also inside this week’s special Health & Wellness section:
Photo courtesy of the CDC
• Meet the new head of Emory Healthcare, radiologist Jonathan Lewin, Page 14 • A mother and her daughters battle breast cancer and the BRCA gene, Page 16 • Follow one journey to healthy living and another away from heroin, Page 17
he bomb scare Jan. 26 at the Atlanta Jewish Academy Upper School is being jointly investigated by local law enforcement and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. In addition to the false threat at AJA, two Jewish schools in Orlando and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., received phoned-in bomb threats around 10 a.m. the same day. Authorities are investigating whether the threats are connected. A group called Secure Community Network sends out daily information and noted the other bomb scares that day, said Cathal Lucy, Federation’s director of communitywide security. “We are working in conjunction with the local, state and federal law enforcement partners that we have here at the Federation.” The AJA Upper School and Tapestry Public Charter School, which share a Doraville building, were evacuated just after 10 a.m. in response to a threat called in to the AJA front office. Doraville police and the DeKalb County bomb squad responded but found no explosive device. Students and teachers were allowed back into the building just after noon. Lucy, noting that Federation has a response plan for such situations, said AJA followed the proper procedure. “Every time something like that happens, you always go through a debrief of what took place and see if there are any corrections that can be made. We’ll conduct a debrief with the schools in the near future.” No explosives were found at the Jewish Academy of Orlando or the Meyer Academy in Palm Beach Gardens. “We are extremely grateful that all our students and the Tapestry students are safe and healthy,” AJA Executive Director Franeen Sarif said. “Our sincere appreciation goes out to the Doraville Police Department for their swift and professional response, and we are continuing to work with them on the ongoing investigation.” ■