That’s Odd

38 to establish new populations. Biologists then gradually implemented the species in several places, including the Herman The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 Gulch in 2016. Now, six years later, that population has been recorded thriving and populating without their help. Arrests at Southwestern Border Exceed 2M

For the first time, the number of arrests of immigrants along the southwestern border of the United States exceeded 2 million in one year, according to newly released government data, continuing a historic pace of immigrants coming to the country without legal permission.

The number of arrests at the border increased slightly from July to August, with a total of more than 2.1 million for the first 11 months of the 2022 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

In an unusual step, Biden administration officials gave some reporters a background briefing Monday before Customs and Border Protection’s routine monthly release of data. Officials noted that the number of removals over the past year — more than 1.3 million — was more than any previous year.

The administration in recent months has tried to steer clear of immigration issues as the midterm elections approach and Republicans campaign on the message that the border is unsecured. Last week, two Republican governors paid for dozens of immigrants who were released from government custody to be transported to Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.

The immigrants sent to those locations crossed the southwestern border without documentation and underwent security screenings by border officials before they were released into the country temporarily to face removal proceedings.

In August, the number of immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela caught crossing the southwestern border was nearly the same as the number of immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, marking a stark shift in the nationalities of people coming to the United States compared with previous years. The number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is down 43% from August 2021; the number of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans is up 175%.

Because the United States lacks diplomatic relations with those three countries, officials cannot repatriate the migrants as they do with people from other countries.

Since President Joe Biden’s first days in office, more than 1 million people have been released by border authorities to face removal proceedings, according to data submitted in monthly status update filings in legal challenges to this administration’s immigration policies.

Many of the immigrants who have been crossing the southwestern border are seeking asylum, a legal right that was significantly restricted through several policies during the Trump administration when there was also a spike in migration. (© The New York Times Company)

A Purple Tomato

If you want to add a little pop to your salad, add a tomato – a purple tomato.

Researchers have genetically modified tomatoes to make them better for you. And along with those benefits comes a great color.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service approved the new tomato from Norfolk Plant Sciences. The tomato has an extended shelf life and is better nutritionally.

40 “From a plant pest risk perspective, this plant may be safely grown and used in breeding in the United States,” The Jewish Home | SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 the agency says in a news release dated September 7. Norfolk Plant Sciences responded to the USDA’s approval by announcing that it would clear the way for the company to make the seeds for its “nutritionally enhanced high-anthrocyanin purple tomato” available for purchase by U.S. in 2023. While purple tomatoes already exist, this new purple tomato has been developed to “produce the highest levels of anthocyanins, which are antioxidant compounds with widely recognized health benefits,” Norfolk Plant Sciences says on its website. According to the company, the anthocyanins in the new tomatoes exist at similar levels to those in antioxidant superfoods like blueberries. In addition to their anti-inflammatory qualities, the tomatoes reduce waste due to their longer shelf life, make good onthe-go snacks, also “taste great,” and are “beautiful in special dishes.” Norfolk Plant Sciences co-founder Martin Jones called the USDA’s approval “a red-letter day for crop improvement.” Umm, doesn’t he mean purple?

Flying to your Sukkos destination? Soon, you may be able to take flight in an all-electric aircraft.

This week, Israeli company Eviation Aircraft successfully launched the world’s first all-electric passenger aircraft. Dubbed “Alice,” the zero-emissions plane traveled at an altitude of 3,500 feet for its eight-minute inaugural flight.

“This is history,” Gregory Davis, Eviation’s president and CEO, told CNN Business. “We have not seen the propulsion technology change on the aircraft since we went from the piston engine to the turbine engine. It was the 1950s that was the last time you saw an entirely new technology like this come together.”

The Alice uses a battery similar to those in electric vehicles and requires 30 minutes of charging for a one-hour ride. You won’t be moving too fast, though. Alice can go up to speeds of 287 miles per hour. Compare that to a Boeing 737, which has a max cruise speed of 588 miles per hour, and you’ll be slowly cruising the skies.

Eviation was founded in 2015. This week’s flight will help engineers garner information needed for upcoming flights. They hope to be working on developing an FAA-certified aircraft through 2025, followed by a year or two of flight testing before it can deliver Alices to customers.

Even when it comes to an airport near you, Alice may not be big enough for your family and all their Sukkos luggage. The commuter configuration of the Alice holds nine passengers and two pilots, as well as 850 pounds of cargo. The executive design has six passenger seats for a more spacious flight, and the cargo plane holds 450 cubic feet of volume.

If your wife is going to be taking all her shoes for yom tov, you may want to take all three planes.

What a Find

A bargain hunter who went to an estate sale in Maine to find a KitchenAid mixer, a bookshelf, or vintage clothing walked away with a 700-year-old treasure.

Instead of a kitchen appliance, Will Sideri stumbled upon a framed document hanging on a wall. It had elaborate script in Latin, along with musical notes and gold flourishes. A sticker said 1285 AD. Based on what he’d seen in a manuscripts class at Colby College, the document looked downright medieval.

And it was a bargain at $75.

Sideri was lucky to buy the paper at that price. Academics have confirmed that the parchment was from a prayer book, used in the Beauvais Cathedral in France, and dated to the late 13th century. It was used about 700 years ago in Catholic churches. Now, it’s worth around $10,000.

The full missal was once owned by William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper publisher, before being sold in the 1940s and was divvied up into individual pages.

Despite the money he can make selling the document, Sideri said he has no intention of selling it.

He likes the history and beauty of the parchment — and the story of how he stumbled upon it.

“This is something at the end of the day that I know is cool,” he said. “I didn’t buy this expecting to sell it.”

389 Years Old

Well, they’re no youngsters.

A quartet of Wisconsin-native sisters with a combined age of 389 years have been awarded the Guinness World Record for highest combined age of four living siblings.

Arlowene Johnson Overskei, 101; Marcene Johnson Scully, 99; Doris Johnson Gaudineer, 96; and Jewell Johnson Beck, 93, were awarded the title when Guinness World Records verified their combined age of 389 years and 197 days as of August 22.

The sisters nabbed the record from the Goebel family, who were verified as having a combined age of more than 383 years earlier this year.

“We are still living, and that’s something to celebrate,” Gaudineer told the Madison Daily Leader while being interviewed for the honor.

The four of them are close, but they don’t live near each other. Overskei, who was born on October 6, 1921, lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Scully, who was born on May 6, 1923, lives in Sioux Falls. Gaudineer and Beck, born in 1926 and 1929 respectively, both in California.

Beck noted that the four sisters aren’t just sisters – they share a special bond.

“We like people being aware that we are the four Johnson singing sisters – the quartet. We loved singing together,” she said.

And that’s something to sing about.