By Donald H. Harrison
NATIONAL/ INTERNATIONAL — House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York, joined by five of his subcommittee chairs, including Reps Steve Cohen and David Cicilline, respectively of Tennessee and Rhode Island, informed President Trump on Friday of the commencement of an immediate investigation into his declaration of a national emergency and his “reassignment of funds approved by Congress for other purposes in order to access certain funds denied to you for the construction of a border wall.” Their letter added, “We are particularly troubled in light of your statement today that ‘I didn’t need to do this, but I would rather do it much faster.'” … Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, in an appearance earlier this week on a CNN Town Hall, commented “As somebody who grew up in a very diverse background as a young boy in the projects, I didn’t see color as a young boy and I honestly don’t see color now.” He also said, “Injustice in America of any kind – especially racial injustice, which continues – is not something that we should be proud of and we need to resolve.” His comment about not seeing color has been jumped on by various columnists and commentators as indicating he is incapable of empathizing with the experiences of African-Americans … Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is back in action for the first time since her cancer surgery in December. The 85-year-old associate justice attended a session on Friday when the court considered what cases to take up in this term. …At the time that FBI director James Comey was fired, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein raised the issue of whether there might be enough Cabinet officials willing to invoke the 25th Amendment, which authorizes the removal of a President who is unable to perform his duties, according to former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe in a ’60 Minutes” interview on CBS that will air on Sunday. … Attorney Gloria Allred is reported by the Associated Press to be concerned that a tape given to prosecutors by Michael Avenatti in an investigation focusing on singer R. Kelly’s alleged sexual misconduct may invade her unnamed client’s right to privacy. Cook County’s state’s attorney has not confirmed Kelly actually is under investigation.
GUN VIOLENCE – Five people were fatally shot to death Friday at a Henry Pratt Co. warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, by Gary Martin, 45, who was distraught over a termination notice. Martin was killed in a shootout with police, in which several police officers were wounded. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois praised the first responders who rushed to the scene, and added in a statement: “May the memory of those that we lost today be a blessing and more than that, may their memory fuel our work to bring peace to this state we call home.” … Yahudis Farkash, principal of Ohel Chana High School, which shares quarters with Etz Jacob Congregation in Los Angeles, told NBC that when she saw someone filming “girls at the school and the building, the perimeter of the building extensively, including all the windows and exits,” she and students felt “a great deal of anxiety.” Security guard Edduin Zelaya Grunfeld shouted to the videotaper Zhoie Perez to leave, and when she didn’t, the guard fired what he called a warning shot at the sidewalk. The bullet grazed Perez’s leg, resulting in the guard being arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Perez, who shows her tapes on YouTube under the name “Furry Potato” has videotaped other venues in Los Angeles as well.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY – U.S. Congress members Susan Davis, Scott Peters and Juan Vargas jointly announced that $15 million has been allocated by Congress to the Environmental Protection Agency for the U.S.-Mexico Border Water Infrastructure Program. Some of this money will be used to stem sewage spills into the Tijuana River, which crosses from Mexico to the United States. They expressed appreciation to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein “for leading this effort in the Senate.” … Gary Weitzman, president an CEO of the San Diego Humane Society has offered some statistics about the service the agency provides. He estimates that in 2019, the Humane Society will care for approximately 50,000 animals. In just six months, he said, it “took in 15,944 homeless companion animals, cared for 1,289 neonate kittens [and] 3,900 juvenile kittens; altered 8,733 pets… responded to 12,556 field calls, admitted 4,616 wild animals to our Project Wildlife program, provided 465,407 meals for PAWS San Diego clients, and 427,147 meals for Rescue partners, enrolled 233 new animals to the Behavior Center and performed 430 training consultations to families adopting new pets.”
BUSINESS – San Diego entrepreneur Jeff Fenster of the Everbowl chain of 17 eateries currently has landed a $3 million loan from Serruya Private Equity for expansion., Lori Weisberg of The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported. Among backers of the chain that specializes in parfaits made from acai, pitaya, graviola, or acerola is San Diego restaurateur David Cohn. … Columnist Diane Bell of the U-T tells of Zachary Gellens, a Chapman College student and grandson of Maxine Gellens and nephew of Marty Gellens, has joined their mother-daughter real estate team, logging his first $1 million-plus residential sale for a home in the Del Cerro neighborhood of San Diego.
OBITUARIES/ MEMORIALS – Radio personality George Klein, who went to high school with Elvis Presley and remained friends with the singer up to his death, died earlier this month, the Associated Press reported. In an interview with The Jewish Chronicle in 2018, Klein said “I had never been a particularly Orthodox Jew, but after Elvis died [in 1977], I followed the Jewish tradition of yahrzeit – a year of mourning marked with daily morning and evening prayers. I didn’t wear the diamond ring that Elvis had given me and I don’t think I even listened to any of his music during that year, because they were reminders of the loss that was just too painful for me.”
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com