She's a popular history teacher at Western Harnett High School The city of Hammond is seeking a developer for its “Rimbach Square” project. The city and its redevelopment commission have issued a new request for proposals for the block bounded by Rimbach St. The city wants to see a multi-family residential development with retail along Hohman Ave it's calling for 200 apartments or condominiums Developers are encouraged to follow the 2019 downtown master plan In a statement Executive Director of Planning and Development Anne Taylor says the location is "right in the middle of it all." She says together with the improvements to Hohman Avenue and a planned downtown train station the new development will be another great addition to Downtown Hammond Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Lifestyle is pleased to announce the appointment of John Rimbach With more than 30 years of experience and expertise in the senior living industry Rimbach will spearhead the company's investment strategies and financial growth trajectory Rimbach served as President of Health Care Facilities at Health Care Trust Advisors he managed diverse portfolios and executed winning investment strategies in the senior living space Rimbach demonstrated a strong track record in driving operational excellence "We are thrilled to welcome John to the Senior Lifestyle team as our Chief Investment Officer," said Jon DeLuca "With his deep industry knowledge and leadership capabilities we are confident that Rimbach will enhance our investment strategies and drive sustainable growth for the company." Rimbach will be responsible for overseeing Senior Lifestyle's investment portfolio cultivating strategic investor relationships and developing financial strategies to support the company's long-term goals He will work closely with the executive team to identify new growth opportunities and optimize financial performance "I am honored to join Senior Lifestyle and contribute to the company's continued success," said Rimbach "I look forward to leveraging my experience and expertise to drive innovation John is committed to upholding Senior Lifestyle's mission of enriching the lives of those we serve with dedication to our HEART Core Values: Hospitality As Hurricane Milton threatened Florida's west coast Senior Lifestyle and Bridge Senior Living joined forces to protect residents of The Estate at.. Health Care & Hospitals Banking & Financial Services Personnel Announcements Senior Citizens Do not sell or share my personal information: Alumni E grassl1@stolaf.edu The program of Rimbach teachers was established in 1947 with the facilitation of St the Martin Luther Schule was short on two things: lightbulbs and English teachers In his capacity as Senior Field Representative for the Lutheran World Federation Service to Refugees Hong helped to supply both: he procured lightbulbs from Switzerland and forged the agreement with the St Olaf student body association to provide travel funds for one teacher per year The first “Rimbach Ole” was Josephine Haugen who taught for two years at the school before becoming a LWF Welfare Officer and marrying LWF US Zone Director Olaf students sent a teacher to the Martin Luther Schule the program was re-established in 2002 thanks to the enthusiastic initiative of St who worked with Howard Hong in postwar Germany as a volunteer for the LWF Service to Refugees We are grateful for the impact your gifts make possible on the Hill Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Osteen Publishing Company: You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails For information about our privacy practices We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices It’s one of the more startling accusations in the federal bribery case against Sen Bob Menendez — that he traded his influence for a new Mercedes-Benz convertible for his wife after she totaled her own Mercedes in a crash that killed a pedestrian The North Jersey businessman who admitted making concealed payments on the $60,000 luxury car is the least known of the five people indicted in the sweeping corruption scandal that extends to Egypt and Qatar — but he’s potentially the most significant Uribe is the only one to flip — pleading guilty to seven counts including conspiracy to commit bribery and tax evasion — making him a likely key witness at the trial now underway in lower Manhattan The Mercedes was allegedly a payoff in exchange for the senator's aiding two of Uribe’s associates including Menendez’s disruption of the prosecution of a person the indictment does not name But a NorthJersey.com review of court and other records shows how the timing and other details in the indictment match the case of Elvis Parra a Closter resident who was charged with insurance fraud related to a trucking company he owned The trucking company’s insurance broker was Phoenix Risk Management — a cleverly named Hudson County business created in 2011 soon after Uribe himself pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and a judge ruled that his license — and the license of his insurance agency The formation papers of Phoenix Risk Management list the address of a Jersey City property that Uribe then owned and the names of his stepchildren One of them stayed on state filings even after his license expired and he moved to the West Coast And more recently the agency has been accused in lawsuits of issuing documents that indicate insurance coverage existed when it did not that Phoenix was reported to state authorities had a two-decade run in the insurance business before his license was pulled prohibiting him from owning an agency or working for one Prosecutors said he has maintained a network of businesses in other people’s names and records show he has invested in real estate losing properties to lenders and tax liens He hadn’t made a payment in nearly a decade when a Union City property he owned was sold in a 2017 sheriff’s sale He still owes more than $23,000 in state fines for violations at a Jersey City rental property he lost The more than $90,000 in fines and penalties imposed on Uribe when his license to sell insurance was revoked is still listed as unpaid more than a decade later and some of the victims from his insurance fraud case say they were never made whole Uribe has no recorded mortgage on his Clifton residence purchased for $752,000 a couple of years ago It is the same house being used to secure his $1 million bail in the federal bribery case Uribe made payments on the new Mercedes for Nadine Arslanian Menendez until search warrants were executed in 2022 — he admitted that he tried to cover his tracks by saying the payments were loans The senator made two contacts with a senior state official at Uribe’s behest That state official was identified in opening statements Wednesday as former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal In addition to seeking a favorable outcome for one associate Uribe wanted to stop a related investigation involving an employee “I knew that giving a car in return for influencing a United States senator to stop a criminal investigation was wrong,” Uribe told a judge when he pleaded was indicted by a state grand jury in 2016 on multiple charges for allegedly providing false and misleading information to obtain workers' compensation insurance The state said Parra cheated Liberty Mutual out of nearly $389,000 He claimed that E&K had three drivers who were paid a total of $75,000 annually He actually paid more than $2.9 million in annual wages to dozens more drivers who were owner-operators He also denied that his company used drivers who owned their own tractors The initial application was signed by Parra and submitted in 2012 to the New Jersey Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau the agency that sets the rates for workers' compensation insurance in the involuntary market and designates an insurance company to provide coverage During a subsequent audit by Liberty Mutual Parra created the false impression that E&K employed only six truck drivers in documents submitted Note the parallels in timing and detail between the Parra case and the details in the Menendez indictment:  Parra ultimately signed a guilty plea to insurance fraud on April 29 The prosecutors agreed to recommend probation The Menendez indictment says the associate of Uribe resolved his criminal prosecution in April 2019 with a guilty plea The plea agreement did not recommend jail time — a resolution more favorable than the prosecutors’ initial plea offer earlier in the case  Parra declined to comment when asked about Uribe the alleged Menendez bribes and his criminal case referring all questions to attorney Geoffrey Rosamond the defense attorney who handled Parra’s insurance fraud case has served subpoenas on Uribe and his current and former counsel seeking documents and communications with the Southern District and the FBI related to a number of people While prosecutors have not yet named Parra in court Menendez attorney Avi Weitzman said in his opening statement Wednesday that Parra got a probationary sentence because there were holes and problems in the case It had nothing to do with Senator Menendez whatsoever,” he said Parra was sentenced to two years of probation community service and $75,000 restitution to Liberty Mutual The state Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the outcome of the Parra case but the indictment says the official whom Menendez contacted did not tell the prosecution team about the senator’s contact Liberty Mutual canceled the E&K policy before its expiration date when the company failed to make its payments Phoenix Risk Management and E&K were also sued in 2020 over a different policy brokered by Phoenix in 2014 one of six lawsuits — four related to the same fatal accident — that accused Phoenix of fraud or negligence One of those cases shows Phoenix has been reported to New Jersey authorities for fraud by Lloyd’s of London The Attorney General’s Office also declined to comment on any actions regarding Parra Uribe and Phoenix — including any allegations made by Lloyd’s — saying the office does not confirm or deny investigations It did provide a general statement on the Menendez case:  “At the time of the indictment we made it clear that our office would continue to cooperate with the U.S and we announced that our office would conduct an independent internal inquiry into the concerns raised in the indictment That review is ongoing in a manner that will not conflict with the actions of the U.S The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance has no enforcement actions against Phoenix Risk Management or the person listed in state business records as its owner Peguero is also named in the subpoenas served on Uribe and his lawyers The state insurance department also declined to comment on any actions related to Uribe saying it does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation a person whose insurance producer license has been revoked can’t own an agency or be employed by one in any capacity Uribe’s continued connection to the business was recognized in his plea deal in the Menendez case It agrees he won’t be prosecuted further by the Southern District for his participation in various crimes including “engaging or participating in the business of insurance” after his conviction for insurance fraud and theft by deception “to the extent he has disclosed it to this office.”  Uribe got his start in the insurance industry at the now-defunct Zorrilla Insurance Agency in Union City and once told a judge he worked as a clerk for three years before deciding “the insurance industry was what I wanted to do.”   State records show his license was first active in 1990 and he formed Inter-America Insurance Agency in 1999 he bought property in North Brunswick and Elizabeth with cash from a private lender one of several forays into real estate that documents indicate ended badly The North Brunswick property was eventually signed over to the lender for $1 One of the Elizabeth properties was sold to one of Uribe’s brothers who lost it in a bank foreclosure; Capital Builders lost a separate connecting tract in a tax lien foreclosure A property Uribe bought in 1995 in Union City was sold in a sheriff’s sale in June 2017 The foreclosure complaint said he hadn’t made a mortgage payment since November 2008 And a pair of multifamily properties he owned in Jersey City were lost in 2013 one in a tax lien foreclosure and the other to the mortgage holder There is still more than $23,000 in outstanding state fines related to one of them the properties flipped ownership several times then back to Uribe and finally to a second LLC formed using the name of one of his brothers But a $550,000 mortgage taken out on the properties from a private lender was signed by both Uribe brothers Fort Lee attorney Antranig “Andy” Aslanian — who has ties to other defendants in the Menendez case — was involved in that transaction and a host of other legal matters for Uribe dating back to at least 2006 including legal matters involving his old insurance agency and the case before the Department of Banking and Insurance that culminated in his license revocation Aslanian called Uribe a hard worker who struggled to support his family “I’ll tell you this — the man works seven days a week mostly Hispanics,” get insurance so they could support their families including lending them the money to pay for their policies count on the fact that he will spend $110,” he said who was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors last year has known Nadine Menendez for two decades and considers Wael Hana giving him space in his office for a while Aslanian has represented Phoenix Risk Management and some of its clients — including Elvis Parra’s old trucking company — in civil matters “He had another person operating it,” Aslanian said of Uribe and Phoenix Uribe’s plea with the Southern District names three trucking companies related to his tax evasion charges two of which appear to have been formed in the names of relatives although it is named with an “LTD,” not the “LLC” used in state filings but that he wouldn’t be surprised if someone asked him an insurance question and the reply would be “100 percent correct.”  “Jose happens to be very knowledgeable in the insurance field and understands insurance as well as anybody I’ve met,” Aslanian said Uribe gave out "insurance cards that maybe he shouldn’t have given out.”    “Jose was trying to help people,” Aslanian said “He did some things he shouldn’t have done Uribe pleaded guilty to theft by deception and insurance fraud in 2011 There are references in the state record to a 2005 arrest and the related seizure of computers and documents from his offices Uribe admitted taking $76,819 in insurance premiums through Inter-America from seven clients from 2003 to 2010 creating the false impression that he used the money to buy insurance for their commercial vehicles A brother who worked at Inter-America — and who would also lose his license — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit insurance fraud A restitution order filed with the courts naming both brothers in 2012 lists 11 individuals and more than $250,000 in restitution that was satisfied via settlement Documents on file with the state insurance department which started its own proceedings against Uribe on violations of the Insurance Producer Licensing Act in 2007 shows that a larger universe of clients may have been affected — one of the eight counts that the agency initially listed included more than 30 companies and individuals Some victims on the restitution order said they were not paid or made settlements that did not cover losses The owner of a trucking company said it wasn’t worth the legal fees to try to recoup $13,000 and recalled going to Inter-America when he learned there was no coverage after an accident “But then the insurance company from the other side was like Barbara Kurshnir said that when her firm’s Freightliner truck she settled for $50,000 — what the bank was owed There was also an accident that was not covered and she was out the premiums paid for the insurance that did not exist “I think we were able to pay the other party During a hearing in February 2011 on penalties before an administrative law judge discussed how he had paid out over $90,000 in settlements to cover claims arising from accidents involving his clients And he painted a picture of an industrious family business that specialized in commercial trucking and catered to the needs of the community and his father did some accounting part time Uribe said his stepson — who would later appear on paperwork for Phoenix Risk Management — was a “general helper” who got his license when he finished college Most of his clients — he said 97% of 2,000 clients — were Hispanic and had been with him for years to read their mortgage statement” or to see how they were “getting penalized for parking tickets that they can’t even understand.”  Asked if there was another field in which he could earn a living the judge concluded that his license and that of Inter-America should be revoked plus $2,125 for the department’s prosecution and investigation costs “Aside from characterizing respondent’s conduct as fraudulent,” the judge wrote “the same conduct also demonstrates repetitive and egregious acts of incompetence unworthiness and financial irresponsibility in the insurance business.”  The decision was affirmed by the commissioner of the state Department of Banking and Insurance six months later Phoenix was formed in June 2011 under the names of two of Uribe’s relatives using the address of one of his Jersey City rental properties His stepson stayed on paperwork filed with the state until 2022 despite his moving to Seattle and having his insurance producer license expire in 2013 Peguero shows up as a contact for Phoenix that year when the official business address was changed to her Jersey City residence Her title is listed as owner in a report the following year — and she becomes its sole member in 2022 when Uribe’s stepson is removed Search warrants in the Menendez case were executed that June In the 2020 lawsuit filed against Phoenix and E&K Trucking — Parra’s business — by another company named Flexi-Van Leasing Inc. it said it was defending multiple lawsuits in New York arising from a 2014 accident in which it had falsely been led to believe it had insurance coverage According to the complaint filed in Bergen County Phoenix issued a certificate of insurance “stating unequivocally” that Flexi-Van had been named an additional insured on a 2014 policy obtained by E&K Trucking Phoenix was added to four lawsuits arising from a 2021 accident that took the life of 25-year-old Stephanie Santora was the broker for interrelated trucking companies one that owned the truck that struck Santora’s car from behind and another that had leased the truck carelessly and/or recklessly breached their duty to” the two companies the general public and the plaintiffs by “failing to procure the contractually necessary and/or agreed upon insurance.”  Phoenix has denied the allegations in court filings on three of the suits; an answer on the fourth is pending said the chassis leasing company required $2 million liability coverage per incident but Phoenix placed only half that Another case indicates Phoenix has been reported to the state it claims Phoenix issued a certificate of liability insurance that falsely stated the hauling company had commercial general liability coverage through Lloyd’s of London The lawsuit explains how Sandra Thompson hired a company to move her belongings from Piscataway to Florida They were picked up by a subcontractor who got its insurance through Phoenix when Thompson’s items were unloaded inside the home they were broken and heavily damaged by smoke and water; some items were not even hers She had to hire a service to clean and decontaminate the property She received a $14,700 settlement from the cargo insurance for the shipped goods would have covered the extensive damage to Thompson’s home But the policy number corresponded to a Lloyd’s program that covered 2016 and 2017 “This policy distributed by broker Phoenix Risk Management LLC is a fraudulent policy,” an affidavit in support of Lloyd’s said “Lloyd's has had this same issue with fraudulent policies being distributed by Phoenix Risk Management LLC and has reported Phoenix Risk Management LLC to the proper New Jersey fraud authorities.”   Thompson won an $86,159 judgment against Phoenix the trucking company and its owners — none of them responded to the lawsuit An unnamed insurance company connected to Uribe also played a role in the second favor he would allegedly ask of Menendez about six months after the senator tried to intervene in the prosecution of Uribe’s associate a detective wanted to interview Uribe’s employee — a broker at the insurance company he controlled — in a related criminal investigation It was agreed Menendez would attempt to intervene again with the same senior state official — named in opening statements as former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal — a contact the indictment says occurred that September Uribe had been making the periodic payments on the Mercedes for several months After Uribe learned of the interview request The next morning he sent her a series of texts saying he didn’t want anyone to “bother” the employee and “[w]e need to make things go away,” “[w]e need to move fast,” and “[w]e can still stop this.”  the senator did a Google search for the initials of the state agency that employed the insurance fraud investigator seeking the interview And a few days later Nadine Menendez texted Uribe that the senator had commented that “it would have been so easy if we had wrapped both [requests] together.” Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at lois.bowers@mcknights.com John Rimbach has been named the chief investment officer at Senior Lifestyle.  Rimbach served as president of healthcare facilities at Health Care Trust Advisors He has more than 30 years of experience and expertise in the senior living industry Kevin Bowman has been named senior vice president of operations at Discovery Senior Living.  Bowman has worked in the senior living and care industry for 30 years He formerly was executive vice president community operations for Brookdale Senior Living Abby Romaine has been named the national director of sales strategy and development at Grace Management.  Romaine has a background in sales and business development partnerships in various industries Stephanie Johnston has been named the executive director of senior living at Virginia Health Services.  Johnston has more than 20 years of sales and operations experience in various industries residential and commercial real estate investing She graduated from East Coast Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and is a certified dementia practitioner Jeff Jhunell Sumabat has been named executive director of Bellara Senior Living part of the Integral Senior Living portfolio.  Sumabat’s career began in nonprofit and civil service work in The Philippines after earning Bachelor of Science degrees in nursing and clinical laboratory technology Sumabat held roles as resident services director He also earned a master’s degree in health care services administration Scott White, chairman and CEO of Fishers, IN-based healthcare real estate company Invesque will step down from the CEO role effective May 10 He will be succeeded by chief financial officer and executive vice president of investments Adlai Chester who became CEO of the company in January 2017 and board chairman in March 2019 will remain board chairman and also will serve the company as an adviser the company changed its name from Mainstreet Health Investments Chester also has been with Invesque since 2017 and has more than 20 years of finance development and capital markets experience He currently is a director on the company’s board The company announced other changes as well Senior Vice President of Finance Quinn Haselhorst will succeed Chester as CFO Haselhorst has been part of the Invesque team since its formation in 2015 and has 15 years of accounting and finance experience the majority of which has been spent in the healthcare real estate industry Invesque also announced its intentions to reduce the size of its board before its annual general meeting on June 20 who was Tiptree’s nominee on the board until it sold all of its shares in Invesque a current board member and audit committee chair will assume the role of lead independent director In addition to White as chairman and Steinel as lead independent director nominations expected to be voted on by stakeholders at the annual general meeting include Chester Brad Benbow and Shaun Hawkins as directors Andy Johnston has been named the president of hospice and personal care services at AccentCare.  Johnston spent more than 20 years with United Surgical Partners International where his roles included chief operating officer–East He received his Master of Healthcare Administration degree from Duke University and his Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University Chelle Watson has been named the vice president of marketing at Evive Brands with a portfolio that includes Assisted Living Locators Grasons and The Brothers that just do Gutters Watson was the local performance marketing director at Neighborly and acting vice president of marketing at Code Ninjas Send your personnel news to Lois Bowers at lois.bowers@mcknights.com High-quality color headshots are welcome but not required document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded' function () {const newsletterAsset = new HMIRegistration({ publicationId: 47 bootstrap: document.getElementById('newsletter-asset') formType : "user-initiated",pubType: "business"});newsletterAsset.mount();}); Please login or register first to view this content Only subscribers can update their account from this page Artificial Intelligence Notice: ISA prohibits the entry of ISA standards and related ISA intellectual property (“ISA IP”) into any form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools creating derivatives of ISA IP using AI is also prohibited without express written permission from ISA’s CEO ISA will suspend a licensee’s access to ISA IP and further legal action will be considered Please review ISA's Terms and Conditions for further information ISA officially was born as the Instrument Society of America on 28 April 1945 It was the brainchild of Richard Rimbach of the Instruments Publishing Company and grew out of the desire of 18 local instrument societies to form a national organization Rimbach is recognized as the founder of ISA which became widely used during World War II continued to play an ever-greater role in the expansion of technology after the war Individuals like Rimbach and others involved in industry saw a need for the sharing of information about instruments on a national basis The Instrument Society of America addressed that need a group of visionary thinkers from local instrumentation societies met to organize ISA became ISA’s first president in 1946 the Society held its first conference and exhibit in Pittsburgh which eventually became today’s InTech ISA continued to expand its products and services increasing the size and scope of the ISA conference and exhibition offering professional development and training and even producing films about measurement and control Membership grew from 900 in 1946 to 6,900 in 1953 and today ISA has thousands of members all around the world Recognizing ISA’s international reach and the fact that its technical scope had grown beyond instruments the ISA Council of Society Delegates approved a legal name change to ISA—The Instrumentation the Council voted to rename the Society to the International Society of Automation a name that reflects our global nature and inclusive membership base we continue to set the standard for automation now more than ever and communities have supported ISA for 75 years and dedication ensure that ISA will spend the next 75 years advancing our vision—to create a better world through automation © 2025 International Society of Automation faculty and staff learning and working remotely a post-doctoral researcher in Duke’s Department of Evolutionary Anthropology setting traps for gray squirrels deep in Duke Forest and in the wooded corners of West Campus she lured squirrels into cages with peanut butter apples and walnuts to study the behavioral and physiological differences between those that live side-by-side with people and those that don’t tagging them and taking blood samples to assess their health Has there been some interesting and innovative work in your corner of Duke that you’d like to share while COVID-19 disrupted its familiar rhythm the larger song that is life at Duke kept going Whether by way of conversations with colleagues from units across Duke or visits to different parts of campus we’re a part of a large community of learning where interesting things happen all the time we’d probably like our connection to the larger work of Duke to be stronger here’s a look at some of the interesting and innovative work that’s been happening around Duke while we’ve been away When nine continuing education students started the “Anytown, USA” documentary filmmaking course at the Center for Documentary Studies in February they thought they’d spend the next several months capturing the stories of a small North Carolina town But in August, when the class shared its work online Taught by award-winning filmmaker Randy Benson USA” asks a group of documentary filmmaking students to turn their focus on one small town the group was to embed itself in the eastern North Carolina town of Windsor the COVID-19 pandemic made traveling to Windsor unwise So Benson opted to have students use their skills to make a films about their own stories “That was the driving force that ended up being behind all the films Just because we weren’t in a physical place together So each Monday, the class met via Zoom and learned about documentary filmmaking philosophies and production techniques. The work produced stories about subjects ranging from a chicken quarantined after moving to a new farm, to a student who couldn’t be with her dying mother due to the pandemic people have felt alone,” said Center for Documentary Studies Courses Director Michael Betts “One of the things we noticed about our students is that they are hungry for any kind of community One of the highlights of the year for the Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) are the recognition ceremonies in May and June Part of Duke TIP’s Talent Search Program which connects young gifted students with guidance and academic opportunities Those that hit score benchmarks are invited to recognition ceremonies held on college campuses across the country that feature chances to meet other Duke TIP participants “It’s a very cool experience for our families,” said Duke TIP Recognition Coordinator Sarah Beth Potter 10,576 students from 46 states were invited to Duke TIP’s 28 ceremonies But as the pandemic derailed plans for in-person ceremonies They came up with a virtual celebration toolkit that brought the Duke TIP recognition ceremony experience to the students themselves “We wanted to ensure that their achievements were acknowledged and celebrated,” Potter said we wanted to provide something that was positive which celebrants could access through a link sent via email featured a downloadable certificate they could print at home social media photo frames to help them share the news a list of all of the honorees and a video featuring congratulations from Duke TIP staff members and TIP distinguished alumni including NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly  “We wanted it to be fun for our families,” said Duke TIP Web Administrator Elizabeth Simmons “We invited them to start celebrating and enjoy their accomplishments whichever way they could.” After more than a decade of planning, fund-raising and design, the R/V Shearwater, the newest research vessel for the Duke University Marine Lab the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 77-foot catamaran to spend months moored at the lab In July, after coming up with a comprehensive safety protocol, the R/V Shearwater returned to the sea to study how Cuvier’s Beaked Whales off of Cape Hatteras react to sonar systems used by the U.S It was a welcome opportunity for Duke University Marine Lab staff and faculty to see first-hand what their newest resource can do “She’s super maneuverable,” said Matthew Dawson “When you’re trying to stay around marine mammals The new safety protocols limit the ship’s capacity to three crew members and a four-person scientific team passengers must self-isolate for two weeks and get a COVID test hand hygiene and masking rules found in all of Duke labs “It does make the offshore research challenging but it is still doable,” said Duke University Marine Lab’s Marine Operations Manager John Wilson The ship’s stable twin-hulled design and ability to make 700 gallons of fresh water per day means multi-day whale study trips were especially comfortable the mere fact that the R/V Shearwater could leave port was thrilling enough “This project is complicated enough as it is,” said Doug Nowacek a Nicholas School of the Environment and Pratt School of Engineering professor who was the chief scientist on the cruise “You have to worry about finding the whales But with many dedicated and resourceful folks Duke figured out a way to operate safely and allow the science to proceed Help share the proactive and extensive work being done by all Duke community members during the COVID-19 outbreak. Send ideas, shout-outs and photographs through our story idea form or write working@duke.edu Follow Working@Duke on Twitter and Facebook. Copy and paste the URL below to share this page. Duke Today is produced jointly by University Communications and Marketing and the Office of Communication Services (OCS). Articles are produced by staff and faculty across the university and health system to comprise a one-stop-shop for news from around Duke. Geoffrey Mock of University Communications is the editor of the 'News' edition. Leanora Minai of OCS is the editor of the 'Working@Duke' edition. We welcome your comments and suggestions! Ground Floor PlanThe school’s functions in the new buildings have been organized around atria and inner courtyards. They are accessed via a central three-run staircase and lift at the angle point of the building, which lead to the floor levels of the new and existing buildings. All class rooms and specialist subject rooms have windows facing out on to the landscape. Courtesy of GMPWith its earthy red and brown hues the school’s color scheme reflects the architecture of the region and the many shades of variegated sandstone Different shades and intensities are used to accentuate different surfaces inside and outside the building You'll now receive updates based on what you follow Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors If you have done all of this and still can't find the email stood at the highest point in the Tiverton skate park Plus a helmet and pads on his elbows and knees Rimbach kicked the board and hopped on in one motion He came out of a crouch at the bottom of the ramp and leaned so his board cut a shallow arc — an exercise of grace danger and speed — and then he kicked his board into the air and snatched it with one hand “This has been an absolutely awesome week,” Dale Rimbach Sr but we’ve been checking out skate parks whenever we get near one The Rimbach crew was not alone in that assessment With temperatures in the 60s and mostly sunny skies but the whole week has given us spring temperatures She lifted one foot and pointed to the sandal she wore: “It’s flip-flop weather.” Bob Messier of Somerset was looking past spring weather to summer He was at the Borden Light Marina in Fall River doing annual maintenance on his 41-foot Silverton power boat He was cleaning the running gear and putting zincs on his propeller shaft — projects normally left for spring “A day like this really makes you wish you were out there The boardwalk along the Taunton River at Heritage State Park in Fall River hosted a parade of couples of children in strollers and on bikes with training wheels of dog owners taking out their puppies for their first walk in the warmth he’s a German shepherd,” Jeffrey Hopkins said Then the puppy ventured forward to meet a stranger “This is his first time on the boardwalk,” Jeffrey Hopkins said we can’t go far because everyone wants to meet him.” Yolanda Young and Brenda Lavoie were making better time the two pink ribbons she wore as rabbit ears over her hat “This is just beautiful weather,” Lavoie said “We usually go to Fort Barton to walk in the woods There have been a lot of people here every day this week,” said Everett Page of Fall River Page walks the boardwalk every day when the surface is free of ice Humans aren’t the only species whose metabolisms tend to slow down with age -- If you feel like your metabolism just isn’t what it used to be no matter how many hours you spend in the gym A Duke University-led study finds that bottlenose dolphins burn calories at a lower rate as they get older It’s the first time scientists have measured an age-related metabolic slowdown in another large-bodied species besides humans, said first author Rebecca Rimbach postdoctoral associate in evolutionary anthropology at Duke Rimbach has studied energy expenditure and other aspects of physiology in animals ranging from mice to monkeys But data on the inner workings of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales have been scant That’s because these ocean dwellers are notoriously difficult to recapture for repeat measurements  “It can be very tricky to get the animal back when you need it,” Rimbach said The researchers studied 10 bottlenose dolphins aged 10 to 45 living at two marine mammal facilities, Dolphin Research Center in Florida and Dolphin Quest in Hawaii Like humans present their arms for a blood draw the dolphins at these facilities voluntarily raise their tail fins out of the water so their caregivers can collect blood or urine as part of their regular checkups By analyzing the levels of heavy hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the blood or urine the team was able to calculate how much carbon dioxide the dolphins produced each day and thus how many calories they were burning as they went about their lives The researchers expected dolphins to have revved-up metabolisms since dolphins are warm-blooded just like people and keeping warm requires more energy in water than in air they found that bottlenose dolphins burn 17% less energy per day than expected for a marine mammal of their size The scientists also noted some of the same signs of metabolic aging common in people used 22% to 49% fewer calories each day than expected for their body weight more of those calories ended up as fat rather than muscle Dolphins in their 40s had body fat percentages that were 2.5 times higher than their under-20 counterparts capable of leaping 10 feet into the air and swimming alongside power boats at speeds that would crush Michael Phelps The dolphins in the study were observed doing flips and spins jumping clear out of the water and going fast enough to leave a wake as often as six to 18 times an hour But the metabolic pattern remained no matter what their activity level “And it’s not because they’re eating too much,” either The researchers recorded how much herring and other fish the dolphins gobbled up fatter dolphins in the study actually ate fewer calories The researchers say such work could shed light on factors besides diet and lifestyle that underlie age-related weight gain in people “Further studies into this commonality we share with dolphins may help us understand why human metabolism slows as we age,” said co-author Hannah Salomons a graduate student in professor Brian Hare’s lab at Duke “Having access to healthy dolphins under human care made this study possible,” said co-author Austin Allen of the Duke University Marine Lab since we only looked at 10 individuals,” Rimbach said “But I think it's an exciting first study.” This work was supported by Duke University and an International Marine Animal Trainers’ Association (IMATA) Research Grant CITATION: "Total Energy Expenditure of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) of Different Ages," Rebecca Rimbach, Ahmad Amireh, Austin Allen, Brian Hare, Emily Guarino, Chana Kaufman, Hannah Salomons, Herman Pontzer. Journal of Experimental Biology, Aug. 5, 2021. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.242218 Copy and paste the URL below to share this page Read on Department of Evolutionary Anthropology Duke Today is produced jointly by University Communications and Marketing and the Office of Communication Services (OCS) Articles are produced by staff and faculty across the university and health system to comprise a one-stop-shop for news from around Duke Geoffrey Mock of University Communications is the editor of the 'News' edition Leanora Minai of OCS is the editor of the 'Working@Duke' edition Healthcare Trust Inc. announced Wednesday that it has transitioned management of 20 Addington Place-branded senior living communities to Senior Lifestyle Corp. and Jaybird Senior Living The communities formerly were managed most recently by St non-traded real estate investment trust owns 54 senior living communities across 16 states predominantly in the Southeast and Midwest “I think that the COVID pandemic has had an adverse impact on all of us both owners and operators in the senior housing space,” John Rimbach we basically made the determination that our best path forward in terms of recovering both in terms of occupancy and then addressing some of the issues that have come out of the pandemic namely labor shortage and increasing wage increases that our portfolio is best positioned to move forward with Jaybird and Senior Lifestyle.” were selected based on the locations of the properties and their already existing portfolios they’re probably up to 130 managed properties [overall],” Rimbach said “They did lose a few properties under management in 2021 They have the platform and the resources to address our needs.” manages approximately 75 properties [overall] “They had the platform in place to take on these additional engagements,” he added Thirteen of the 20 Addington Place communities formerly managed by Cedarhurst now will be managed by Senior Lifestyle Senior Lifestyle additionally operates 11 other properties for HTI Jaybird has picked up management of seven of the Addington Place communities bringing the total number of HTI-owned communities managed by Jaybird to 25 “We come as an owner with disciplines in terms of operations and we look to align ourselves with organizations that have similar philosophy and a culture which we have embraced with that is based on our background and experiences,” Rimbach said with much of it going not to capital construction but to cover annual operating expenses The athletics department has borrowed millions from both the university and the Big Ten to paper over the shortfalls The university’s annual loans to athletics to cover operating expenses grew to more than $20 million this past academic year a practice that Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway told Koloff and Rimbach is "unsutainable." Rutgers has been reporting those loans as revenue — contrary to NCAA guidelines — artificially inflating the athletic department’s earnings and concealing the true budget deficit from the students their parents and taxpayers who pay the bills Here are some key takeaways from the project:  More than $430 million for athletics Since 2014-15 the university has given athletics more than $200 million outright in student fees direct support, state subsidies and by covering other athletics expenses including a fee to leave the Big East Conference.  Athletics has taken $132 million in loans from the university and the Big Ten that went toward covering annual budget shortfalls which had been on the rise long before the pandemic. The school gave another $70 million in loans for facilities. The state kicked in an additional $25 million in tax credits toward new athletics facilities.  Rutgers doesn’t have its Big Ten contractHolloway said he’s never even seen a copy. But Rutgers is not alone in this The University of Maryland didn’t have a copy of its conference contract The Big Ten declined to comment when asked why members do not have copies Hiding the DeficitMillions of dollars in losses get reported as revenue obscuring the true athletics shortfall. Rutgers reported a $10.6 million deficit in fiscal 2020 the last available year of financial reports But when subtracting reported cash that the university gave to athletics Rutgers gave an additional amount in a loan to cover the losses They needed yet another $18 million loan from the Big Ten Conference to close the gap bringing the deficit to $73 million.    'Takes your breath away': Murphy calls Rutgers athletics' financial woes 'concerning' Rutgers breached its own policy and flouted NCAA guidelines as athletic spending grew. Near $84 million in loans from the university’s internal bank have been used to cover deficits since at least fiscal 2016 — even though Rutgers’ own policies didn’t allow it In June — only after the USA Today Network New Jersey asked about the practice — the policy was revised to allow loans for operating deficits. At the same time the NCAA bars schools from reporting loans the university gives to athletics as generated revenue – but that’s exactly what Rutgers did.  How we did it: Uncovering $265M in Rutgers athletics debt Rutgers planned at first to make modest investments in athletics when it joined the Big Ten, hoping to be flush with cash when it received its full conference distribution. But the university was playing catch-up with its counterparts in the conference There were scandals, and bad coaching decisions. Football performance tanked. Salaries grew and revenues dropped.  The university says it has received pledges of $50 million in donations toward the $150 million cost of its two newest athletics buildings — the RWJ Barnabas Athletic Performance Center and the Rodkin Academic Success Center. However The rest of the buildings are being funded by loans and state tax credits Rutgers was last among 52 public universities in the five richest conferences in donations to athletics for operations in 2019-20 Rutgers was next to last in ticket sales and 50th in generated revenue athletics relied on more university support Rutgers annual payments on its $265 million in debt are increasing five-fold from when they began playing in the Big Ten. Rutgers is counting on increased revenue from ticket sales as the football team improves under coach Greg Schiano. It’s also anticipating a large cash influx from the Big Ten now that it’s eligible for a full share of conference revenues But it will be repaying loans to the conference through 2026.  Abbott Koloff and Jean Rimbach are an investigative reporters for NorthJersey.com To get unlimited access to their watchdog work that safeguards our communities and democracy, please subscribe or activate your digital account today Email: koloff@northjersey.com  Twitter: @abbottkoloff  Wael Hana heads a multinational company headquartered in Edgewater And he lives in an upscale apartment complex down the road That’s a dramatic shift from his position several years earlier when the Egyptian national — who has emerged as a potential key link in the ongoing federal investigation of U.S Bob Menendez — appeared to be in serious debt Hana was years behind on his mortgage and taxes He also owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for allegedly passing bad checks and falling short on a deal to procure millions of dollars of luxury cars for a New York business to ship overseas court records reviewed by NorthJersey.com show Yet little more than three months after his Bayonne home was sold in a sheriff’s sale in 2019 Hana’s fledgling North Jersey business — IS EG Halal Certified — emerged as the sole entity authorized by the Egyptian government to certify meat entering the Arab nation as halal Other longtime halal certifiers in the U.S were dismissed by Egypt without explanation in favor of Hana’s firm Department of Agriculture said had no known experience in halal certification — or any prior relationship with the beef industry or U.S The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service warned that the change could create market disruptions and noted that higher certification fees “will increase beef prices for Egyptian consumers.” “All of a sudden you go over to a company that has no historical knowledge or practice in place to do this and has to be trained to do it — it does not seem logical former deputy assistant inspector general for investigations at the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General is a Christian whose previous business ventures include a truck stop and a restaurant IS EG Halal has locations in other parts of the world And IS EG Halal is the only entity exclusively authorized by the government of Egypt to certify halal exports from the U.S and elsewhere to Egypt — the Edgewater company legitimized questioned why Egypt — or any country — would hand so much control to one company for a service that is key to feeding a large part of its population “It doesn’t give a good appearance when a monopoly on anything in business is given to one entity “Now you’re potentially held hostage to their whims.”  approved a $2 million COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan for IS EG Halal in 2021 This type of direct loan from the Small Business Administration carries a low fixed interest rate of 3.75% and a 30-year term A government-backed loan approved in March for another of Hana’s businesses is now listed as canceled IS EG Halal and the Menendez probe didn’t begin to surface until last fall after news of subpoenas related to the investigation broke Federal investigators were asking about Hana and his firm And WNBC and NBC New York reported that prosecutors want to know if Menendez or his wife received expensive gifts from Hana or others associated with IS EG Halal Hana and his company had been on investigators’ radar as far back as 2019 when the FBI searched his apartment and offices seven months after he became Egypt’s sole halal certifier taking “every single piece of paper in the Edgewater headquarters,” court records show four watches — two of them Rolexes — and a pair of earrings he planned to give his mother that cost about $15,000 Hana’s attorney said in court filings at the time that he was told Hana was not a target A closer look at Hana and his business interests through court state and other records obtained by NorthJersey.com shows a once cash-strapped immigrant whose fortunes shifted visited the senator’s office with Egyptian officials and attended an intimate fundraiser for Menendez at a Cliffside Park restaurant Hana did not directly respond to requests for comment from NorthJersey.com said in a statement that IS EG Halal was awarded its contract with Egypt “without any assistance whatsoever from Senator Menendez or any other U.S She added that there is also no evidence the contract “was awarded based upon bribery or corruption in Egypt.”  and jewelry being provided by anyone associated with ISEG Halal to Senator Menendez or his wife at all let alone in exchange for any kind of favorable treatment Hana and IS EG Halal appear to be one piece of a multifaceted probe involving Menendez who confirmed in October 2022 that he was the subject of a criminal investigation by the U.S Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee and New Jersey's senior senator is building a legal defense fund and has said the investigation will amount to nothing said in a statement that recent stories “create a suggestion of impropriety without any facts.”  “Such extreme and damaging claims are irresponsible and any such reporting should require legitimate and named sources,” Morrill added “We are not going to respond to every false allegation made by anonymous sources.”  The current probe has similarities to a previous federal case against the senator who was indicted in 2015 and stood trial on bribery charges in 2017 That case involved alleged favors in exchange for gifts — including private flights and vacations — from a longtime friend and donor and prosecutors later dropped the charges against Menendez Supreme Court rulings have since made it more difficult to prosecute public corruption cases received a subpoena requesting correspondence related to Menendez the prominent Edgewater developer who is awaiting sentencing for banking crimes It also sought correspondence on legislation Sacco co-sponsored called the “Palisades Cliffs Protection Act.” The bill would have restricted construction along the waterfront of Hudson and Bergen counties That could have affected a high-rise development Daibes has long planned for the Quanta Superfund site he owns on River Road in Edgewater A Sacco spokesman has said he is not a target of the investigation The sale by Daibes of a nearly 24% share in that site and adjacent properties for $45 million to the London-based firm of a Qatari sheik is also reportedly under the scrutiny of federal investigators as first reported by the Wall Street Journal The headquarters of Hana’s IS EG Halal Certified are in an office building on one of those properties at 125 River Road sharing the third floor with Daibes Enterprises a luxury apartment complex that Daibes owns And one of Daibes’ businesses purchased some of Hana’s debt Davis said Hana “has created a successful business which is in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.” It has “performed flawlessly” under the contract with Egypt “without any issues or complaints.”  She did not comment directly when asked about Hana’s past financial difficulties “Events that occurred years ago are being taken out of context and have absolutely no bearing on the current investigation or the awarding of this contract.”  Hana came into Menendez’s orbit through longtime Bergen County attorney Antranig “Andy” Aslanian who acknowledged being subpoenaed by federal prosecutors last year Hana worked out of a building Aslanian owns in Fort Lee “Wael Hana and I used to leave my office almost every night and go up the street and have a couple of drinks,” Aslanian recalled who said they sometimes went for drinks at a restaurant the developer used to own Aslanian said he’s known Daibes for many years he once helped Daibes with the purchase and management of a plane Aslanian said federal prosecutors asked him if he knew Hana but also a host of other people from his life and decades of legal work including an Egyptian man who had been a driver for Hana Aslanian repeatedly scoffed at the federal investigation and bribery allegations that have surfaced He thinks federal authorities are linking Menendez and Hana because “they've seen him go out to dinner with him on many occasions.”  he helped put together a small fundraiser for the senator at Villa Amalfi in Cliffside Park — the owner is a client — attended by about 25 people he went to the after-election parties,” Aslanian said of Hana Aslanian helped Hana incorporate IS EG Halal Certified in New Jersey in 2017 — it didn’t start operating until 2019 — and shows up on state documents as being on its initial board of directors “He considered me a very good friend,” Aslanian said I do not want to have anything to do with it now because I know nothing about it.”  Aslanian adds another layer to Hana’s background saying he comes from “a prominent family” in Egypt “His father was apparently politically pretty well connected,” he said When Aslanian handled a zoning matter in East Rutherford for the Egyptian government in 2016 — it wanted to renovate a building for diplomatic use — he said it was Hana who recommended him for the job citizen who has lived in the United States since 2006 he said in court papers related to his efforts to reclaim items seized by the FBI He would have been in his early 20s when he emigrated based on his birthdate in voter registration records He bought a house on Lord Avenue in Bayonne the next year for $450,000 A former business associate thought he worked for a cleaning agency when he arrived in the U.S he quickly expanded his array of business endeavors Hana shows up on state documents for at least 18 New Jersey business entities over the years among the earliest a truck stop on Route 440 in Jersey City It is unclear to what extent many of the businesses operated “I have a feeling his family was pretty well-to-do because every time he was running low on money he would call up and they would wire him substantial sums.” about two years after his arrival in the U.S. Hana had a 50% interest in an Italian restaurant in Mahwah said it was “a bad experience.” The partnership lasted about two years and he ultimately bought Hana out didn’t know what he was doing and was condescending to staff He thought of himself bigger than — better than — people.” He said Hana had bought out his previous partner recalling that it took him a while to get the cash together He said he talked as if his family in Egypt was of substance He said Hana — whom he called “a pretty smart kid” — was also focused on a trucking business at the time That’s how he portrayed himself,” the former partner said Hana and a partner entered into a deal with a New York business to purchase and deliver dozens of Mercedes-Benz and other luxury cars to a Newark warehouse to be shipped to China more than $3.6 million was paid to the two and their companies in cash and wire The money eventually outpaced delivery of cars A list in the court record shows that 40 cars were delivered — Mercedes-Benzes Porsche Cayennes and BMWs — valued at $2.9 million answered the complaint filed against them or showed up in court A judgment against them was issued in 2014 for the $705,000 Morcos later tried unsuccessfully to the get the judgment against him vacated claiming he had gained no profit in the transaction and “was defrauded by the other defendants.”  this time by a check cashing business in Kearny which claimed he had passed six bad checks totaling more than $150,000 which also named the half-dozen companies on the checks as defendants was referred to in court papers as a “fraudulent check kiting scheme.”   Three checks were written to two of Hana’s trucking concerns by a company that state records show was owned by Morcos — his old partner in the luxury car deal Another was written from one of Hana’s businesses to himself And two were written to Hana companies by yet another trucking company That business was owned by a third party — but used the same Jersey City address as one of Hana’s businesses Hana tried unsuccessfully to fight the suit claiming in court papers he told Hana not to cash his checks after he reneged on a business deal said he understood that Hana owned local businesses including a trucking company Hana had been a good customer for several years and they developed a friendly relationship because of the frequent transactions who said he “would recompense me for the bounced checks if I gave him time to resolve the financial difficulties he was facing.”  He said Hana continued to say he would make good — until the suit was filed in 2013 Later that year Hana bounced three checks to a Harrison fuel company It sued in 2014 and won a $38,000 judgment foreclosure action on Hana’s Bayonne home was underway Hana accused the bank of “predatory lending,” claimed the house was worth a third of the value of the mortgage and said that “his income was such that he could not be reasonably expected to meet the obligation.”  Hana owed mortgage and tax payments as far back as May 2010 but continued to live in the property free of charge and the house was sold by the sheriff at the beginning of 2019 A team led by the head of the Egyptian Veterinary Services visited slaughterhouses and eight halal certifiers in the United States in March of 2019 for food safety and halal audits the Egyptian Veterinary Services notified the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service that “only one of the eight U.S halal certifiers was approved to certify shipments to Egypt The remaining seven were suspended or rejected without explanation,” according to a report by the FAS The surviving company was Hana’s IS EG Halal Certified certifiers said they were taken aback by the sudden turn The Egyptian officials had reviewed documents “It wasn’t enough to see them.” The officials interviewed personnel Another certifier said it had to learn of the decision from the USDA vice president of certifier ISA — Islamic Services of America — called it a “deep detailed audit of our process and procedures.” He said most of his organization’s business is non-meat but they were no less “surprised and disappointed by the outcome within such a short period of time.”  “They came and gleaned everything they could about us And then used it to presumably build and or to finalize whatever they had in process.”  The Egyptian Embassy in Washington did not respond to an email with questions about the move to a single certifier and the selection of Hana’s Edgewater firm Hana had acknowledged his lack of experience in a declaration filed in 2020 when he sought the return of items seized by the FBI I am not experienced in halal certification so the Egyptian government has provided imams and trained veterinarians to assist me,” he said And he described why he thought his company was favored He said the Egyptian government “took away the Muslim Brotherhood’s authorization to certify halal products in order to deprive the group of financial resources.”   The Muslim Brotherhood is an international Islamic organization that the Egyptian government has labeled a terrorist group Hana said it previously “oversaw halal product certification for foods imported into Egypt.” There is no apparent evidence that other certifiers have such connections Hana called himself an “entrepreneur” and said the Egyptian officials chose him because they know he’s “not associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and because they trust my work.”  “which import things into Egypt on behalf of the government.”  He said his company Loundes Express Group “takes bid requests from the Egyptian Ministry of Defense’s office in D.C The requests ask me to ship goods and materials into Egypt on behalf of the government.” The company was incorporated in New Jersey in 2015 Hana said he had another business in the works that “will be in charge of shipping everything sold by the United States Army to the Egyptian Army.”  The awning outside the entrance to Hana’s Edgewater offices has IS EG Halal and its trademarked miter-shaped crown at the center a New Jersey corporation started in 2019 with Hana as the sole member of its board of directors State records do not show a specific business purpose whose website says it is one of the largest trading companies in Egypt providing food services to the Egyptian market Hana’s spokesperson did not answer a question about the relationship between the businesses Medi Trade EG is among a half-dozen business entities incorporated in New Jersey since IS EG Halal Certified was created with Hana listed as a member or on the board of directors One is for real estate; another is a consulting company formed with a relative of Fred Daibes that was later dissolved There’s the entity for "trading commodities" and another to “assess quality of products.” The most recent is a holding company many of Hana’s old debts have been satisfied assumed the debt from the check cashing case for $50,000 in 2019 An attorney for the check cashing company said Aslanian contacted him to make an offer to acquire the judgment — initially for even less or how much Hana may have paid Daibes’ firm to discharge the debt Neither Daibes or his lawyer returned calls seeking comment or questions posed in writing Hana personally owed more than $150,000 — the value of the checks cashed — and each company involved was also cited in the judgment for its share of the losses related to thousands of dollars in fuel bills Other smaller medical bills have also been resolved And there was an inquiry made on the large debt from the luxury car deal gone bad A lawyer for the firm that brought the suit claiming to represent people interested in purchasing judgments looking to pay much less than the $705,000 value of the debt he saw that Aslanian and Hana were connected Aslanian says he was indeed representing a third party But he said the other attorney wouldn't budge exposes how he used his office to allegedly aid the government of Egypt and an Edgewater businessman with a troubled financial past who emigrated from the Arab nation Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee Menendez allegedly took bribes that also included furniture and a Mercedes-Benz convertible — and a low or no-show job for his wife who was also indicted — to use his influence to secretly assist Egypt in its quest to purchase U.S military weapons and remove holds on U.S The senior New Jersey senator passed on highly sensitive information about the number and nationality of people serving at the U.S Embassy in Cairo that “could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or if made public,” the indictment said He ghost-wrote a letter “to convince other U.S senators to release a hold on $300 million in aid to Egypt.” And he met with Egyptian officials at a restaurant and in his Senate office in Washington without the involvement of staff from his office or the foreign relations committee He also pressured an official with the USDA to aid one of three businessmen at the center of the conspiracy The Egyptian national’s Edgewater-based business has the exclusive contract to certify halal food exports to Egypt — a move that raised U.S government concerns and prices for Egyptian consumers had no previous experience in halal certification when he secured the controversial contract in 2019 — little more than three months after his Bayonne home was sold in a sheriff’s sale His past financial difficulties have included hundreds of thousands of dollars in other debts for allegedly passing bad checks and falling short on a deal to procure millions of dollars of luxury cars for a New York business to ship overseas Menendez “improperly advised and pressured an official at the United States Department of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting the monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt,” the indictment says The business was allegedly used in part to fund bribes paid to Menendez through his wife including to compensate her for a low or no-show job More: Sen. Menendez and his wife indicted on corruption charges More: Could Menendez resign amid corruption indictment? How would his Senate seat get filled? Hana operated the company — IS EG Halal Certified — with the financial support and backing of Edgewater developer Fred Daibes Daibes and Jose Uribe were indicted along with Menendez and his wife in the bribery scheme and charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services fraud All stood to benefit from Menendez’s influence and position and worked together in the scheme documented by investigators in part through thousands of text messages The residence of Menendez and his wife was searched in June 2022; Hana’s Edgewater business offices and apartment at the Daibes-owned building named The Alexander was searched and items confiscated in 2019 Nadine Menendez was friends with Hana for many years before she met and married Menendez in October 2020 a longtime donor to Menendez — whose alleged bribes included gold bars — is awaiting sentencing on banking crimes The multi-faceted indictment also alleges Menendez made efforts to intervene in Daibes’ case with the U.S Attorney and disrupt another investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office involving Uribe and his associates  At one point Hana’s company paid $23,000 to bring Nadine Menendez’s mortgage current after foreclosure proceedings had been initiated The payment came after a series of discussions she was involved in with Uribe when Uribe said Hana might balk at the amount “When I feel comfortable and plan the trip to Egypt he (Hana) will be more powerful than the president of Egypt.” Stile: Can Bob Menendez survive? The politics and evidence are very different this time Kelly: Bob Menendez again plays victim as he faces new federal charges. Are we surprised? Menendez’s wife was not only the conduit for bribes but also for information exchanges with Egyptian officials — she texted one of them in March of 2020 saying “anytime you need anything you have my number and we will make everything happen,” according to the indictment Days later she arranged for the senator to meet with the same unnamed official — someone she referred to as “the general” — about “negotiations between Egypt and Sudan over a dam on the Nile River being built by Ethiopia.” More: NJ business owner with stark change in fortune is at center of Menendez investigation Known as the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam it is generally regarded as one of the most important foreign policy issues for Egypt,” according to the indictment Menendez wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State regarding the dam “I am writing to express my concern about the stalled negotiations between Egypt and Sudan over [the Dam],” the letter began It stated: “I therefore urge you to significantly increase the State Department’s engagement on negotiations surrounding the [Dam].” Sniper rifles and other military aidWhen the sensitive information about the Cairo embassy was passed to Egyptian officials Nadine Menendez — then the senator’s girlfriend — was the go-between the senator sought non-public information about those serving at the embassy from the state department later the same day Menendez texted his future wife about the numbers and nationality of Americans and Egyptians serving at the embassy writing in part “This is what’s at American embassy,” the indictment says who in turn forwarded it to an Egyptian government official Hana hosted a dinner at a high-end restaurant where the senator disclosed “non-public information about the United States’ provision of military aid to Egypt." After the dinner Hana texted an Egyptian official: “The ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted That will include sniper rifles among other articles.” Staci Rimbach wasn’t born with this hot body, she worked hard for it. As a full-time student and the Assistant Manager at Mountainside Fitness Platinum she juggles a 40-hour workweek with school and studying – but she always makes time to workout and eat healthy the 24-year-old CrossFit fanatic reveals her hot body secrets How to find a workout you love… I’ve tried a lot of different types of workouts – strength training yoga – but there always seemed to be something missing and I like to push the limits of what I think my body can do; whether running farther or faster lifting heavier weights or challenging my flexibility One day a friend recommended I try CrossFit It had everything I was looking for in a workout: It pushes me to my limits and it has a culture of like-minded athletes How to eat healthy… Planning is the key to eating healthy and like to eat as clean as possible: lots of vegetables and protein and I buy organic as much possible (no processed foods!) I have to plan out my meals ahead of time: I prep my foods for the week on Sundays and Wednesdays and put everything in to-go containers so I can grab my food and go meaning I try to eat healthy 80% of the time and not-so-healthy the other 20% That’s not to say I binge eat 20% of meals; it means I allow myself a slice of pizza or maybe a burger How to avoid overeating… Planning my meals ahead really helps (see above) I just eat until I’m full and then stop even though there’s still food on my plate How to tame trouble spots… Here’s the thing about trouble spots: Everyone has them no matter who you are or what your body looks like There are 2 things I’ve learned when it comes to my own trouble spots: 1) By taking out wheat I was able to lean out which helped tame some of my trouble spots and 2) I try and accept my body for what it is to work a little harder on those trouble areas and appreciate the parts of my body that I do like How to stay motivated… Staying motivated is one of the hardest things to do with my schedule there isn’t a whole lot of extra time in the day I have to plan my workouts into my day so they fit seamlessly into my schedule On those days when I just don’t feel like going I have to remind myself how much better I’ll feel after Working out helps relieve my stress and provides energy for the rest of my day – 2 major motivators I’ve made working out a habit; it’s part of my routine I mentally and physically don’t feel like myself and website in this browser for the next time I comment ‘I'm proud to [help] celebrate the unique identities and voices of the Springs community,' said one participating artist in the public display starting May 2 Alicia Buelow -Illustration/Graphic Design Elizabeth Feroze -Fine Arts; Print and Printmaking Shotsie Gorman -Figurative and Landscape Art Susan Heeringa-Pieper - Mixed Media Encaustic Art Jill Pressley -Illustrator and Fine Artist Eleven local artists will unveil 10 large panel murals celebrating “Springtime in the Springs!” on Saturday The panels will be installed along the fence near the intersection of Boyes Boulevard and Highway 12 and on display through the entire month of May The project is the brainchild of the Springs Creative group which was launched in 2018 by Brad Maihack “We had always shared a strong belief that a rich and active community arts culture can be a powerful catalyst in helping build and sustain more inclusive engaged and vibrant communities,” said Maihack in an announcement of the event we each knew of many creatives and artists who were living or working in the Springs and were looking to be part of a more organized artist network - one that would help them build stronger creative community connections while also helping uncover new creative opportunities to participate in.” It has now been meeting monthly for the past year and a half and adding new members almost every month The group focuses on sharing creative best practices identifying and collaborating on community public art projects that help enrich the artistic and creative culture of the Springs community and finding new ways to help encourage and mentor young and emerging Springs artists and creatives “There has been a growing interest in making the Springs a culturally rich arts destination a vision that has been supported by Supervisor Susan Gorin for years,” said Trygstad “Identifying and bringing together the artists and creatives who live and work here is a first step in developing some of the resources needed to make that vision a reality.” I’m proud to be part of a group committed to creating public art projects that celebrate the unique identities cultures and voices of the Springs community while also promoting a deeper appreciation of the arts It’s exciting to be part of a group that’s helping bring our community together in ways that will allow us to share our mutual love for the Sonoma Valley and this place many of us call home The Springs Creatives’ popup mural public art exhibit is the first project the group has collaborated on and it was made possible by community donations as well as a “Popup” art grant received from the county’s Creative Sonoma organization the goal of the mural project is to celebrate the unique beauty of the Springs “The project showcases the power of the Springs creative community and its role in making the Springs and the Sonoma Valley region overall engaged and vibrant place to live and work for all,” said Maihack As the American Dream mega-mall prepares to reopen Oct 1 and launch its water park and retail offerings the beleaguered entertainment center has lost another major tenant to bankruptcy: Century 21 department store The retailer famous for its discount designer labels is one of 20 stores that have been cleared for occupancy at the complex Century 21 — which declared Chapter 11 protection last week — is instead closing its stores winding down operations and holding going out of business sales at all locations The company announced in 2016 that it would open a 60,000-square-foot store at American Dream and was promoting its grand opening at the complex shortly before the coronavirus pandemic forced the East Rutherford mall to close The precise lineup of stores for American Dream’s reopening is unclear; a spokeswoman said Tuesday that the mall will be “sharing more information about tenants opening on Oct But the approvals for occupancy by the state Department of Community Affairs at the end of last week  show a roster far smaller than the 350 stores and 100 dining options publicized for the site Even before the coronavirus struck and American Dream postponed its March 19 opening celebration, few of the retailers expected to populate the 3 million-square-foot complex had been approved to open their doors to the public. Records showed construction by tenants was expected to continue into 2021 Century 21 is among those with a certificate of occupancy in hand for a space at American Dream six retailers were listed as having final inspections in progress ice rink and indoor ski slope before the pandemic but just two stores have debuted: a multi-level candy store called IT’SUGAR near the amusement park and a temporary pop-up shop by Whoopi Goldberg that has long since closed The indoor ski and snowboard park — known as Big Snow — reopened on Sept Four of the slides at the DreamWorks Water Park were still under state review this week along with seven rides at the Nickelodeon Universe: Flip Zone A report for the project's bondholders last month noted a bumper car ride and planters were being relocated to make way for five new children’s rides American Dream closed voluntarily in March Phil Murphy's order shutting all malls in the wake of COVID-19 It was the latest in a some two-decade history of difficulties bringing the Meadowlands project to fruition from financial problems to construction stops and other delays Triple Five Group is the third developer on the project Financial troubles in the retail sector began to impact the project before the pandemic struck was expected to anchor one end of a wing of luxury retailers known as “The Collections” but it filed for bankruptcy last year No replacement has been named for the some 50,000-square-foot two-level space it had been slated to occupy The area earmarked for The Collections has not yet been issued a temporary certificate of occupancy Forever 21 also filed for bankruptcy last year and court papers indicate it which has plans to open a luxury movie theater at American Dream At the time the company noted the pandemic had resulted in a total suspension of business and that it could not “forecast when — if ever — customer numbers will return to pre-crisis levels.”  CMX is listed as having a permit for work at American Dream and documents show construction was underway A company spokeswoman did not reply to an email about the American Dream site Murphy: NJ executive orders won't be affected by PA ruling against COVID restrictions Millionaires tax: NJ millionaires to pay more in taxes in long-awaited policy victory for Gov. Phil Murphy And the parent company of health and wellness retailer GNC filed for Chapter 11  protection in June and pulled the plug on its plans to operate a store at the mega-mall.  who it says failed to pay about $175 million due under policies that were put in place to protect against losses from business interruptions – like that experienced with COVID-19 including locations in Paramus and Morristown Asked if the Century 21 location planned for American Dream would be part of the going out of business sale a spokesman for the retailer said it had nothing to share beyond a press release issued about the bankruptcy American Dream officials had no comment on the loss of Century 21 as a tenant Records show the leasing numbers for American Dream are starting to slip the developer reported it had executed leases for 90% of the project Fallout from pandemicAmerican Dream and its developer have faced other challenges the mall furloughed staff and later laid off about 100 employees Triple Five also fell behind on its $1.4 billion mortgage for Mall of America in Minnesota a property it had put up as collateral on an American Dream loan It struck a deal with its lenders to avoid foreclosure according to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis Now, American Dream is preparing to reopen with reduced capacity and new health and safety protocols in place at all attractions and stores Visitors will be required to wear face coverings there will be increased sanitizing and disinfecting hand sanitizer stations will be installed and social distancing will be implemented with ground markings plexiglass barriers and touchless programming With attractions operating at reduced capacities visitors are being encouraged to buy tickets for entertainment venues in advance In addition to the retailers named earlier other stores with certificates of occupancy are: Morphe Build-A-Bear is listed as having approval to occupy a temporary space Blacklight mini golf and IT’SUGAR have temporary certificates of occupancy And final inspections are in progress at Old Navy State officials list a seventh store as completed and in final inspection but said it has no tenant Jean Rimbach is a senior investigative reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her watchdog work that safeguards our communities and democracy, please subscribe or activate your digital account today Email: rimbach@northjersey.com Twitter: @jeanrimbach  LAS CRUCES – Artists pay tribute to their favorite artists and you have an opportunity to show off your art knowledge impress your loved ones and maybe even win a prize at the Mesilla Valley Art Association’s annual “My Masterpiece” exhibit and contest The show is at the Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery across from the Fountain Theatre in Mesilla check out the clues and see if you can match regional artists’ original creations with the names of the world-renowned artists who inspired their homages “We’ll have 19 artists participating this year,” said Las Cruces artist Yvonne Postelle who has been part of the event since it began more than two decades ago Each “masterpiece” emulates a renowned artwork or is done in the distinctive style of a famous artist Visitors are challenged to match the local piece with the famous artist who inspired it “I’ve done something for every ‘My Masterpiece’ since it first started The customers get excited to try to pick the correct artists I love choosing an artist and doing the research and I always learn something new,” Postelle said Postelle feels this year’s competition may be among the most challenging contests the group has offered The entry with the most correct answers received earliest in the month will win a $50 gift certificate donated by La Posta Restaurant,” Postelle said the winner will walk away with bragging rights as one of the Mesilla Valley’s most knowledgeable arts aficionados Among local artists participating in the show are Postelle Their creations will be in a variety of media Derrickson Moore may be reached at  575-5450 dmoore@lcsun-news.com or @derricksonmoore on Twitter What: “My Masterpiece” exhibit and contest Athletics spending was long an issue at Rutgers University New Jersey’s public university funded with state and taxpayer money the department always reported modest deficits and stable debt But after a months-long investigation involving nearly a hundred public records requests and a review of thousands of Rutgers financial documents NorthJersey.com reporters Jean Rimbach and Abbott Koloff revealed that Rutgers athletics had lost far more than it reported to the NCAA in annual reports showing its debt had grown to more than $250 million — with half of that being loans to cover operating deficits The rising costs were part of joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014 with coaches’ salaries doubling and football — the sport that traditionally brings in cash for athletics divisions — losing millions of dollars What our reporters found by creating dozens of spreadsheets was an alarming — and until now hidden — flow of state government Losses were more than $73 million two years running All this continued even as the university began imposing furloughs for academic and support staff and instituting a hiring freeze to help cut costs to counter rising expenses due to the COVID pandemic and at a time when some students had such a tough time making ends meet that the university maintained a food pantry on campus the reporters discovered the university was loaning money to athletics at a disturbing rate millions of dollars annually to cover operating costs and shortfalls — more than $80 million over six years Koloff and Rimbach filed dozens of public records requests and sifted through the records of more than 30,000 credit card purchases totaling nearly $10 million by Rutgers coaches and athletic staff over five years to provide a glimpse of the costs involved in participating in big-time college sports Here's a look at their series of stories on Rutgers athletics spending loaning athletics $84 million over the last six years to cover expenses — violating its own policy which it changed after inquiries from NorthJersey.com and the USA Today Network New Jersey Rutgers had been reporting those loans as revenue — contrary to NCAA guidelines — artificially inflating the athletic department’s earnings and concealing the true budget deficit from the students Gov. Phil Murphy called “quite concerning” details revealed in a story in The Record and NorthJersey.com outlining a pattern of financial dealings that hid the true cost of Rutgers University’s athletics program from the public and violated the school’s own policies. “Just having read what I read — it takes your breath away,” Murphy said at a press conference paying an architect to design the project and create renderings it can use to recruit new players The return of head coach Greg Schiano has produced a more competitive football team but has not drawn enough fans to come close to filling its 52,000-seat stadium even though Rutgers has hosted some nationally-ranked opponents in the Big Ten Conference Rutgers has averaged fewer than 30,000 fans in the stadium for each home game and its season ticket sales are more than a third less than they were in the university’s second year of play in the conference Rutgers got $30M from Big Ten last year. After COVID testing, debt payment, what was left?Six years after Rutgers University joined the Big Ten Conference the school has received its first full share of the league’s revenues — but it was far from enough to get the athletics division out of the red While the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in reducing revenues and increasing expenses athletics’ debt payments alone — including $1.4 million in interest and $8 million in principal to the Big Ten — helped eat away the additional earnings Students and taxpayers had to cover the gap The new numbers show Rutgers athletics received more university support in fiscal 2020-21 than any other public university in a major conference through 2019-20 Direct subsidies from the university to athletics more than doubled from the prior year which includes a large loan from the university Though student fees went down slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic state aid and university support rose 50% over the prior fiscal year — to almost $43 million athletics reported an operating budget shortfall of more than $30 million Rutgers University was the only public school in the Big Ten Conference to increase spending on athletics in the last fiscal year, during the height of the pandemic running through more money than ever before while other schools on average slashed expenses by $25 million Rutgers also had the league’s largest yearly operating deficit with a $73 million budget shortfall for the second consecutive year — a gap filled by revenue from students and taxpayers The other 12 Big Ten public schools also showed average deficits of near $30 million last year but all took steps to cut spending in anticipation of a loss in revenue because of the COVID pandemic Rutgers reported the largest increase among the Big Ten Schools in coaching salaries for the 2021 fiscal year It did not reduce spending on administrative and support staff while all other schools posted millions of dollars in savings in this area according to a NorthJersey.com analysis of financial reports 2021 — just nine days after she signed a new five-year contract that guarantees her $5.6 million in base pay She received her first $200,000 retention bonus in July 2021 — while on leave Even as Rutgers athletics continued to rack up annual operating deficits of $73 million — covered in part by taxpayers and student tuition revenue — athletics showed little restraint as it dropped millions on credit cards to pay for Broadway shows, trips to Disney meals at destination Manhattan restaurants and other perks for its coaches including a luau and beach yoga at sunset in Hawaii seafood towers and Delmonico steaks back home in New Brunswick Rutgers University football players enjoyed a pricey perk that few other students had access to — free DoorDash food deliveries from restaurants Football players ordered more than $450,000 through DoorDash from May 2021 through June of this year according to a review of invoices and other documents obtained by NorthJersey.com While Rutgers intended the service to provide players up to five meals for a total of $75 per week some players rang up daily totals of $100 or more One player placed three orders in Chicago on a single day totaling $200 after Rutgers had completed its football season Orders were placed to retailers that don’t provide meals — including businesses that sell pet food The Gator Bowl was scrambling for a replacement team in late December after Texas A&M had to pull out of the New Year’s Eve game because too many of its players tested positive for COVID  But when Big Ten Conference member Rutgers University stepped up as a last-minute replacement the Gator Bowl said it didn’t know if it had any money to pay them Rutgers ultimately ended up with a $537,000 payout — not enough to cover even its airfare and less than a sixth of the cash that the Gator Bowl ultimately reported paying out according to documents obtained by NorthJersey.com Rutgers athletics' gets largest share yet of BIG Ten money, but deficits remain in tens of millionsFor Rutgers athletics The cash-strapped athletics division received its largest share yet of Big Ten Conference revenue during the 2021-22 fiscal year which just ended in June — but it is still projecting at least a $60 million budget deficit That’s an improvement from the prior two years when Rutgers posted record back-to-back annual operating deficits of $73 million The athletics division’s $53.2 million share of Big Ten Conference revenue in 2021-22 — much of it from television — was whittled down by more than $10 million to repay two loans from the conference leaving Rutgers with yet another sizable budget gap The $84 million in loans that Rutgers University gave its athletics division in recent years to cover some of its losses have disappeared from athletics’ latest financial documents Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway told NorthJersey.com that he was considering forgiving those loans which the university had given athletics to help pay escalating costs of playing in the Big Ten Conference The loans are no longer included as part of the athletic division’s total debt. And the athletics budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year doesn’t include any payment of principal or interest on those loans which were funded by Rutgers students and New Jersey taxpayers  A university spokeswoman said the loans had not yet been forgiven — but declined to clarify their absence from the new financial documents obtained by NorthJersey.com With Rutgers athletics losing tens of millions of dollars annually — and facing a steep drop in donations this year — the university’s chief financial officer has hired an outside consulting firm to assess the division’s finances and find ways to boost revenue to better compete in the Big Ten Conference A draft of the report by Huron Consulting Group — which documents show will cost Rutgers as much as $200,000 — was recently delivered to J who has been athletic director at Duke University and Notre Dame It was a women’s team — field hockey — that earned Rutgers University its first Big Ten championship last fall And it was a women’s team — soccer — that earned Rutgers its first Big Ten regular season conference banner But when it comes to financial support from the university Rutgers women’s teams are consistently losing out to the men’s teams The women’s success comes despite the fact that Rutgers spends far more on men’s teams in multiple categories from travel and equipment to recruiting and coaches' salaries — even when you take football head coach Greg Schiano’s $32 million contract out of the accounting Rutgers officials could and should undertake a thorough review of its credit card policies — particularly as they pertain to athletics spending change may have to be produced through inquiries from the Legislature and beyond This article was originally published on April 27 The head of the state board that oversees doctors and their licenses says that the discipline imposed by the agency in the case of Gangaram Ragi a Teaneck dermatologist who continues to practice after being accused of groping female patients the president of the state Board of Medical Examiners was contained in a written response to state Sen who had questioned the board about its handling of the case in the wake of reports in The Record showing that Ragi had retained his license after twice being approved by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office for a program that allowed him to sidestep criminal prosecution questions still remain about the agency's handling of the case most notably its "bizarre" outcome permitting Ragi to continue practicing -- but only on men questions on whether or not there has ever been a case where a medical practitioner is limited to only practice on one gender," Weinberg said "I really would like to know how unusual it is." RAGI CASE: ‘Red flag’ against accused doctor Gangaram Ragi; details emerge on ‘weird’ exam, dispute over case CRIME: Saddle Brook doctor sentenced to 41 months in prison a Democrat whose district includes Teaneck recently wrote to the board saying she was "troubled" by orders it issued in reference to Ragi from 2003 to 2011 terming the disciplinary action barring him from practicing on women "peculiar and archaic." "The fact that the Board of Medical Examiners did what they did is just is unbelievable to me," Weinberg said in reference to her inquiry "It would seem to acknowledge that this man was inappropriate with women so why should he still be left to practice medicine?" his two-page letter noting that she had questioned "whether or not the disciplinary action imposed in this case continues to be deemed appropriate by the current Board He wrote that the board has more recently imposed temporary suspensions or obtained the surrender of licenses in the face of sexual-misconduct charges And it has imposed "harsher sanctions" in some of what he termed "sexual boundary cases." But in discussing what he called the "tortuous history" of the case Berkowitz offered an assurance: "In reviewing this matter and the action taken by the Board the public's safety and interests are well protected." Weinberg said she'll be returning to the board for more information and may ask the state Attorney General or head of the Division of Consumer Affairs to review the matter and provide her with their comments She said it appears "the board was almost held hostage by this protracted legal saga." "There are a lot of questions about this case and I hope I can find a way to answer them or see if we should be changing any laws," Weinberg said The Ragi case quietly unfolded over a decade but moved into the spotlight when it briefly emerged as a side issue in the recent federal corruption trial of former Bergen County political chief Joseph Ferriero where prosecutors claimed he peddled his political clout to "exert influence over public officials." federal prosecutors said that Ferriero had received almost $500,000 to help the doctor's case The government asserted the former political chief had received payments from the doctor's criminal lawyer and the firm that handled his case before the medical board No charges were brought against Ferriero in the Ragi matter which in a split verdict found him guilty of racketeering and other charges federal prosecutors said it fit the "pattern of criminal activity" for which he was on trial Ragi ultimately avoided prosecution on charges of sexual assault involving digital penetration and criminal sexual contact when the office of Bergen County Prosecutor John L Molinelli approved two stints in a program generally for first-time non-violent offenders known as Pretrial Intervention program The initial decision came against the wishes of both the director of the program and the assistant prosecutor assigned to the case who federal prosecutors noted had served as counsel to the Ferriero-led Bergen County Democratic Organization before becoming prosecutor previously has said he is barred from discussing the matter because it was the subject of an order of expungement Documents show a dozen women came forward with allegations that Ragi had touched them inappropriately during examinations One woman said he massaged her breasts and told her they were "beautiful." Another said she ran crying and shaking from his office after he grabbed her breasts and rubbed and probed intimate parts of her body Ragi twice delivered court-ordered apologies to his alleged victims and fought to keep his license before the medical board which in one ruling called statements of the nine accusers it reviewed "compelling" and "credible" and said that Ragi had "no remorse no understanding of or insight regarding what he did." Ragi has repeatedly denied the accusations and did not return a message left at his home Friday All criminal charges against him were eventually dismissed after he completed the terms of the PTI program Weinberg had asked how state officials were enforcing the ban on treating women Berkowitz wrote that board staff and the enforcement bureau of the Division of Consumer Affairs work in tandem to ensure its orders are being followed He said Ragi had met financial obligations of $281,560 imposed by the board and satisfied other requirements undergoing psychosexual evaluation and course work in ethics "There has not been any suggestion that Dr Ragi has been seeing female patients," he wrote Berkowitz also explained that women who call for an appointment are told that he is unavailable or unable to see any new patients and are offered an appointment with another doctor in the practice Weinberg noted that that doesn't let those women know that Ragi is not allowed to treat them when there were very serious charges that apparently haven't really had their day in court," Weinberg said 'Tortuous history'Much of Berkowitz's reply to the senator was spent detailing the many legal turns in the Ragi matter "Without endorsing the particular disciplinary action imposed we do believe that it is fair to view the discipline imposed in the Ragi case in the context of the tortuous history of the matter and the vulnerabilities in the case," the board president said The board issued five orders on the doctor from 2003 to 2011 A harshly worded ruling in 2009 was immediately appealed and stayed by the courts an appellate panel of judges overturned the board's decision on procedural grounds finding that Ragi hadn't been given adequate opportunity to challenge the allegations and sent the case back to the board for a new full hearing just before the case would have gone before an administrative law judge a settlement was reached: Ragi agreed to cease practicing medicine for six months continue the ban on treating women -- and agree not to seek a restoration of that privilege -- and pay $250,000 in fines and administrative costs He also was placed on five years' probation Berkowitz wrote that Ragi attempted to terminate the probationary term earlier than the five years but was denied The board president wrote the final settlement terms were less than what had been originally ordered by the board Documents show it initially included a three-year suspension with one year active "reflected the protracted history of the case," and the fact that further pursuit of the matter would have required the accusers to testify years after the alleged incidents He said the board would have also been required to review any decision by the administrative law office and issue a final decision that would be subject to appeals "The permanent ban on the treatment of female patients is protective of the public health which are "the primary concerns and the standard by which all of the Board's work and actions are measured." Taxpayers are facing more than $600,000 in legal fees to defend against a suit by a reputed mobster's family that pins blame for his execution-style slaying on local law enforcement The estate of Frank Lagano — an alleged Lucchese family soldier gunned down more than a decade ago — maintains that former Chief of Detectives Michael Mordaga and others in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office caused Lagano's killing by intentionally blowing his cover as a state informant.  It also alleges that Mordaga had a business and personal relationship with Lagano Nearly $300,000 in billings have been paid or were pending approval for Mordaga’s defense more than $200,000 for the Prosecutor's Office and more than $120,000 to a firm representing the Division of Criminal Justice which is under the state Attorney General’s Office The division is not a named party in the case records show that as of mid-May nearly $540,000 has been paid and more than $81,000 in billings were awaiting approval.  Lawyers with the state Attorney General’s Office initially represented the Prosecutor's Office and Mordaga in the federal civil suit. But in November 2016 the state hired private firms — at taxpayer expense — to handle the matter going forward: the Decotiis Fitzpatrick & Cole law firm of Teaneck represents Mordaga Smith & King of Florham Park represents the Prosecutor's Office the firm of Potters & Della Pietra of Fairfield was brought on to represent the Division of Criminal Justice and current and former employees being deposed as witnesses who asked a federal judge for permission to withdraw from the case. Last month Judge Cathy L He told the judge his sisters also objected Kleiner took the case in 2015 after the death of prominent civil rights attorney William Buckman who was handling the matter for the estate Buckman was found dead in a hotel room in 2014 The reason for the rift between Kleiner and the Lagano family is unclear Information on the matter was filed under seal or redacted from available documents Kleiner said he redacted material from public filings due to "the sensitive nature" of the reasons he needed to be relieved as counsel INVESTIGATION: Ten years after killing, a bizarre mob story continues $1.3M DREAM HOME: Paramus house was dream for former Chief of Detectives Michael Mordaga which has offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania will be representing the estate going forward with its explosive allegations of corruption but it was reinstated by an appeals court in 2014. Kleiner signed on about a year later The Lagano family successfully sought to have wiretaps and documents unsealed from that case, which partially collapsed because of what Superior Court Judge Marilyn C Clark considered investigative missteps She found that the Prosecutor's Office applied for wiretaps without providing information that would have alerted her to "serious legal issues." some of the defendants in the case had charges dismissed The case against Lagano would have gone forward had he not been killed The unsealed records are being reviewed by attorneys and are not available to the public who is an attorney, was needed to assist in reviewing the voluminous material noting that his firm is smaller than those of other counsels and that excluding Lagano's son could negatively affect his ability to go forward with the case Clark ruled that Lagano’s son cannot review the thousands of pages of documents investigative reports and the content of wiretaps in which his father was recorded or referenced Clark called the younger Lagano "a substantial fact witness." Her decision says any further issues on the “attorney’s eyes only” designation shall be decided in federal court The Lagano estate’s continuing suit picks up on many of the claims made in a separate 2010 lawsuit in which James Sweeney, a former organized-crime investigator for the state Attorney General's Office contended that he was fired for pursuing serious questions about Lagano’s arrest and killing against his bosses' wishes.  Sweeney alleged corruption in the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office had a personal and business relationship with Lagano who had become one of the investigator's informants after the Jersey Boyz bust Paperwork filed in the federal case points to what the estate calls a "business arrangement" among Mordaga with Mordaga allegedly making "illegal" referrals to the lawyer and Lagano lending money to the firm to fund the cases the Lagano family is pursing the return of $264,000 seized when Lagano was arrested in the Jersey Boyz case Attorney Rudie Weatherman recently replaced Kleiner on that matter There comes a point in everyone’s life when it becomes harder to burn calories and keep off extra pounds. A new study from Duke University reveals that bottlenose dolphins have the same age-related struggle with weight as humans they experience a drop in metabolism and an increase in fat mass The research represents the first time that scientists have measured an age-related metabolic slowdown in another large-bodied species besides humans explained study first author Rebecca Rimbach As a postdoctoral associate in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke She noted that data on the inner workings of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales have been scant This is because it is so challenging to obtain repeat measurements on sea creatures “It can be very tricky to get the animal back when you need it,” said Rimbach The study was focused on 10 bottlenose dolphins between the ages of 10 and 45 living at the Dolphin Research Center in Florida and the Dolphin Quest in Hawaii the dolphins voluntarily raise their tail fins out of the water so their caregivers can collect blood or urine as part of their regular checkups The experts analyzed levels of heavy hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the blood and urine which allowed them to calculate how much carbon dioxide the dolphins produced each day This information was used to calculate how many calories the dolphins were burning during their daily activities The researchers were surprised with the results of their analysis They expected dolphins to have speedy metabolisms considering that they are warm-blooded and keeping warm in the water requires more energy the study showed that bottlenose dolphins burn 17 percent less energy per day than what is expected for a marine mammal of their size The researchers also found some of the signs of metabolic aging that are common in people The oldest dolphins – both in their 40s – used 22 to 49 percent fewer calories each day than predicted for their body weight The study also revealed that the body fat percentages of dolphins in their 40s were 2.5 times higher than that of dolphins in their 20s This wasn’t due to a lack of exercise the dolphins in the study were very active – doing flips and spins and swimming fast enough to leave a wake as often as six to 18 times an hour the age-related metabolic pattern persisted “And it’s not because they’re eating too much,” said Rimbach fatter dolphins actually ate fewer calories their work could shed light on factors besides diet and lifestyle that underlie age-related weight gain in people “Further studies into this commonality we share with dolphins may help us understand why human metabolism slows as we age,” said study co-author Hannah Salomons since we only looked at 10 individuals,” said Rimbach “But I think it’s an exciting first study.” The study is published in the Journal of Experimental Biology By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer Email: Email Us Here Website: Visit Our Website