Casino @ Dania Beach.....................8A Classified.........................................6B Community Events...........................6A Hallandale Beach........................1A/6A
Hollywood........................................6A Lifestyle......................................4B-5B Health.........................................1B-3B Elite Auction.....................................5A
D E C E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 9 • 1 4 PA G E S • V O L U M E 1 7 • I S S U E 1 2
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Holiday Shopping Safety Tips: From the Hollywood Police Department The holidays are a joyous time to spend with loved ones and many of us enjoy exchanging gifts and donating to charitable causes. Unfortunately, the holidays also bring out a high volume of thieves
and scam artists who want to take advantage of the holiday spirit of giving. Here are some tips from the Hollywood Police Department to help you ensure your purchases and donations don’t end up cost-
ing you more than you expected: Shopping in Stores • Do not buy more than you can carry. Plan ahead by taking a friend with you or ask a store
employee to help you carry your packages to the car. • Consider alternate options to pay for your merHoliday, Page 7A
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper Reinstated following full Acquittal in Corruption Case
The hottest Jewish music superstar Mordechai Shapiro will perform at the 40th Annual South Florida Chanukah Festival.
The unwavering support of her family, as well as her faith in God, provided Cooper with the strength to move forward. Fully acquitted and vindicated of all charges, Cooper says she is now ready to get back to work. Mayor Joy Cooper’s first city meeting after being reinstated was Wednesday, December 18th. By Austin Torres
Mayor Joy Cooper has been reinstated by Governor DeSantis following a twoyear trial in which she was acquitted on six criminal counts of corruption. Cooper was arrested on multiple corruption charges in January 2018 and subsequently removed from office by former Governor Rick Scott. Her acquittal last month on all six counts was followed by the signing of an executive order by DeSantis which will allow her to be in office until the end of her term in November 2020. “It’s been a long two years and a long judicial process,” said Cooper.’ The Broward State Attorney’s office claimed that Cooper had worked with Koslow in a scheme to funnel $5,000 in campaign contributions from undercover FBI agents who were posing as developers seeking political favors in relation to a local project they had been pursuing. Video footage revealed that agents as well as Koslow and Cooper had met on multiple occasions, but none of the money offered was ever accepted. For six years
Koslow worked undercover for the FBI in what was known as Operation Red Chip, a sting operation which targeted several elected officials, including Cooper. Koslow, who had been on the FBI’s radar for quite some time, was part of a money laundering scheme that involved dealings in narcotics and counterfeit Viagra. Koslow, who was suffering from a cocaine addiction at the time, unknowingly befriended two undercover FBI agents, who were posing as developers, and illegally accepted large sums of money with the intent of laundering it and spending it on cocaine as well as implants for his girlfriend. Several of the details involving Koslow’s illegal dealings were captured on audio recordings and video footage collected by the FBI during their under-
40th Annual South Florida
Chanukah Festival Featuring Mordechai Shapiro, December 25th at Gulfstream Park By Chaim Lehrer
cover operation. Upon being apprehended in 2013, Koslow chose to wear a wire and cooperate in a Federal investigation and become an informant as part of Operation Red Chip. Koslow worked under the FBI codename: Rooster, in an effort to accumulate substantial evidence against other elected officials. Operation Red Chip resulted in zero convictions. While working for the FBI, Koslow allegedly misappropriated several funds that were given to him as part of Operation Red Chip. Koslow spent over $8,000, which was allegedly intended to Cooper, Page 7A
Just A Cough Or Mold Sickness? 1st Priority Restoration Keeps It Under Control, (1-800-617-1112) Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, a nagging cough or sneezing over and over. Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or, in some cases, skin irritation. People with mold allergies may have more severe reactions. People with chronic lung illnesses may get serious infecEver wonder why you wake up coughing and sneezing tions in their lungs when they are on a regular basis? The CDC may have the answer. exposed to mold. Ever wonder why you wake up coughing and sneezing on a regular ditions. Mold or mold spores may cause basis? The CDC may have the answer. asthma attacks in people who have According to the CDC (Centers For asthma and are allergic to mold. Even in Disease Control) in 2004 the Institute of some nonallergic individuals, mold can Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient cause symptoms of irritation in the eyes, evidence to link indoor exposure to mold skin, and airways. For example, the “black with upper respiratory tract symptoms, mold” Stachybotrys, along with some coughing, and wheezing in otherwise other types of mold, produces toxins healthy people and in individuals suscep- known as mycotoxins that can cause irritible with compromised immune con- tation of the skin and airways in suscep-
Winter Sale At The AC Outlet, 3A
tible individuals. Sometimes, people may develop severe reactions to mold exposure. Symptoms of severe reactions, which are uncommon, include fever and difficulty breathing. MOLD AND YOUR HOME Mold is found both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, bags, and pets can and be carried indoors. Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery. With all the rain and storms we have
Brand International Holiday Sale, 4B
The 40th Annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival, the World’s Largest Annual Chanukah Festival, which is one of the biggest Kiruv - outreach programs in the world, will be held the fourth night of Chanukah. The date is set for Wednesday December 25th, at 7PM, at Gulfstream Park and Casino in Hallandale Beach. The Festival features the hottest Jewish music superstar Mordechai Shapiro. Rabbi Raphael Tennenhaus, Chabad’s Executive Vice President, reminds everyone that: Admission to the Festival, as always, is FREE! Ever since the Festival moved to Gulfstream in 2007, crowds of 10,000 people and more have participated in the South Florida Chanukah Festival. Looking at the events today, you start to wonder. The story of a little candle pushing away the monster of frightening darkness, of human sensibility overcoming terror and brute force, of life and growth overcoming destruction - the battle is very much alive within each of us, and in the world outside of us. It reoccurs at every winter solstice, at every dawn of each day, with every photon of sunlight that breaks through the earth’s atmosphere bringing with it warmth and life-nurturing energy. With every breath of life, every cry of a newborn child, every blade of grass that breaks out from under the soil, every decision to do good in the face of evil, to be kind where there is cruelty, to build where others destroy, to move humanity forward when others pull us toward chaos. And that is Chanukah. Chanukah is an eight-day spiritual journey. Many people know the story of Chanukah, but only as a historical pretext to give gifts and Chanukah, Page 5B
Mold, Page 4A
Kodner Galleries Antiques and Much More, 2A