Authorities Investigate Murder of Atlantic City Man

MAYS LANDING – The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit is continuing its investigation into the shooting death of an Atlantic City man who was found inside a vehicle earlier this month, Atlantic County Prosecutor announced.

“We urge everyone who may have been in the area to contact the Prosecutor’s office if they witnessed or heard anything that could assist in the apprehension of the person responsible for this homicide,” Prosecutor Tyner said.

On February 7, 2020, at approximately 5:32 p.m., Atlantic City Police responded to the beach block of Melrose Avenue, Atlantic City, in reference to 911 call regarding an unconscious and unresponsive male. The victim was transported to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center (City Division) where he was pronounced deceased. The victim is identified as Jeffrey Simpson (53), who is also known as Rasheed Abdullah.

An autopsy was completed by the Southern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office and the cause of death was ruled to be multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death ruled is determined to be homicide.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office is looking for assistance in identifying any suspicious activity surrounding a white Chevrolet sedan with tinted windows. The attached maps and embedded yellow star depict where this vehicle may have been parked for several hours during the afternoon hours of February 7, 2020. Anyone with information pertaining to this vehicle is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.

Anyone with information involving serious crimes is asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office Web site at http://www.acpo.org/tips.html and provide information by filling out the form anonymously on the Submit a Tip page. People can also call Crime Stoppers at 609-652-1234 or 1-800-658-8477 (TIPS) or visit the Crime Stoppers Website at http://www.crimestoppersatlantic.com/. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those who commit crimes in Atlantic County.

What You Need to Know About IVF in South Africa

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 18, 2020)–Prospective parents who are having trouble conceiving a child are more common than you may think. Statistics show that 1 in 6 parents will have trouble successfully conceiving their first child within 12 months of trying.

When this happens, couples turn to fertility clinics to help them conceive. Specifically, the procedure of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is designed to help parents with fertility issues so that they can successfully conceive a baby.

What this process entails and the factors that make it a successful conception alternative are things that you should consider when wondering if IVF is right for you and your significant other.

Only after you’ve been properly educated will you know what to look for in an

IVF clinic in South Africa

, or whatever area in which you’re looking.

What is IVF?

Since the first successful IVF in 1978, in vitro fertilization has become a common assisted reproductive technology (ART). It involves a complex series of medications and procedures that hope to result in successful embryonic fertilization, development, and implantation.

The first step involves medication designed to make a woman’s eggs mature so that they can be harvested by a doctor and fertilized in a laboratory with the desired sperm. These prepared eggs are then surgically inserted directly into the woman’s uterus.

Many people require multiple tries and many months for this process to be successful, as so much can go wrong. Most commonly, the uterus simply does not accept the implanted egg and no fetus ever develops.

This is why finding an accredited IVF clinic is so important. In a procedure already fraught with financial and physical complications, you want the best chance of getting it done right the first time.

IVF clinics in South Africa

Since so much can go wrong, you want to look for a few key factors when choosing an IVF clinic in South Africa.

The first is: are they accredited? You should only visit clinics that have been registered by

The Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA)

, the primary advisor on regulating and accrediting healthcare professions in South Africa.

Facilities

Next, you should ask if they have modern facilities and access to the latest fertilization technologies. Advanced laboratories like the one at Wijnland Fertility import IVF equipment from top manufacturers all over the world.

The Wijnland fertility clinic in South Africa, for instance, uses a device called an

Embryoscope

to maintain ideal conditions for eggs while they are being analyzed for quality. This is particularly useful for couples who have tried and failed many times with other fertilization methods.

Staff

You should also ask if the clinic has professional and experienced staff. Head doctors should have received specialist training in gynecology or obstetrics and have completed fellowships in fertility and related biological processes.

Do some research online to see what the embryologists and specialists at the clinic in question have done for experience, education, and additional training.

Mind and body

Finally, you want to assess whether the clinic treats patients as a whole person rather than merely as a medical procedure.

Fertilization is a trying process both physically and emotionally. Many different mental and social pressures converge on it to make it a stressful situation that your doctors need to address.

There’s the social judgment of not being able to conceive naturally, the pressure from family expectations when multiple attempts fail, and the strain on your finances. You may even have natural guarding and avoidance systems in your personality that make it really hard for you.

A clinic with staff trained in psychology or with counselors on call who are experienced in fertility counseling will be better suited to addressing all your needs as a prospective patient.

The Takeaway

In vitro fertilization is now a common process. This doesn’t mean that it’s always successful, however, as the process relies on many factors that all have a high failure rate. Variabilities such as your family history, the quality of the technology, and the inherent problems with successful fertilization mean that each attempt involves a series of stressful mental and physical trials.

This is why finding a suitable clinic to take care of all your needs is so essential. When evaluating your options for IVF treatment facilities in South Africa, look at the resumes of the resident doctors, the quality of their facilities, and the availability of mental counseling procedures to supplement the strain of going through this process.

Even though becoming a parent is difficult when you have fertility issues, it is possible in the modern age. With the right personnel and procedures, you can make the family you’ve always wanted into a reality.

How to Prevent Dog Attacks on Mail Carriers

PET PEEVES

If your dog bites a postal carrier, it could cost you thousands.

(

NAPSI)—Can you picture a member of your family attacking a mail carrier? Of course you couldn\’t, but it happened 5,714 times last year across the nation.

Dearborn, Mich., letter carrier Tameka

Toliver

recalls being pinned on a porch by a dog that bit her above her knee. \”It happened so fast, even with all my training, I barely had time to react,\”

Toliver

said last year. \”I\’m still scared when I get close to that house because I remember the attack so vividly. It takes a long time to get over the fear.\”

When a dog attacks a letter carrier, the dog owner could be held liable for all medical expenses, repayment of lost work hours, replacement of the uniform and other costs, which can run into thousands of dollars. The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority and dedicates a week each April to Dog Bite Awareness.

Here are four simple tips to prevent dog bite injuries that should be enforced year-round:

Door Delivery:

If a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Some dogs burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors.

Electronic Fencing:

Although the electronic fence may keep your dog from wandering, it does not protect your Postal Service carrier, who must enter your property to deliver the mail. Even homes with curbside mailboxes may have oversized packages or signature-needed items that require the carrier to approach a doorstep and cross the boundaries of the electronic fence.

Dog in Yard:

Make sure your dog is properly restrained on a leash away from where your mail carrier is delivering the mail. Mail delivery service can be interrupted at an address or neighborhood the carrier deems unsafe because of an unrestrained dog. When service is interrupted at an address or neighborhood, all parties involved will have to pick mail up at their local post office.

Tracking:

Dog owners who have access to postal notification features such as Informed Delivery (

informeddelivery.usps.com

) for letter mail and package tracking are urged to use this as a way to gauge when the carrier is on his or her way and to ensure their dog is properly restrained.

LOVE YOUR MONEY: New Jersey Residents Making $1.9 Million Annually Taxed at 9.8 %

The Center Square

The top 1 percent of earners in New Jersey are taxed at an effective rate of 9.8 percent, compared to the state’s 10.1 percent tax rate on the middle 20 percent of income earners, according to

a new 24/7 Wall St. analysis

CNBNews graphic files

The study, which used data from a 2018 report by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), did not include federal taxes paid. New Jersey ranked 46th on the study’s list of the most tax-friendly states for the rich.

On average, the top 1 percent of earners in the state take in $1.9 million annually, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Nationwide, the top-earning 1 percent of families pay 7.4 percent of what they make toward state and local levies, the ITEP study concluded. The middle 20 percent of U.S. earners, in contrast, paid more – 9.9 percent.

States with no income tax – or a very low income tax – tended to be the most friendly to wealthy individuals, 24/7 Wall St. reported. That’s because those states tend to rely more on more regressive taxes, placing more of a burden on poorer households, the study found.

republished by Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of

The Center Square

Lessons Learned by Cape Town’s Day Zero

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 18, 2020)–“Day Zero” is the now infamous term used to describe an emergency plan put forth by the leadership of the city of Cape Town, South Africa during the worst recorded drought in over a century. In mid-2017, several factors contributed to Cape Town’s water supply reaching dangerously low levels.

Day Zero, if it was ever implemented, would have meant barring the water supply from public use so that it could be rationed daily. Until the city’s dams naturally replenished, Day Zero could have destroyed Cape Town’s buzzing tourist industry and its inhabitants’ way of life.

Water queues and widespread shortages were a reality that many businesses and civilians in Cape Town were very close to facing.

Knowing the causes of

Cape Town’s Day Zero

and why it never happened can teach us about the resilience and resourcefulness of the leadership and people of Cape Town. Additionally, observing their conservation efforts can help us progress in our own.

What caused Day Zero?

By 2017, Cape Town had experienced a population growth rate of almost 50%, according to its

census data

. However, the water storage capacity for the city had only increased by 15% over that same amount of time.

The widening gap between how much water was being pulled from the reserves and how much was being replenished created a situation where Cape Town’s supply was vulnerable to environmental disasters. New dams could not be built fast enough to offset the rising water usage in the city and the dearth of rainfall.

This disaster came subtly, in the form of record low rainfall in 2015, coupled with increased water usage by the people of the city owing to the population. As the reserves continued to drop, by mid-2017 Day Zero became the name of the plan that the city would have had to initiate if the water levels in the main storage dams reached below 13.5%.

Preventing Day Zero

The worst water crisis in modern history would have entailed daily water queues and rations, strict conservation of all public utilities, and reconstruction of the major waterways. No city has ever undertaken the depth of control that Day Zero would have required of Cape Town’s civilian and tourist population.

Thankfully, Cape Town reversely proved its resilience in the face of disaster by pushing Day Zero back continuously until it was postponed indefinitely in early 2018.

Thanks to water usage education initiatives distributed by the Cape Town city departments, the population got immediately on board with the effort to conserve the dangerously low water stores. The diligence and conscientiousness of the people lowered water usage by 50% by rationing showers, limiting water-based hygiene, and eliminating water usage for recreation.

Today, according to the

Cape Town website

, the city’s dams are holding at 70.3% of their reserve capacity. This makes Day Zero well out of the realm of possibility for the time being.

Effects of the Water Crisis

The businesses, tourists, industry professionals, leadership, and population of Cape Town rallied together to save their water supply. Today, the result is a much more environmentally cognizant city infrastructure. Their waterways have been refined for efficiency and their drainage and water recreation facilities have been modernized.

Not every city could reform its habits so quickly. The Cape Water Strategy is the latest progressive initiative designed to restructure the city’s water usage systems and dam storage capacity to prepare for another future disaster.

With populations growing all over the world, the conservation efforts of Cape Town are a model for any city leadership or population on how to manage a crisis and avoid disaster.

The Takeaway

The possibility of Day Zero happening in Cape Town was a result of stressed resources in a region already environmentally unstable due to population growth, a naturally dry climate, and erratic rainfall patterns. A few issues like a dry spell and a population boom culminated in what could have been the worst water disaster in any developed city in the modern world.

Instead, Cape Town rallied itself around conservation and survived the water shortage. Their concerted efforts to save themselves and their infrastructure are lessons that any city can learn from.

Now, a booming tourist destination and investment opportunity, the productive and resilient city of Cape Town is back to its former glory and then some. Before canceling a visit because of this near disaster, understand what preventing it means for the future of the city: progressively better infrastructure, cognizant people, and productive leadership.

The handling of the water crisis is proof of them all.

DNREC-sponsored ‘Butterflies and Clean Water’ presentations March 2 and 30

LAUREL DELAWARE (Feb. 2020) – The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Reclaim Our River Program – Nanticoke Series, in partnership with the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, and the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, will host two free presentations in March on saving the monarch butterfly, gardening for butterflies, and the importance of clean water.

The presentations will address the monarch butterfly population’s decline of more than 90 percent worldwide over the past 20 years. This is a critical environmental loss, since flowering plants depend on pollinators, including butterflies, to reproduce. Pollinators enable flowering plants to purify water and prevent erosion, through roots that hold the soil in place, and provide foliage that buffers the impact of rain.

On March 2, butterfly enthusiast Mike McFarlin of Milton will speak about his efforts to help repopulate Delaware\’s monarch butterfly population, by raising hundreds of them each summer. In addition, he will explain how attendees can volunteer as stewards, and adopt an area of land that supports pollinator habitat.

The second presentation, on March 30, will be led by Alice Mohrman of the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center and focus on gardening for butterflies. She will also provide tips on how to landscape yards with attractive native plants that support wildlife habitat, and help reduce waterway pollution.

A limited number of free milkweed seeds will be available to participants, along with information on activities that support clean water. Attendees also will learn about the 2020 Reclaim Our River–Nanticoke Series, which offers numerous opportunities to learn techniques for keeping local waterways clean. Participants are encouraged to arrive early.

Both presentations will begin at 6 p.m. at the Laurel Library, located at 101 East 4th Street, Laurel, DE 19956.

For more information about the presentations, contact Alice Mohrman at 302-422-0847, or

alice@delawarenaturesociety.org

. For more information on the Reclaim Our River Program, contact Philip Miller at 302-608-5468, or

Philip.miller@delaware.gov

Making The Knights of Columbus More Appealing

Written by Peter G. Sánchez/

The Camden Diocese

BRIDGETON, NJ–Don Olbrich is nothing if not persistent.

Wherever he goes, he carries with him Form 100s, which are membership documents for the Knights of Columbus. Which is not surprising, as he is Grand Knight of his council, Liberty Council 1910 out of Bridgeton’s Parish of the Holy Cross.

“I took a Form 100 to my doctor’s office,” he says, but it wasn’t blank.

“I had already filled out his name and phone number, all I needed was his address,” he continues.

And then there was the time he tried to get his son, D.J., to join the council.

“He kept telling me no, so I told some of my brother Knights that if they could get him to sign up, I’d give them $100. It worked,” he says, laughing.

Olbrich’s methods have no doubt rubbed off on his brother Knights. From July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, his council gained 40 new members, 800% of their recruitment goal. The effort made Liberty Council 1910 second in the country in recruitment for any Knight’s council.

Today, the 101-year-old council is 113 men strong, in ages ranging from 19 years old to the mid-80s, Olbrich says.

“We set monthly membership goals,” he says in explaining how the council achieved the milestone.

His doggedness and determination speak to his love of the church where he has been a Knight for 10 years.

“It’s all about helping the parish,” he says.

The Liberty Council Knights are a constant presence around the Holy Cross community, be it cooking for the annual fall parish festival, organizing a donation drive of baby wipes and diapers for single mothers and their children, or repainting lines in the church parking lot.

Olbrich was thankful for the leadership and guidance of Holy Cross pastor, Father Matthew Weber, who has shown “tremendous support” for the council.

“The Knights have been a wonderful blessing,” says Father Weber, himself a Fourth Degree Knight.

In addition to “stepping up” to help the parish in whatever needs to be done, such as helping out with maintenance issues or being extra hands at parish events, the Knights of Columbus are “leading men to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, and with each other,” he says.

As well, he is pleased that the council reflects the diverse nature of his Bridgeton parish — a bilingual community with a faithful and collaborative mix of Anglo-Saxon and Hispanic members.

“The Knights have been a beautiful bridge” between these communities, he says,

“I’m glad this council has blossomed. These men are pillars of charity, fraternity, unity, and patriotism,” Father Weber said, echoing the Knights of Columbus’ mission.

Following the call from Supreme Director Carl Anderson to make the Knights more appealing, the Bridgeton Knights will hold a public initiation ceremony after the 4:30 p.m. Mass at Saint Mary Church, Rosenhayn on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a spaghetti dinner afterward. All are welcome.

Home

White Supremacist Fred Arena, of Salem Sentenced to Prison for Lying to FBI

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Fred Arena, 41, of Salem, New Jersey, was sentenced to six months’

Fred Arena

(photo courtesy of the Courier Post)

imprisonment and two years’ supervised release by United States District Court Judge John R. Padova for making false statements to government agents.

Arena, who was an employee of a federal contractor at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and as such was required to obtain a federal security clearance, lied to obtain the clearance. He also subsequently lied to federal investigators who asked him about his answers to questions on the security clearance paperwork. He was arrested and detained in October 2019, and pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2019.

On January 10, 2019, Arena completed the standard Form SF-86 to obtain a federal security clearance for his employment. On that form, he was required to disclose whether he had ever been a member of an organization that used (or advocated the use of) force or violence to prevent others from exercising their constitutional rights. He falsely answered that he had not. In fact, Arena was an avowed member of Vanguard America, a white supremacist group that fits that description. His membership in Vanguard America and his participation in their activities were demonstrated by his many admissions and photos on social media, including events surrounding the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. On the same application, Arena was asked whether he had had property repossessed within the past seven years. He falsely answered that he had not. In fact, Arena had previously defaulted on a car loan, and his car was repossessed within the seven year window.

As part of his sentence, the Court specifically ordered that Arena shall, during the period of supervised release, be barred from membership and participation in any organization that advocates or practices unlawful acts of force or violence to discourage others from exercising their rights under the United States Constitution or any state of the United States.

“Lying on federal security clearance forms and to government agents are very serious matters,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “Further, no employee working for the federal government, being paid with taxpayer dollars, has any business being a member of a white supremacist group or espousing white supremacist views. Under the terms of today’s sentence, Arena’s activities will be closely monitored by the Court and Probation after he finishes his jail term in order to prevent him from engaging in new criminal behavior that may violate the civil rights of others and endanger the public.”

“Fred Arena lied about being a white supremacist to land a security clearance and government job he never should have had,” said Tara A. McMahon, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “When the FBI questioned him about his background, he continued this pattern of deception. There must be serious consequences for actively deceiving federal agents. Otherwise, critical investigations would grind to a halt, hobbling our justice system and giving criminals and terrorists the upper hand.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office, the New Jersey State Police, the Camden County Police Department, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Joseph LaBar and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Martha Nye.

2020 JerseyArts.com People’s Choice Awards

Camden County\’s very own XPoNential Music Festival at Wiggins Waterfront Park, along with a number of other Camden County arts and music organizations, has been nominated for the 2020

JerseyArts.com

People\’s Choice Awards. Also nominated were:

Mainstage Center for the Arts Harmony Show Choir (Blackwood)

Scottish Rite Auditorium (Collingswood)

Ritz Theatre Company (Haddon Township)

South Camden Theatre Company (Camden)

Symphony in C (Collingswood)

Perkins Center for the Arts (Collingswood/Moorestown)

African American Film Festival (Camden)

Voting is now open at

JerseyArts.com/vote

. Support the arts that Camden County has to offer by casting your vote. Don’t delay; voting ends

February 20th,

and winners in each category will be announced on

March 11, 2020

Tips for keeping your car insurance low

Gloucestercitynews.net (February 17, 2020)–Auto insurance is a tailor-made product, and your policy is very much your own based on factors that are exclusive to you. It is not a fixed cost and could cost you some good money. Still, you can lower it through better bargaining with the insurance company to get better

insurance quotes

only when asked for. Having adequate coverage does a lot of good when you face adverse situations that damage the car or injure others and damage property. The insurance policy protects you financially as the insurance company pays out for the damage when you lodge a claim.

It does not require that you cut down driving, which can help to lower the premium because there are many other

ways to obtain other discounts

which, when added together, considerably lower the premium.

Focus on safe driving

Since insurance rates depend upon the risk assessed by the insurance company, the more you prove that you are a safer driver, the lower would be the insurance rate. On the other hand, if you are accident prone and used to frequent traffic violations, be ready to pay higher insurance. To ensure safe driving, drive at moderate speed, and stay alert and agile so that you have better control over the vehicle and avoid accidents. Maintaining the smallest list of traffic violations is the way to keep insurance costs low.

Buy an insurance friendly car

The car is a major factor that determines the insurance rate, and when you buy a car, check if there are better models from the insurance perspective. The cost of the car and its fancy features are reasons for a higher premium, and it is better to choose a car that is more need-oriented than an object of vanity. The value of the vehicle has a direct relation to the collision coverage, and it is inherent in some car models to attract higher insurance. If you buy a sports car or something that one can interpret to be a sports car, then you must be ready to pay higher insurance as you must for other luxury cars.

Avail behavior-based discounts

Insurance companies reward well-behaved and disciplined drivers with favorable insurance rates by offering discounts. Having a clean driving history underlines the safe driving habits and lowers the risk which the insurance company acknowledges by charging a lower premium. The more control you have on your driving behavior, the better it is because you can claim better rates from insurance companies.

Focus on care safety features

Choose a car that matches your budget and has adequate safety features. Avoid buying a car that might cost less because of fewer safety features because insurance companies rely on better safety features that can minimize vehicle damage after accidents and lower the claim amount. Striking a balance between the cost of the car and its safety features, which must be something more than the minimum, will lead to a lower premium.

If you can reduce the average driven distance in a year, the insurance will be lower.