A few comments on New Haven events

It's a sad day in New Haven.

Of all the cops on a police force, the most honest, most trustworthy must be the dope squad.

Because dope dealers don't carry around credit-card machines, the dope business has always been a cash business. Dope costs lots and because dope dealers have a reputation for being particularly nasty, their customers need to get lots of cash to give them. The way they get that cash is where ordinary citizens are drawn into their world, usually as victims of other crimes such as burglary, robbery and assault and, too often, homicide.

And because this is a big-time cash business, the possibility of sticky fingers also is present. That's why dope cops must be so honest.

And that's why it's so shocking when they're not and why the FBI charges against the two New Haven cops are so concerning.

See the New Haven Independent's excellent coverage of the story, starting with http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/03/billy_white_bai.php

Of course, it should be noted that these are just allegations. Everybody is considered innocent until a judge or jury pronounces them guilty. But this is just another black eye for New Haven.

On another note, the New Haven Independent story http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/03/amistad_looks_t.php about the Jewish Home for the Aged putting its Hill neighborhood facility up for sale and planning to move to the Jewish Community Center campus may be concerning to some people. It's not to me.

I just returned from visiting my step-mother (she's really been like a mother to us, but I want to be precise) in Rockville, Md.

The Jewish center campus in Rockville is a wonderful, awe-inspiring, huge place. The campus contains a rehab center, assisted living apartments, a home for the aged, a Jewish Community Center, kosher eating facilities -- in other words, a complete Jewish center. This is what every Jewish Community Center should be.

Revitz House is the building in which my mom lives. Activities? Posters on the day's activities take up the the three walls of the large elevator. Each day, buses go to the nearby shopping centers and malls. There is transportation to doctors' offices, hospitals for out-patient care, and the like. The grounds are magnificent. There's parking for scores of residents' cars, and the spots are full.

When my mom needed rehab after surgery, the Wasserman center was just down the sidewalk from her building, so her friends could visit. If someone is unable to care for themselves, the home or homes for the aged are right there. Revitz house residents can walk to visit spouses or friends in these facilities, and do so daily.

The facility is a couple of blocks away from the Rockville Pike, a main drag in Rockville, with malls and shopping centers cheek by jowl for miles. The only problem with the New Haven-area JCC is that it's so far removed from shopping and medical facilities, and one cannot see Woodbridge allowing a Route 1-type development on Amity Road.
A concerted effort must accompany any development of the campus to provide transportation, both for residents as well as those who wish to visit them.