Chestnut Hill Local

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

Police have arrested one of the two men they believe are responsible for the armed robbery of the Antique Gallery last week. A parking ticket led police to the Center City home of alleged robber Alix Toussaint on Aug. 27, said Cpl. James Pauley of the department's Public Affairs unit.

Detectives believe Toussaint, a Haitian national, is also responsible for last year's gunpoint robbery of the shop, said Inspector Jack Gaittens of Northwest Detectives. Charges for the May 16, 2003 incident are pending, he said.
Last Friday, the Antique Gallery at 8523 Germantown Ave. fell victim to armed robbery shortly before 11 a.m. when two men, posing as construction workers, looted jewelry and silver estimated at $200,000, police said. It was the second such crime for the business in 15 months.

Dressed in coveralls and wearing yellow hard hats, the pair — one armed with a gun, the other a hammer — herded two employees into the shop's back room and bound them with duct tape, police said. No one was hurt.

Gala auction has something for everyone

by NANCY BERGER

It seems that these days, one or another committee person working on this year’s Black & White Gala is in the Chestnut Hill Community Association’s offices – using the computers, copiers, filling us in on the latest details, all in an effort to make this year’s event a resounding success. We’re glad they’re here, because they’re excited about the upcoming Gala that benefits us all.

Mary Ann Koller stopped by the other day to wax poetic about the silent auction that accompanies the gala, and had one of the donors in tow: Tina Jackson, who, since May 2000, has owned Hey Chef! Her company, Tina said, “is a time-management solution for families that offers both in-home meal prep and delivery.” In addition to delivering delicious food, she offers demo classes on how to cook fast, nutritious and delicious meals — restaurant-style — in the comfort of your own kitchen. What a great idea! For this year’s auction, Tina will be donating three entrees each for three people, complete with side dishes — ready to eat or freeze.

Specter calls for end to 'swift' attack ads

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) told the small crowd at his Plymouth Whitemarsh town meeting last week that he thought all politicians should "disown all 527s," the name for tax-exempt organizations like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has been airing ads that allege Sen. John Kerry lied to win valor medals in Vietnam.

The statement was a response to an audience member's question about Kerry's "flip-flopping" on his Vietnam medals and the Democratic presidential candidate's character.

"I don't think it's worth a federal investigation," Specter said of Kerry's war record. "I would like to see all these 527s out. Let us candidates run our own campaigns."

Congregation Mishkan Shalom welcomes new senior rabbi

by JUDY GOLDSCHMIDT

Jeff Sultar, a 1996 graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) in Wyncote, is the new senior rabbi for the progressive Jewish congregation Mishkan Shalom in Roxborough. He has traveled a unique path to this place, considering that he describes his childhood as “culturally Jewish” but with no connection to his religion after his Bar Mitzvah at 13. As a teen and young adult, he had assumed a position that all religion was hypocritical. That changed when he was 22.

Following his graduation in 1984 from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., the Connecticut native embarked on a solo, 27-month, 16,000-mile bicycle journey throughout the United States. During the trip, he bartered work in exchange for food and lodging in over 400 communities. His only goal on the road, he states, was “to have no goal.” Yet this transformative experience led him back to the Judaism he had abandoned, and put him on the path to becoming a rabbi.

United Way president seeks to build alliances

by MEREDITH SONDERSKOV

Alba Martinez sees a need to diminish the huge costs that come from not attending to society’s problems early on.
“As a society,” the president and chief executive officer of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania said, “ we are dealing with ‘aftermaths’: particularly the aftermaths of parent neglect, homelessness and mental illness.”
“The smart investment would be to take a preventative

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