Special Sections

Tucson teen’s pop music CD started with camp connection

Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer, left, and Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in 2011

Tucsonan Gabe Lehrer is not quite 16, but he is already working on his second professionally recorded CD, as half of the singer-songwriter duo Sheldon and Gabriel. Gabe met Sheldon Donenberg at Camp Ramah in Ojai, Calif., in the summer of 2011. Gabe, the son of Mimi Algazi and… Read more »

UA students continue camp tradition as counselors

Jamie Klein

While many college students see summer as an opportunity to take on internships or find a summer job that can help pay for their expenses during the academic year, University of Arizona communications sophomore Amanda Silverman only sees summer as one thing: time to go to camp. “I don’t… Read more »

Shabbat at the lake is a special memory

JCC Camp Interlaken has given me many memories, from the Maccabiah games to the beauty of Lake Finley. I truly love every moment I am there. I know that I have made long lasting friendships and my best friend is from Interlaken. Camp Interlaken is my home away from… Read more »

Israeli breast cancer survivor filling a niche with nipples

KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA) — Michelle Kolath-Arbel squeezes a nipple, rolling it in her fingers with a look of mild disgust. This model, which Kolath-Arbel ordered from China two years ago for $50, is thick and crude and took three months to arrive in the mail. “It was hard,… Read more »

Bridal show at Jewish History Museum brings back splendor of bygone eras

Models pose at the home of Catherene Morton prior to the Jewish History Museum’s bridal style show on Jan. 1. (Athol Cline/JHM)

Exotic gowns in red, purple and gold as well as the traditional white are on display at the Jewish History Museum’s sixth annual ketubah (Jewish wedding contract) and wedding dress exhibit, which continues through March 30. The exhibit features gowns from the 1500s to 2010, with origins from New… Read more »

Seattle couple gets married … and married … and married

(JTA) — In less than a year, Dane Kuttler and Rowan Parker exchanged vows in 10 different wedding ceremonies at 10 different venues on two coasts under nine different marriage canopies. In what Kuttler calls “Wedding Tour ’13,” the introverted Seattle couple wanted to share their celebration with as… Read more »

Local expert keen on new Calloway driver

One of the new technological wonders in golf, says Scott Gregoire of Van’s Golf Shop, is the Big Bertha Alpha driver coming out next month from Calloway, a company that had been struggling in recent years. Over the last two years, Calloway’s new CEO, Chip Brewer, “turned Calloway around… Read more »

At 91, Harvey Pollack still NBA’s leading scorekeeper

Harvey Pollack

Fittingly, Harvey Pollack was the one who scribbled the number 100 on the most famous photograph in basketball history: Wilt Chamberlain holding the piece of paper signifying his astounding point total in a 1962 game for the then Philadelphia Warriors. After all, Pollack is basketball’s ultimate numbers and public… Read more »

Glass not yet full for oldest PCC graduate

Enriqueta Fassler

Enriqueta “Neneng” Fassler is a 71-year-old dynamo who earned her third college degree in May. She was the oldest graduate of Pima Community College, earning her post-graduate certificate — with honors — as a paralegal. Fassler holds two college degrees in education: one in physical education from her native… Read more »

Tucson home design trends for 2014: industrial is in, but shabby chic still works

Vintage brass pieces look fresh again. Left, 1980s brass vase by J. Johnston. Right, mid-century candlestick by Ben Seibel (Jenni Steinberg Pagano)

As the last calendar page falls away, and the urge to make New Year’s resolutions emerges full force, it’s nice to move forward with a clean slate. Away go the holiday decorations and extra calorie-laden snacks and home go the relatives. Suddenly, the house is emptier and we may… Read more »

Israeli opening a window onto energy conservation

Prof. Evyatar Erell with a prototype of the Seasons window.

“We spend most of our lives in a controlled environment,” says Evyatar Erell, associate professor of desert architecture and urban planning at Ben-Gurion University’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. “We live and work under conditions that are different from those outside. When it’s hot, we turn on our… Read more »

Writers emerging from shadows of mental illness

Twenty-five percent of adults in the United States have a mental illness — from depression and anxiety, to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — according to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “Mental Illness Surveillance among Adults in the United States.” The percentage of Jewish adults with… Read more »

Tucson woman is third-time lucky on liver transplant call

(Above) Members of Team Tamara at Liver Life Walk Tucson on Dec. 14. Front row (L-R): Lavina Tomer, Bryan Kaplan, Tamara Novak, Sandra Wortzel, Judith Weiser, Lyla Michelson, Rabbi Helen Cohn, Joel Alpert; back row: Gabi Zimerman, Linda Horowitz, Renate Wasserman, Carol Weinstein, Marlyne Freedman, Kenny Wortzel, Nan Rubin, Tanya Fleisher, Nancy Lefkowitz, Ann Markewitz, Byron Michelson. (Courtesy Congregation M'kor Hayim)

As my wife, Tamara, and I anxiously awaited news of a liver donor, it seems as if the third time truly was the charm. Three years ago she started gaining weight and experienced an unfamiliar level of fatigue. She could barely make it out of the house for more… Read more »

Grandparents sparked young magician’s global journey

Danny Cole will perform at Tucson’s Temple of Music and Art Dec. 28, 2013 with Tucson native Eric Buss and juggling champion Ivan Pecel.

Danny Cole has been performing magic since he was 10. Now, at 35, he has more than a dozen magic awards to his credit —starting with the Kleinman Award for Most Promising Young Magician at age 15 — and has performed all over the world, from Toledo, Ohio, to… Read more »

Family, music and heritage harmonize for JCC Jewish cultural specialist

(L-R): Scott, Haley, Julie and Dylan Zorn on a family vacation in Lake Tahoe in February 2013

Even though her full-time position as Jewish cultural specialist at the Tucson Jewish Community Center doesn’t begin until Jan. 6, Julie Zorn has been a familiar face at the JCC for almost a decade. Her husband, Scott Zorn, is the director of children, youth and family engagement; her children… Read more »

Savvy siblings flourish in Tucson restaurants

Zachary, Tyler and Courtney Fenton of Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink

There’s an old stereotype about sibling rivalry, but for three sets of Tucson siblings, family and food have only brought them closer. Whether it’s gluten-free baked goods, pizza, or craft beers, co-owning and operating local restaurants have become a way of life for Daphna and Eyal Ron, Aric and… Read more »

In response to Turner syndrome, overcoming obstacles

Renee Bailey

When Renee Bailey was 10 years old her mother, a registered nurse, thought she was a picky eater. “My mom saw me in a play, I think it was Yankee Doodle Dandy, and I was way shorter than the other kids,” recalls Bailey, now 36. “We went to an… Read more »