The Blotter

Police discovered Bed-Stuy resident Dave Walker beaten to death at his home on Macon Street Tuesday morning. Police suspect an attempted robbery, although there was no sign of forced entry. Walker was a retired correction officer and landlord for two other houses in Bed-Stuy and one in downtown Brooklyn.

The Daily News has the details.

Pet Stores: Luxury or Necessity?

At Cherish Pet Boutique in Bedford-Stuyvesant last week, a litter of eight blue-nosed pitbulls were yapping away. There used to be nine (one was bought), and these tykes were just two-months old. Since hearing about various economic-downturn-cum-pets stories, I was curious how this one store was faring.

The receptionist, Marcela Ortid, was a new hire (no layoffs here), and another employee, Kay Johnson, said that he hadn’t noticed a drop in business. “People got a lot of pets,” Johnson said. “It might not seem like a necessity, but if you got a pet, it’s a necessity.” Indeed, while I was there, a customer came in to have his Shih Tzu bathed and groomed.

Cherish Pet Boutique carries clothing, organic pet food, and gourmet treats. They also provide services in grooming, day care, birthday parties, and fashion shows. Pet Halloween costumes were hanging on the racks, although none had sold yet.

When asked who their customer base was, Johnson said they were regulars and working-class folks. Huh. Something’s not adding up here.

PETA Polices Kosher Practices

For Yom Kippur celebrations last week, live chickens were killed in Crown Heights as part of the annual kapparot ritual. Philip Schein, animal rights activist and PETA member, went down to Eastern Parkway to observe and monitor the ceremony, which takes place out in plain view. He did the same thing last year with a camera and claims he was threatened then.

Schein’s controversial presence has not died down. An article in The Jerusalem Post (they took the only good headline!) details how Schein and Rabbi Shea Hecht, a leader of the kapparot event in Brooklyn, are in a battle of ethics. Schein, with the backing of PETA, accuses Hecht of inhumane treatment of the chickens. In response, Hecht has accused Schein and PETA of anti-Semitism. Things have gotten litigious. PETA has requested New York State Kosher Law Enforcement Division to look into Hecht’s activites, which Hecht claims has caused him to be the target of hate emails. In response, New York City Police has launched an investigation.

Schein, who is also Jewish and keeps kosher, and PETA claim the chickens are not provided with enough food and water, and that more birds than necessary are being slaughtered. Last year, two-thirds of the sacrificed birds ended up in the dumpster, according to The Jerusalem Post. The unnecessary suffering goes against kosher laws, Schein claims.

As part of kapparot, members of the large Hasidic community of Crown Heights purchase live chickens, which they swing around their heads while reciting a prayer. The chickens are then slaughtered, defeathered, chopped up, and disembowled. Chickens deemed kosher are then handed over to charity.

Teacher Wins Technology Grant

When Michael Doig, an Earth Sciences teacher at Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory High School, applied for a grant at the end of the last school year, he assumed it was just going to end up in the ether. “It was one of those things that constantly comes through the mailbox,” Doig said about the application. But in early October, Doig was notified that he had been awarded $54,000 from the City Council of New York. “I was stoked,” Doig said.

Doig’s proposal included requests for a laptop cart, desktop computers, microscopes, and a SMART board. With one computer lab in the school, which is usually occupied by computer classes, “the science department didn’t have much in the way of technology.” Doig hopes to teach students how to graph data using Excel, start a school web site, and get students blogging. Doig also teaches a film class and his ambitions there include teaching students video and podcasting skills.

Doig’s award got other teachers excited and inspired to look into securing grants as well. For now, the students are mostly being kept in the dark. “We’re trying not to tell them because we don’t want them to get too excited,” Doig said.

Bedford Stuyvesant Preparatory High School is an alternative high school for transfer and older students. It typically works with students struggling to complete their secondary education.