Briefly Noted: Capitol Invader From Brooklyn Arrested, Cats, Birds, Dogs and Other news

We hope you’ve been staying safe and having a good year so far! Can you believe it hasn’t even been two weeks into 2021 yet?

• Today’s big news around here is the arrest of the son of a Brooklyn Judge by the FBI for participating in the attack on the Capitol last week.  Everyone wrote about it. This NBC article was one of the first, and Yeshiva World News had some of the first videos.
• In this New York Times feature, a Holocaust survivor tells us how it feels to live through a pandemic, what freedom means to her, and why she loves Coney Island. We hope she’s getting the vaccine soon!
• You, too, can get vaccinated if you are over 65 or belong to either 1A and 1B groups. Check your eligibility and schedule an appointment to get vaccinated. Brooklyn Center tells us that nearly 48% of their residents were immunized, while 16% of the staff consented to take the vaccine.
• Bird, the retail chain that shaped Brooklyn’s fashion, is closing its two remaining locations in Cobble Hill and Williamsburg, which will shortly after be followed by closing its online store. Read more at Business of Fashion.
• If you’re community-minded and would like to serve on a community board, applications are now open, and the deadline to apply is February 12. All that is required is that you are of a certain age and live within the community board you want to join. Community boards review land use applications, liquor licenses, and act in an advisory role for local elected officials and agencies.
• We all want to spend this year surrounded by our loved ones, which includes our pets. After being laid off, this Brooklyn man is fighting to keep his dog Roxy, a bed-bug sniffing dog given to him by the company, after he and his family have come to love her, NY1 reports.
• In Park Slope, “neighborhood loading zones,” installed to prevent double parking, have ignited much anger amidst local motorists, reports the Brooklyn Paper.
• In brighter news, this New York Times feature tells us about Brooklyn resident Taylor Mali, who has made it his quest to remove plastic bags from tree branches in the crusade to clean up the city and help the environment. After reading, go for a walk around Brooklyn. Maybe you’ll come across him, reaching up a tree with his metal painter’s pole.