Only The Best Travel
With dealership lots stripped of inventory, car buyers hunting for a bargain will be lucky if they end up paying the sticker price. The cost of a new vehicle continues to soar with the global auto industry now a year into a computer-chip shortage that …
TikTok user and former flight attendant Kat Kamalani is back with more of her highly sought-out if sometimes questionable travel tips, and this time they’re honestly not that bad. In her most recent 10 second travel-centric video, set to the tune of “Are You That …
As the government agreed to update a list of banned countries due to high levels of coronavirus infections, a move that could reduce flights abroad, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said those working in the tourism industry should start looking for new jobs.
“As for travel agents and tour guides, it should be said: Start changing professions,” Liberman said during a Sunday cabinet meeting.
“We, as experts in the tourism industry, know that there is a high demand to come [for services],” Yoav Rotem, a tour guide, told Channel 12 news.
“Whoever closes my workplace, and disables me — I’m not unemployed, I’m disabled. It’s him, and his government,” Rotem said, blasting Liberman.
Amid the rise of the Omicron COVID-19 variant late last month, the government took the far-reaching steps of shuttering its borders to foreigners for two weeks. On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered the directive extended an additional 10 days.
Explaining the decision on Sunday, Bennett said, “We want to delay [Omicron’s] entry into the country through the restrictions at Ben Gurion Airport, and, at the same time, take advantage of these precious days to increase everyone’s immunity. We are not protected enough at the moment.”
“Two weeks ago, we decided to tighten restrictions on entry into the country, and there were those who said we were going too far, but we see now that we were not going too far at all,” he said as he opened the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. “The Omicron [variant] is indeed worrying. Europe is entering the holiday season under significant restrictions and lockdowns in some countries.”
Travelers at the Ben Gurion Airport, on November 29, 2021. (Flash90)
Meanwhile, the list of banned countries was updated to include the United Kingdom and Denmark, the Health Ministry announced Sunday evening.
Health Ministry Nitzan Horowitz said additional countries will be classified as “red” in the coming days, but stressed that the government does not currently plan to bar international travel entirely.
He also urged Israelis to refrain from non-essential travel overseas.
“Whoever is planning to travel abroad at this time needs to know that, upon their return, they are likely to go into full quarantine because the country will be declared a red country,” Nachman Ash, the ministry’s director-general, said during a briefing.
Under new quarantine rules approved Sunday by a Knesset committee, Israelis coming from “red” countries must isolate at a state-run facility for at least 10 days. However, they can be released to their homes to complete their quarantines if they test negative for Omicron.
According to the latest Health Ministry figures, 223 coronavirus infections were confirmed Saturday, with 0.63 percent of tests coming back positive. The number of serious cases has recently ticked back above 100, days after dropping below that mark for the first time in four months.
The death toll remained at 8,210, with no fatalities since last Monday.
A total of 6,400,940 Israeli have received a first coronavirus vaccine, with 5,789,014 of them having also received a second shot and 4,120,329 of them having received a third.
The holiday season is now upon us, and many will be traveling to see family and friends this year. Before you hit the road or take to the sky, it is important to plan ahead so the trip will be less stressful for your family. …
THE ISSUE A wheelchair-bound man wants beach-access mats installed. OUR OPINION County should find a way to make this happen. The area’s name says it all: Nature Coast. That includes lush forests, a variety of wildlife and the Gulf of Mexico. Most people take it …
Katherine Whitelaw Stanton died peacefully at her home in Houston on Sunday, Dec. 5, after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 79.
Katherine Stanton, 79, died Dec. 5. Her funeral will be on Dec. 15.
Kathy was born on Dec. 9, 1941 in Boston to Dr. and Mrs. George P. Whitelaw. She grew up in Boston and graduated from Beaver Country Day School, attended Bennett Junior College and graduated from Garland Junior College in Boston.
Kathy moved to New York City to work as a guide in the New England Pavilion at the World’s Fair. She remained in NYC where she met her husband-to-be. Kathy and John married in November1966 and lived in Manhattan.
After the birth of their first child, the Stantons moved to Darien and subsequently to New Canaan. When John took a job in Houston in 1977, they moved here, and Kathy began shepherding their two children through school, sports and other activities.
For a period after the move, she missed her Connecticut life, but soon fell in love with Houston’s social and climatic warmth. She was a frequent volunteer at a variety of places where she could help other people.
In 1994, the Stantons purchased a home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where they spent major portions of each year. Kathy had spent summers in Duxbury as a child and has family there. She loved to play golf and was fortunate to play courses across the United States and in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and South Africa. She also loved to travel and see the world, and she saw a lot, if not most, of it.
Kathy was a member of the Junior League, the Garden Club of Houston, the Chilton Club, Houston Country Club and the Duxbury Yacht Club.
She is survived by her husband, John; her daughter, Mary Stanton Smith and Mary’s husband, Stewart; her son, Robert Locke Stanton, and his wife, Katie; her granddaughters, Caroline Whitelaw Smith, Katherine Stewart Smith and Mary Elisabeth Smith; as well as grandsons, Robert Locke Stanton Jr., Samuel Wise Stanton and John Holt Stanton. She is also survived by her sister, Elisabeth Whitelaw Comer, and Elisabeth’s husband, Kevin, of Naples, Florida; her brother, George P. Whitelaw Jr., and his wife, Phyllis, of Duxbury, Massachusetts; as well as many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service is to be conducted at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 15 at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston. Those unable to attend may watch via live-streaming.
Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception at a venue to be announced during the services.
An additional ceremony, on a date and time to be announced, will be held in St. John the Evangelist Church in Duxbury. The committal will be in Mayflower Cemetery in Duxbury.
In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in Kathy’s honor be directed to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road, Houston, TX, 77056; or to the Garden Club of Houston, 4212 San Felipe St., PMB 486 Houston, TX, 77027.
— an obituary from Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors, where online condolences may be left