Omer Asik, the Houston Rockets’ starting center last season, has formally asked the team to trade him in the wake of the Dwight Howard signing, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst is reporting. The Rockets have “no plans” to trade Asik, however, and have turned down all offers so far, according to the report. The 27-year-old, who started all 82 games last season after serving as Joakim Noah’s backup in Chicago for two years, contacted the team to ask for a trade “shortly after” Howard announced his decision on Friday night.
Billed as the “America’s Doctor and America’s Rabbi Israel tour,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s non-profit, This World: The Jewish Values Network, on Wednesday announced plans to bring FOX TV’s Dr. Mehmet Oz to Israel for a week beginning July 25. The trip is being sponsored by casino magnate and Jewish mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. “For a long time, I’ve wanted to bring Mehmet and Lisa [Mrs. Oz] to Israel given their amazing friendship with our community and the global impact Mehmet makes through every medium to preserve and protect human life,” said Rabbi Shmuley.
Washington -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has selected New York as one of four states that will be allowed to test Greek yogurt as a meat alternative in subsidized school lunches this fall. Beginning in September, the USDA will allow the protein-rich yogurt to be served in federal school lunch programs in New York, Arizona, Idaho and Tennessee, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said today. The selection of the four states for the pilot program follows a USDA decision in January that allowed Greek yogurt to be classified as a protein in the federal school lunch program. Greek yogurt has about twice the protein of regular yogurt.
