Still No Charges

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$20 million gift to expand the Michigan-Israel Partnership for Research and Education, which includes the University of Michigan, the Technion and the Weizmann Institute of Science.

“My father-in-law taught me the importance of giving back to the community,” Wolfe says.

He also holds board positions with the Jewish Fund, Kids Kicking Cancer, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Michigan Medicine Advisory Group and Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network, among many other organizations. In addition, Wolfe was also past chair of the State of Israel Bonds for Metropolitan Detroit.

“A past president of the Jewish Federation, Larry has held a wide variety of volunteer positions and roles at Federation and organizations throughout Jewish Detroit and beyond,” CEO Ingber says. “More than this, Larry and his wife, Andi, have been true community heroes, always stepping up to offer their generous support, as well as their hearts and souls, whenever the need arises.”

Andi Wolfe adds that being volunteer-driven is a “piece of our fabric” when it comes to their marriage. “Everything he touches, he puts his whole body and soul into,” she says of her husband’s drive to better the community and share Jewish life with others.

Ingber adds, “To this day, Larry remains one of the most active and dynamic leaders in our community, and I know he will continue to make a difference for many years to come.

“I am truly thrilled to see Larry receive this muchdeserved recognition.”

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Sept. 19, on the 120th day of his captivity in Insein Prison in Myanmar, journalist and Huntington Woods native Danny Fenster was summoned for his eighth court hearing over video conferencing.

According to reports from the Associated Press, Fenster has been charged with incitement — spreading inflammatory information — an offense for which he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Yet again, the military junta in Myanmar did not specify what he is accused of doing and he was sent back to his prison cell only to await his next hearing on Oct. 4.

Fenster’s brother Bryan said the news was disheartening to him and his parents, Buddy and Rose Fenster, as well as Danny’s wife, Juliana, still in Myanmar.

Bryan said he last spoke to Danny on Sept. 12 on a call patched through from the prison to the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon. He was relieved to hear Danny’s probable COVID symptoms, which he last complained of during an Aug. 1 phone call, seemed to resolve themselves, though there is no COVID testing in Insein.

“He seems to be making the best of it,” Bryan told the JN. “What’s most frustrating for us is there is nothing new to report. We are just spinning our wheels at this point. [Waiting for the outcome of each of these hearings that have no results] is just a vicious cycle.”

Fenster’s family and their community of friends continue their campaign to keep his imprisonment in the headlines and in the minds of neighbors and those in Metro Detroit. Signs bearing the logo “Bring Danny Home, Free the Press” accompanied by a portrait of Danny are cropping up around the area. Shortly after his imprisonment, family and friends formed a #BringDannyHome social media campaign and a Facebook group that now has more than 5,500 members.

Fenster is the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar. On May 24, 2021, he was detained by the military in Myanmar moments before he was to fly from Yangon to Detroit to see his family for the first time in over three years.

Since then, he has been held at Insein Prison under investigation under a law criminalizing dissent that carries a maximum three-year jail sentence.

Danny is being represented by an attorney from Frontier Myanmar, and the family is in touch with the counselor through a translator, though communication and information has been very limited, according to Bryan Fenster.