[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




IN HONOR OF CYNTHIA DETTLEBACH, ROB CERTNER AND ALICE FINGERHUT OF THE 
                         CLEVELAND JEWISH NEWS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 12, 2009

  Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of Cynthia 
Dettelbach, Rob Certner and Alice Fingerhurt as they retire from the 
Cleveland Jewish News (CJN) this year following a combined 80 years of 
service to the Cleveland Jewish community. I stand in recognition of 
their dedication to their community and their work as they celebrate 
the upcoming 45th anniversary of the Cleveland Jewish News on June 18, 
2009.
  Cynthia Dettelbach retires after an illustrious 31-year career at 
CJN, 29 of which she served as the newspaper's editor. In her capacity 
as a journalist, she traveled to Lebanon in 1982 to cover the Israeli-
Lebanese war; visited refuseniks in the Soviet Union in 1985 and again 
in Israel and the United States after the fall of the Iron Curtain. 
During her time in Israel, she attended numerous international press 
conferences, met with members of the Ethiopian Jewish community and 
visited Palestinian refugee camps prior to the first Intifada in 1987. 
Cynthia was recognized countless times for her columns and articles 
from the Society of Professional Journalists, American Jewish Press 
Association and Women in Communications, among others. During her time 
at CJN, she expanded their coverage to include the arts, politics and 
controversial opinions which were formerly marginalized or omitted. In 
2006, she was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame.
  Rob Certner worked at CJN for 11 years, many of which he served as 
its Chief Executive Officer, overseeing the expansion of CNJ to include 
the Source, JStyle, CJNs first website and its move to its current 
location in Beachwood. Rob served as treasurer of the American Jewish 
Press Association for 3 years, and served as its president for 1 year. 
He also served on the executive committee as Treasurer of the Beachwood 
Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure as CEO, Rob nearly doubled CJN's 
revenue.
  Alice Fingerhut began her career at CJN in 1971, writing each 
subscriber's name by hand in a ledger and stamping each mail label. As 
the Executive Assistant for the paper, she was the public's first point 
of contact with the CJN offices and stayed with the paper as its 
offices moved around Cleveland and as the operations changed to include 
faxes, copiers and computers. For the last 38 years, Alice provided 
compassion, understanding, and empathy to the Cleveland Jewish 
community as they would deliver obituaries and news of happier 
occasions for the paper through CJNs front door. While working at CJN, 
Alice raised her 2 daughters, Ruth and Lisa, and her son Eric, who 
served the Cleveland community as a Member of the House of 
Representatives in the 1990s.
  Madam Speaker and colleagues, please join me in honor of Cynthia 
Dettelbach, Rob Certner and Alice Fingerhut upon their retirement from 
the Cleveland Jewish News and in celebration of CJNs upcoming 45th 
anniversary on June 18, 2009.

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