$2.00 AUGUST 4-10, 2011 / 4-10 TAMMUZ 5771 A JEWISH RENAISSANCE MEDIA PUBLICATION theJEWISHNEWS.com »IN Welcomes Big Al! Dick Purtan's satirist brings his humor to the IN as our new Page 3 columnist. See page 3. »Young Filmmaker Returns Bryan Binder, 25, filmed his thriller in Farmington Hills and plans on staying here. See page 12. » Spunky CEO DETROIT JEWISH NEWS metro Ann Newman's mail-order prescription business is bringing jobs to Novi. See page 18. New JN columnist "Big Al" Muskowitz >> cover story Finding Joy Amid Sorrow Gary Weinstein with a portrait of the family he lost six years ago The car crash that killed his family shattered Gary Weinstein's world ... yet he lives each day with passion and presence. Ronelle Grier I Contributing Writer he day began like any other. A Tuesday in early May. Gary Weinstein kissed his wife, Judy, and their two sons, Sam, 9, and Alex, 12, goodbye and headed off to work. Judy was planning to pick the boys up later for a 3:45 appointment with their orthodontist. An ordinary day. Then the unthinkable happened. A Yukon Denali SUV, traveling down 12 Mile Road at 70 miles per hour, slammed into the back of Judy's red Honda Accord waiting to make a left turn into the park- ing lot of the orthodontist. Judy, 49, and Alex were killed instantly. Sam was thrown from the car and taken to Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital, where he died soon after his arrival. The driver of the Denali, Thomas Wellinger, was taken to the same hospital, where testing revealed that his blood alcohol level was .43, more than the five times the state legal limit for operating a vehicle. Within hours, the news ricocheted through the community. Every local news station, as well as some national broadcasts, car- ried the story of the mother and two young sons whose lives were ended so abruptly on an otherwise routine afternoon. Wellinger was arrested and subsequently convicted of three counts of CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 » arts American Idol Chutzpah Singer/musician Casey Abrams brings his grit and growl to the Joe. 9 1942 - 2011 Covering and Connecting Jewish Detroit Every Week Abrams talks of his Jewish STORY ON PAGE 38 08805 93363 5 roots and his wild side.