Nassau County police arrested Larry Ellis, formerly of Chicago, Illinois, earlier this month in Hempstead after he unsuccessfully tried to use gift certificates he allegedly stole from a church in Connecticut. After a subsequent investigation, Ellis was charged with stealing from three Long Island churches, including St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Garden City, and was implicated in 25 others in Nassau and Suffolk counties. FULL STORY

When Bertelsmann AG and Time, Inc., two multimedia giants, combined forces to form the largest book club marketer in America, Bookspan was born. The multi-billion-dollar media conglomerate will create 450 additional jobs at its Franklin Avenue location, book club headquarters - nearly doubling the headquarters' workforce to 900 employees. FULL STORY

Open registration for Little League Baseball and Girls Softball is underway. Preprinted applications were mailed to all participants who played last spring. Additional applications are available at the Garden City Recreation Department in Village Hall and St. Paul's or may be printed from the web site http://www.gc-aa.com FULL STORY

The Recreation Department will be offering jazz and tap classes for adults at Cluett Hall. These classes are open to adult residents of the Village of Garden City and will be taught by Felicia Lovaglio-Donohue. The lessons will begin the week of Jan. 20 according to the following schedule: FULL STORY