Gavin Tapped to Man Mineola Middle School

Former PPS Director, Jackson Avenue principal to head up MMS

Current school district pupil personnel director (PPS) Matthew Gavin will take the position of Mineola Middle School principal effective July 1. MMS principal Mark Barth announced he’d be retiring at the end of the year in January.

Gavin’s position will pay $166,696 a year, according to school district officials. He will undergo a standard probationary period from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2015.

School Start Time Changes On the Table in Mineola

District superintendent details three options, no decision yet

The last time a slew of options were on the docket for the Mineola School Board, it had to do with closing schools and moving grades which sent parents and residents into an uproar, both for and against. This time, school start times are up for alteration.

Start times for the buildings in the Mineola School District may have to be changed once again for next school year. District administrators presented three options to the public at a board of education meeting at the Willis Avenue School.

Mineola Mourns Passing of Chief William J. Mahoney

Longtime fire chief remembered

It was with deep regret that the Chief’s office of the Mineola Fire Department announced that on Friday Feb. 17, ex-Chief William J. Mahoney answered his final alarm. Chief Mahoney fought a courageous battle against cancer and remained a proud firefighter throughout his ordeal.

Bill Mahoney was involved in the fire service for nearly forty years.  From 1972 to 1976, Bill served as a member of Engine Company Three and the Rescue Squad of the Garden City Park Fire Department. During his time in Garden City Park he rose to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. A seasoned firefighter, Bill quickly found a home in the Mineola Fire Department when he joined in April of 1976.

Police Investigating Graffiti Spree in Mineola

Village reacts to spray paint attacks, offers reward in conjunction with Chaminade High School

Mineola was hit with such a graffiti spree recently that if one were to draw a line across a map, a slash across the village would appear. Mineola and Chaminade officials are working with local authorities to erase that slash.

Mayor Scott Strauss announced last week that Mineola, along with Chaminade High School are offering a reward for any information regarding the graffiti attacks in Mineola. He called the acts intolerable.

The Third Squad is currently investigating aggravated harassment that occurred in Mineola between Friday, Feb. 10 at 11 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.

“Mineola is a community of families and I’m outraged to see someone sink to such low levels and go against the grain of everything this community represents,” he said. “This was not simply a thoughtless act nor was it just about disrespecting the property of others. This type of crime is the acting out of hateful thoughts of those who have nothing but disdain for their fellow citizens.”

Martins Explains School District State Aid Figures

Says Mineola aid was not cut, but reimbursable aid decreased because district did not spend the funds

Mineola School District officials recently commented on state aid figures for Mineola, stating the district received cuts in state aid. According to one local senator, aid went down, but not because of cuts.

State education aid is broken down into two components: Foundation aid (FA) and reimbursable aid (RA). FA can be applied “anyway a district wants,” 7th district senator Jack Martins said, “while the other is used in a way the state can reimburse a district for certain expenses.”

FA ($3,703,599 last year) would be the same this year as reflected in the governors proposed budget and could possibly increase. Martins said that RA, money that districts can be paid back for, fluctuates because districts may or may not spend all funds designated as reimbursable.

NC Legislature Presiding Officer Schmitt Vows No Tax Increases

Says plan for restructuring police precincts is extremely practical and will not impact public safety

Since the inception of the Nassau County Legislature in 1996, Peter Schmitt has had a few titles. In addition to Legislator representing the 12th Legislative District, he has been Deputy Presiding Officer, Minority Leader and, since Republicans gained back control of the Legislature in the 2009 elections, Majority Leader and Presiding Officer.

“The future of the county, Massapequa and its well-being is of the utmost importance of me,” said Schmitt during an interview with Anton Community Newspapers, adding that this is especially true because his daughter also lives in Massapequa as will his future grandchild.

As the leader of Nassau Republicans, Schmitt is often the lawmaker who most publicly spars with Democrats over policy-making decisions.

Mineola Featured In Time For Kids

The Mineola School District was featured this month in the national children’s publication Time for Kids (being held up by Superintendent Michael Nagler). The district’s technology program, specifically with regard to the use of iPads and Netbooks in the middle school classrooms, has garnered tremendous attention. To view the complete article, please visit the Mineola Middle School webpage on the district’s website www.mineola.k12.ny.us.               

 

Motor Parkway Land Survey Near Completion

Mineola, Town of North Hempstead meeting this week

Public Works officials revealed that Mineola is close to completing a land survey on property just north of Westbury Avenue in Carle Place. This is in an effort to move the current Bruce Terrace Flood Remediation project forward, which village officials stated in the past that the Town of North Hempstead was dragging its feet on their part.

According to a construction report, the land in question would need drainage improvements, including installation of new catch basins and pipes on three to four streets near the border of Mineola and Carle Place, provided by the Town. A recharge basin would be built on Mineola land located north of Westbury Avenue near Glen Cove Road near the old Motor Parkway.

Public Works Superintendent Tom Rini said project and village engineering consultant Dvirka & Bartilucci (D&B) sent the Town service proposals. It was confirmed the Town received the proposal in September.

Huge Win for Mineola’s Boy Scout Troop 45

Mineola Takes Klonkdike Derby by Storm

For 26 years, the Shelter Rock District of the Theodore Roosevelt Council, Boy Scouts of America has run a Klondike Derby at the end of January at the Muttontown Preserve.  The Klondike Derby is loosely based on the Ididirod sled race in Alaska with the Boy Scout version having groups of 4 to 8 Scouts pushing homemade sleds through the trails of Muttontown rather than having them pulled by dog teams as in the Ididirod.

This is an event that Mineola’s Boy Scout Troop 45 takes very seriously. For the last 26 years, Patrols from Troop 45 have participated in this event and for much of the event’s history, Troop 45 has fielded the Patrols to beat.

Under Senior Patrol Leader Glenn Peters and Scoutmaster Steve Grosskopf, Troop 45 has been preparing for this year’s Klondike for several months. Weekly Troop Meetings were given over to learning Scout skills and at individual Patrol meetings the Patrols work on those skills and developing teamwork.

Mineola HS Graduate to Host NYU Radio Show

Mineola High School graduate John Watts is the new host of New York University’s radio talk show Earshot. WNYU’s live current events talk show brings its listeners opinions and analysis on politics and current events affecting New Yorkers, the nation, and the world.

“I won’t shy away from telling my viewers what I believe in,” Watts said.

John and his co-host Mel Zelikovsky provide insightful panel discussions and heated debates in the show’s thirty-minute time slot. Whether it’s the 2012 election coverage, legislative decisions, controversial issues, or current events from around the world, Earshot keeps its viewers informed.