Shine Dental Associates Opens in Syosset

“Shine” isn’t just a title; there are shining, glittering chandeliers all over the brand new dental office, located right across the street from Borders on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset. While the chandeliers in the waiting room are enough to grab most visitors’ attention, the people behind Shine Dental Associates of the North Shore didn’t do anything halfway; some of the most impressive chandeliers can be found in none other than the bathroom.

However, the new practice, which officially opened with a ribbon-cutting on Monday, May 9 (there had been a soft open previously), is built around the core concept of convenience, rather than luxury; multiple types of dental work can be done in the same venue, there’s a dental lab on the premises for all molds and denture work, and the front-desk associates will call with messages for family members and place dinner orders, functioning as more of a concierge service than a reception desk.

Jericho Firefighter Saves Driver After Heart Attack Behind the Wheel

Firefighters do periodically save lives as a part of their job, but in this case, a firefighter just happened to be passing by at the right time.

On Friday evening, April 29, John Melecio of the Jericho Fire Department, Guardian Engine Co. 2, came across a car stopped in the middle of the northbound lanes on Route 107, in front of St. Paul’s Church. He stopped to see what was going on, and found two people in the car- a male driver and a female passenger. The driver, a Huntington resident, was slumped over, unconscious. The passenger indicated to Melecio that the driver had just had a heart attack.

Syosset Board of Education Holds Budget Hearing

While the crowd at the Syosset Board of Education Budget Hearing on May 9 was very supportive, Superintendent Dr. Carole G. Hankin made it clear that she’s had quite enough of the anti-school budget talk that she knows has been circulating in the community.

“There’s a lot of misinformation being put out there by misinformed people who don’t have the facts,” said Hankin. The superintendent urged the audience to get the facts for themselves on any issue they vote on and stated that she was willing to personally meet with anyone who was talking down the budget to their neighbors. “I am now challenging them to come to my office and meet with me. And I will tell them any answer on any topic, because enough of lies,” stated Hawkin.

Residents Speak Out Against Redistricting Plan at May 9 Hearing

Calling the May 9 redistricting hearing “contentious” would be a gross understatement. While many of the residents and elected officials who took the podium criticized the plan logically and eloquently, there was a lot of screaming and yelling in the chamber. While the audience in the chamber was diverse in every respect, many members of the minority groups whose current alleged under-representation the redistricting plan is supposedly intended to correct, were present to tell Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt-in no uncertain terms-that he does not speak for them.

Minority Leader Diane Yatauro also did not mince words: “This hearing is nothing but a farce...I can tell you how most of this self-serving ‘Republican Protection Plan’ will play out today, over the next week. Here’s what will happen: We know that Peter Schmitt will claim to be the great protector of the minority community…” (the rest of this sentence was inaudible due to audience laughter). “Just as they were spending millions of dollars to defend the NIFA fight, but to no avail, as the Republicans were shot down in court, we’re expecting the same action. And that’s where this will end up again- in court,” Yatauro said.

Old Bethpage Village Restoration Hosts 13th Annual Long Island Envirothon

Chaminade High School Triumphs in Premiere LI Environmental Competition

Students who visit Old Bethpage Village Restoration are usually tasked with imagining what it was like to live in the past. However, during the 13th Annual Long Island Envirothon, held on the Restoration grounds on April 26, high school students from all over Nassau and Suffolk counties were given a very different, but equally valid task: to look at the present, and, more importantly, the future, from the viewpoint of environmental conservation.

Nassau County Legislature Holds First Hearing On Redistricting Proposal

Republicans and Democrats Disagree Over Interpretation of Section 112 of Nassau County Charter

The members of the Nassau County Legislature can all agree on what Section 113 and Section 114 of the county charter mean; however, as residents at the first hearing on the 2011 county redistricting proposal (put forth by Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt and the Republicans who currently control the legislature) learned very quickly, Section 112 is a very different beast. Much of the discussion at the Monday, May 2 hearing involved questions of interpretation of the county charter- or, if it was a question of interpretation at all.

BCA Endorses Jericho 2011/2012 School District Budget

At the open meeting of the Birchwood Civic Association on Tuesday, April 12, the BCA Education Committee introduced Jericho Superintendent of Schools Henry Grishman, board of education president Barbara Krieger, board of education vice president Joe Lorintz, and trustee Shawn Gladstone to overview and respond to questions about the district’s proposed budget. Members of the BCA Education Committee had previously attended the district’s budget workshops, public meetings where the budget was analyzed line by line. Grishman indicated that the district took seriously the community’s input and had therefore developed a very tight budget, while preserving student programs. Total district expenditures in 2011/12 will be 2.79 percent above the 201/11 budget, resulting in a tax levy increase of 2.94 percent. 

Upper Brookville Commissioner Fills in the Details on the Old Brookville Police Department

Residents of the Village of Upper Brookville filled the Conference Center at Planting Fields Arboretum Historic State Park on April 19. They were there to hear their village boards take on the events resulting from Muttontown Mayor Julianne Beckerman announcing her village was pulling out of their partnership with Upper Brookville and five other villages for the services of the Old Brookville Police Department. While the event was an Upper Brookville meeting, the topic kept coming back to Muttontown; in fact, several of the speakers were from Muttontown.

Jericho Teachers Forgo Pay Raises

Jericho teachers have agreed to give up a 3.5 percent pay raise that they were contracted to receive next year - saving the district $1.2 million. Teachers will retain annual “step” increases (averaging 1.5 percent) built into their salary schedules. In exchange, teachers obtained a three-year contract extension with a raise of 1.9 percent in 2012-13, zero percent in 2013-14 and 1.9 percent in 2014-15, plus steps. The $1.2 million in savings will partially offset the $4.1 million of reserves and fund balance that needed to be appropriated to hold the tax levy at 2.94 percent. In addition, the teachers’ contributions toward healthcare benefits will be 21 percent by the end of the contract. 

Syosset Board of Education Holds Budget Work Session

Board Approves Lowest Budget-to-Budget Increase in 21 Years

At the beginning of Thursday, April 14, Syosset School District’s proposed budget was $192,561,637, a 1.97 percent increase over last year’s budget. However, by the time Superintendent Dr. Carole G. Hankin announced the budget to the community at that evening’s budget work session at South Woods Middle School, some last-minute savings had lowered it to $192,353,912, a 1.86 percent increase- the lowest in 21 years, said Hankin.