Legislator Norma L. Gonsalves, together with Parents for Megan's Law and the Bowling Green Elementary School PTA, will host a Parent Workshop entitled, "Apple of My Eye" on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in the school's West Wing, 2340 Stewart Avenue.

This will be a PowerPoint program for adults developed by Laura A. Ahearn, LMSW, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law. This program will teach the Ten Prevention Tips to protect your child from childhood sexual abuse. Most prevention programs focus on "stranger danger" and do not address the reality that 90 percent of childhood sexual abuse occurs with someone a child has an established a trusting relationship with. You will learn real skills that will help protect your children.

"The safety of our children is our highest priority," said Gonsalves. "Parents for Megan's Law, a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to the prevention and treatment of sexual abuse, has created the Sex Offender Email Alert Program. This program notifies you each time Parents for Megan's Law is notified of the presence of a registered sex offender by any police departments or the State. To register for the email alert program, you can go to the Parents for Megan's Law website (www.parentsformeganslaw.org or call 1-888-ASK-PFML."

If you need further information, call Legislator Gonsalves' office at 571-6213.

Legislator Norma L. Gonsalves will host a series of community forums on "How to Challenge Your Tax Assessment" beginning on Monday, Jan. 14 in the East Meadow Public Library meeting room at 7:30 p.m. The additional forums will be as follows:

Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. in the North Merrick Public Library meeting room.

Feb. 8 at 2:30 p.m. in the North Bellmore Public Library meeting room.

Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the East Meadow Public Library meeting room.

The filing period to challenge tax assessments is from Jan. 1 to March 2, 2008. A representative from the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission will discuss the process by which residents may file a legal challenge against their new tax assessments. Forms will be available at each forum.

"These forums are intended to provide as much information needed to facilitate the grievance process in a timely manner," said Gonsalves. "I urge all residents who may feel they need to file a tax grievance to attend one of the forums."

For further information on the forums, contact Legislator Gonsalves' office at 571-6213.