Election Results

School Budget (Proposition #1)

Yes: 1,736
No: 848

School Board Trustees

Amy Pierno: 1,871
Evy Rothman: 1,794

Library Budget (Proposition #2)

Yes: 1,801
No: 774

Library Board of Trustees

Stefanie Nelkens: 1753

POB Students Earn Top Honors At DECA Conference

John F. Kennedy High School DECA students declared finalists in national competition 

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District announced that eight John F. Kennedy High School (POBJFK) DECA teams were recently named finalists at the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over 50 students from POBJFK competed at the conference, which was attended by 12,000 students and advisors from across the world.

In order to be selected for the final round of competition, students had to deliver several presentations over the course of five days. Plainview Old-Bethpage DECA was very successful, with several teams outscoring hundreds of competitors to achieve finalist recognition.

Cottage Pharmacy To Open Spa Treatment Room

Independently-owned Woodbury pharmacy offers new services as customer needs change

Cottage Pharmacy in Woodbury is a rarity. Independently owned and operated for 37 years, it’s a pharmacy that lacks any chain affiliation, proudly going its own way in an era when a CVS seems to crop up on every other corner. Furthermore, Cottage is not only surviving but thriving; last fall, the business saw a move to a new location in Woodbury Common that is 50 percent larger than their old store on Jericho Turnpike, leading to the expansion of several departments and the opportunity to carry many new product lines. How has the business remained so vibrant, in light of all the competition?

ACDS Prepares Students For Kindergarten And Life Beyond

School for children with Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorders and other disabilities celebrates new technology and facilities

We often think of kindergarten as a time for children to do little more than fill in coloring books with some friends and build castles with blocks, but the fact is, it can be tough to be a kindergartner these days. Many children experience some culture shock when they go from the relatively carefree world of pre-school (or time at home with Mom and Dad) to kindergarten, and that can lead to bouts of crying and other behavioral problems. Most children adapt, but if kindergarten can be so difficult for the average child, what problems does it present for children with disabilities?

Plainview-Old Bethpage Board Of Education Holds Annual Budget Hearing

Proposed Fern Place parking lot continues to dominate discussion

The Monday, May 7 meeting of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Board of Education featured a full agenda, but one item dominated much of the discussion: the proposed parking lot repairs and additional parking lot construction at The Fern Place School, expected to cost between $40,000 and $80,000. However, before addressing this controversial project, there was the non-trivial matter of the $137,263,959 2012-13 budget in its entirety to consider.

SPECIAL REPORT: THE FIRST OF A THREE-PART SERIES: Just One Pill

Forget dealers—new generation of addicts goes straight for the medicine cabinets

The 10th-grader selected her favorite color. It was a very simple task that she and most young people have probably done countless times before. However, this time, the stakes were never higher. She was not choosing a color for a blouse, a cell phone case or curtains for her bedroom. Instead, she was selecting a pill from a menagerie of narcotics that her peers had brought to a “pharm party” – an alarming and frightening phenomenon that’s been making a comeback among teenagers throughout Long Island.

Nassau GOP Calls Dem’s ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Illegal

Republicans call on DA to investigate Democrat’s demand of independent redistricting for bond approval

Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli revealed at a press conference on April 26 that he asked District Attorney Kathleen Rice to investigate if all nine Democratic county legislators engaged in criminal activity. He cited the Democrats threat of refusing to vote on bond approvals if a compromise on redistricting is not reached.

The county attorney read a Dec. 15, 2011 correspondence from Democratic Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams, which was also signed by the other eight minority legislators, advising County Executive Ed Mangano that, “we cannot in good conscience consider any borrowing requests for any purpose until we arrive at a satisfactory resolution of legislative redistricting.” The county is looking to borrow up to $140 million, which requires a super majority (13 of 19) vote from the legislature.

Abrams To Climb Mount Kilimanjaro For Autism

Island Rock will host ‘Climb for a Cause’ for Spectrum Designs May 19

When Justin Abrams first visited Island Rock Indoor Rock Climbing in Plainview, it looked like his introduction to the sport was going to have to wait; it was 9 p.m., and the place was shut down tight. However, the 7-year-old from Dix Hills wasn’t in the mood to take no for an answer. He wanted to climb, and he wanted to climb now.

“As a little kid does, I ran up to the front door and started banging on the door, and the manager actually came out and saw that I was…literally in my pajamas,” remembered Abrams. Impressed by such enthusiasm, the manager put the pajama-clad Abrams in a harness and let the child climb, free of charge, all over the rock walls in the empty gym late into the night.

Biggest Season Yet For Plainview Little League Challengers

Baseball team for special-needs players expands with more kids, more games, and more fun in the sun

The Challengers play ball a little differently from most Little League teams. There’s no such thing as a strike or a ball, every player can stay up at bat until they get a hit, and they don’t even keep score. However, when you see the players (most of whom have special needs) running around the bases on a beautiful Sunday morning at Haypath Park in Old Bethpage, there’s no doubt about it: score or no score, strikes or no strikes, they’re having some good old-fashioned baseball fun.

Since its inception in 1998, The Plainview Little League Challengers has always been a non-competitive, co-ed league. While the players do get the opportunity to work on their batting and fielding skills, the emphasis is more on providing the benefits of the team sports experience to those who have traditionally been denied it. The real goal is getting special needs children out on the field, interacting with other kids, getting some fresh air and generally having a blast.

Gillibrand, Israel Host LI Sound Roundtable

Legislators seek regular funding schedule to preserve Sound’s economic engine

Oyster Bay, known for its pristine water quality as a result of years of good stewardship – a great place to grow oysters and clams – was chosen as the location for a roundtable discussion on funding for the Long Island Sound. On April 13, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Steve Israel hosted a Protect the Long Island Sound roundtable with local stakeholders held at the Sagamore Yacht Club. Federal funding for restoration and stewardship programs to protect Long Island Sound expired at the end of 2011. Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Representative Israel, a co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, introduced legislation last month to support the restoration of Long Island Sound through 2016. The LI Sound borders New York and Connecticut, with 8 million people living on the coast and 20 million people living within 50 miles.