Letter: Concerned About Medicare Cuts to Physicians?

At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2010, doctors who treat Medicare patients are scheduled to absorb a 25 percent pay cut – a cut that threatens the ability of seniors to see their physicians and receive the care they need. It is up to Congress to stop this pay cut and ensure that doctors are not driven out of Medicare.

Letter: Legitimate Concerns on Assessment Controversy

I read Tony Brita’s column, “Jankowski Was Scapegoated While on Truck Toward True Assessment Reform,” The Massapequan Observer, Nov. 19, 2010. Did he write to Mr. Mangano? Are the residents of Nassau County so easily fooled, or is this “politics as usual?” The taxpayers deserve an answer to Mr. Brita’s claims from Mr. Mangano. I, for one, am sick and tired of getting phone calls and countless letters from certiorari/reduction companies courting my business. I have lived in a home in Massapequa for over seven years, my taxes have more than doubled, and the number of firms that court my business has increased five fold! It sounds like Mr. Brita has some legitimate concerns, as should all the taxpayers of Nassau County. So, Mr. Mangano, care to answer any of these claims, and explain how you are going to fix a very broken system with people who have conflicts of interest in respect to their way of making a living?

Karin Hibler-Pevsner

Parenthood Plus: November 26, 2010

Please Do Fight With Your Teen-Agers

Teen-agers enjoy a good “fight” with adults who do not feel a need to dominate and are willing to listen. As children progress from the “earthbound” quality of concrete thinking to the “intergalactic” quality of complex thinking, they become capable of formulating contrary-to-fact-hypotheses, of leaping with their minds here, there and everywhere. Herein lays the source of teen-agers’ growing ability and fervor for challenging others’ ideas, beliefs and values and for engaging in furious debate, often to the dismay of parents, teachers and other adults.

From the Desk of Gary Brosnan: November 26, 2010

On behalf of the South Farmingdale Water District and Board of Commissioners, I’d like to warn residents to be aware of false and misleading statements and claims recently made about Long Island water quality. A local organization has been leaving solicitous door tags and fliers with area residents which offer free water testing. The promotional materials contain misleading information, which may alarm uninformed residents. While the South Farmingdale Water District cannot forbid the company from continuing its marketing ploys and erroneous claims, the District has made it clear that the water delivered to your home meets or exceeds water quality standards. In keeping with New York State Law, the South Farmingdale Water District publishes a water quality report annually and releases the report to the community (by mail and web) each May.

Jankowski Was Scapegoated While on Track Toward True Assessment Reform

My name is Tony Brita.  In July, 2008, former County Executive Tom Suozzi appointed me Vice Chairman of the Nassau County Board of Assessors. I served as acting County Assessor when elected assessor Harvey Levinson resigned in November, 2008, and worked in that capacity until voters approved a charter change making the Assessor’s role an appointed position, ostensibly to remove it from politics.  After Suozzi appointed Ted Jankowski County Assessor, I stayed on as a Deputy Assessor, reporting directly to Jankowski until I resigned in May, 2010 to return to the private sector.

From Long Island Wins: November 19, 2010

Thanksgiving: A Tradition of Welcoming

As we all learned in elementary school, the first Thanksgiving holiday set the tone for centuries to come. During the initial winter that the Pilgrims spent in Plymouth, Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag tribe, donated food stores to the settlers. In turn, the Pilgrims invited members of the tribe to a three-day feast after their first harvest in 1621.

What Every Long Islander Should Know: November 12, 2010

A Big Step Toward a Smaller Carbon Footprint

“Greenhouse” gases: pleasant-sounding name for carbon dioxide, methane, and other carbon-based gases that threaten to destroy ecosystems, play havoc with weather patterns, raise sea levels worldwide, and inundate much of Long Island.

Parenthood Plus: October 29, 2010

Friendly Fire?

Mary Tillman is the mother of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan. She wrote the book Boots on the Ground by Dusk, which detailed her attempt to find out the truth about her son’s death and exposed a cover-up by the Pentagon and the White House. Mary Tillman dedicated the book to “all military families, who are seeking to understand the sacrifices their sons and daughters have made. They too are entitled to the truth from their government.”

Letter: Disappointed in Venditto

I was disappointed but not surprised to hear that John Venditto just proposed a tax increase because, after all, this continues the pattern of the all-Republican Oyster Bay Town Board. Despite the fact that seven out of ten other towns on Long Island have found a way to hold the line on taxes, Oyster Bay has followed its normal playbook of increasing taxes in a non-election year. This maintains the practice, which has led to a 45 percent increase in taxes over the last six years. This translates to an average tax increase of approximately $600.00. My one hope is that Councilwoman Rebecca Alesia cannot possibly vote for this increase, inasmuch as she is running for re-election on the Tax Revolt line.

Peter J. Clines

From Long Island Wins: October 22, 2010

Regardless of the Victims, Hate Crimes Hurt Us All

“Three men in the Bronx – two of them teenagers – held against their will and tortured by a group of young men because they were suspected of being gay.