Driver Crashes School Bus Into House While Allegedly DUI

No children injured in Syosset crash; driver Frederick Flowers faces possible jail time

According to police, bus driver Frederick Flowers was driving under the influence of alcohol when he crashed a school bus into a Syosset home at 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

There were five children on board.

Questions Linger Regarding Syosset TAs

Syosset teaching assistants fear for their jobs while administration denies any plan to eliminate them

At the last board meeting on Monday, Sept. 24, Superintendent Carol Hankin said, in response to the allegation from attendee Martin Ugell (whose wife is a district TA) that the district is planning to mass-fire all district TAs, “There is no plan, at all, for this June to get rid of the TAs… I can tell you for sure, we haven’t talked about doing that.” However, the Syosset-Jericho Tribune has recently obtained a document, with Hankin’s signature, that explicitly mentions eliminating all teaching assistants.

POB Library Hosts Meet The Candidates Night

State Senate and Assembly candidates sound off on creating revenue, redistricting and cutting down on unfunded mandates

The 2010 Meet The Candidates Night at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Library was a rowdy affair, with candidates for NYS Senate and Assembly seats harshly criticizing each other and sometimes yelling to be heard over a hostile crowd. In comparison, the 2012 Meet the Candidates Night on Tuesday, Oct. 2, moderated by Paula Blum of The League of Women Voters, was downright friendly. Despite the fact that the event was shorter and the crowd smaller, the candidates by and large had no problem proposing specific solutions to problems in response to questions from members of the audience.

“I think our national political discourse would be far better off if the discourse were as civilized and as substantive as it was tonight,” commented 6th District Senate Candidate Ryan Cronin at the end of the evening.

Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt Dies

Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt died suddenly on the morning of Oct. 3. According to Ed Ward, spokesperson from the legislator’s office, Schmitt, 62, collapsed while in a budget meeting with Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano in the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building and was rushed to Winthrop Hospital. He died at 11:55 a.m.

“Nassau County has lost a dedicated public servant,” said Mangano in a statement. “My wife Linda and I lost a friend of over 20 years. Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt served the residents of Nassau County with great integrity and pride. I had the privilege of serving closely with Peter in the legislature since its creation in 1996, where he distinguished himself as an outspoken advocate for the residents of the 12th Legislative District.”

Nikhil Goyal: Leading A Learning Revolution

New book on education, penned by 17-year-old high school senior, challenges the way we think about school

Nikhil Goyal has been missing a lot of class lately. Judging solely by the number of school days skipped, one might assume that education simply isn’t that important to him. In truth, it’s the polar opposite: Goyal has been missing school because he’s busy traveling all over the country speaking about the need to revolutionize the American education system. At 17 years of age, this Woodbury student is already a respected author and education critic.

His new book, One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School, calls for some radical changes: letting students have a powerful voice in how their education will be conducted; an end to standardized testing, with tests of questionable veracity, and the high-pressure, “drill and kill” culture in the classroom that it creates; more respect, pay, and, most importantly, autonomy for teachers; and the abandonment of the memorize-and-regurgitate model of learning in favor of active involvement in challenging, creative projects.

Syosset Board Members Discuss New Ideas

Board and administration consider proposals from trustees DiFilippo and Lafazan while congratulating student achievement

After August’s contentious board meeting, members of the Syosset CSD Board of Education were largely on the same page at the Monday, Sept. 24 meeting. While some residents in attendance made it clear that they were unsatisfied with the district’s policies for community participation during the Audience to the Public segment, a cooperative board and administration who were largely receptive to the many ideas proposed by new trustees Josh Lafazan and Chris DiFilippo made for a sometimes tense, but productive meeting.

It was clear that the board was ironing out the protocol for having in-depth discussions of policy in public, in keeping with the desire of many in the district to see the board operate with greater transparency. Board president Dr. Michael Cohen also disclosed that he had read Robert’s Rules of Order in the interim, which got an appreciative laugh from the audience.

TOB’s Waiting For Union’s Negotiation Call

With layoffs on the table, Supervisor Venditto leaves the door open for union negotiations

Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto is still struggling to solve the town’s cash flow problems. To solve the TOB budget problems he needs union concessions or the town workers will experience layoffs.

Finding a solution began with a retirement offer which included $1,000 for each year of service which was accepted by 89 employees whose last day with the town was Aug. 30. They will receive the funds in a single payment at the end of October. It will be paid with a $7.5 million 10-year bond. The payment included any unused or sick days owed. The workers are guaranteed health care for life and for a surviving spouse, for five years (this is not a reduction or increase, but the same as the current contract).

JCB And JJC Form New Jewish Community

Two congregations join together to form a new model for Jewish observance

“L’Dor Vador” in Hebrew means “From Generation to Generation.” Now, for the Jewish Congregation of Brookville (JCB), the passing of Jewish traditions through the generations will now take place at the Jericho Jewish Center (JJC) located at 430 North Broadway in Jericho. As the result of a partnership in faith forged between the JJC and JCB, the two congregations on the North Shore have created an innovative model for Jewish observance and community building.

Redistricting Commission Announces Hearing Dates

Commissioners attempt to move forward in a bipartisan way; League of Women Voters advocates nonpartisan process

While the previous meeting of the Nassau County Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission on Thursday, June 28 was somewhat contentious, the mood at the latest meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 5 was very different, with both Democratic and Republican commissioners largely agreeing on most points raised. The commission announced the times and locations of the first round of public hearings on the 2013 redistricting, intended to solicit feedback from residents before the drawing of the new district map, then discussed the logistics of future hearings.

The four public hearings scheduled so far will take place Thursday, Sept. 20 at Long Beach City Hall at 6 p.m.; Monday, Sept. 24 at Elmont Public Library at 7 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 27 at Glen Cove Landing School at 6 p.m.; and Wednesday, Oct. 3 at the Nassau County Legislative Chambers in Mineola at 6 p.m.

Abstract Art Comes To LIU Post With ‘Navigator’

Paintings by Joe Overstreet on display at LIU Post through Sept. 27, lecture tonight

Artist Joe Overstreet has led a fairly interesting life so far. Born in Conehatta, Mississippi in 1933 of both African American and Native American descent, he saw the world from the water when he joined the Merchant Marine right after high school. After spending several years in the Merchant Marine, he was inspired to paint, eventually becoming part of a community of artists in New York City during the Civil Rights movement, fighting bigotry and ignorance through his art. Now approaching 80 years of age, he’s still painting in his NYC studio today.

With such a background, one might expect the current show in the Hutchins Gallery at Long Island University, “Navigator: Paintings By Joe Overstreet,” to be filled with representational work expressing his love for the beauty of the sea, or political paintings from the ’60s and ’70s. However, in recent years, Overstreet has turned increasingly toward abstraction. While the paintings on display at LIU (all recent work from 2011-2012) do feature some recognizable figurative elements, such as birds’ wings, “Navigator” mainly features pieces defined more by bold shapes and bright colors than any easily discernible topic.