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Vol. II No. XLIII | www.StandardLI.com | News@standardli.com | Ph.# 516-341-0445
JAN. 20-26, 2012
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MCCARTHY SEEKING TO CLOSE PLO’S DC OFFICE TO SUPPORT ISRAEL By Susan Varghese
Standard Associate Editor
Gray Days of Winter The serene landscape of Woodsburgh as seen from the Woodmere Town Dock in the winter months, the dock is located at the end of Woodmere Boulevard. Photo by Michael Goffin
Low Snow Helps Govts. Save Cash By Scott P. Moore
Standard Staff Reporter
A freak snowstorm in late October left many around The Five Towns and Long Island wondering whether or not Old Man Winter would come roaring back into our area earlier than normal after last year’s frozen winter that featured three blizzards. The snow left by the storm, however, melted away the next day and since Long Island has yet to see another measurable snowfall due to one of the warmest winters on record. With snow plows and street sanders kept
away and rested, many of The Five Towns’ villages, town and county governments are reaping the rewards and saving their money. “Without question, we’re way below the normal snowfall,” said Tim Moorin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton. “Some places that were not hit in the October storm have seen no snow at all. We’ve usually seen 10-to-12 inches by now.” It’s not that precipitation has not occurred – there have been some moderate storms that have rolled through since winter began, but temperatures have not been nearly low enough to sustain any form of
snow or ice. “We’ve had top 10 and five high temperatures in January,” said Moorin, who called this winter one of the top three or four warmest winters on record since 1869 so far. “John F. Kennedy Airport alone has had 4.4 degrees above normal this winter.” The warming trend has allowed many villages such as Lawrence and Cedarhurst to keep their plowing equipment away and stock up on salt and sand for whenever winter decides to break through. The warmer
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Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (DNY4) is introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives next week to urge the White House to close the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO’s) official office in Washington, DC. McCarthy is spearheading efforts to close the headquarters, according to her office, due to the PLO’s recent dealings, including their bid for statehood at the United Nations (U.N.) and partnership with Hamas. The resolution would demand the shut down of the office for two reasons; one is if the PLO continues to try to be unilaterally acknowledged as a state by the U.N. like they did in 2011. The bid violated previously signed agreements and negotiations with Israel, the United States and other nations. The resolution would also demand shut down of the office if the PLO’s recent partnership with Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization, actually develops into a formal government. “I’m all for the United States being a broker between Israel and the Palestinians to achieve their goal of a two-state solution, but I also believe in keep-
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy speaking at a Hadassah event recently.
Photo courtesy of Rep. Carolyn McCarthy ing your word, doing what’s right and doing whatever we can to marginalize and stop terrorist groups like Hamas,” Rep. McCarthy said. “My resolution draws a clear line in the sand – if the PLO won’t negotiate by the agreed-upon rules, and partners with terrorists, then it shouldn’t be allowed to have any kind of a formal presence in our nation’s capital. When push comes to shove, we have to stand by Israel and show our unequivocal support for our closest and most important ally in the Middle East.” Long Island rabbis and political leaders seem to agree with the resolution, citing some of
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A Dollar and a Dream: Lotto, Cokes and Candy at Woodmere’s Bodega By Jonathan Walter
Standard Staff Reporter
Walk into Woodmere Convenience store and you’ll probably find a customer, hunched over next to the newspapers, scratching off lotto tickets. Go pick out a drink and you’ll probably find the same customer buying more tickets with the money he won (or didn’t). Owner Tony Patel knows most of his customers and likes to hear their stories. He sells them their lotto tickets, cigarettes, candy, drinks, ice cream or whatever they need, and he listens and appreciates them. They are the reason he has been successful. “An average day starts at say 9:00 in the morning,” Patel said. “I come in and do all of my work, including the banking and seeing what I have in stock. I work with customers for a while, and then I’ll head out and go to the store to buy more supplies. I’ll come back in the evening and then I work all night. It’s a tough job with very long hours.”
Hewlett senior Chelsea Sidrane makes adjustments to Team Innovo’s robot during the scrimmage on Sunday. Photo by Scott P. Moore.
Woodmere Convenience’s own Tony Patel.
Photo by Jonathan Walter While he does sell a lot of lotto tickets (about $600-$700 dollars worth each day), he says the majority of his customers just come in for a coffee, or a newspaper, his biggest sellers. How-
ever, the customers who buy lotto tend to buy a lot. “We sell a lot of lottery tickets,” Patel said. “Usually peo-
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Steel Clashes at Hewlett H.S. as Robotics Teams Prep for Major Regional Competition
By Scott P. Moore Standard Staff Reporter
Controllers in hand, the group of students at Hewlett High
School looked like many other gamers their age – except for the fact their controllers were moving actual robots in a competition rather than a video
game. The Hewlett Robotics Club, home of FIRST Tech Challenge Team 3540 “Roboboogie”
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C l a s s i f i e d s B 6 • E d i t o r i a l s A 6 • M o v i e s B 4 • R e a l E s t a t e B 2 - B 3 • S p o r t s A 4 - A 5 - A 1 0 • We a t h e r B 8