THE SOUTH SHORE STANDARD • MARCH 2-8

Page 1

ABRAHAM ROOFING

Ask About our Affordable Annual Maintenance Plan! “The Neighborhood Leader in Roofing Service!”

1-800-347-0913 Abrahamroofing.com

ROOFING GUTTERS LEADERS SIDING

BATTLE OF THE BURGERS II Who Makes the Best Local Kosher Burger? Page B1

17

8

DAYS UNTIL SPRING!

DAYS UNTIL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!

Vol. II No. XLIX | www.StandardLI.com | News@standardli.com | Ph.# 516-341-0445

MARCH 2-8, 2012

FREE EVERY FRIDAY

YOUR FIVE TOWNS HOMETOWN PAPER

Hewlett Man Allegedly Part of $279 Million Fraud By Susan Varghese

WOODMERE PARENT SUES DISTRICT OVER BULLYING

All Smiles in the House The Chabad of Hewlett had their official dedication celebration on last Sunday at their new location at 1160 Broadway. The occasion is referred to in Hebrew as a “Chanukas HaBayis” and it offered special programming for kids, including decorating mezuzah cases, decorating cookies, and a special presentation for the writing of a new Torah Scroll. Food and refreshments were served and the program went well into the afternoon.

By Scott P. Moore

Standard Staff Reporter

A Woodmere parent and her special-needs son have filed a lawsuit against the Hewlett-Woodmere Union Free School District and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of Nassau County for ignoring complaints after the child was allegedly bullied for being Jewish at school. The lawsuit, filed by Woodmere resident Lori Hoffman and her son, a minor, alleges the school district and BOCES did nothing after she complained her son was being bullied at a special education program held at the Eagle Avenue Middle School in West Hempstead. The lawsuit is seeking up to $10.5 million in damages due to the student’s loss of religious freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, which ensures citizens’ rights

A Hewlett man is one of 36 people arrested and charged for allegedly being a part of a $279 million health care fraud scheme. Mikhail Zemlyansky, 35, is facing four counts and a maximum penalty of 70 years in prison. According to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office, “the indictment includes racketeering charges against eight members and associates of a criminal organization consisting mostly of individuals of Russian descent who were the owners and controllers of fraudulent medical clinics (the “No Fault Organization”), as well as 10 licensed

Photo by Susan Varghese

CONTINUED ON P. A3

Gas Prices Skyrocketing Despite Increased Supply, Warm Winter By Jonathan Walter

Standard Staff Reporter

The price of oil is going up, up, up, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. All around The Five Towns, residents are feeling the heat at the pump, as cash prices for regular gasoline hover between $3.90 and $4.00. It isn’t because of a lack of supply either as the world’s oil supply increased by 1.3 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2011. The short answer is that people are taking advantage of the futures market on oil as the speculation bubble drives up prices. Speculation bubbles mean little to local homeowners though, and all that factors in is the price of gas as well as home heating oil, especially during a warm winter

Standard Associate Editor

Shell in Cedarhurst has some of the highest gas prices around.

Photo by Jonathan Walter where supply should be up and demand down. One Long Island oil distributor has taken to the web to sell oil, and has some of the lowest prices around at $3.79 a gallon. How-

ever, many local oil companies are taking a big hit this winter as demand is down due to the weather, while the price continues to increase. Kevin Rooney, CEO of The Oil

Heat Institute of Long Island, a company that represents the island’s heating oil companies and it’s consumers, referenced “degree days,” a term used to determine the colder and warmer weather to show the plight of the oil heating industry. “Take the demand side,” Rooney said. “In terms of how we measure colder or warmer, the measurement is called degree days. Degree days is a measurement that used the mean temperature subtracted from 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If the high was 50 degrees and the low was 40 degrees, then the mean was 45, then you have a 20 heating degree day. that is recorded at Brookhaven National Laboratory and they go

CONTINUED ON P. A4

TEACHER EVALUATIONS ARE NEW STATE LAW By Susan Varghese

Standard Associate Editor

Two weeks ago, The New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the state’s teachers union reached an agreement for evaluating teachers; one of the most criticized adopted measures is that up to 40 percent of a teacher’s rating can be based on standardized test scores. Although evaluating teachers based on test scores is only one of the many components to the system, it’s what has many New York school officials and teachers apprehensive, including in The Five Towns. “I believe the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers is fundamentally invalid,” Ric Stark, President of the Hewlett-Woodmere Faculty Association (HWFA) said. “Standardized tests are designed to assess student learning, which is affected by many factors completely beyond the teacher’s control. No simplistic attempt to magically create a 0-20 rating from test scores can replace the trained eye of an experienced supervisor who actually watches what the teacher does and the human interaction he/ she has with the children in his/her care. HWFA will do its best to work with the District to create an Annual Professional Perfor-

CONTINUED ON P. A3 CONTINUED ON P. A2

Auxiliary Police: Helping Keep The Five Towns Safe By Scott P. Moore

Standard Staff Reporter

“All units, reporting a two-car accident in Cedarhurst... back parking lot... over,” the radio hums out in between bursts of interference and static. Without flinching, Captain Danny Gluck assesses the situation and decides to make sure no one is injured. He turns the Axillary Police SUV down into the back parking lots and happens to trail a Nassau County Police Officer’s car, also looking for the reported incident. Both cars look for about five minutes before Gluck tails back to Central Avenue, allowing the of-

ficer to continue the search. “There’s not much I can do during an accident,” he said, noting the several differences of an auxiliary officer versus a salaried police officefs. “I just like to make sure everyone’s okay. Always happens to be more accidents on a day like today.” He would know, of course. Gluck, the Commanding Officer of the Nassau County Police Department Fourth Precinct Auxiliary Police, has been serving and protecting The Five Towns’ for over 14 years as a part of the area’s volunteer police presence. Gluck said he always wanted to

have a career in law enforcement, but missed the cutoff age to get into the Nassau County Police Academy during the 1990’s. His friends suggested that he try what they called “the absolute next best thing” – volunteering in the auxiliary police. His time in the force has been well spent, too – Gluck has risen through the ranks quickly, being promoted to Sergeant in 2005, Lieutenant in 2008, the Commanding Officer of the Precinct’s Auxilary Force in 2009 and, most recently, to Captain this past April. “I’ve always enjoyed this,” he said Captain Danny Gluck has been a part of the Auxiliary Police in The Five Towns for over 14 years, helping to keep our neighborhood safe. Photo by Scott P. Moore.

CONTINUED ON P. A2

C l a s s i f i e d s B 6 • E d i t o r i a l s A 8 • G a s T r a c k e r A 7 • M i l k T r a c k e r A 5 • M o v i e s B 4 • We a t h e r A 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.