Special Passover Section Page B5
Vol. I No. IV
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SERVING THE FIVE TOWNS
APRIL 8-14, 2011
Nassau Police Using Technology to Bring Crime Rate Down
INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR PLANT UNDER SCRUTINY Operators Say Plant is Safe
By AUSTIN SYKES Standard Staff Reporter
By JONATHAN WALTER Standard Staff Reporter
The nuclear crisis in Japan has New York feeling a little hot under the collar about its own nuclear power plant. The nuclear power station at Indian Point, owned by the Entergy Corporation, has come under scrutiny lately. Following the Japan disaster and pressure from New York political leaders led by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has placed the facility at the top of their list as they try to gauge the safety of the country’s 104 nuclear reactors, given its proximity to New York City. A recently released Harris Poll indicates that since 2008, the number of American adults who favor the construction of nuclear power plants has decreased from 49 percent to 41 percent. In addition, the number of adults who consider nuclear power plants very safe has decreased from 34 percent to 29 percent. “Entergy welcomes Governor Cuomo’s call for a review of Indian Point by the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and stands ready to assist,” Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said. “All citizens of New York need to have access to the pertinent facts regarding Indian Point. We strongly believe that knowing the facts will answer the public’s questions and will also clearly demonstrate that this facility is safe-designed with a margin of safety beyond the strongest earthquake anticipated in the area.” Many Five Towns residents still seemed to hold optimistic views of nuclear power here in New York despite the Japanese disaster.
FREE EVERY FRIDAY
Pictured are some of the models that participated in the Sababa fashion show on Sunday, pictured clockwise: Brittany Piket, Carly Danowitz, Ali Wasserman, and Rachel Fisher. The Sababa chapter of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, organized a fashion show benefit for Sunrise Day Camp on Sunday, April 3 at Congregation Beth Emeth. The benefit was in an effort to raise money to send a child to Sunrise Day Camp, which caters to children with cancer. The clothes were donated by Mixology.
Nassau County Police have gone high-tech in their methods of cutting crime. As a result, reported criminal activity in The Five Towns and surrounding areas has dropped significantly. Nassau County Police Department Detective Vincent Garcia attributes the drop largely to some new high-tech equip-
Schools Now Saddled with New State Mandates By SUSAN VARGHESE Standard Associate Editor
While some New York school districts are suffering from the state’s $1.2 billion in cuts to local schools, districts such as Hewlett-Woodmere are equally concerned about the additional 17.6 percent in costs they now have to bear in maintenance for special education students’ placement in residential facilities. “On time passage of the New York State Budget will permit districts to more accurately predict state aid for next year. While the small increase in aid negotiated by the legislature is welcome, it will not be large enough to offset the latest shift in obligations from the state to school districts, namely the new requirement for school districts to take on the state’s share of maintenance costs for special education students placed in residential facilities,” said Peter Weber, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of Business for HewlettWoodmere Public Schools. Representatives from the Lawrence School District could not be reached for comment, but according to the New York State Education De-
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partment’s figures, Lawrence received a total of $7,315,049 aid for the 2011 to 2012 year, $624,553 less aid than they got last year. Morris Peters from the New York State Budget Office noted that when the Committee on Special Education determines that a child needs to be placed in a residential environment, there are expenses for room and board, which is split between county, state and the school district. In the enacted budget, the state takes 18.4 percent of the cost of maintenance (room and board), while the other 17.6 percent of the obligation shifts to school districts. “If you’re making the determination where the child should go, its important line the decision making with the financial impact of that decision. If someone else is paying for whatever your expenses are, you have no motivation to consider price,” noted Peters, in explaining the new financial shift. However, according to the 2011-2012 Executive Budget Education, Labor, and Family Assistance Article VII Legislation Memorandum, The
Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) is charged with overseeing the maintenance (room and board) costs of students who are placed in residential schools by the Committee on Special Education when the child’s needs cannot be met in the school district. “Currently, the maintenance cost shares are split as follows: 36.8 percent to the State, 43.2 percent to the local
social services district and 20 percent to the school district. This bill adjusts this allocation of costs so that the school district cost share will be 56.8 percent, and the State will no longer bear such maintenance costs.” Gov. Andrew Cuomo originally proposed a $1.5 billion decrease in aid, and then rein-
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ment recently acquired by the police department that’s made the streets safer – and also made preventing criminal activity from occurring a much easier task. One of the new pieces of equipment is called ShotSpotter, which triangulates the location of any gunshot fired in specified areas throughout Nassau County and The Five Towns with pinpoint accuracy. Officers are then alerted and are able to get to the exact location faster than ever. Detective Garcia explained that the system has reportedly helped cut down on gunshot occurrences by 60 percent – it works so well, he said, that it’s actually even better than the reports. “I’ve been doing this for 24 years now – this is the coolest thing I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Detective Garcia. The ShotSpotter operates through the same electromagnetic waves and frequencies used in the transmission of radio signals, and work simi-
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Hewlett Library Budget Passes 3.7% Increase from Last Year The Hewlett-Woodmere Library budget was passed 243 votes for to 94 against. Additionally, Frank Zaret was reelected as a Library Trustee. The budget of $5,889,403 is a $211,233 increase over last year’s budget, which amounts to 3.7 percent. The new budget will go into effect on July 1st, the start of the library’s fiscal year. “We’re pleased that the budget passed,” Hewlett-Woodmere Library Director Susan de Sciora. “It was a very difficult year. Everyone in the community and people on the
staff were concerned about increasing taxes. People forget that many of the staff members live in the community too. We’re going to be looking for more efficient ways of doing things to save money in the future.” The new budget includes money for recently started programs that the library is looking to expand on. “We’re going to expand the museum pass program,” de Scoria said. “The library will help people has membership at museum of modern art and people can place a reserve on
that card and they don’t have to pay the entry fee for each person. We’re also looking at different services for digital books. We want to get more people online through E-books on the library that they don’t have to buy and we want to expand that program.” Zaret, former president of the Friends of the Library, has served two years as interim trustee. This will be his first full term, which runs for five years. “I think that our library has a
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Waiting for Work on Doughty Boulevard By AUSTIN SYKES
Standard Staff Reporter
Mornings underneath the bright yellow sign of Doughty Deli & Grocery store, a small army of Hispanic and Latino immigrants stand guard, ready to be at someone’s service for the rest of the day. These are Inwood’s day workers, stuck in a seemingly neverending search for work. Some are illegal, others more than ready to show the necessary paperwork qualifying their eligi-
bility for employment within the United States. As residents of Lawrence, Inwood and nearby villages can attest, the day workers are up and at it well before sunrise. Rain or shine, they’re there, standing huddled together in tight packs – sometimes a group of two or three, other times they could pass for rag-tag basketball squad of five, waiting at their own makeshift half-court line for the game to start.
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Daffodils springing to life in Woodsburgh
C l a s s i f i e d s B 8 • E d i t o r i a l s A 1 0 • E v e n t s B 2 • M o v i e s B 2 • S p o r t s B 8 • We a t h e r A 2