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HERALD Talent show for a cause on July 22
Book reading at Swiss Bliss
Future Problem Solving program
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Vol. 30 No. 30
JUlY 20 - 26, 2023
$1.00
Helping to close educational gap among children By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
Maureen Lennon/Herald
ama Karikai-Yawson with a few of her books she wrote, along with her son Miles Yawson and his book, ‘How to deal with Kids: a guide for adults by a Kid.’
The Long Island Multicultural Book Fair made a triumphant return to Baldwin last Saturday, and Ama Yawson, co-founder of the publishing group Milestales, used it to help tackle the racial achievement gap, which was widened by the pandemic. The book fair returned to Baldwin for its fifth year, but for the first time since 2019 — right before the pandemic shutdown occurred. Community members gathered at the Long Island Rail Road station to celebrate diverse children’s literature, as authors read their books out loud and families had the chance to meet the authors and
illustrators. According to NewAmerica.org, “there is disparity in representation of characters from different racial, ethnic and gender groups,” which is why Yawson wanted to start this event. She said young people are still dealing with the racial achievement gap in reading scores, and she hoped that through events like this one, she can help close that gap. “Unfortunately, we’re dealing with an educational crisis right now in so many respects,” Yawson said. “So pre-pandemic, we had what was called the ‘word gap’ or the ‘educational gap,’ in which children of poor backgrounds, and very often chilContinued on page 12
South Nassau Water Authority holds first public meeting By NIColE FoRMISANo
T
nformisano@liherald.com
he atmosphere was tense in the meeting room of the Lynbrook Public Library on July 11 as dozens of South Shore residents gathered for a public meeting of the South Nassau Water Authority — the first since its creation in November 2021. “I don’t anticipate a very congenial meeting tonight,” Seth Koslow, who is running for county legislator, said. “I think people are going to be upset and loud.” Koslow was right. The meeting began with John Reinhardt, the authority’s temporary presi-
dent, offering an overview of the timeline for its acquisition of Liberty Water, which provides water to most of Nassau County and is proposing a rate hike of up to 42 percent in some areas. In March 2022, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin promised the authority $500,000 in funding so it could move forward with acquiring Liberty’s assets. That May, the authority completed the first step in a fourstep process for the takeover outlined by the state Public Service Commission, sending an introductory letter to Liberty Water to make it aware of the authority’s intent to acquire those assets. Over the following weeks, Liber-
ty provided enough information to the authority to begin the valuation process. Last week’s meeting continued with Bill DeWitt, an attorney representing the water authority, passing several resolutions, including the appointment of Robert York as the authority’s chairman and Michelle Bocci as its treasurer. Nearly in unison, many attendees asked with frustration why York was not at the meeting. When Reinhardt explained that York was on vacation, there were expressions of outrage, and the next several minutes were full of heated cross-talk, which set the tone for the rest of the evening.
The board continued the meeting by announcing the hiring of consultants, including Walden Environmental Engineering, and then adjourned to meet in executive session. This was met with another uproar. “Why are we here?” one attendee asked. “They don’t respect our time,” another said. One man began making chick-
en noises as board members made their way out the back of the room. When they board was gone, David Denenberg, co-director of Long Island Clean Air Water & Soil and a former county legislator, joined by Michael Reid, of the Merrick Fire Department, stood and addressed the gathering. “We don’t have water service, Continued on page 18