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Vol. 22 No. 3
JANUARY 13 - 19, 2022
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First snow for E.M.
Students help Toys for Tots
ING
East Meadow reacts to county mask orders State Education Department, and we don’t know right now.” “I can imagine that every mwilson@liherald.com Board of Education in Nassau Nassau County Executive County is doing the same thing,” Bruce Blakeman signed execu- Baroukh said, “because it is just tive orders on Jan. 6 directing uncertain what any of this truly local boards of edumeans for us.” cation to vote this “We are aware of month on whether the county executheir districts tive’s order and are should mandate awaiting fur ther mask use, while also guidance from the lifting the mask New York State Edum a n d at e fo r a l l cation Department,” county agencies and Kenneth Card, the state’s temposuperintendent of rary mask mandate the East Meadow in public places. School District, said A number of East in a statement. Meadow residents Blakeman’s orwere quick to quesders read in part, tion whether the “[G]iven the historiexecutive order callcal data on Covid-19 ing on schools to and the ongoing vote was legal, but debate over whether local districts offimasks are more cials were awaiting harmful than benefiBETTY RoSA guidance. cial to children and “We’re waiting to Commissioner, to school environhear from the New NYSED ments in general, we York State Educashould protect the tion Department,” freedoms and statuAlisa Baroukh, president of the tory rights of students and parEast Meadow Board of Educa- ents by resting with the parents tion, said on the day Blakeman the decision whether their chilsigned the orders. “. . . We take dren should wear masks in our guidance from the New York Continued on page 16
By SCoTT BRiNToN, CRiSTiNA ARRoYo and MAlloRY WilSoN
T
Courtesy Cassandra Jones
ThE ENTiRETY oF Huntington’s Wall Street was covered in snowflakes painted by Cass Jones, an artist from East Meadow.
E.M. resident creates winter wonderland in Huntington By MAlloRY WilSoN mwilson@liherald.com
East Meadow resident and artist Cassandra “Cass” Jones designed and painted the entire Huntington Holiday Spectacular herself this past December — all while suffering from an autoimmune disease amid the coronavirus pandemic, requiring her to receive special permission from her doctors to undertake the project. Jones, 34, was asked by Ste-
phen Ubertini, the co-owner of the Paramount concert hall in Huntington for the second straight year to complete the project, which includes painting the streets, storefronts and the inside of an 80-foot Christmas tree. She made stencils from coat hangers to create the whimsical snowflakes that lined the street, painted with white masonry paint and spray paint. “I 100 percent didn’t know what I was doing,” Jones said,
“but I knew from my years of experience that I could do it.” The Huntington Holiday Spectacular began last year when the Town of Huntington wanted to create a holiday display that allowed onlookers to enjoy the scenery without fear of contracting Covid19, transforming Wall Street into an interactive display with a “tree of hope,” light shows, snow cannons, music and street art. The event was a partnerContinued on page 9
he State Education Department expects school boards will follow all legal requirements, including the face-covering regulation.