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Men’s Health Inside Vol. 87 No. 27
Graduation day at Woodward Center
Annual village fireworks July 5
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JUNE 30 - JUlY 6, 2022
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High court rules against state gun law By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Courtesy Marielam1 on Wikimedia Commons
THE U.S. SUpREME Court overturned New York’s longstanding concealed weapons law last week.
State and local officials reacted swiftly, and angrily, to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 23 decision that invalidated New York State’s 111-year-old concealed carry law. The plaintiffs in the case, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, are members of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, the state chapter of the National Rifle Association. Both men have licenses to bring guns to target practice and to carry guns when hunting in low-population areas.
Koch is also licensed to carry a gun to and from work. They challenged the constitutionality of the Sullivan Act, which the State Legislature passed in 1911 in response to a rise in violent shootings. It authorized local law enforcement agencies to require anyone who wanted to carry a gun small enough to be concealed to show proper cause for doing so. The court’s decision last week in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen struck down the proper cause requirement, saying it violated the Second Amendment of the Continued on page 7
NCC teachers union questions the college’s spending plan By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Rain canceled their rally on Monday, but for members of the Nassau Community College Federation of Teachers, their issues with the school’s new budget have not been washed away. The core question for the teachers federation, Nassau Community College’s union for full-time staff, is whether the $52 million budget approved Monday by the Nassau County Legislature can sustain the college and help it grow. “The budget is very unrealistic,” said teachers federation president Faren Siminoff. “We
haven’t gotten an increase in 15 years. That means the $52 million — I’m not saying it’s not generous — but that same $52 million from 15 years ago is now worth about $32 million.” Suffolk Community College received increases of 2 percent to 3 percent from Suffolk County annually, meeting normal cost of living rises, Siminoff said, so Nassau County’s share of NCC’s real expenses has effectively shrunk every year. In theory, said teacher federation secretary Susan Kaebnick, New York state and Nassau County are each responsible to supply about a third of NCC’s budget. The rest is meant to
T
he budget is very unrealistic.
FAREN SIMINoFF president, NCCFT
come from tuition. In fact, said physical sciences professor Dave Stern, “The county provides about 23 percent to 25 percent of our budget.” Stern is the teacher federation’s vice president for classroom faculty. The frozen county funding caused missed opportunities for meeting student demand,
according to a news release sent out by the teachers federation prior to the legislature’s vote. The news release quoted Joan Buckley, chair of NCC’s nursing de par tment. “The nursing department has had to turn away applicants for lack of fulltime teachers,” Buckley said, noting also that currently the nation is experiencing a short-
age of nurses. “We know there is a great nursing program here at NCC, with a waiting list,” said Siminoff. “So, the administration ought to hire full-time faculty and expand the nursing program. Of course, nurses have to take required classes across the board at the college, so more Continued on page 9