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March 24, 2022
HERALD Your Health
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Vol. 70 No. 12
MARCH 17 - 23, 2022
MacArthur girls are state cheer champs By MARIA CeSteRo mcestero@liherald.com
After taking the floor at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association cheerleading championships in Rochester on March 5, members of MacArthur High’s girls’ cheer team were shocked to learn that they had taken first place –– and made MacArthur history. The team was named Division I Large School champion, the first state title ever for MacArthur’s cheer squad. Flyer Phyllis Angieri, 17, recalled the scene after the
announcement: Her teammates were excitedly screaming and crying with joy, she said. Angieri added that she wasn’t too surprised by their victory, but still felt a wave of joy. “I was very emotional when we won, because everything we’ve been working for was so worth it,” the senior recounted. “I trust these girls with my life.” Cheer coach Lisa Nessler, 40, had help in shaping the squad from team captains Olivia Weber, Emma Koehler, Julie Weltner, Kylie Zanelli and Tiffany Pereira. “This was the last time we’d compete on this
Courtesy Michelle Kalischer
tHe MACARtHuR HIgH School girls’ cheer team captured the state championship in Division I Large Schools on March 5 in Rochester — a first for the school. team with these people,” Koehler said in a news release. “We just wanted to hit our routine so we could look back and say, ‘We hit our last routine ever, together.’” “It’s good to dream about these things happening, but
when it happens, it’s surreal,” Nessler said. “We thought we’d only get third place.” The team had a perfect score in the first round of the competition –– also known as “hitting zero,” meaning they had no deductions from the
judges on their performance. They advanced into the second and final round against four other other teams. The girls grew nervous about their final placement after they received a 1.5-point Continued on page 10
Residents feel the effects as gas prices continue to rise By IRYNA SHkuRHAN newsroom@liherald.com
The dramatic volatility in gas prices is causing some Wantagh and Seaford residents to rethink their driving habits, as Nassau county legislators attempt to ease the financial burden. “I’m certainly trying to drive less, and certainly not running a ny e x t r a e r r a n d s, ” s a i d Michelle Gallo, a Seaford resident who commutes to her job as a school administrator in Baldwin. Before gas prices went up, she said, she used to drive home in between work meetings, but she has avoided addi-
tional trips since prices began climbing. As of March 13, the national average price per gallon was $4.325, according to data from the American Automobile Association. This surpassed the previous high of $4.114 in July 2008, not adjusted for inflation. The increasing prices are being attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as loosening of Covid-19 restrictions. President Biden banned the import of Russian oil and gas on March 8. Despite the fact that the U.S receives only a small percentage of its oil from Russia, the decrease in supply is affecting the global commodi-
ties market and, in turn, is increasing the demand for, and price of, gasoline worldwide. Shahzad Anwar is an employee of the 76 station on Merrick Road in Seaford, where the price for regular unleaded gas was $4.29 a gallon as the Herald went to press on Monday. Anwar said that he hadn’t seen gas prices this high since he immigrated to the U.S. in 2011 from Pakistan. He has been instructed by the station’s owner to either raise or lower the price by ten cents on a daily basis, he said. To make up for the station’s reduced profit margins, he was also instructed to raise the price
of items inside the store, such as car accessories and alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, Nassau County legislators have proposed an emergency suspension of the county’s gasoline sales tax to give residents some relief. The plan, proposed on March 9, “is designed to insulate Nassau residents who are being
forced to shoulder rapidly increased costs that are being driven by the war in the Ukraine and sanctions that are all but certain to further impact fuel costs in the short term,” according to a news release. Hempstead Town Councilman Chris Carini, whose district covers Wantagh and SeaContinued on page 13