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HERALD $1.00
Summer reading program launched
Groundbreaking for MSSN wing
local makes it to the majors
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Vol. 32 No. 29
JUlY 15 - 21, 2021
Tinyes tribute unveiled Murdered teen remembered in Grant Park memorial By JeFFReY BeSSeN jbessen@liherald.com
Courtesy Twitter
KellY TiNYeS, a Valley Stream resident who attended Woodmere Middle School, was murdered in 1989, at age 13.
Family members, friends and elected officials gathered in Nassau County’s Grant Park in Hewlett last Saturday to unveil a memorial plaque and bricks in memory of Kelly Tinyes, a 13-year-old Woodmere Middle School student from Valley Stream who was murdered by Robert Golub in 1989. Childhood friends of Tinyes began the Forever Young Kelly Brick Campaign last year as a positive way to remember their friend. The memorial has an
area of concrete near the park’s entrance with engraved bricks, benches and recreational tables. Grant Park was known to be Tinyes’s favorite. Friends said that in the winter of 1989, they spent most Friday nights there, hanging out and ice skating. “It was a beautiful day celebrating a beautiful soul that was taken from us way too soon,” Mindy Nirenberg said. “Her memory will never be forgotten, and we are so happy to help to make sure of that by c re at i n g t h i s p e r m a n e n t Continued on page 7
Valley Stream superintendent is suspended indefinitely By JUaN laSSo jlasso@liherald.com
At a special meeting June 29, the Valley Stream Central High School District Board of Education voted to suspend Superintendent Dr. William Heidenreich for up to 90 days with pay, followed by a suspension without pay for the indefinite future. The board also appointed Dr. Wayne Loper as acting superintendent from July 1 to June 30, 2022, and named Emmanuel Glasu acting assistant superintendent for finance and operations starting Aug. 1. Last Dec. 9, the school board voted in a split decision to grant
Heidenreich a medical leave of absence. Four days before that decision, the New York Post had published an article detailing how Heidenreich, in a series of texts and voice messages sent to Orange Fitness Theory in Merrick, where he lives, threatened to infect gym-goers and staff members with the coronavirus after receiving notifications that the gym would soon unfreeze his membership. At the time, Heidenreich was self-isolating after he had come in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19, but he subsequently tested negative. “I’m demanding that you free ze my membership for
o
ur children deserve better than to have their leader say such disturbing remarks. laURiel oRSaNo-MoRaleS another month,” Heidenreich said in one voice message obtained by the Post. “If you don’t, I’m going to cough all over everyone.” In another message, he said, “I’m happy to come in there and spread the disease and cough all
over everyone.” In response to Heidenreich’s comments, the gym reportedly notified Nassau County police, but decided to cancel his membership rather than press charges, the Post also reported. “I was definitely surprised when I first heard the story,” said Anthony Cruz, a rising junior at New York University
who graduated from Valley Stream Central High School in 2019. During his time as a student leader at the high school, Cruz served as the first student liaison to the Board of Education for all of the high schools in Valley Stream, a position he created. He recalled working closely with Heidenreich. Continued on page 4