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Vol. II No. LVXII | www.StandardLI.com d d | News@standardli.com d dl | Ph.# h 516-341-0445 4 44
JUNE 8-14, 2012
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YOUR FIVE TOWNS HOMETOWN PAPER
Gridlock Grips County Government Finances OLINER ‘BITES DOWN’ ON LAWRENCE’S BIG MOSQUITO, FLY CRISIS
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It’s Prom Time!
By Natasha Domanski Special to The Standard
LawrenceWoodmere Academy student Dylan Phelan of Malverne at his school’s Junior-Senior Prom this past Wednesday with date Marin Gardner of Bedford, Mass. See coverage of LWA and Hewlett Proms on Page B3.
By Natalia Kozikowska Last week the residents of South Lawrence began to notice an unusually large number of mosquitoes and horseflies in the area. While there were no set plans to spray last week, this week Mayor Martin Oliner has devised a plan to tackle the problem head on which include informing the public, eliminating mosquito larvae with a natural bacteria and installing mechanical devices to capture and kill horseflies. The first step for the Mayor has taken is to educate and inform the residents of South Lawrence on how to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes. “We have written to the community to make sure standing water is eliminated” says Olin-
Photo by Deanna Del Ciello.
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Landmark Woodmere Church Closing its Doors
By Amanda Mayo
Standard Staff Reporter
On Wednesday, June 27th at 11:00 a.m. the congregation of the Woodmere-Lawrence United Methodist Church will come together for the last time in a service that will mark the closing of the church. Reverend Wendy Steed, the church’s pastor since 2006, said she and members of the church met with Reverend Yi, the District Superintendent, in April and unanimously voted to close the church this June. “This will be a difficult service to lead as there are many mixed feelings about the closing of the church,” Reverend
The Woodmere-Lawrence United Methodist Church will be closing its doors after one last service on June 27.
Photo by Amanda Mayo.
Steed said. She added that there is a sensitivity within the community about the church’s closing because the church has become a landmark and a tradition. Why is this happening? “It would be easy to look to demographics as the answer,” the Reverend Steed said, “But the truth is that all houses of worship share in what is a fight against losing members not to other denominations but to a lack of interest in God.” The church first opened in 1871 with what Reverend Steed said was the enthusiastic participation of many Christians who populated Woodmere and The Five Towns area at that time.
Area High Schools Announce their Valedictorians and Salutatorians
By Amanda Mayo
Standard Staff Reporter
High school seniors in The Five Towns are gearing up for graduation and getting ready to open doors to the next big chapter in their lives. Area high schools have announced their valedictorians, an academic title awarded to the student who is at the top of his or her graduating class who will deliver the traditional valedictory address, which is generally considered the final farewell to classmates. School salutatorians have also been chosen throughout Five Towns high schools, another traditional role that is awarded to the student in the second-highest academic standing who delivers the first speech, or salutation, to classmates at the graduation ceremony.
Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys (DRS)
Yonatan Mehlman.
Photo courtesy of HALB. DRS’s valedictorian for the class of 2012 is Yonatan Mehlman, who has maintained a near-perfect GPA throughout his four years at DRS. He has been admitted to the Honors Pro-
gram with a full tuition scholarship at Yeshiva University, where he plans to study medicine after studying in Israel at Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush) next year. Mehlman is a member of the National Honor Society, an AP Scholar with honors and a member of the Principal’s Honor Roll. Mehlman has assumed numerous leadership roles at DRS: he is captain of the Debate Club, editor of the Journal of Ethics & Jewish Law, a contributing writer for the Spanish magazine, and a member of the Mock Trial Team, among others. During the summers he has studied at NCSY Kollel in Israel and has interned at Safe Water Network, a non-profit organization that is committed to providing sustainable, safe water solutions to the developing world. Elisha Ishaal has been named salutatorian for the DRS Class of
Elisha Ishaal.
Photo courtesy of HALB. 2012. Ishaal has been awarded an academic scholarship to New York University, where he plans to pursue his college studies. Next year he will take a gap year to learn at Yeshivat Yishrei Lev in Israel. His interests are varied,
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Reverend Moses Bedell led the church’s congregation at that time, when the church grew to boast over six hundred members and activities took place on a daily basis as the church was at the center of a growing community. Reverend Steed said the original church was expanded when gifts of property were given to the church, and then it was expanded further because the congregation had so many members that it needed more space. These additions came to be the sexton’s residence and the original parsonage, which now serves as the church’s thrift shop, Heavenly Treasures.
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Budget cuts and political threats have been buzzing through the Nassau County Legislature this week as Nassau residents and business owners continue to wait for the knowledge of when they’re going to get the property tax rebates they’re entitled to. The feud wages on in the County’s he-said, she-said budget battle, the ongoing fight is between Republicans not wanting to agree to nonpartisan legislative redistricting (that will allegedly benefit Nassau Democrats) and the Democrats not voting on the Republicans’ bond issue to pay off the county’s debt, which would allegedly benefit the Republicans were it to pass, by easing the County’s financial picture. For the bond issue to pass, a super-majority of county legislators have to approve it, a simple majority in insufficient. Because there has been no deal on passing the bond issue and tax refunds have to go out, social services in Nassau County are beginning to feel the effects of where budget cuts will take place in a no-bond scenario so the tax refunds can be paid to property owners. The first social service agency to publicize its possible financial hit in the attempt to pay the tax refunds is the Long Island Crisis Center, who received a letter notifying them that their funding will be cut as of July 5th, according to
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Woodmere’s Robin Morales And his Six-Year Journey to Become an Army Officer By Deanna Del Ciello For the past six years, Robin Morales of Woodmere, spent his time either studying, working or training to get to where he is now, a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Morales’ journey began in 2006 after graduating from Hewlett High School with a dream to pursue a major in aviation management and a passion to become a pilot. On a visit to Florida Tech University, he was approached by an ROTC recruiter. “It was
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As the first person in his family to graduate from college and enter the army, Robin Morales of Woodmere just commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon his graduation from Hofstra University. He intends on making a career out of the army.
Photo by Deanna Del Ciello.
C l a s s i f i e d s B 8 • E d i t o r i a l s A 1 0 • M i l k T r a c k e r A 4 • M o v i e s B 6 • R e a l E s t a t e B 4 - B 5 • S p o r t s A 8 • We a t h e r A 2