Fourteen Herald Community Newspaper executives, editors and reporters bundled up in heavy coats and woolen hats and boarded the Capt. Lou VII in Freeport to take a two-hour tour of the waterways south of the village in search of harbor seals last Friday. more

President Obama was officially sworn in for his second term on Sunday, and the inauguration festivities got under way early on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. more

Hofstra University's alumni theater company returns to the stage with Stephen Sondheim's look at contemporary life and relationships. Other weekend higlights include the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company's annual gala concert and the Riverhead Foundation's winter seal cruises. more

Undecided women voters, especially on Long Island, came into sharp focus during the Hofstra presidential debate. more

Steven Lupo, 11, and his younger brother Michael, 9, of Warwick Road held a yard sale on June 24 to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The boys and some of their closest friends … more

Go beyond the call of the wild when prehistoric creatures appear in the area this weekend. Or check out our seals who winter in our waters during one of the Riverhead Foundation's seal cruises out of Freeport. If you prefer to stay indoors, Lynbrook-based Plaza Theatrical Productions offers Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" at its Bellmore stage. more

Frank Baum's world of Oz comes alive this weekend when Los Angeles-based Louise Reichlin & Dancers brings its acclaimed multi-media dance production to the East Coast for the first time, with a performance at Long Island Children's Museum. Other options for weekend fun include a seal cruise offered by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, and an operatic revue with singer-actress Naomi Zeitlin. more

Veolia Transportation Inc. recently signed a contract to take over operation of Long Island Bus, run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Nassau County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the agreement before it is submitted to the county Legislature for a vote, but members of New York Public Interest Research Group Fund want the details now more

“I didn’t get much sleep last night because I was as nervous as the kids,” Herb Weiss, South Side High School’s science research facilitator, said about waiting for the results of the Siemens Math, Science & Technology competition, announced on Oct. 21. “I was thinking about who would win and who wouldn’t. It’s like being a parent to all the kids.” more

My last two columns, “As promised: keeping tabs” (June 30 – July 6) and “Is the bloom off the rose?” (July 21-27) provided information to evaluate the session-ending accomplishments of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Two fundamental questions were raised. Has there been a real transformation in addressing the way the “people’s business” is being managed in Albany? Do our political leaders really understand that the state of New York is still headed down a path of fiscal instability and requires levels of real reform hardly evident to date? more