In jumping into the teacher-tenure debate, I know I’m stirring up a hornet’s nest. But who doesn’t like a little danger now and again? So here goes. more

Despite allowing 268 rushing yards and going 1-for-9 on third-down conversions, Long Island continued its recent dominance of New York City by capturing the 19th annual UnitedHealthcare Empire Challenge football all-star game, 24-18, before a record-crowd of 9,762 at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium on June 25. more

A Bellmore man was sentenced to five years in prison recently after federal investigators found child pornography in his home in 2012, officials said. Alfonso Marino, 65, a former New York City teacher, was sentenced on June 25 by U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler in federal court in Central Islip. He was apprehended by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and charged with possession of child pornography in September 2012. more

Somehow, some way, in the next week, New York state will have a new budget. Almost all of the details will remain out of the public eye until the very last moment, and that’s probably a good thing. more

The man behind a rash of home burglaries that had West End residents on edge four years ago, and who had left behind DNA evidence at the scene of the break-ins, was sentenced to 16 years to life in … more

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is right: All kids deserve to attend pre-kindergarten. more

The 25-acre Faith Laursen Meroke Preserve, on the Bellmore-Merrick border, is a forest much like most of Long Island used to be. The Meroke Indians camped by its five streams, and Colonists used its tall cedars for ship masts. Legend says during the Revolutionary War British soldiers hid there from marauding Colonials. (Most of the Bellmore-Merrick area farmers were British sympathizers.) more

A Bellmore man was recently indicted for his alleged role in what officials described as a massive fraud against the federal Social Security Disability Insurance benefits program, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money. more

At 2:49 p.m. on April 15, two pressure-cooker bombs loaded with ball bearings and nails detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street, shrouding two blocks of multistory brick buildings in white smoke and sending shrapnel hurtling in all directions. Three people were killed and 264 injured in the terrorist attack. Merokean Kara Iskenderian, 20, who is now a junior at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and a member of the school’s marathon team, was a third of a mile –– or less than three minutes –– away from finishing the race when the crudely constructed, homemade bombs exploded. more

People run the New York City Marathon for lots of reasons — to prove a point, to hone a skill, to produce a lifetime best, to push a cause and a myriad of other reasons. Island Park resident … more