Thursday, October 8, 2026
National Newspaper Week, Oct. 4–10, is an opportunity to focus attention on something Long Islanders experience every day but can easily take for granted: the value of having journalists paying attention to your own community.
Recently I’ve come to believe that the strongest influence on developing human beings is the times in which they live. Try as I might, summoning all the empathy I possess, I simply can’t know what it was like to endure the London Blitz during World War II. Or the Dust Bowl in America, or the Holocaust, all of which changed the way people lived and thought.
This year’s crowd at John Burns Park was the largest ever. Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joe Saladino and Firefighter Ken Haskell, Tom and Tim’s brother, spoke. There was mournful violin music, stirring patriotic songs sung aloud and prayers from local clergy. I was privileged to be asked to speak. The ceremony concluded with a helicopter dropping white roses on the crowd. It was particularly moving afterward to talk with family members and friends of 9/11 victims who were once again reliving the horrors of that fateful day, but had never lost their faith in America.
At Levittown Public Schools, we believe strongly in educating the whole child and supporting students as they discover their unique path forward. That means more than preparing them for the next test or the next grade level; it means equipping them for life after graduation.
Sadly, these cases mark the last traces of the Justice Department’s vast investigation into the Capitol attack. Worse yet, it’s still possible that any number of the Jan. 6 participants may benefit financially from their involvement. That’s thanks to the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created to compensate Americans who were unfairly targeted by federal law enforcement and prosecutorial actions during prior administrations. Those prosecuted as part of the investigation into the insurrection were clearly intended to be among those in line to benefit from the fund.
A parent’s push to give Brookside Elementary School students a place to park their bicycles has grown into a broader effort to teach them how to ride safely, culminating in a PTA-sponsored bike rodeo and safety program on Sept. 15.
Baldwin students are getting an expanded education in budgeting, credit, investing and other real-world financial skills this school year as the district implements New York’s new personal finance instruction requirement.
A change to the Baldwin Public Library’s annual Diwali programming has prompted a longtime Baldwin resident to raise broader questions about how the library balances new offerings with recurring cultural programs that reflect the community.
