A special meeting at the Baldwin school district offices on Sept. 27 was well attended in spite of short notice. At issue was a proposal to reduce busing services in Baldwin in order to save money and preserve school programs. more

A group of 58 students in Baldwin Senior High School’s Medical Academy program were presented with white lab coats last week — a special occasion similar to ceremonies held in medical schools. The coats, donated by North Shore LIJ and the Baldwin School-to-Career program, will be used by the upper grades in their classes and on field trips to medical facilities, school district spokeswoman Cristina Schmohl said. more

Baldwin’s Daniel Kareem, of Victoria Street, was arrested in connection with a supposed gunpoint robbery just after midnight on the morning of Oct. 2. more

Ex-Captain of the Baldwin Fire Department, Michael Paul Esposito, who died at 43 after suffering a heart attack while responding to a residential structure fire on May 18, 2011, will be honored at the 31st annual National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Maryland. more

A Board of Education meeting on Sept. 12 brought unwelcome, but not unexpected, news: Baldwin schools are facing a budget deficit again. In the 2012-13 budget — the one approved in May — a gap of around $4.7 million was part of the impetus for closing the Shubert and Milburn schools, among other cost-cutting measures. The shortfall projected for the next budget, 2013-14, is even more substantial. more

Baldwin’s Melanie Martinez, who wowed a national audience on NBC’s “The Voice,” spoke with the Herald about her progress on the show, her life in Baldwin and how her dream almost ended before it began. more

Nearly 500 people streamed through the Baldwin Public Library Job Fair on Sept 13. Some looked sharp and professional; others wore suits that looked as if they hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. Many carried resumes, briefcases and hopeful looks. But the thing on everyone’s mind that sunny morning, as a touch of fall crispness graced the air, could be summed up in a single word: work. more

You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but three-year Baldwin resident Andrea Bucciano leads a double life. On one hand, the 32-year-old is a quiet resident of Lancaster Avenue, off Sunrise Highway. She’s a vegetarian. She works at an assisted-living facility in Levittown, teaches psychology as an adjunct professor at St. Francis University and conducts mental health therapy sessions with disabled people. She likes going to NOVI with her fiancé, and they also hit the Irish pub a lot. But slap a pair of roller skates and fishnets on her and Bucciano transforms into Mean Frostine, the hard-skating, hard-hitting head of coaching for the Strong Island Roller Derby Revolution. The Herald spoke with the Brooklyn-born Bucciano about the sport she loves, the town she lives in and an upcoming bout on Sept. 29. more

At a special noon meeting last Friday, the commissioners of Sanitary District 2 scheduled a referendum on the dissolution of their operations for Dec. 12. While that date approaches, however, the commissioners will await a verdict on the validity of the petitions collected to compel the referendum in the first place. more

The Baldwin Foundation for Education, which was formed in 1992 to provide support to the school district, held its annual beach party last Saturday. The event began at 11 a.m. in Lido Beach’s “mushrooms” — despite touch-and-go weather — and the day’s activities were not restricted to the seaside. more