The Herald encourages voters to return Norma Gonsalves to the 13th Legislative District seat, which she has held since 1997. more

My exploration into the literature of various cultures and countries led me to become enamored with the swashbucklers of yore. Rooted deeply in romantic ideals, they were the protagonists who would rescue maidens, defend kings and save the downtrodden. While swashbucklers most often were swordsmen, they could also be archers. more

It was 5:50 a.m. on a recent Friday when my alarm rang. Typically I dread waking before 9, but on this day I was to engage in an activity that I never tried before — paddle boarding at Jones Beach more

“Ready to tack?” I asked the fledgling sailors on my boat, unsure whether I was even ready. This was my first time sailing, and I had to tack the boat, which is a basic maneuver to turn the bow, or the boat’s front, into the wind. more

July 29 was to be the hottest day of the summer so far –– a crippling 95 degrees. The relief of the ocean breeze was welcome as I stood on the Long Beach shoreline, the scorching sand between my toes. The waves fell gently onto the sand, collapsing into one another. With the blue sky above me, I had only one thought: I’ve made a terrible mistake. more

I am not flexible. Nor have I ever considered myself to be graceful. I struggle to reach my toes at the doctor’s office. I’ve been known to trip over air, and I am the first to spill a drink on someone’s white tablecloth. So, when asked as a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, a ballerina was not o more

A group of Herald Community Newspapers editors, reporters and interns took a kayak tour on Nassau County’s wild side, at the Town of Hempstead’s Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve in Merrick, on July 24. more

When ticking off the many and varied phys. ed. programs that Saul Lerner has brought to the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, you quickly realize what a profound and lasting impact he has had on the lives of thousands of students, his colleagues say. Among the programs are girls’ lacrosse, boys’ badminton, bicycling in gym classes, and first aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation for all students, a program begun with the Merrick-based Robbie Levine Foundation, to name just a few. Lerner is the Central District’s director of physical education, health, athletics, driver’s education and adult education. After 19 years in the district and 35 years in education, Lerner, 58, will retire on June 30. “It’s been a great run,” he said during an interview last week, “and I loved every minute of it, and I love the community.” more

When I was the editor of the Nassau Herald in the late ’80s and ’90s, the running joke when anything happened anywhere in the world was, “What’s the local connection?” … more

Merrick Herald Life Senior Editor Scott Brinton, third from right, who is an adjunct journalism professor at Hofstra University, recently brought his Issues in Science Reporting students to a cleanup in the Merrick woodlands off the Meadowbrook Parkway to help out and report on the event. More than 50 volunteers attended the cleanup. more