All five local school districts –– including the Bellmore-Merrick Central, and Bellmore, Merrick, North Bellmore and North Merrick elementary districts –– had part of their state allotments for December held back after Gov. David Paterson ordered the payments halted so the state could stay solvent. more

Students in the Merrick School district recently teamed up with State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. to help children at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola by taking part in his annual “Extend the Holidays” toy drive. more

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Merrick, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, a Democrat from Long Beach, and Lenny Rosado were joined at a news conference last week by state and local officials to remind Long Islanders that Leandra's Law took effect on Friday, making drunken driving with a child a felony offense in New York. more

On Sunday, Bellmore-Merrick residents began the long, arduous process of digging out from a nor'easter that dumped an estimated 15 inches of snow on the area. more

The first blizzard of the season dumped more than a foot of snow in our area Saturday night to Sunday morning, with high winds and heavy, drifting snow accumulating over night. more

A nor'easter made its way up the Eastern Seaboard on Saturday, pounding Merrick-Bellmore in the evening with a mix of heavy snow and high winds. The storm began with flurries, but quickly turned into a full-fledged blizzard. At 6 p.m., the prognosticators were predicting six to 18 inches of snow. more

unrise Chiropractic of Merrick, owned by Dr. Fred Jones, recently signed on as a 2009 sponsor and official services provider of the Mineola Portugese Soccer Club, defending Long Island Amateur Champions and New York State Finalists. Jones also provides chiropractic services for the Rough Riders, Long Island's professional soccer team. For more information about the Mineola Portuguese Soccer Club or the Long Island Soccer-Futebol League, visit www.lisfl.org . For more information on Sunrise Chiropractic, visit www.sunrise-chiropractic.com more

Local entrepreneurs Adam Kornblum of Bellmore, CEO of Ark Brands LLC, and business partner Joe Davis of Merrick recently struck it big when their brain child, Charge Large, a game similar to Monopoly, was licensed to Hasbro. more

North Merrick School District attorney Albert D'Agostino is fighting back. After recently finding out that the state comptroller plans to revoke is annual $108,088 public pension again, D'Agostino filed a federal lawsuit on Dec. 10 alleging that his civil rights were violated. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, says Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and three of his attorneys denied D'Agostino his right to due process when they revoked his pension after determining that he was working as a private contractor. The lawsuit claims D'Agostino's 5th and 14th amendment rights were violated, and that he should have been given a hearing as well as adequate notice of the claims against him before his public pension could be revoked. more

Holiday-season sales are dropping along with the temperature, according to many retailers in the Bellmore-Merrick area. For some stores, however, the crucial last few weeks of the year are a pleasant change from last year's dismal business climate. At the start of a shaky holiday spending season, bargain hunters who shop locally stand to benefit, local business owners say. more