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Partly Cloudy Wantagh's $82.7M budget passes with 70 percent of the vote
The Wantagh Union Free School District’s $82.7 million 2021-22 spending plan overwhelmingly passed Tuesday.Roughly 2,950 residents, or about 70 percent of total voters, cast “yes” …
Temple B’nai Torah brunch honors three matriarchs
Congregants and volunteers shown love
Joy and laughter filled the air on a warm Sunday morning inside the walls of Temple B’nai Torah in Wantagh.
Meet WHS’s valedictorian, Melanie Volz
WHS’s Melanie Volz is headed to Harvard
Melanie Volz, 18, is headed to Harvard University. A Wantagh native, she is Wantagh High School’s valedictorian after years of high academic achievement in the district’s schools. Her passion lies in social studies and math, which she has long excelled in.
Longtime Wantagh F.D. member dies
The walls of Wantagh Fire Department Station 2, on Wantagh Avenue in Levittown, hold many stories, including that of Thomas L. Adams, a 59-year member of the department who died on May 12.
New name for a well-known itch: ‘maskne'
Nancy Widman said that when she first noticed the rash on her neck, she didn’t think anything of it. But it got worse, spreading down her throat onto her chest. Widman’s doctor attributed her condition to the cloth masks she had been wearing to avoid getting Covid-19. She recommended that she switch to paper masks, and gave her a prescription for medication.
Residents encouraged to grill safely
It is getting to that time when the warm summer rays will beam down on the grill roasting some summer favorites; like hot dogs, burgers and sausages. But in order to keep the summer barbecues fun, and tasty, residents should practice some easy precautions. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, Assistant Chief Fire Marshal Michael F. Uttaro, among other fire officers, gathered at the Nassau County Public Safety Center in Westbury, that houses the Fire Marshal’s Office, on Friday to encourage residents to practice fire safety this summer.
Wantagh to revote on school budget
After the Wantagh Union Free School District failed to garner a supermajority of 60 percent of voters for its roughly $83.5 million 2021-22 budget, which would have pierced the district’s tax-levy cap with a 3.82 percent increase, the Board of Education held a planning session last Friday to discuss how the district could move forward. With two main options on the table — moving straight to a contingency budget or putting the proposed budget up for a revote — the Board of Education chose the latter.
A radio collection that takes listeners back in time
Michael Katz’s collection of more than 200 vintage radios offers listeners more than just a chance to hear Top 40 hits. The 69-year-old Seaford resident has been accumulating radios from different historical movements across the globe.
Honoring soldiers at the library
As part of Military Appreciation Month, the Wantagh Public Library joined Military Blue Star Mothers NY14 for a day of creating cards to add to care packages for servicemen and women serving overseas.
A summer of family fun
As summer nears in Wantagh and Seaford, the Chamber of Commerce in each hamlet is planning a series of outdoor, socially distanced events to allow neighbors to spend time together.
Last Hope springs eternal
In a North Bellmore backyard, Dr. Eric Last, an internist with a practice in Wantagh, and his daughter were playing fetch with their Australian cattle dog mix from Georgia, which they adopted from Wantagh’s Last Hope Inc. Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation.
Supporting a fallen classmate
James Lodato left an impact on his classmates with the jokes he told, his love of baseball and the unfettered joy with which he lived the last year of his life. When he started second grade at Forest Lake Elementary School in the fall of 2017, James was diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue cancer called alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. He died the following May. Last month, the Wantagh community dedicated a new baseball field to James at the elementary school, naming it the James Lodato Field of Dreams. The opening coincided with another community project. Isabella and the rest of Girl Scout Troop 3105 dedicated their Bronze Award project to him, naming it James’s Angels. Throughout the school year, they collected toys and gifts that they donated to the John Theissen Children’s Foundation last month.
Editorial
Saving the planet, in your backyard
The Central Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation recently constructed an “ocean-friendly garden” at Pennsylvania Avenue and Ocean Beach Park in Long Beach . . .
Randi Kreiss
Are we immune to Texas-style xenophobia?
There is a trifecta of trouble deep in the heart of Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas legislature and the state Board of Education.
Jerry Kremer
Ranked-choice voting? Not my choice.
I must confess that I’m an old-fashioned guy who honors certain customs. I hold doors open for women and people with packages. I put my hand over my heart . . .
Op-Ed
We must reduce the dangers of fire-retardant chemicals
Our brave firefighters risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe. The least we can do is protect them from dangerous, cancer-causing chemicals.
Randi Kreiss
It isn’t your grandma’s senior prom night
Prom 2021 is an act of faith. It is kids needing to shake off more than a year of lockdowns, shutdowns, sickness and isolation. It is a down payment on good times ahead after an avalanche of disappointments.