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

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

At first glance, sweetly smiling sixth-grader Ally Murphy of North Bellmore might seem out of place on a football field. Truth is, she feels quite comfortable there, so much so that she captured second place in the Tri-State NFL Punt, Pass and Kick Championships in the 12-13 year-old division at the Meadowlands Arena recently. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Special Education PTA and the Community Parent Center will present the third annual Fair for Transitioning Students with Disabilities on Tuesday, Jan. 19, from 7 to 9:30p.m. in the Calhoun High School cafeteria. For more information, call Cheryl Gitlitz at (516) 992-1349. To register, e-mail MartineTyson at mmtys@optonline.net. The event will feature a panel presentation for parents and students about life after high school. more

Tzvi Lewisohn, a Calhoun High School senior, loves to win. Basketball, bowling, you name it, Lewisohn is a competitor. But, he is quick to note, more important than winning is sportsmanship. “We always congratulate the other teams,” Lewisohn, a member of Calhoun's Challenger bowling and basketball teams, says with a smile. “We don't want them to think we're out to win; we're just trying to have fun.” Of course, it doesn't hurt that both teams are undefeated for the past two years. They have not lost since the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District started the Challenger basketball league for special-education students with a handful of other Nassau County school districts in 2008. more

Craig Papach, Kennedy High School's athletic coordinator and a 19-year phys. ed. teacher, had long heard the stories of poverty and loneliness, and he wanted to help. So, on Thanksgiving morning, he and his family piled into their car and made the trek from their suburban home in a quiet Wantagh neighborhood to a tiny church on Beach 94th Street in Queens. They went to lend their hands and, equally important, their ears to a day-long effort to aid the homeless. Papach was one of 10 Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District teachers who joined roughly 100 volunteers from Rock and Wrap It Up, a Five Towns-based nonprofit group founded by Syd Mandelbaum, to feed hundreds of impoverished street denizens, some of whom had not eaten for days. more

A woman at the wheel of an SUV swerved to avoid another vehicle and plowed into the front of Pizzelli's pizza/deli in North Bellmore at 6:15 p.m. on Dec. 3, according to police. more

North Bellmore’s Ragamuffin Parade was cancelled this year. The annual tradition, which has taken place on Thanksgiving morning since 1947, was called off due to "lack of interest," according to North Bellmore American Legion Post commander Frank Colon Jr. more

It’s opera with a twist when two “divas” take the stage, presented by Merrick-Bellmore Community Concert Association, Sunday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. Somewhere amid the many costume changes, … more

Arson is the cause of a roaring fire that gutted the former landmark Bellmore restaurant, Smithville Café, early Monday morning, police and fire investigators say. more