Heroin addicts describe their first high as the ultimate escape, a 20-hour fix starting with a pleasure rush that races from the tip of the tongue throughout the body and steadily progresses toward hallucinations that transfix a user in a state of semiconscious euphoria. more

“This is what newspapers do best,” the judges of the New York Press Association’s Sharon R. Fulmer Award for Community Leadership said in conferring on the Merrick Herald the … more

Elmont leaders, along with breeders and trainers from New York State's racing industry gathered at Belmont Park on Sunday, March 21 to fight for video lottery terminals at Aqueduct and Belmont racetracks. more

Although the Herald Community Newspapers have had an online presence since 1999, an expanded, more comprehensive Web site has recently been launched to help readers keep in closer touch with their communities. The new LIHerald.com has more news, sports, local business and arts coverage and event listings than ever before. more

Each year, drunken drivers cause deadly accidents and claim innocent lives. Their stories often become local and sometimes national lore, cautioning others about the potentially deadly consequences of a crime that some see as socially acceptable. But there is another type of loss that goes with drinking and driving, I recently learned. One that may be considered insensitive or politically incorrect to discuss. Three defense attorneys I interviewed saw the possible loss of one's reputation and even future employment as an unfair fate that befalls many of their clients. I contacted the lawyers after the Nassau County Police Department and the district attorney's office gave me a firsthand look at what a DWI arrest entails. Police simulated my arrest for DWI, including everything from handcuffing me to locking me up. Later, the district attorney's office brought me to District Court, where I took a tour of holding cells, courtrooms and assistant district attorneys' offices. I wrote about the experience for Herald readers. But as I spoke with defense lawyers, expecting to hear mainly about the financial burden of a DWI conviction, I learned that some of the most serious consequences for the convicted are harder to quantify. more