Chaz Murray, 54, grew up in Merrick bounding through the woods near his home. He became a Boy Scout and went on to camp in the wild. He moved away when he turned 24 and returned seven years ago. On Sunday, he said he was horrified to see the derelict state into which Merrick’s forests off the Meadowbrook Parkway have fallen. Murray, a New York City paramedic, was one of 52 volunteers who came to the woods between Sunrise Highway and Meadowbrook Road in Merrick to clean up debris that had washed from farther north into the forest via the Meadow Brook or had been strewn there by vandals. He said he learned about the cleanup by reading the Merrick Herald Life. more

One of Long Island’s largest nonprofit substance-abuse treatment agencies received three grants this winter that officials said will help them teach young people about the dire consequences of … more

Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg, the Merrick Democrat accused by his former law firm of over-billing a corporate client for millions of dollars, was due in federal court on Jan. 21, after press time, to answer eight federal mail fraud charges. more

Patients should stop thinking of powerful pain medications like Oxycontin and Vycodin as slightly stronger versions of Tylenol and Advil. Rather, they should think of them as “heroin pills.” That’s according to Dr. Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and chief medical officer for Phoenix House, a national, nonprofit drug treatment agency. more

Every day, 2,500 teens across the country, ages 12 to 17, get high off prescription drugs, and 70 percent of them obtain their narcotics from family members or friends –– most often by swiping them from bathroom medicine cabinets, according to Wendy Tepfer, executive director of the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center. more

Marine Cpl. Kevin Vaughan came home from the war in Afghanistan in March 2012 after losing his left leg to a roadside bomb. Raised in Merrick, the Mepham High School graduate was given a hero’s homecoming by his community: a parade that stretched up Jerusalem Avenue and led to his childhood home. more

The older adults participating in the Town of Hempstead’s Senior Writing Workshop presented their original works recently at the Merrick Theater and Center for the Arts. more

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray came to the Bellmore Long Island Rail Road station on Tuesday to call on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to rethink a plan to bus train commuters … more

Hundreds of Long Islanders are set to gather in North Bellmore this weekend at the Nassau County Strawberry Festival, sponsored by the Bellmore Lions and Kiwanis clubs. more

Most pundits agreed: Mitt Romney won the first of three presidential debates in 2012, held at the University of Denver on Oct. 3. President Obama, whose rhetorical skills were the stuff of political legend, appeared tired, and in the weeks after the debate, his poll numbers plummeted. more