Even in tough economic times, Chris Brown, owner of Mid-Island Medical Supply in Wantagh, has managed to expand his business from one storefront to three on Wantagh Avenue. With the MTA payroll tax, however, even successful Long Island businesses like Brown's have been hit hard. more

Last week, the biggest loser wasn’t Massachusetts Senate candidate Martha Coakley or the Democratic Party or President Obama. The biggest losers were New York schoolchildren, who were sold out by the state Legislature in favor of the tremendously powerful teachers unions. more

On Wednesday, State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. announced a new plan to help create jobs for local residents and provide fiscal relief for small business owners. more

tate Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. is offering a free H1N1 flu vaccination program on Wednesday, Jan. 20, in conjunction with the Nassau Health Care Corporation and Nassau County Department of Health. more

Gov. David Paterson made no friends in Albany with his State of the State address last week. In it he outlined a series of ethics and campaign reforms under what he called the Reform Albany Act — aimed primarily at what many say is a dysfunctional Legislature. more

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

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

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

World leaders — and a throng of environmentalists and reporters — descended on Copenhagen last week for the 2009 Climate Conference convened by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And what a raucous show it was, with 1,000 black-masked “protesters” getting arrested after hurling bricks through windows and battling police. 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