On July 22, the Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. flights to and from Israel due to security concerns after a rocket fell near Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. more

We don’t have to look very far back in the history books to learn about the damage State Senate Democrats inflicted on Long Island taxpayers during their disastrous two years in the majority in 2009 and 2010. more

In jumping into the teacher-tenure debate, I know I’m stirring up a hornet’s nest. But who doesn’t like a little danger now and again? So here goes. more

Despite allowing 268 rushing yards and going 1-for-9 on third-down conversions, Long Island continued its recent dominance of New York City by capturing the 19th annual UnitedHealthcare Empire Challenge football all-star game, 24-18, before a record-crowd of 9,762 at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium on June 25. more

Somehow, some way, in the next week, New York state will have a new budget. Almost all of the details will remain out of the public eye until the very last moment, and that’s probably a good thing. more

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is right: All kids deserve to attend pre-kindergarten. more

The 25-acre Faith Laursen Meroke Preserve, on the Bellmore-Merrick border, is a forest much like most of Long Island used to be. The Meroke Indians camped by its five streams, and Colonists used its tall cedars for ship masts. Legend says during the Revolutionary War British soldiers hid there from marauding Colonials. (Most of the Bellmore-Merrick area farmers were British sympathizers.) more

A Bellmore man was recently indicted for his alleged role in what officials described as a massive fraud against the federal Social Security Disability Insurance benefits program, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money. more

At 2:49 p.m. on April 15, two pressure-cooker bombs loaded with ball bearings and nails detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, on Boylston Street, shrouding two blocks of multistory brick buildings in white smoke and sending shrapnel hurtling in all directions. Three people were killed and 264 injured in the terrorist attack. Merokean Kara Iskenderian, 20, who is now a junior at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and a member of the school’s marathon team, was a third of a mile –– or less than three minutes –– away from finishing the race when the crudely constructed, homemade bombs exploded. more

I offer this column as a public service. If you’re in a challenging marriage and you fantasize about divorce, I can save you a lot of money. Just imagine being married to Anthony Weiner, and you may rethink your own marital problems. more