Vaccinations for the H1N1 influenza virus are available, and we encourage anyone who is among those deemed at highest risk of contracting the disease to get the shot. more

My, how the holiday season crept up on us this year! One minute, it seemed, we were basking in the summer sun, and the next, Thanksgiving appeared out of nowhere. On Friday, after downing turkey, playing touch football and remembering all that we’re thankful for, many will be out and about, shopping for the December holidays. more

Most of us cannot understand what possesses a person to drive drunk. This paper’s position has long been that drinking and driving is potentially deadly behavior that can have the same result as opening fire with a gun in a crowded mall. DWI requires stiff penalties. more

The holiday shopping season began with a headline-making tragedy last year: A 34-year-old temporary worker at the Valley Stream Walmart was killed when customers rushed the store at its 5 a.m. opening. Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death, and as the anniversary of this Black Friday incident approaches, our thoughts are with Damour’s family. more

Congratulations are in order to the Republicans who defeated incumbent Democrats in the county Legislature. The majority has now shifted to the GOP after the Democrats held it for 10 years. more

Kathleen Rice ascended to the district attorney’s post four years ago as a virtual unknown -- a former federal prosecutor and Brooklyn assistant district attorney who had never run for political office before. Back then, she appeared a tad unsure of herself, slightly nervous in her interviews with the Herald. And why not? She was opposing the legendary Denis Dillon, who had served as Nassau County district attorney for 31 years. Despite being a political neophyte, Rice ran a strong campaign, and was elected with 51 percent of the vote to Dillon’s 49 percent. Four years later, we’re happy that Rice was elected. She has proven herself to be a consummate professional who only improved an already well-run D.A.’s office. Cases are processed nearly twice as fast as they once were. Conviction rates are up. And Rice has garnered a national reputation for her aggressive stance against driving while intoxicated. Many now call her the toughest DWI prosecutor in the country. more

It’s hard to argue with a track record like that of Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, a Democrat from Glen Cove. Over the past eight years, he took a fiscally mismanaged, virtually insolvent county and turned it around, consistently balancing a budget that seemingly could not be balanced. Suozzi saved money by cutting the county work force by 1,000 employees and instituting tried-and-true management practices that were previously nonexistent. At the same time, he has put in place a host of programs to improve residents’ quality of life, from smoking-cessation regimens to energy-efficiency incentives. more

While it might be easy to overlook the office of county clerk, the office plays an important role in keeping Nassau County’s court cases and real estate humming. They hum now, at least, and that’s in large part the work of County Clerk Maureen O’Connell, who has earned the Herald’s endorsement. more

Francis X. Becker Jr., who is seeking a seventh term as the representative of Nassau County’s 6th Legislative District, says that his ability to help his constituents on a personal level, along with his desire to make bipartisan decisions in the coming years, makes him the ideal candidate for re-election. more

Democrat Jeff Toback, the 7th District’s legislator since 2000, was part of the team that brought Nassau County back from the brink of bankruptcy, which is just one of the reasons we believe he should continue his tenure in the Legislature. more