The warning siren suddenly blared, and Rabbi Charles Klein, spiritual leader of the Merrick Jewish Centre, knew precisely what to do. Run. The siren, he said, “gave us 20 seconds to find a shelter.” Five seconds earlier, a Hamas rocket had pierced Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, which is capable of shooting down 90 percent of the rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Ten percent of Hamas rockets, however, make it through, as one did in late August, while Klein was touring Ashkelon, a city of 117,000 eight miles north of Gaza. Klein found shelter and survived the attack unscathed, but that moment of terror, he said, will remain with him for life. more

Nassau County Legislator Laura Curran, a Democrat from Baldwin who represents part of Merrick, and Bob Young, an environmental activist from Merrick, are among the local organizers preparing for the People’s Climate March on Sunday, Sept. 21, starting at 11:30 a.m. at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. more

It was a simple but profound thought that struck me as I recently read Anna Lappé’s “Diet for a Hot Planet” (Bloomsbury Press, 2010): Where and how we shop for our food –– and for everything else, for that matter –– is directly tied to the health of our planet. more

The bloody civil war in Syria took a turn for the worse last week. more

Last year, 2012, was a hot one. In fact, it was the hottest year on record for the continental U.S. more

Elmont Memorial High School’s MUN Team participated in the Rutgers University Model United Nations Conference from Nov.15 to Nov. 18. During this four-day simulation of diplomatic dialogue, … more

As leaders from around the world gathered in New York City for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama flew to New York for a different reason: to impress the ladies of “The View.” more

Kofi Annan was on the Jon Stewart show last week. Asked to evaluate the state of the world at the moment, the former secretary general of the United Nations said we are in pretty much of a “mess.” more

Seventeen-year-old Justin Andrews had only traveled to his parents’ native island of Jamaica, so when the Model United Nations student got the chance to head over to Beijing, China in July, it’s … more

Two Nassau County Police officers revved up the motor on a device not much larger than a lawnmower engine. As the machine roared last Wednesday afternoon, the officers used its cutters to slowly peel off the driver’s side door of a badly damaged minivan. No one was inside the van, but students at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville watched quietly and anxiously as the “Jaws of Life” crushed the car’s metal. more