“Saddened,” “upset” and “disappointed” were among the many dispirited words people used to describe Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to veto a bill that would … more

The Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre received more than 250 items and 70 cases of beverages collected by local Coca-Cola employees in a donation on Nov. 17. It was the first delivery of five planned for the area. more

My last two columns, “As promised: keeping tabs” (June 30 – July 6) and “Is the bloom off the rose?” (July 21-27) provided information to evaluate the session-ending accomplishments of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Two fundamental questions were raised. Has there been a real transformation in addressing the way the “people’s business” is being managed in Albany? Do our political leaders really understand that the state of New York is still headed down a path of fiscal instability and requires levels of real reform hardly evident to date? more

Members of the Rockville Centre Tea Party held a protest outside State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’s district office on Front Street on July 15, prompting a spontaneous counterprotest by … more

 In a public hearing that turned raucous at times on Monday, the Nassau County Legislature heard testimony from a long line of speakers who charged that a Republican plan to redraw the lines of the county’s 19 legislative districts would, if passed, dilute the minority vote while shifting roughly half of the county’s population –– 576,000 people in all –– into new districts. more

For just the seventh time since 1975 — and for the first time since 2006 — the New York state Legislature adopted a budget before the April 1 deadline. Lawmakers in the Democratic-led … more

Long Island’s history books have recorded the fact that our bicounty area has been blessed by many great political names, each of whom exercised great political clout in Washington, Albany and Mineola. more

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says he is optimistic that despite the difficult choices they face, this is the year when Albany lawmakers will finally make the structural changes to the state budget needed to rein in spending. more

All 32 Republicans and 13 of 30 Senate Democrats voted to pass tax cap legislation on Monday night, limiting the growth of school property taxes to 2 percent, or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), … more

Sen. Dean Skelos assumed the two most powerful posts in the State Senate — majority leader and president pro tem — last week. more