Central calls in an auditor
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School Board of Education voted to spend an extra $25,000 to have the accounting firm KMPG look over its books. The decision came two weeks after it was revealed that a board trustee, Charles Reinhardt, had failed to provide receipts to justify trip advances he'd received for national conferences.
Assistant superintendent dies
Dr. Irene Lenhart, who served as the North Merrick School District's assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and personnel for the past 17 years, died Sept. 7, the first day of school. She was 68.
Dead-end issue alive
The Town of Hempstead prohibits parking at the Merrick Avenue dead end from 8 p.m. to 6 am. But people, particularly teenagers, often pull up in their cars at night and hang out for hours, drinking, smoking pot or both, a local resident said. The Merrick Fire Department proposed a giant curb across the 45-foot-wide dead end to help restrict parking there and, it's hoped, limit the reported disruptive activity.
Nothing's changed
Fourteen-year-old Dustin Freda died in August 2001 while trying to cross Sunrise Highway at Merrick Avenue. Freda's death sparked public interest in improving conditions for pedestrians who must cross Sunrise, which is a state highway, but a Herald investigation found that next to nothing had been done since 2001 to address the potentially hazardous conditions at Sunrise and Merrick Avenue, which is a county road.
Nabbed in sweep
The Nassau County District Attorney's Office undertook a massive sweep of people who allegedly filed fraudulent unemployment claims. The effort resulted in the arrest of more than two dozen local residents, including a Merrick man.
October
Happy Homecoming
The Kennedy High School cheerleading squad makes its way down from the Bellmore train station to the high school during JFK's Homecoming parade in October. The cheerleading squad won the county championship for the ninth straight year in 2004. Kennedy covers Bellmore and Merrick.
Merrick man shot down
Four men allegedly tried to murder a Merrick man in Valley Stream after stealing marijuana from him. Police recovered the pot during a sting at Valley Stream elementary school, where the suspects attempted to sell the marijuana, along with a stolen handgun. The suspects allegedly stole the drug from Matt Hofmann, 20, of Carroll Avenue in Merrick, and shot him once in the stomach and once in the leg before fleeing the scene.
Cell-tower debate erupts
Several residents expressed confusion and concern that Verizon Wireless might erect a 100-foot-tall cell-phone tower in Merrick on Town of Hempstead land adjacent to town ball fields and near Birch Elementary School. The cell-tower plan was set to go before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 13. But, before the BZA hearing, the town declared that it wouldn't allow the cell-tower on town land in Merrick, citing community concern as the reason.
Flood of concern
Bayberry Avenue, a short street off Hewlett Avenue in south Merrick with two homes, two boatyards and a clam bar, floods whenever there's a high tide during a full moon, or during a major storm, such as a hurricane or nor'easter. The floods can come at any time of year. A local resident said for 35 years the Town of Hempstead had promised to fix the road so saltwater would no longer overrun it, but the town has repeatedly stalled the project for one reason or another, leaving the road to flood and become full of potholes. The town said a fix was in the works, but as of this issue, none had begun.
Pedestrian struck down
A Merrick resident driving on Sunrise Highway struck a 26-year-old Levittown man as he tried to cross the thoroughfare between Hewlett and Merrick avenues. The victim tried to cross Sunrise Highway where there wasn't a crosswalk.
The accident only further illustrated the dangers faced by pedestrians on Sunrise Highway, civic leaders said.
Immigrant's success story
Hector Montesdeca, who has owned the Sunoco gas station on Merrick Road in Merrick for 36 years, was honored with the Town of Hempstead's Hispanic Heritage Award.
November
Incumbents win big
In the 8th Senate District, New York state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican of Merrick, handily defeated Democrat John Lewis, also of Merrick. Sen. Kemp Hannon, a Republican of Garden City, staved off a challenge by Democrat Charles Ferzola. Hannon covers a small part of North Merrick. Incumbent Republican Maureen O'Connell, an attorney and former nurse, beat Anthony Pellegrino, of North Merrick. Democrat Earlene Hooper, who has served as a state assemblywoman in the 18th District since 1988, defeated Republican Max Rodriguez. Hooper covers a small section of south Merrick. Republican David McDonough, a former president of the Merrick Chamber of Commerce, won re-election, defeating Democratic challenger Jay Breakstone, an attorney who is president of the Bellmore Elementary Board of Education.
Renovations for Stop & Shop?
State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. informed Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association that Stop & Shop, in the Merrick Mall on Hewlett and Merrick avenues, may renovate its store and possibly move the loading dock from Hewlett Avenue to the front of the supermarket on Benson Lane.
Mepham three-peat!
The Mepham High School girls' cross-country team won the Nassau County Championship crown for the third straight year. Bellmore-Kennedy's Maegan Krifchin took the individual title.
Hard times for Film Forum
The Merrick Film Forum lost two of its most dedicated members, Dorothy Ross, 83, of Merrick, who died on May 31, and the forum's president, Don Feikowski, 74, on Oct 2. Both served the non-profit organization for 25 years and were instrumental in keeping it running. With membership down and board members aging, the forum has hit hard times. They are looking for new volunteers to keep the organization going.
Stage will stay
The building that houses The Stage theater, at Sunrise Highway and Hewlett Avenue in Merrick, was sold recently to Ronnie Ustica Jr., who owns R&U Auto Body nearby. He plans to let The Stage, which rents the building, remain in its home.
Coach's suit dismissed
District Court Judge Thomas Platt dismissed a lawsuit by a former Mepham High School football coach, Stephen Vernet, of Bellmore, who charged that the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District was unconstitutional.
Lawrence Reich, the Central District's lawyer, reported Platt's finding during a Central District Board of Education meeting.
Vernet had argued that because the Central District school board comprised members from four elementary districts, each with disparate populations, it violated the one-person, one-vote principle. The board was thus illegal, Vernet said, and had no right to dismiss him or any of the four other Mepham coaches who were removed from their coaching jobs in the fall of 2003.
Vernet and his fellow coaches lost their positions last November in the wake of the Mepham football sex-abuse scandal.
Reich successfully argued that because the Central District board is appointed by the four component elementary districts' boards of education, rather than voted on by residents, it did not violate the one-person, one-vote principle.
School taxes on the rise
Merrick and North Merrick residents received their property tax bills and learned how much more they'll pay in taxes this year. Merrick taxes went up by 13.6 percent and North Merrick by 15.6 percent. The increases reflect residents' total tax bills for their component elementary districts and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.
December
Calhoun High takes on drugs
A new committee comprised of students, parents, teachers, coaches, social workers, guidance counselors and administrators formed to engage Calhoun High School in North Merrick in reducing substance abuse.
Keeping kids away from drugs
The Students against Destructive Decisions club at Mepham High School, led by health teacher Barbara Gai, is constantly looking for new ways to involve students at Mepham in positive activities both during and after school. There are nearly 70 students who turn out for the SADD meetings to join in the many activities.
Saving the woodlands
The woodlands along the Meadowbrook Parkway have until now remained unprotected by the government from all-terrain vehicle users and partying teenagers who have ravaged the forests over the years. That may soon change.
In December, the Nassau County Unprotected Woodlands Task Force completed its draft management plan for the woodlands, which includes numerous changes for the woodlands.
Best in the world
Merokean Anastasia Young was ranked No. 1 in the world in Youth A women's singles luge in mid-December. She hopes to compete in Olympics in 2010.
School named for N. Merrick man
Richard Segerdahl, of North Merrick, served as the Island Trees School District superintendent for two decades. He retired from the post last spring, leaving behind not only a legacy of change in the district, but also his name. The Island Trees Middle School was renamed the Richard N. Segerdahl Middle School.
N. Merrick rejects library bond
Residents voted down the North Merrick Library's bond referendum. Two hundred ninety-four people cast their ballots Dec. 14, with 173 voting against the bond and 121 for it, a 59-to-41 percent margin. If passed, the bond would have financed long overdue repairs, library officials said.
The library board is considering decreasing the amount of the bond proposal and putting it up for a vote again.
