Welcome to the Rockville Centre Herald

Hello to our Rockville Centre Herald readers, and to those of you who are seeing the newspaper for the first time, welcome to the community weekly that covers the village and news of South Hempstead as well. This issue includes our annual Almanac and Newcomer’s Guide to Rockville Centre.

The Herald really is your newspaper: It’s about you, your friends, your neighbors, your kids. In addition to covering the village, the Herald is also filled with news and features about the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County, delving into issues ranging from redistricting to sewage plant problems. We also regularly offer local angles on global events.

How much will the new school budget raise your taxes? What new businesses are opening or closing in your community? Where can you take your kids for a fun day? How are the police handling a rash of robberies or burglaries in Rockville Centre? By writing stories about the issues that concern you most, we look to answer the questions you would ask.

If you’re new to the Herald, or a reader who wants to know more about the paper, let me take you inside our publication.

Crime Watch is a rundown of recent criminal activity, taken from Rockville Centre Police Department and Village Court reports.

The Sports page typically features a story on local high school sports or an individual athlete, with occasional stories as well about area college sports, including Molloy and Hofstra. We encourage readers to submit story ideas.

The Schools page highlights academic programs, activities and issues that affect your children. We run a list of upcoming school-related events, updated every week. We report on all the schools in our coverage area, public and private.

The Neighbors page is where we spotlight residents or local organizations holding events in Rockville Centre. We use as many photos as possible. We like to see your faces in the paper.

Community Update gives you a full listing of special events in Rockville Centre: when and where village, zoning and planning board meeting are being held, and what’s going on at the library and with other community organizations.

In our Neighbors in the News section, we feature engagements, newlyweds, births, promotions, honors and other achievements of residents and former residents of our coverage area. For this section, too, we encourage reader submissions.

From time to time the Herald will also publish reader-contributed columns on topics that are usually focused on community issues. In the Stepping Out section, the Arts and Entertainment page highlights performances, plays, movies and other entertainment, including listings for Molloy College’s new Madison Theatre.

On the Editorial Page, you’ll find an editorial on a timely issue that our editorial board has discussed, as well as Letters to the Editor. We invite you to give voice to your own opinions by sending us a letter about something you’ve read in our pages. There is also room for community feedback on our website, www.liherald.com/RockvilleCentre, or on our Facebook page. You can find our contact information in the Almanac.

Our Herald staffers are out and about, in and around Rockville Centre. Whether it’s our reporter, Aaron Axelson, for community news and features, or, for advertising, Senior Account Executive Karen Resnick, stop and say hello, and tell us what’s happening in the community. You can contact them at (516) 569-4000 — Aaron is at ext. 282 and Karen is at ext. 261. You can also contact the Rockville Centre editor at rvceditor@liherald.com.

Or you can contact me at joconnell@liherald.com.

I hope you’ll read us every week and subscribe to the paper. There is a subscription form on page 4 and a subscription envelope that’s been inserted. Thanks, and welcome to the Herald Community Newspapers!