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More than a year after the East Meadow School District in Nassau County barred a deaf high school student from taking his service dog to school, a state official ruled on Monday that the district had violated the state’s Human Rights Law.

Continue reading “State Says Deaf Student May Take Service Dog to School”

New York’s Commissioner of the Division of Human Rights (DHR) has ruled that a school district’s refusal to allow a hearing impaired student to bring his service dog to school violates the state’s Human Rights Law (HRL)

Continue reading “New York State Div. of Human Rights v. East Meadow Union Free Sch. Dist., No. 10115533 (N.Y. Div. H.R. Mar. 10, 2008)”

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice held a press conference last Tuesday to announce that a former New York City Police Officer has been arrested for selling weapons he allegedly stole from the evidence room of his Queens-based NYPD Precinct. In addition to the arrest of ex-cop Hubertus “Dutch” Vannes on weapons charges, the District Attorney’s Office has arrested his alleged co-conspirator, Anthony Vitta, 44, of East Meadow, and charged the duo with selling powerful painkillers obtained illegally from an East Meadow pharmacy.

Continue reading “Three Arrested in Gun and Rx Dealing Probe”

During last week’s East Meadow Board of Education public meeting, Nancy Cave, the mother of deaf Clarke High School student John Cave Jr., told the board and local residents that her son’s hearing dog, Simba, would be accompanying her son into the school building on Oct. 3.

Continue reading “Hearing Dog to Attend School”

Despite his hard-nosed day job, Mr. Margiotta, who moonlights in civil litigation (his translation: “Anyone who’s suing anyone, but not ambulance-chasing”) in his private practice in Lindenhurst, tends to be just that: merry. Even when discussing the plight of his furry blond client, Simba, the service dog who received national attention after the Westbury family that owns him filed a $150 million lawsuit against their hearing-impaired son’s school district in East Meadow for banning Simba from the premises.

Continue reading “The Dog Just Wants to Help. So Does He.”

As lawyers for a deaf student and the school district that has barred his service dog from class continued battling in court, state human rights officials said Wednesday that the district may be guilty of discrimination.

Continue reading “Agency Files Complaint Over Service Dog Ban”

After a court hearing marked by opposing lawyers’ name-calling and sarcasm, a federal judge Monday said he needs more time to decide whether a deaf student’s service dog must be allowed into a Westbury high school.

Continue reading “Judge: Service Dog Stance ‘Not Entirely Clear’”

Residential and commercial interests went toe to toe at a recent Amityville Village Board hearing and it wasn’t pretty. After more than an hour and a half of bitter discussion and debate, little was resolved and the only clear fact was that the Village Board of Trustees was in a place that damned them no matter which way they voted.

Continue reading “Steely Hearing on Richmond Auto Body Expansion”

Patrick Cribbin has been elected president of the Court Officers’ Benevolent Association of Nassau County, defeating Matt Raber, 371 votes to 233.

Continue reading “Cribbin Gains Full Term To Run COBANC”