Newsroom

Presents High School Senior Frances Bruschi with the New York State Senate Library Medal

It’s sometimes difficult to stay positive with all the sad news happening around us. But, occasionally there comes a story that makes us feel good about the future of our state and nation. Enter 17-year-old Frances Brusch.

Frances is an unassuming high school senior from Carle Place who also attends Barry Tech. Her quick-thinking, alertness and will to act just may have saved a fellow student’s life.

Signed, Sealed and DELIVERED

There was a lot going on, but I didn’t forget. Even though the last year was widely recognized as one of the most successful for the New York Legislature in decades, for most of us, progress is still measured on the streets where we live, right in our own neighborhoods.

There were 53 semifinalists in the 2013 Intel Science Talen Search and the high schools in the Seventh Senate District were well represents. Senator Jack M. Martins congratulates this year's semifinalists and wishes them continued success. Forty finalists will be announced on January 23.

Congratulations to:

Intel Science Semifinalists – 7th Senate District

Great Neck North

Menglu Dong, 17

Julia Zhuang, 17

Great Neck South

David Kim, 17

Cyrus Zhou, 17

Herricks

Meenakshi Krishna, 17

Benjamin Pleat, 17

Manhasset

Nick Fiacco, 17

North Shore Hebrew Academy

Yonatan David, 17

Mineola High School Senior Eric Timlin, an intern at the District Office of State Senator Jack M. Martins, wanted his senior project to be something that would benefit his classmates and the community as a whole. Timlin decided to organize an assembly at Mineola High School about a problem that has come to light in recent years – the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

Recently, the New York State Senate added a powerful tool to combat the epidemic through a new law, entitled I-STOP, that was co-sponsored by Senator Martins. The legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Cuomo, creates an online database accessible to doctors and pharmacists who will be able to identify who is getting excessive prescriptions of narcotics.

The New York State Senate’s Bipartisan Task Force on Hurricane Sandy Recovery today visited communities on Long Island to tour storm damage and speak with local officials, business leaders, and individuals about the progress and challenges of the ongoing recovery efforts.

Today’s meeting focused on Hurricane Sandy’s impacts in Nassau and Suffolk counties and included tours of Freeport, Island Park, and Oceanside to view the extensive storm damage and recovery efforts. This was the second meeting of the Bipartisan Senate Task Force for Hurricane Sandy Recovery, which first met on December 10, 2012, in the Rockaways in Queens.

The following is from Senator Jack M. Martins:

I hope that you had a happy and safe holiday. As we approach the new year, I wanted to remind you of the new laws that will be taking effect on January 1, 2013. These new laws include greater protections for domestic violence victims, a new tax exemption to encourage use of solar energy and a measure to allow eligible colleges and universities in New York State to self-insure their students for health insurance.

The new laws taking effect include:

I received an e- mail from Afghanistan in late October – actually from one of our local guys from New Hyde Park who is currently stationed there.

He serves in what is uniquely known as one of the Navy’s “Force Reintegration Cells.” It’s not what you might think, though. His unit actually distributes small grants and community funding for local projects, most of the time using the former insurgent fighters as laborers on the projects. Each leaves the fight “honorably” and each represents one less fighter or suicide bomber for the Taliban. As he notes in his message,

“As a native New Yorker, I was very skeptical at first, but I have to admit, that the program is working. We’ve peacefully removed 5,000 insurgent fighters from the battle space…”

Awards Going to Winthrop Hospital and Town of Hempstead For Belmont Area Revitalization

Senator Jack M. Martins announced that projects in the Seventh Senate District that will create jobs will receive critically important state funds through the second round of Regional Economic Development Council awards.