(Smithtown, NY) Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI), the leading service provider for children and adults with Autism on Long Island, is hosting a conference on Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The full day conference will feature two workshops on the inclusion of young children with ASD in integrated settings as well as eating issues in young children with ASD.

The conference will be held on Tuesday, November 5th from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Clarion Hotel located at 3845 Veterans Memorial Highway in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.

The first workshop will focus on supporting young students with ASD in the least restrictive environment. There will be a review of components of successful inclusion models. Assessment protocols will be discussed, as well as implementation of specific curricular targets, to promote success in the inclusion environment. Ways in which reinforcement can be used strategically in the LRE will be covered. Data collection methods will be reviewed as they relate to ongoing data analysis and decision-making in the integrated setting.

Food selectivity and other feeding problems can occur in children with ASD. The second workshop will review specific food selectivity issues in young children with autism. An overview of various research-based methods that have been used successfully to treat food selectivity challenges will be reviewed. Specific topics to be covered will include: assessment of food selectivity, creating a dietary record, conducting preference assessments related to food selectivity, selecting an intervention and much more.

The workshop will be conducted Dr. McDonald, an Associate Professor in the Special Education Department of Hofstra University. Dr. McDonald directs the Advanced Certificate Programs including the advanced certificate in ABA and the Advanced Certificate in Severe and Multiple Disabilities. She currently teaches courses such as Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Creating Effective Learning Com- munities, Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis and Research Seminars. Dr. McDonald has over 20 years experience directing programs for students with autism from early intervention through adulthood. Dr. McDonald completed her PhD in Learning Theory at the CUNY Graduate Center and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst—Doctoral level. Dr. McDonald currently serves as the President of the Association for Science in Autism treatment (ASAT) and serves on the board of the NYS CEC as well as a number of advisory boards.

For further information or to register online visit www.ddiny.org/preschoolers-and-asd. Registration will be $135 for all participants.

DDI is a not-for-profit agency headquartered in Smithtown, NY, with more than 40 locations throughout Suffolk and Nassau Counties. DDI is the largest provider of services for individuals with Autism on Long Island. It provides special educational, vocational, day and residential programs, as well as healthcare services for over 5,000 children and adults with autism or other developmental disabilities. DDI also operates family-centered preschool programs for both children with disabilities as well as typically developing students. DDI was founded in 1961 by a group of parents to address the special educational and therapeutic needs of their children with autism or other developmental disabilities. DDI is a member agency of the United Way of Long Island.

For more information about DDI, visit www.ddiny.org.

Peconic Landing & East End Arts partner to bring the best of ‘art house’ cinema to the North Fork

(GREENPORT, N.Y.) “Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy,” a touching new film based on the book by Ellen Fitzpatrick, will open the North Fork Premiere Indie Showcase presented by Peconic Landing and East End Arts in October.

The two not-for-profits are thrilled to partner, bringing ‘art house’ cinema to the North Fork. The films will be shown in Peconic Landing’s auditorium for just $10 per film through Emerging Pictures, the largest all-digital specialty film and alternative content theater network in the United States.

“Letters to Jackie” focuses on the deeply personal letters of heartfelt condolences flooding in from all over the country to comfort President John F. Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, following the president’s assassination in 1963. Directed by Bill Couturie and set against a treasure trove of archival footage taken during the Kennedy era, the moving letters are read by 20 of today’s top actors including Jessica Chastain, Chris Cooper, Viola Davis, Zooey Deschanel, Kirsten Dunst, Anne Hathaway, Laura Linney, Frances McDormand, Mark Ruffalo, Octavia Spencer, Channing Tatum, Betty White and Michelle Williams. The film will be shown in Peconic Landing’s auditorium Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m.

“The Hunt,” directed and co-written by Thomas Vinterberg, is a disturbing depiction of how a lie becomes the truth when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish and ignite a witch-hunt that soon threatens to destroy an innocent man’s life. Mads Mikkelsen won the Best Actor Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his penetrating portrayal of Lucas, a former school teacher who has been forced to start over having overcome a tough divorce and the loss of his job. Just as things are starting to go his way, his life is shattered when an untruthful remark throws his small community into a collective state of hysteria. As the lie spreads, Lucas is forced to fight a lonely fight for his life and dignity. The film will be shown in Peconic Landing’s auditorium Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m.

“Midnight’s Children” is an epic film from Oscar-nominated director Deepa Mehta, based on the Booker Prize winning novel by Salman Rushdie. At the stroke of midnight on Aug. 15, 1947, as India proclaims independence from Great Britain, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor woman, and Shiva, the offspring of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives become mysteriously intertwined and are inextricably linked to India’s whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters. From the unlikely romance of Saleem’s grandparents to the birth of his own son, Midnight’s Children is a journey at once sweeping in scope and yet intimate in tone. Hopeful, comic and magical, the film conjures images and characters as rich and unforgettable as India herself. The film will be shown in Peconic Landing’s auditorium Saturday, Dec. 21 at 7:30pm.

Tickets are available by calling 631-477-BLUE or visiting http://peconiclanding.ticketleap.com/.

Information about Peconic Landing and all of the partnerships and programs for which it has become so well known is available by visiting www.PeconicLanding.org.

About Peconic Landing:
Peconic Landing is an innovative, not-for-profit CCAC-CARF-accredited continuing care retirement community (CCRC) located on the waterfront in Greenport, N.Y., on the North Fork of Long Island. Among its long list of achievements, Peconic Landing is the only equity-based LifeCare community in the state of New York. It is a member of LeadingAge and LeadingAge New York and embraces a healthy, active lifestyle infused with a sense of exploration, creativity and generosity of spirit.

About East End Arts:
As a partner EEA – East End Arts is a multi-award winning 501(c) 3 not-for-profit arts organization serving the five East End towns of Long Island, N.Y., since 1972. East End Arts operates a School of the Arts, an Art Gallery, and presents a variety of events and programs to promote the arts year-round. Through programming and initiatives, East End Arts is committed to building and enriching community through the arts by way of education, support, advocacy and inspiration.

(Shirley, NY) Today, Michael Long, Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party, announced his endorsement of Senator Lee Zeldin as his candidate of choice for New York’s First Congressional District.

Chairman Long had this to say about Senator Zeldin:

The First Congressional District could not ask for a better representative than Senator Lee Zeldin. He not only embodies the values of New York’s Conservative Party, both personally and professionally, he has an acute understanding of the importance of preserving the rights and traditions laid out by our nation’s founding fathers. And not only does he understand them, he actually put his money where his mouth is and fought for them in the U.S. Army. The fact that he was raised in the Congressional District, coupled with his experience as a military officer, former federal prosecutor and State Senator makes him uniquely-suited for the position,” said Chairman Long. “Senator Zeldin is an independent thinker who’s not afraid to make the tough decisions that are so lacking in DC right now. With Lee as our candidate, we have the opportunity to open new dialogue and shape policy. He is exactly the sort of new blood and fresh perspective we need to put an end to the D.C. chaos.

In accepting the endorsement, Senator Zeldin said, “I am encouraged by the backing of Mike Long, Chairman of the New York State Conservative Party. I know that with his support, we can change the culture in Washington for the betterment of our communities. There are so many challenges facing America. We share the values that are desperately needed to improve our government and I will work tirelessly to bring them to D.C.”

To learn more about Senator Zeldin and his campaign for Congress, please visit www.zeldinforcongress.com.

New construction will house 35-single-bedded Patient Care Unit, Graduate Medical Education Program, and State-of-the-Art Conference Center

(Port Jefferson, NY) A groundbreaking for a new patient care pavilion at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital marks a major commitment by the Hospital to address the current and future medical needs of the communities it serves.

The expansion, the first at Mather in more than a decade, will house a 35-single-bedded patient care unit; offices and teaching facilities for a Graduate Medical Education Program with residencies in Internal Medicine, Family Practice Medicine, Psychiatry and Transitional Year; and a state-of-the-art conference center. The new facility will be known as the Arthur & Linda Calace Family Pavilion and will add more than 28,400 square feet of space to the existing hospital.

“This is not merely a building, but a building for the future of healthcare for our community,” said Kenneth Jacoppi, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Mather Hospital.

The project will create 70 single-bedded rooms by converting 35 semi-private rooms to private rooms and building 35 new rooms in a new patient care unit to be located on the third level of the new Pavilion.

“Single-bedded rooms have become the standard in healthcare today, but private rooms currently make up only 13 percent of Mather’s medical-surgical patient rooms. At the completion of this project, the majority of the medical/surgical patient care rooms will be single bedded,” said Kenneth Roberts, President of the Hospital.

There are many benefits to having a large compliment of single bedded rooms, including fostering the healing process by reducing noise levels and patient stress. Additionally, private rooms reduce the risk of infection spreading among patients and, according to studies, reduce the length of a hospital stay. Because the new unit will also have telemetry, the ability to monitor a patient’s vitals through wireless technology, the number of patient transfers between rooms and waiting times for a room will both be reduced.

The second floor of the Pavilion will house offices and conference rooms for a new Graduate Medical Education Program. Mather plans to welcome its first class of residents in Internal Medicine in July 2014.

In a recent study by the Healthcare Association of New York State more than 1,200 doctors are needed statewide, one third of them in primary care.

With the recent implementation of the Affordable Care Act, projections indicate that the number of New Yorkers who will be covered by health insurance will increase by 1.2 million people, significantly adding to the demand for primary care physicians. At the same time, large numbers of our community members are entering their retirement years, a time when healthcare utilization dramatically increases.

“We believe some doctors who completed their residencies at Mather will choose to stay and practice in our beautiful community and become the care providers for our families and neighbors,” Roberts said.

The first floor of the Pavilion will be a new state-of-the-art conference center that will facilitate high quality educational opportunities for future doctors through technology that supports distance learning. The center of learning will also be available to other staff as well as the community at large for health symposiums and support group meetings.

Project Made Possible Through Philanthropy
The building is anticipated to cost $20 million to construct. In addition, the Hospital is seeking to raise $5 million in philanthropic support.

“We started our capital campaign in March of this year and to date we’ve raised approximately $3.3 million primarily due to the generosity of local philanthropists Arthur and Linda Calace, Robert and Kathy Frey, and our outstanding Auxiliary Volunteers,” said James Danowski, Chairman of the JTM Foundation which seeks charitable support for Mather Hospital.

“The Calaces, the Freys, our Auxiliary volunteers—each one is an investor in healthcare for our community. Their return is the knowledge that our community will benefit from their philanthropy for generations to come,” he added.

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones.

For further information about Mather Hospital, visit www.matherhospital.org or “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/matherhospital.

Weitzman’s Math Just Doesn’t Add Up

(Mineola, NY) Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos successfully articulated the major differences between himself and his opponent at the League of Women Voters Comptroller Debate last night at Molloy College. Comptroller Maragos focused on the millions of dollars his audits of various County departments saved tax payers while the former Comptroller repeatedly claimed it was not his responsibility to perform duties outside of the traditional scope of the Comptroller’s Office.

Comptroller Maragos also successfully explained how under ALL financial methods the County is better today than it was when his opponent held office.

“My commitment to the taxpayers was on full display last night while my opponent continues to try to mislead and confuse the voters of this county by twisting accounting methods,” Comptroller Maragos said. “My business and management background has benefited the residents of this great County and I plan on continuing to be an advocate for all of our residents. My independent leadership as Comptroller was in stark contrast to my opponents self-described “not my job” philosophy while in Office from 2001-2009.”

In-fact, Maragos’ challenger even conceded “respecting” Comptroller Maragos’ “independence” and active involvement in reducing county borrowing.

About Comptroller George Maragos:
Mr. Maragos is the current Nassau County Comptroller. He brought 35 years of senior management experience in private industry and has been credited for helping hold the line on property taxes, delivering three balanced budgets, cutting $300 million in waste and fraud and reducing borrowing by 50%. Mr. Maragos holds a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance. He was Vice President at two major financial institutions and Founder and CEO of a successful technology firm. Mr. Maragos is happily married to his lovely wife Angela of 40 years, has two sons and two beautiful grandchildren.

Schneiderman: By reestablishing a level playing field and making sure everyone plays by the same set of rules, we can restore public confidence in the markets

(NEW YORK) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today published an op-ed in the Albany Business Review detailing unfair advantages small groups of investors have gained in our financial markets by combining early glimpses of critical data with high-frequency trading – superfast computers that can trade tens of thousands of shares in nanoseconds. He refers to this problem as Insider Trading 2.0. The op-ed also describes steps that Attorney General Schneiderman has taken to rein in the problem and restore public confidence to the markets. The following are excerpts from the op-ed:

ON THE PROBLEM OF INSIDER TRADING 2.0: Small groups of privileged traders have created unfair advantages for themselves  by combining early glimpses of critical data with high-frequency trading – superfast computers that flip tens of thousands of shares in the blink of an eye. This new generation of market manipulators has devised schemes that allow them to suck all the value out of market-moving information before it hits the rest of the street.

ON THE NEED FOR A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: Our markets can thrive when there is one basic set of rule for everyone – from individual investors to pension funds to giant corporations.  Give everyone a fair shot at success using their brains, guts and intuition, and let the best succeed.  That’s the American way.  And that’s what our markets have traditionally offered.

ON A.G. SCHNEIDERMAN’S ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS: My office persuaded Thomson Reuters to stop giving a select group of clients access to the market-moving information in the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers two seconds before the rest of their subscribers saw it.

ON THE IMPACT OF INSIDER TRADING 2.0: The information [released by Thomson Reuters] was so powerful that in July 2012, 200,000 shares of an S&P 500 fund were traded in the first 10 milliseconds of the magic two-second window before the survey was released. But one year later, after Thomson Reuters reached an interim agreement with my office to halt the two-second edge, trading on the same fund during that 10-millisecond period plunged to just 500 shares.

ON STOPPING INSIDER TRADING 2.0: It is in the interest of the vast majority of market players who are responsible actors to stop the bad actors who put the markets at risk for personal gain. My office has set up a hotline for financial industry insiders to confidentially report improper or illegal conduct involving the dangerous combination of early access to information and high-frequency trading, and we ask anyone who knows of such wrongdoing to come forward.

Anyone who wishes to confidentially report improper or illegal conduct – be it front-running, trading in illicitly gained confidential information, or selling early access to market-moving data – is asked to call the Attorney General’s hotline: l 800-771-7755.

The full op-ed by Attorney General Schneiderman can be read here.

Misinterpretation Of State Law Prevented Veterans From Receiving Valuable Tax Exemptions They Deserve

(WATERTOWN) Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a new effort to ensure that all U.S. military veterans receive state property tax exemptions to which they are legally entitled under New York law. Attorney General Schneiderman’s office learned that some veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were being wrongly denied a valuable property tax exemption to which they are entitled upon conclusion of their military service. The section of New York law creating this valuable exemption is written in a confusing way that suggests the exemption does not apply to veterans who have served in the armed forces during recent conflicts. In fact – and contrary to the guidance given by some local tax officials across the state – veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terror are eligible for the tax exemption, which is equal to 15 percent of the assessed value of their residential property. Many of these veterans served in a combat zone, entitling them to an additional 10 percent exemption, or 25 percent in total. This week, the Attorney General issued a letter to county property tax officials across the state clarifying that veterans of the armed forces who served during the last 23 years do indeed qualify, and instructing them to ensure that local officials are applying the exemption uniformly.

“Veterans who bravely served after the horrific events of 9/11 deserve the same benefits as those who served before them. Unfortunately, a confusing law left some of those service members behind, costing them and their families thousands of dollars,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “This new effort will help ensure that local tax officials give military families the benefits they deserve, whether they were earned during the Korean War or the current war in Afghanistan.”

The Attorney General’s office discovered that some New York veterans who served all across the globe in last decade, and who own their homes, have been improperly denied a state veterans property tax exemption to which they are legally entitled. New York State law, like Federal law, classifies all military service over the last 23 years as having taken place during the “Persian Gulf War” period. The law does not spell out that veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan, the Second Iraq War, or the Global War on Terror qualify for the tax exemption. The office found that local tax officials were unclear on the availability of this benefit and in some cases told veterans they were ineligible. This meant families could be losing out on thousands of dollars in savings a year.

This week, the Attorney General’s office issued a letter to county property tax officials across the state, making it clear that veterans of our armed forces who served during the last 23 years qualify and instructing them to grant the tax exemptions.

For more in information on the veterans property tax exemption, please feel free to call the Attorney General’s office at 1-800-771-7755.

Holds incumbent accountable for county’s financial mess, mismanagement

(Long Island, NY) Former Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman triumphed last night in his only debate with his opponent George Maragos. Weitzman highlighted the Maragos record of the county experiencing three bond downgrades, rampant mismanagement of the comptroller’s office, and debt reaching a new all-time high.

“The verdict is in, and by all accounts George Maragos has failed Nassau County as comptroller,” said Weitzman Campaign Manager Nick Benson. “The choice in this race is between the Maragos record of gross mismanagement and record-high debt or Howard Weitzman, an experienced CPA who has a proven record as a tough fiscal watchdog.”

Weitzman stressed the county’s compromised financial condition and efforts by Mr. Maragos to issue misleading financial statements to mask the county’s deficit and fiscal woes. Weitzman relied upon independent, outside sources who have created a chorus of criticism for Maragos and the county’s finances.

During Weitzman’s tenure as county comptroller from 2002 to 2009, Nassau County experienced 13 bond upgrades, 8 straight balanced budgets, and the office conducted groundbreaking audits that saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

About Howard Weitzman, CPA
In 2001, Howard Weitzman became the only CPA ever elected to the office of Nassau County Comptroller after a 30 year career as a healthcare financial executive. He was subsequently re-elected to a second term in 2005. During his eight years as Comptroller, Howard Weitzman played a central role in the financial rescue of Nassau County. Under Howard’s leadership, the office of Comptroller became a national model for transparency and accountability while at the same time developing a reputation for groundbreaking audits, independence and integrity. A graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and Queens College, Howard is the former Mayor of Great Neck Estates, where he and his wife resided for 35 years and raised three children. He is currently a resident of North Hills.

(QUEENS, NY) The American-Italian Cancer Foundation (AICF)’s Mobile Care Clinic will be in Queens this month to provide No-Cost Breast Cancer Screenings to women age 50 and over.

The mobile clinic will be parked from 9am to 5pm in front of:

• Kalusugan Coalition at 39-04 63rd Street, Queens, NY 11377 on Saturday, October 19;
• Tabernacle Community CME Church at 115-62 Farmer’s Boulevard, Queens, NY 11412 on Sunday, October 20;
• Office of Assemblyman Goldfeder at 214 Beach 96th Street, Rockaway Beach, NY 11693 at Friday, October 25;
• Holy Child Jesus School at 111-02 86th Avenue, Queens, NY 11418 on Sunday, October 27;
• Queens Library at 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Queens, NY 11432 on Wednesday, October 30.

For appointments, please call 1-877-628-9090

AICF provides Mobile, No-Cost Breast Cancer Screening services to over 4,500 medically underserved New York City women annually. Our mobile Care Clinic travels the five boroughs five days a week. The women we serve reside in neighborhoods with high poverty rates, low screening rates, and high incidences of breast cancer; they are often fearful, ambivalent, or distrustful of the health care system and are simply not being screened through other programs.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. We strive to make every month Breast Cancer Awareness month. For more information about our No-Cost Breast Cancer Screening Program, please contact Ruth Vega at 212.628.9090 or ruthvega@americanitaliancancer.org.

Our work is generously supported by the National Breast Cancer Foundation, AVON Foundation, the New York City Council, New York State Department of Health Cancer Services Program, RAR Foundation and various individual patrons.

(Long Island, NY) “Americans are living longer and living well for longer periods of time, and persons age 65 and older are the fastest growing segment of America’s population,” said Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau). “As more people reach their 80s and 90s, the number of elderly needing assistance with daily living increases, along with the responsibilities of those who provide care for them.”

Please join Senator Hannon for a free Estate Planning and Financial Security seminar on Thursday, October 24, 2013, at the Garden City Library (located at 60 Seventh Street, Garden City), from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

“My featured speakers will be Sheila Lyons, who will address Elder Law, elder care, estate planning and related topics, and Linda West of All Metro Health, a senior housing advocate who will discuss options for home care and housing for seniors,” said Hannon.

Elder care emphasizes the social and personal requirements of senior citizens who need some assistance with daily activities and health care, but who desire to age with dignity. If you have a loved one who you feel will be requiring some form of elder assistance, home care or housing, now or in the future, or if you are simply interested in learning more, I urge you to attend.

The seminar is free and reservations are required, so all those in attendance will be provided with materials and seating. Please contact Senator Hannon’s Community Office at 516-739-1700 or visits www.kemphannon.com to reserve a seat.