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Page 9 Vol. 29 No. 9 MARCH 3, 2026
FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 4, 2026
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Blizzard blankets the South Shore Schools closed Monday and Tuesday rates intensified and visibility dropped. M a j o r t h o ro u g h f a re s — Residents of Bellmore and including Merrick Road, SunMerrick spent Mondaay night rise Highway and Bellmore and Tuesday digging out after a Avenue — were among the first late-winter blizzard dropped to be cleared, with neighbormore than a foot of snow across hood streets addressed as conthe South Shore, blanketing ditions improved. By Monday roads, forcing school closings after noon, most main roads and keeping municipal crews were passable, though high working around the s n o w b a n k s n a rclock. rowed lanes and Re p o r t s f ro m reduced available local officials and parking on residenweather observers tial blocks. placed snowfall Sanitation and totals between 15 highway crews conand 17 inches in tinued salting operboth communities, ations Monday to with higher drifts prevent refreezing, in open areas, driva s t e m p e r at u re s en by strong winds. r e m a i n e d b e l ow Snow tapered off freezing. Officials on Monday night, DAViD FiGUERoA said that extended allowing highway Merrick shifts would continand sanitation ue to address icy crews to shift from patches and clear plowing to widencatch basins ahead ing travel lanes and clearing of a potential midweek melt. intersections. Utility companies such as Nassau County of ficials PSEG reported only scattered issued travel advisories at the outages in the Bellmore-Merheight of the storm, urging res- rick area, largely caused by idents to stay off the roads so snow-laden branches brushing plows could operate safely. p owe r l i n e s. S e r v i c e w a s County Executive Bruce Blake- restored quickly in most cases, man described conditions as and no widespread disruptions hazardous, particularly overContinued on page 2 night on Sunday, as snowfall
By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ
hgaldamez@liherald.com
Courtesy Bellmore Public Schools
Using their hands to signal leadership Reinhard Rising Star Leaders demonstrated Leadership Principles using hand signals at Winthrop Avenue School. Story, additional photo, Page 6.
Nurse practitioner turns donated supplies into lifeline for those in need By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
After returning home from a medical mission overseas, Sophia Specht found that the donations she had gathered kept coming — long after her suitcases were unpacked. Rather than let the supplies sit unused, the Bellmore nurse practitioner turned them into a grassroots medical supply closet, Neighbors Promoting Equity Medical Trading, that now helps Long Island families access equipment they might otherwise struggle to afford Specht, a Bellmore resident since 1995, began the effort in 2023 following her first mission trip to Kenya, where she collected roughly 370
pounds of donated medical supplies through a local social media appeal. “The support was ridiculous,” she said. “People were cleaning out medicine chests, saying, ‘My grandfather passed away, we don’t know what to do with these.’” Specht’s path to the project was shaped by years in health care. She worked as a paramedic in New York City before becoming a nurse in 2012 and later a nurse practitioner at Glen Cove Hospital. Her experience moving between underserved neighborhoods in Brooklyn and more affluent communities on Long Island highlighted stark differences in access to care, she said, fueling a Continued on page 19
T
he roads looked rough early on, but the plows were out nonestop.