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HERALD Vol. 25 No. 14
Tax credit may help businesses
D’Esposito tapped for new role
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APRIl 3 - 9, 2025
What to know about capital improvements a school district — and asked them what updates they’d like to see in their schools. “We looked at each school, The East Meadow School District is continuing to make and the exercise was very interimprovements inside and out- esting,” he said, adding that it side of the classroom, and really reflected the “student voices” aspect of thanks to collaborathe committee. tive ef for ts with The District Capstudents in the disital Improvement trict, SuperintenPlan that Rosner dent Kenneth Rospresented included ner provided an four areas: buildoverview of capital ings and infrastrucimprovements that ture; health and the district identisafety; educational fied during March’s environment; and Board of Education athletics. Rosner meeting held at the also showed the disSalisbury Center in trict’s cur rent Westbury. maintenance projRosner told ects, which includes board members and improvements in a the community that JEssICA myriad of areas, he meets monthly RICCo-sImEoNE from water founwith a group of stu- President, tains to hallway d e n t s i n t h e Board of Education televisions. PLEASE Commit“You will see by tee — which stands for Positive Leaders Elicit All school all of the things that Student Voices in East Meadow. they’re doing across the disDuring a recent session, he trict,” he explained during the talked to the students about presentation. “Some of them capital projects — investments are the non-glorious things, in physical assets, infrastruc- like boilers, that as a homeownture and property aimed at cre- er you really hate spending ating or improving long-term money on, and other things value for an organization, like Continued on page 9
By JoRDAN VAlloNE
jvallone@liherald.com
W
Tim Baker/Herald
Can you ‘Name That Tune?’ The East Meadow community came out to take part in the Kiwanis Club of East Meadow’s ‘Name That Tune.’ Tony Capobianco, Jacob Valk, Martin Valk and Kevin Kamper, at front, with Mary Capobianco and Matt Kamper, at back, were among the many attendees. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Faith, resilience: E.M. pastor’s remarkable post-Covid journey By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
Benjamin Thomas, the senior pastor at the Queens Church of God and a longtime resident of East Meadow, nearly died while battling Covid-19 right at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020. One of Long Island’s biggest miracle cases, Thomas was a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital on Long Island for over 100 days, 54 of which he spent on a ventilator. “It was a rough journey,” he said, “and very few people survived. I believe it’s truly a miracle of God — God used the doctors to bring that miracle to me.”
Thomas, 60, who was born in India, has been a part of his church, located in Queens Village, for 39 years, and he’s served as the lead pastor for the last 21. He’s lived in East Meadow for 22 years with his wife, Sarah, and his 21-year-old daughter, Abigail. He fell ill in mid-March of 2020, and spiked a high temperature that was not improving with medication. After a few days of illness, Thomas, then 55, began to experience shortness of breath. News about coronavirus illness was just beginning to circulate, and doctors at first didn’t know Thomas had Covid-19. When his blood oxygen levels severely dipped, he was taken to a medical Continued on page 10
e want to make it look desirable, but we also want to make sure that the children are safe.