________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD Vol. 26 No. 52
Civic associationhosts tree lighting
Elmont man guilty of murder
Page 3
Page 4
DECEMBER 19 - 25, 2024
$1.00
Locals want red light fees reimbursed Jeanlouis said. “Why does the county think this makes sense, and why do we have to be the Nassau County’s red light ones going through this financamera ticket fees were deter- cial burden? $150 is a lot of money.” mined to be illegal Carol Garrick, by the New York also of Elmont, State appellate divisaid the fees are sion court on Nov. exorbitant. “What 27. Now, Elmont kind of fee is two residents are times as much as demanding to have the infraction their money itself ?” she asked. retur ned, along County Minority with transparency Leader Delia as to where the fees DeRiggi-Whitton collected from the said during a Dec. 9 red-light camera news conference program have been that it was time for spent since it began the county to reimover a decade ago. burse drivers. “The Emmanuelle whole point of the Jeanlouis, an red-light camera E l m o n t re s i d e n t system was for who has received safety,” DeRiggitwo red light tickWhitton said. “This ets since 2022, said was not supposed she paid $150 per to be a revenue genticket. erating option.” In Nassau Coun- EMMaNuEllE Jeanlouis said ty, red light camera JEaNlouis not only does she tickets are $50. But, Elmont resident want reimbursewith the $100 “drivment, she wants to er responsibility” a n d “ p u b l i c s a f e t y ” f e e s know where the money the at t a ch e d , t h e t o t a l t i cke t county collected since the beginning of the program has amount is $150. “It’s like a bogus scam,” Continued on page 11
By RENEE DeloRENZo
rdelorenzoliherald.com
T
Renee DeLorenzo/Herald
Mario and Courtney Lopez talked about their experience at the great american Family Christmas Festival on dec. 14.
Mario and Courtney Lopez greet fans at holiday festival By RENEE DeloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
The Park at UBS Arena kicked off its first Great American Family Christmas Festival on Nov. 22 in collaboration with Great American Media. The event, which resumes again on Friday and continues through Dec. 22, featured ice-skating, photos with Santa, musical performances, games, food trucks, hot chocolate and other treats, a meet-and-greet with rescue animals from the North Shore Animal League, and an appearance by celebrity guests Mario and Courtney Lopez. After releasing their first Christmas movie, “Once Upon a Christmas Wish,” in
which they starred, on Dec. 7, Mario said that the festival was a great way to promote the film. “What better way to celebrate than to launch with my actual family?” he said. Mario, 51, and Courtney, 42, co-hosted the event, where they met some of their fans. “The goal is to give people a Christmas experience that they wouldn’t normally get anywhere else,” Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media, said. According to Abbott, tens of thousands of tickets had been sold for the festival, and it almost reached capacity on its opening weekend. The Lopezes said they loved interacting with fans. “I think it’s very clever and cool Continued on page 9
he little bit that we get in our paychecks as salary, especially when we’re not even getting proper raises, for the county to just go out and take it, it makes no sense.