________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Chabad installs bulletproof doors
MlK march is coming up
Poetry film set to debut
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Vol. 36 No. 3
JANUARY 16 - 22, 2025
$1.00
Overcoming leukemia, with help of Legos
A local wrestler earns more hardware Long Beach’s Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez, center, captured the 116-pound title at the prestigious Eastern States Tournament last weekend, and was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler by the coaches and Champion of Champions by his fellow weight-class winners. He celebrated with coaches Ray Adams, near right, and Leo Palacio.
every day, and it proved effective. She became healthy again, and resumed a normal childReese Gallinaro is a 16-year- hood. Then, when she was 9, she old Long Beach High School junior. She takes the typical relapsed. Her treatment the second classes and is involved in clubs with her classmates, but her time around was even more difficult, with stronstory is anything ger chemotherapy, but typical. and the family A few days after nearly took up resiher fourth birthday, dency at Memorial Gallinaro was diagSloan Kettering for nosed with leukemonths in 2017. mia. She doesn’t T he drives back remember much of and forth from the treatment, Long Beach to Manaside from going to hattan took a toll Memorial Sloan on everyone. Reese Kettering Cancer missed all of fourth Center in Manhatg rade, but the tan with her father, REEsE GAllINARo school district proJoe. She recalls col- Cancer survivor vided a tutor for oring and drawing her fifth grade year, while there, always doing something with her and she managed to attend school sporadically. Through it hands. “It’s so interesting,” Reese’s all, she stayed strong. “It was really, really hard,” mother, Joanna, said. “As she’s saying that she doesn’t remem- her mother said, “but Reese ber much, I’m like, wow, great, always showed much courage because it was certainly not and bravery. You sit in the waiteasy to watch. Her treatment ing room and you see other patients being treated, and was pretty rough.” Reese was treated over the other families going through course of about two years, and similar things, and everyone is missed all of pre-kindergarten. super courageous, and you try She took a chemotherapy drug Continued on page 16
By BRENDAN CARPENTER
bcarpenter@liherald.com
R
ight when I finished treatment, I knew I needed to do something.
Courtesy Long Beach Public Schools
Board outlines district plans, but parents voice their concerns By ANGElINA ZINGARIEllo azingariello@liherald.com
The Long Beach Board of Education met on Tuesday to discuss the district’s financial strategy and proposed new capital projects while addressing community concerns. Michael DeVito, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, presented a detailed plan for facilities upgrades that would be funded by a bond initiative, with no additional tax burden on residents. “It actually allows things to remain stable, the tax revenue, without having any debts or major increases,” DeVito said. “And what we’re propos-
ing here is that we can do this and have no increase at all, and maybe actually have a decrease of payout later.” DeVito explained that the district stands to benefit from the expiration of roughly $8 million in annual debt service payments. As they are phased out in the coming years, the district can borrow money for capital projects while keeping the tax levy unchanged. This approach is designed to maintain fiscal responsibility while addressing the district’s infrastructure needs. Among the key proposals is the establishment of a wellness center at Long Beach High School to offer students a supportive environment where Continued on page 7