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Vol. 73 No. 4
JANUARY 23 - 29, 2025
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Kiwanis Club looks ahead
Hablamos Español
Rhoads takes oath of office in Albany He was re-elected after defeating his democratic opponent, Lisa Lin, in the November election. State Sen. Steve Rhoads, of Rhoads said he wants to conBellmore, took his oath of office at the New York State tinue to address the needs of Capitol in Albany on Jan. 8, district residents, ensuring when he was sworn in to repre- their concerns are heard all the sent the 5th Senate way up to Albany. District for a second Two days after takterm. ing his oath, his Rhoads, re pre of fice announced senting the commuthe retur n of the nities of Wantagh, mobile office hours Seaford, Levittown, pro g ram, where Merrick, Bellmore Rhoads engages in and East Meadow, one-on-one converexpressed a dedicasations with resition to making New dents at libraries York an affordable throughout the disand safe state to live trict. During the in. past two years, “ R i g h t n o w, Rhoads hosted more wh e t h e r i t ’s o u r than a dozen mobile seniors, young peooffice hour sessions, StEVE RHoAdS p l e — e v e r yo n e speaking with resiState senator seems to have their dents about issues N e w Yo r k e x i t that matter most to plan,” Rhoads, a Republican, them. told the Herald in a roundtable “From tackling issues from interview in October. “As a affordability to public safety state government, as long as we and everything in between, I continue to make New York believe in transparency and state unaffordable and uncom- open communication,” Rhoads petitive for businesses and for said in a news release, “and it’s residents, we’re going to con- this connection to the commutinue to suffer — and that has nity that truly drives my fight to change.”
By CHARlES SHAW
cshaw@liherald.com
I
Courtesy MacArthur High School
Melody Hong, a senior at Macarthur High School, was named a semifinalist in the 2025 Regeneron Science talent Search. She was joined by her science teachers, Matthew Zausin, far left, and david Friedman, and principal Joseph Sheehan.
Researching ways to help others MacArthur High’s Melody Hong is a Regeneron semifinalist By CHARlES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
Hours of late-night studying and support from mentors has led Melody Hong to be named a semifinalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a national science research competition for high school students. Since 1942, the talent search has been a prestigious program of the Society for Science, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to expanding science literacy and access to education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM studies. This year, 300 students were selected as Regeneron semifinalists. Hong, a senior at General Douglas
MacArthur High School, in Levittown, is one of 49 semifinalists from Long Island, which boasts more than any other region of the country. She has known about the competition since she was a freshman, thanks to upperclassmen who took part. “I thought it would just be great to become part of such a really talented community of young people,” Hong said. For the talent search, she submitted a project titled, “A Bayesian Exploration into more Flexible trans-Methylation Quantitative Trait Locus Mapping,” in which she developed alternative statistical methods to better identify genetic variants of complex diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Type 1 diabetes. According to Hong, these variants, Continued on page 4
t’s time to liberate New York and build a better, safer, healthier and more affordable tomorrow for all New Yorkers.
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