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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
Serving up Haitian food
Burroughs joins Assembly
Laura Gillen is sworn in
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Page 16 $1.00 FREE
JANUARY 16 - 22, 2025
Sands casino plan spurs eco debate By KELSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
Courtesy Scott Brinton
Celebrating Dr. King Zach Hunter, a student at Academy Charter School in Hempstead, led his school’s cheerleading squad in the Hempstead-Hofstra MLK Day Parade and Celebration, ‘Moving Forward: The Dream Realized,’ last Saturday. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Two Sacred Heart seniors named Regeneron Science semifinalists By KELSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
Emma Amalia Carotenuto and Erica Revill, seniors at Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, have been chosen semifinalists in the Society for Science’s 2025 Regeneron Science Talent Search, one of the nation’s oldest and most renowned science competitions. The students’ advancement in the prestigious competition was announced on Jan. 8, making Sacred Heart the only private school on Long Island to have earned semifinal status this year, according to the school’s new release. “It’s a big deal,” Stephen Sullivan, Sacred
Heart’s research director, said. “It’s a really, really big deal, and there’s an awful lot of support (for the girls).” Carotenuto and Revill are among 49 scholars from Long Island, and 300 nationwide, selected to move forward in the competition. More than 2,500 students from across the country applied this year, a record high for the program, according to a Regeneron news release. Each semifinalist will receive a $2,000 award, with matching grants of $2,000 per winner to their school, so Sacred Heart Academy’s science research program will receive a total of $4,000. Regeneron’s top 40 finalists will be announced Continued on page 7
The proposed $6 billion Sands development on the 72-acre Nassau Coliseum site has sparked new discussions about balancing economic development with environmental preservation, with the focus on one of Long Island’s last remaining undisturbed ecosystems. Environmental organizations are working with county officials and Sands to address the project’s potential impacts on the Hempstead Plains, a 100acre natural habitat adjacent to the Coliseum site that houses diverse wildlife and plant spec i e s. T h e S a n d s p ro p o s a l includes a 400,000-square-foot casino, hotels, restaurants, retail outlets and a convention center, and is expected to create over 8,500 new construction jobs and over 5,000 more permanent jobs. The South Shore Audubon Society held a virtual presentation on Jan. 9 that outlined its concer ns about the planned development. The issues it highlighted included bird mortality from collisions with building, light pollution affecting migration patter ns and
water resource management. Sands, which has committed to building a LEED-certified resort, says environmental stewardship is central to its development approach. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a green building rating system used around the world. “We have a long, well-documented history of environmental achievements and excellence across our worldwide properties,” a Sands spokesperson, told the Herald. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Long Island’s environmental community to create a world-class resort that provides new entertainment, jobs and opportunity in the most sustainable way.” A 28,000-page draft environmental impact statement for the project, submitted by Sands last November, outlines the Las Vegas-based gaming company’s plans to address potential environmental impacts. Local environmental groups, however, say that additional protections are needed for the unique habitat of the Hempstead Plains. “We thought that not everything was covered (in the DEIS), that there’s going to be Continued on page 5