_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD O’Side and I.P. kids move up
MSSN hosts health fair
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VOL. 60 NO. 28
JuLy 10 - 16, 2025
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The governor talks up her cellphone ban at the office of the Hicksville School District on June 24. “Across the country, 74 percent Of the Oceanside/Island Park Herald of teachers have said it is Gov. Kathy Hochul recently impossible to teach and convisited a Long Island school nect with our young people district to meet with school anymore because they’re comleaders from Nassau and Rock- peting with TikTok dance vidland counties and New York eos, and that kids aren’t learnC i t y, s o l i d i f y i n g ing the way they plans to implement used to.” the state’s “bell-toPhyllis Harbelieve that bell” cellphone ban rington, superinin schools. as a result of t e n d e n t o f t h e The new distracOceanside School t i o n - f r e e p o l i c y, this cellphone District, said the which was part of ban, we will have district had been the latest state buddiscussing the young people get and bars the use influence of smartof cellphones by who are finally phones on students students in K–12 and researching liberated from public schools best practices on across New York, the addictive how to approach goes into effect on qualities of social smartphone usage Au g . 1 . H o c h u l for more than a stressed that the media. year. She said the policy will help childistrict is prepared dren become more KAtHy HOcHuL to roll out the poliengaged students GOV. cy at all three a n d , u l t i m a t e l y, school levels, elehigh-functioning mentary, middle adults. and High School, with an “I believe that as a result of emphasis on education and this cellphone ban, we will have steady enforcement over punyoung people who are finally ishment. liberated from the addictive “We’re confident that our qualities of social media and staff — especially at the high the cellphone they never seem school — will be partners with able to put down,” Hochul said Continued on page 7
By BRIAN NORMAN and KEPHERD DANIEL
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Alice Moreno/Herald
A helping hand for those in need Brian Driscoll, far left, Joseph Ponte, Joseph Glavin and Jacquelyn Padin, of the Oceanside Community Warriors, collected supplies on Sunday to help fire victims in Baldwin. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Resident has first A.I. hip surgery By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO azingariello@liherald.com
Long Island Jewish Valley Stream became the first hospital in the United States to perform a total hip replacement using the Ortoma system, an artificial intelligence-assisted surgical platform. The procedure was performed by Dr. James Germano, chair of orthopedics at the hospital, on 74-year-old Dorothy Martino of Oceanside on May 1. “I had a cane, so I wasn’t able to go anywhere or do anything,” Martino said. “So, this is like a major life change for me right now. I’m walking around. I can do the stairs. I can walk all over the place. It’s just amazing, truly amazing.” The Ortoma system, previously used in Sweden and Japan, is designed to enhance surgical preci-
sion through AI-based planning and intraoperative guidance. For total hip replacements, surgeons can preoperatively plan implant positioning based on CT imaging and then use real-time tracking and measurement tools during surgery. For Dr. Germano, the surgery was the culmination of over two years of collaboration with the Ortoma development team. He traveled to Sweden to observe a design surgeon using the system in a clinical setting, gaining hands-on insights into its workflow and functionality. His familiarity with the system played a key role in bringing the technology to the United States leading to its first use in a live surgical procedure. A central advantage of the Ortoma platform to Dr. Germano is its ability to streamline preoperative planning. Traditionally, CT scans for hip Continued on page 8