______________
UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD
Overpaying on Taxes?
Let’s Rewrite the Story.
BEACON
Local python still unclaimed
Learning about tax reduction
Page 2
Page 3 SEPTEmBER 25 - oCToBER 1, 2025
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION
Apply online at mptrg.com/heraldn ote or call 516.715.1266 Maidenbaum Property
$1.00 FREE
Hablamos Español
Tax Reduction Grou
p, LLC
From bombs to bees By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Stacy Driks/Herald photos
After being forced to retire at age 57 from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Special Agent Gerald Raffa, of Northport, felt lost. Eventually, however, he s t u m bl e d o n t o s o m e t h i n g unexpected: bees. Raffa, who joined the federal agency in 1976 and met his wife there in 1983, spent two years after his retirement “moping around,” as he described it, before bees came into his life. He thought gardening might be his new calling, given the fact that he had a large backyard, perfect for
Gerald Raffa, a former special agent in the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, presented a PowerPoint program about bees at the Uniondale Library.
ConTinUEd on PAGE 10
Hempstead’s Sacred Heart Academy welcomes new president
Kim Johnson, of Rockville Centre, class of ’92, returns to alma mater, ready to ‘lead with heart’ By ALYSSA R. GRIFFIN agriffin@liherald.com
Kim Johnson, a Rockville Centre resident, has been appointed the new president of Sacred Hear t Academy, in Hempstead. Johnson is not new to the Sacred Heart family: She is a parent of a current student and an alumna herself. She is ready to “lead with heart,” as the school community says. After serving in advisory roles in health marketing and communications for the allgirls Catholic high school, Johnson, 50, will begin this new
Sacred Hear t in chapter focusing on 1992, and then studacademic excelied marketing and lence, leadership international busiand the empowerness at Babson Colm e n t o f yo u n g lege in Wellesley, women. Massachusetts. “I’ve always been “Sacred Heart has very focused on purhad a profound pose-driven leaderimpact on my own s h i p, ” s h e s a i d . KIm JohNSoN life,” she said. “Even in the busi- President, Sacred She built a n e s s wo rl d , I ’ve Heart Academy career in marketsought companies and roles where I could have a i n g , c o m m u n i c at i o n s a n d positive impact on people, on advertising for 28 years, workcommunities, and ultimately ing with over 500 companies, including Ogilvy, UWG Inc. and on business.” Johnson g raduated from Pfizer. Although she has never
S
acred Heart has had a profound impact on my own life.
overseen a school, Johnson said she is prepared to devote herself to Sacred Heart’s mission of giving its student an exceptional education. “I’ve always been focused on doing things where I can contribute positively,” she said, “and for me right now, there’s no better sort of mission than
to be focusing on Catholic education.” Johnson and her husband, village Trustee Gre gory P. Shaughnessy, are raising two children, Aidan, 19, and Keira, 15, currently a sophomore at Sacred Heart. “I wanted my daughter to ConTinUEd on PAGE 10