Ludlum Elementary School in Hempstead did not even wait until the inauguration to go ahead and rename themselves Barack Obama Elementary School last night. Like the election of Obama himself, the push to rename the school came in large part from a youth movement--this time of preteens in the largely African-American and Hispanic community. District Superintendent Dr. Joseph Laria praised the students' exuberance saying, "You want to talk about "Yes We Can!"? That was a......

A NYC correction officer is facing DWI and vehicular manslaughter charges after a crash that killed a 61-year-old driver. WABC 7 reports that Junior Jordan, 45, "was driving his Ford Explorer" in Uniondale yesterday morning "when he collided with Hyundai driven by Maria Balan." Balan later died at Nassau University Medical Center. Jordan, who was not injured, will be arraigned in a Hempstead court today.......

Nassau County audited the Leadership Training Institute, which Newsday describes as an "agency that housed troubled teens," and found it had overcharged counties by $834,000. And the Hempstead non-profit used the money on "beer and violent video games" and "$47,865 in bonuses to its workers in violation of its contract with the county." Okay, maybe it's only $27 for a case of beer, but they did spend $2,807 on an X-Box and games. LTI says......

Nassau County police asked the public for more information about the baby girl left in a gym bag on a Hemptead street corner. The 6-pound, 12-ounce baby, which authorities named Hope, is in "excellent condition" at Winthrop-University Hospital; she was found wrapped in t-shirts, with her umbilical cord still attached (police say it was cut off roughly). While the person(s) who abandoned the baby could face charges, the police want to question him/her/them because "She......

A man who fatally hit a bicyclist and dragged him while he drunkenly crashed into other cars in Hempstead was charged with murder, as well as vehicular manslaughter and DWI. Lorenzo Tobar was allegedly upset his ex-girlfriend (and mother of his child) was dating the bicyclist Ludwin Marcia. A Hempstead resident, who heard the crash and ran out of his house, took the keys from Tobar's car and kept him at the scene until police......

Of course police chases are bad ideas, but a worse idea might be fleeing the crash and leaving your 2-year-old in the car. Yet this is exactly what a Roosevelt man did in Hempstead last night. The Hempstead police say that a village police detective tried to stop a 2007 Nissan Altima for a traffic violation. But the car refused to stop, so the police followed the car (and befitting a suburban car chase, additional......