Not only is former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate running for his seat again after getting expelled for a misdemeanor conviction—this time he's doing it under the name of a made-up political party. Monserrate filed the needed petitions yesterday in order to get his name on the ballot for the March 16 special election, but since he's been disowned by the Democratic Party after being caught on video dragging his girlfriend down a hallway he decided to run on the "Yes We Can" party line. more ›

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 lesson in democracy." In a very different scene elsewhere on the Island, police have arrested three Shirley men on charges of criminal mischief for the sexual and racist graffiti they left on cars in Mastic last week. Since some of the slurs threatened Obama, the Secret Service is still involved with the investigation of the three men, all in their early twenties. more ›