Your take: Bill of rights flies away

A little longer than a year ago, an ice storm hit New York on Valentine’s Day, crippling area airports. It was a particularly bad day for JetBlue, which essentially locked its passengers on a plane, without food, and water, while temperatures inside the cabin rose, and toilets quickly filled up.
The nightmare caused JetBlue to issue [...]

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The secret of his success

A state senator wants to make sure posing as an attorney is subject to the same punishment as those impersonating architects, doctors or dentists.
Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., R-Freeport, has for the fourth year in a row introduced legislation to increase the penalty for impersonating an attorney to a Class E felony, punishable by up [...]

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Our podcast returns, thank goodness

It’s back, our famous weekly podcast, LI Bizcast.
In this edition, Gregory Zeller joins the podcast with a report on one local cab company’s decision to exclude registered sex offenders from working behind the wheel. Find out what the legal community has to say about that.
Next, real estate ace David Winzelberg reports on the new plans [...]

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And they took his shotgun too

The Empire News Service put out a bulletin this morning on Frank Lobacz, a Bayport man who is charged with federal tax evasion. According to the brief, Lobacz told the Internal Revenue Service that his annual income was $353,893. But, in reality, his annual income was $3.1 million, meaning he defrauded the feds out of [...]

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At C Level with Eugene Barnosky

Our popular interview podcast with LI’s major players is back.
In this edition of At C Level, host David Reich-Hale sits down with Eugene Barnosky, a partner in the Melville law firm of Lamb & Barnosky, one of Long Island’s largest commercial law firms.
Barnosky explains how the recent collapse in the mortgage industry, as well as [...]

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At “C” Level with Lawrence Raful

For our latest edition of At C Level, host David Reich-Hale chats with Lawrence Raful, dean of Touro Law in Central Islip.
Raful took over the law school’s helm in 2004, right as the campus began a multi-million dollar move to a new location.
Now that Touro is entrenched in its new home, Raful explains why having [...]

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E-ZPass will sell out cheaters

Freeway tolls-on-credit provider E-ZPass won’t turn a blind eye to adultery, rather, the service will turn you in the first chance it gets.
According to an Associated Press story, which I was directed to by our sister blog in Virginia, E-ZPass will provide toll information on a client if a court case requests it. That includes [...]

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Baseball is taxing

So here’s an interesting dilemma accountants can sink their teeth into: By catching Barry Bonds’ record-setting home run ball the other night, New Yorker Matt Murphy placed himself into a different tax bracket - whether or not he sells the ball.
Here’s how: The ball is estimated to be worth about $500,000, so it makes sense [...]

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New site: Marcum & Kliegman

Multimedia: It’s not just for news sites anymore.
Major accounting firm Marcum & Kliegman just launched a brand new Web site, and aside from the tax and consulting information you’d expect to find there, the site features news about the firm and a podcast featuring audio interviews with firm employees.
The site also contains a weekly news [...]

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Overtime? Not for home aides

For home care workers, the dream of overtime pay is essentially dead.
The Supreme Court today ruled that these workers who provide in-home medical care by tending to the sick and elderly, are not entitled to overtime, siding with a 1975 act that exempts home care workers from the government’s Fair Labor Standards Act.
The initial case [...]

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Mejias wants Schmitt to pay

The bad blood between Dave Mejias and Peter Schmitt boiled today.
Meijas, a Nassau County legislator, demanded that Minority Leader Peter Schmitt pay back taxpayers the $160,000 in legal fees that accrued when he was sued for defamation by a Glen Cove law firm.
In 2004, according to blog Peter Schmitt Watch, Schmitt accused the firm of [...]

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Ear candy, the newest LI Bizcast

The latest edition of LI Bizcast, the official podcast of Long Island Business News, is live.
This week we feature a report on a Holbrook attorney’s knee-knocking appearance in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. So how many words did the lawyer get in?
Also, David Winzelberg reports on Hamptons rentals, Ambrose Clancy outlines Cablevision’s focus on [...]

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Nassau getting to work today

It looks like the Nassau County Legislature filled its plate today with a pile of juicy bills, bans and a even a bus accident.
The Legislature will hold nine committee meetings on the following:
First, they hope to make a bill that would require anyone wanting a body piercing in Nassau to sign a consent form that [...]

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I take it back, she’s sweet

So was it the public outcry that prompted Miss America to finally agree to testify in a case that wouldn’t exist without her participation in the first place?
Who cares. The beauty queen agreed to testify, so maybe there will be a few less Internet predators to worry about when this is all over.
From the Forbes [...]

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Give me a break, Miss America

Perhaps she should be Miss Switzerland.
The blond beauty queen said she may stay neutral in the case involving the gaggle of sex predators the modern-day monarch helped Suffolk County trap.
In case you missed it — which I doubt since every news organization in the country picked up the story — princess Lauren Nelson helped the [...]

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In-home aides in overtime battle

As it stands, in-home aides who take care of the sick and elderly are not protected by federal minimum wage and overtime laws. But that could change.
The Supreme Court will begin to hear a case today that will decide whether these workers, who often work more than 40 hours a week, should be allowed at [...]

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Rockville Centre Diocese trial starts Monday

Long Island’s Catholic juggernaut, the Diocese of Rockville Centre, goes to trial Monday as part of a lawsuit involving a rape charge against former East Meadow youth minister Matthew Maiello.
The suit, which asks for $150 million in damages, is unique because its outcome will be decided by a jury. Often, abuse cases involving the church [...]

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Neighbor passes idle ban

Face it, environmental issues have entered the mainstream, and we’re going to see more and more moves related to clean air and alternative energy.
Suffolk County went green by converting a chunk of the county’s fleet to hybrid. And in Nassau, Tome Suozzi wants to boost the tax on cigarettes as well as ban smoking in [...]

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Insurer’s stance quaked by high court

At this point it’s cliche, an insurance company refusing to pay for a major medical procedure on the grounds of some loophole in the policy.
So here’s another act in this endless theater production.
The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ruled yesterday that New York-based Group Health Inc. must pay for a teenage boy’s breast reduction surgery, something [...]

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These cops are busted

Long Island has grabbed some national attention today, though it’s nothing we should be proud of.
Four police officers from Fire Island’s Ocean Beach police department were asked to surrender today to face unspecified criminal charges. The event is tied to the firing of five officers last week who, after they were let go, claimed the [...]

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Cablevision loses DVR battle

Cablevision lost the first round in its fight to create a network digital-video-recorder service.
According to a Reuters story, the U.S District Court in Manhattan ruled on the side of the television networks and movie studios that alleged Cablevison’s planned service would constitute distribution and therefore break copyright rules.
Cablevision wanted to create a centralized server, housed [...]

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LI couple sues over dark baby

A Commack couple is suing a New York fertility clinic because their child is much darker than both parents.
Mother Nancy Andrews, who was born the Dominican Republic, and father Thomas a Caucasian, visited New York Medical Services for Reproductive Medicine for in vitro fertilization.
However, after their daughter Jessica was born much darker than Nancy the [...]

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Hear all about it: New podcast

The latest edition of LI Bizcast, the official podcast of Long Island Business News, is up and running.
This week we cover a new trend in title insurance involving fine art.
Also, we speak with reporter Ambrose Clancy about how labor unions are handling the pending merger between the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and Pathmark.
Lastly, [...]

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