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Tragedy: ‘Chardon is united’: Hundreds march to site of rampage

USA TODAY, March 1, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

CHARDON, Ohio – Hundreds of people gathered at the city square here Thursday morning as the community continued to grapple with Monday’s shooting rampage that left three Chardon High School students dead and two others wounded.

After a moment of silence and some words of remembrance, they quietly marched down the city’s roads to Chardon High School where grief counselors, school staff members and community members met them.

“Chardon needs to be here,” said Traci Arbogast, a stay-at-home mom, as she hugged her daughter, Amanda, a 16-year-old Chardon junior. “I think we need to work as a group and show that Chardon is united.”

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States consider drug testing welfare recipients

USA TODAY, March 2, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Getting welfare and food stamps may become tougher as 23 states around the USA seek to adopt stricter laws that would require public aid recipients to take drug tests.

Florida law now requires all aid applicants to be drug tested while Arizona and Missouri require testing for anyone they “reasonably” suspect of illegal drug use.

For many, the proposed changes in states such as Wyoming, Illinois and Maryland will mean taking extra steps before receiving aid, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Resistance is likely to be heated, and the American Civil Liberties Union has already filed a challenge in Florida.

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Should alimony laws be changed?

USA TODAY, Dec. 16, 2011

By Yamiche Alcindor

Michael Morgan only groans as his wife bathes his body, shaves his face and gently kisses his lips.

A retired physician diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 14 years ago, Morgan, 72, no longer walks or talks. His wife and full-time caregiver, Linda Morgan, makes sure he’s fed and clothed, and that $25,200 in annual alimony is handed over to his ex-wife, a college professor he divorced in 1997.

“What’s sad is that this man who can’t get out of bed is paying a woman who is working,” says Linda Morgan, 61, of Lehigh Acres, Fla.

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Hazing culture mars marching bands’ glamour

USA TODAY, Dec. 16, 2011

By Larry Copeland and Yamiche Alcindor

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida A&M University marching band just might be the nation’s best.

The band’s high-energy performances, marked by precise, high-stepping drill routines, have thrilled crowds since 1946. The Marching 100 has performed at major college bowl games, at Super Bowls and at presidential inaugurations.

Its reach is international: In 1989, the French government invited the band to represent the USA in a parade for the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

Far away from its dazzling moves, soaring musical scores and adoring public, though, the FAMU band has long had a darker side: For more than two decades, the Marching 100 has been dogged by a persistent culture of hazing. Band members have been paddled, kicked, beaten — so severely in one case it resulted in kidney failure.

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At somber event, families recall jet crash

Newsday, November 12, 2011

By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Nannette Toreza, right, is held by two other

Photo credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

A week before Baudilio Garcia boarded American Airlines Flight 587 for a vacation in the Dominican Republic, he lamented not having more grandchildren.

“He said ‘I’m never going to meet my grandchildren,’ ” said his daughter, Cindy Bautista, who yesterday joined family members and friends of the 265 people killed in the jetliner crash in Queens a decade ago.

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Pilot’s second escape from troubled craft

Newsday, October 5, 2011
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

When Paul P. Dudley found himself in trouble flying above New York City Tuesday, it wasn’t the first time.

The helicopter pilot with a home in Southampton and an air-charter service based in Linden, N.J., made a smooth, emergency landing of his single-engine Cessna 172 near Coney Island in November 2006. He said he had mechanical difficulties before he put the small plane down in a muddy field. He was not injured. (more…)

Town hopes new name erases park’s stigma

Newsday,October 4, 2011
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

A file photo of kids playing basketball at

Photo credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa

Timberline Park, which some Brentwood residents say is synonymous with violence, has a new name: Roberto Clemente Park.

The Islip Town Board unanimously approved a resolution to rename the park after the iconic baseball player and humanitarian at its meeting Tuesday. Supporters of the change say it is a step in reclaiming a park in need of repair and a new identity.

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State won’t OK Brentwood charter school

Newsday, September 22, 2011
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

A state panel has decided against supporting a proposed charter school in Brentwood that community leaders worried would siphon money from the strapped school district.

An official from New York City-based Victory Education Partners, a consultancy firm that helped draft the application, said it plans to revamp the proposal for Suffolk County Prep.

“We plan to resubmit at the soonest opportunity,” said James Stovall, Victory’s chief executive. (more…)

Slain teen’s mom speaks to kids about gangs

Newsday, September 14, 2011
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Erica Boynton's 15-year-old son, Christopher Hamilton, shown here

Photo credit: Kevin P. Coughlin | Newsday

Two years after Erica Boynton’s 15-year-old son was shot dead at a party one block from their Brentwood home, grief still drives her quest for answers and justice.

In an effort to prevent others from experiencing the mourning from which she has no shelter, she is scheduled Thursday to appear at an assembly at South Middle School to kick off what she hopes will be a speaking tour at several Brentwood schools.

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Military newlyweds reunite at Long Island airport

Young newlyweds who had been separated for months while they both served in the Army in Afghanistan were reunited yesterday at Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Sgt. Cathrine Schmanski, 25, originally from Killingly, Conn., was greeted by her husband, Staff Sgt. Johnathan Schmanski, 25, of Riverhead, in an emotional meeting in the airport’s packed welcome area.

“There’s no way to describe how it feels to be back with my husband,” she said. “There’s nothing I want more.”

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Coast Guard again denies boat race permit

Newsday, August 25, 2011
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Photo credit: Sharkey-Images.com | Two boats go head-to-head during the 2009 Battle on the Bay in Patchogue.

The Coast Guard, citing lingering safety concerns, announced Thursday that it will not issue a marine permit for the Battle on the Bay, the annual powerboat race scheduled for Sunday at noon on Great South Bay.

Soon after, race organizers said they would stage the event next year. They also announced that a scheduled fireworks show and party Saturday in Patchogue, part of the race’s land events, were being canceled because of Hurricane Irene’s approaching danger.

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