On the Monday before Christmas, a printing company owned by the brother of Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano left several Long Island newspapers scrambling to get their publications out on time with a surprise announcement that the company would no longer print them.

“It was a complete shock,” said Litmor Publications owner Meg Norris, a longtime client of New Media Publishing, a printing company owned by John Mangano.

Just days before deadline, Norris was forced to use a New Jersey company to print the five Litmor newspapers after being informed by John Mangano on Dec. 20 that New Media would no longer be doing the job.

In a statement to Blank Slate Media Monday, John Mangano said the company has realigned and expanded to better serve its customers.

“The reality is the changing media landscape has decreased the need for newsprint products,” Mangano said.

John Mangano declined to comment to Blank Slate Media when asked if his employees were affected by the move which came just before the holidays.

Norris said she was both inconvenienced and saddened by news from New Media after what she called a good 15-year relationship with the company and John Mangano.

“I personally felt sorry for the guy. It was a small business that’s going under,” Norris said.

New Media and Litmor had a week-to-week payment arrangement, according to Norris.

With tens of thousands of readers, Litmor papers including the Garden City News, Mid Island Times, Bethpage Newsgram, Syosset Advance and the Jericho News Journal are now being printed by AFL Web Printing of Voorhees, New Jersey.

“Overall, it might have ended up to be a good thing,” Norris said.

Other Long Island publications affected by the New Media announcement include the Floral Park Gateway, the Bethpage Tribune and Merrick Life.

“He told us that he wouldn’t be able to print our papers anymore,” said Linda Tuscano, L&M publisher, who confirmed to Blank Slate Media that Merrick Life has switched to another printer because of New Media’s announcement.

County Executive Ed Mangano is not affiliated with New Media, according to Brian Nevin, Mangano’s communications director.

According to published newspaper reports, Mangano had been affiliated with New Media but left in 1998.

The Great Neck News, the New Hyde Park Herald Courier and the Williston Times were formerly owned by Litmor Publishing. The papers, now owned by Blank Slate Media, were printed by New Media until April of last year. The papers changed printers in April after Blank Slate’s acquisition.

Hockey is a fast, physical, exciting game that requires great agility, balance and hand-eye coordination. You don’t have to be a naturally-gifted athlete to succeed but practice makes perfect.

Great Neck Park District hockey players, 8 to 16 years old, of all skill levels, have an advantage over other hockey players. They get to participate in Coach Mark Greene’s off-ice hockey skills clinics, before their practices, which helps give them the edge they need to build their confidence, strength and speed, both on and off the ice.

Greene’s agenda includes teaching basic skills that would benefit any athlete: speed, strength, stronger legs and upper body with an emphasis on quicker feet.

These off-ice clinics begin 45 minutes before each class and run a half hour. This gives the hockey player 15 minutes to change into their on-ice gear and get ready for class. Assisted by hockey Coach Blaine Aronovitch, Greene teaches between 5 and 10 players per clinic. At this point in the season, those who take it seriously and give it their all, have come closer to attaining their goals.

Greene retired as Great Neck School District physical education teacher and football/lacrosse head coach in June 2010, after 35 years of dedicated work. He began running various programs for the Great Neck Park District beginning in 2006.

For the past 2 summer seasons, he has been the Recreation Center director for the Parkwood Sports Complex, adding strength training machines, tournaments and other inspiring programs.

He believes that anyone can gain the ability to become an athlete. The skills he teaches help the “ordinary” child build their strength and confidence through repetition. He does a great job at getting the players motivated.

According to Greene, “Anyone can be an athlete!”

If you are interested, join the hockey program and you, too, can benefit from Coach Greene’s motivating athletic skills clinics.

The Bantams stayed true to their winning ways as they upended the Brewster Bulldogs White 5-3. Jordan Domnitch fell one goal shy of a hat trick.

Steve Cacchioli, Andrew Voigt and Jaret Greben rounded out the scoring.

The following evening the Bantams squeaked by Pelham 2-1 in a rugged contest.

On Sunday the Bantams completed an undefeated weekend tying the Rye Rangers at 4 with George Pappous finding the back of the net twice.

The Midget Minors blew out the Ice Cats Black 10-4.

Brad Rutkin, Anthony Modica, Robert Campbell, Max Latin and Martin Bernot all joined in the rout netting two goals each.

Sean Dolan helped out with three assists.

Sunday’s game was filled with physical play and tight checking with the Bruins dropping a heartbreaker in the final minute of regulation 4 to 3 to the Silver Knights.

Max Latin, Brandon Shapiro and Ben Todaro lit the lamp for the hometown skaters.

The Long Island Children’s Museum aims to provide children with hands-on experiences in its permanent and special exhibits, and two of its current exhibits, “Diggin’ de Kooning” and “Toys: The Inside Story,” are prime examples of what the museum is all about.

In the de Kooning exhibit, the artwork was created by children ranging in age from 3 to 15 years old, in summer workshops at the museum and in workshops at libraries throughout Nassau County. The library workshops, conducted in cooperation with the Willem de Kooning Foundation, will continue after the special exhibit concludes at the end of January.

The concept of having kids learning about creating abstract art in group workshops is consistent with the spirit of de Kooning, who emigrated to New York from Holland in 1926 and interacted with other artists – most notably the Armenian painter Arshile Gorky, with whom he shared a studio – while working as a commercial artist, window dresser, sign painter and carpenter.

Jean Marie Walsh, who teaches the workshops, said the program’s objective is to expose youngsters to the abstract painting techniques and explain “how different lines convey emotion.” They learn conventional techniques with brushes, and the less obvious use of palette knives to scrape patterns in paint.

“With kids, teaching abstract art is a little push to get them out of their comfort zones. They tend to get excited about it,” Walsh said.

They see the techniques demonstrated, and then they’re given a free hand to express their feelings through whatever colors and forms they choose to use, and the result is a revealing experience for the students and their teacher.

“You do see a spark of understanding. And there’s a lot of thought in it,” said Walsh, who noted that there is also a sense of pride when they see their art hanging on the walls of a real museum.

In two of the exhibit rooms at the museum that contain some extremely striking samples of the young artists’ efforts, there are an array of traditional and exotic musical instruments – from a guitar and a stand-up bass to a makeshift xylophone made from large nails – to give visitors hands-on access to another form of non-verbal expression while they view the paintings. The exhibit is a thought-provoking introduction to abstract art for visitors of all ages.

There is a January 4 workshop at the Hicksville Library, a January 20 workshop at the West Hempstead Library and a February 7 workshop at the Lakeview Library, all in evening hours, being offered by the museum. Dates are yet to be set for abstract art workshops at the Hempstead Library, the Hillside Library and the North Shore-LIJ Cohen’s Children’s Hospital.

“Toys: The Inside Story,” a special exhibit that continues through Jan. 2, is a delightful inside look at how different types of toys work. The exhibit shows the inner workings of simple pull-along toys that use basic cams that make toy ducks appear to waddle along, and an inside view of an Etch A Sketch. The range of toys spans generations, from the traditional pull-alongs to computer driven talking toys, which naturally prompt interaction between parents and children, according to museum spokesperson Maureen Mangan.

“It does open different conversation points,” she said, as visitors of all ages recognize familiar playthings.

During school break weeks, the museum also stages daily live shows with ample opportunity for small fry to go onstage and get involved in the show, Mangan said.

The museum also has a permanent toolbox gallery where kids can use hammers and other tools, with the supervision of museum staff members and their parents, to assemble wooden toys that they can take home with them. There are also assorted “pop-up” activity areas where children can also make toys to take away intended to make what may be a first-time museum experience a fun one.

A three-weekend interactive exhibit, “Saltwater Stories: Tales from the Waterfront, Bay Houses and Whaling Ships,” aims at exposing kids to that side of Long Island’s cultural heritage starting Jan. 8 and 9. During the opening weekend, children can learn how to smoke fish, make clam stew, cast a fishing lure, bait a trap, carve duck decoys and shuck oysters.

Glenn Gebhard’s award-winning documentary, “Baymen,” about the contemporary hardships of South Short baymen will be screened on Jan. 8 at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. and Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Short animation films on maritime themes also will be screened in the LICM Theater.

On Jan. 15 and 16, museum visitors will learn about historic bay houses, and be able to participate in decorating the facade of a large-scale house model. On Jan. 22 and 23, the focus will be on whaling, with an emphasis on the contributions Native and African-Americans made to what became a vibrant 19th century industry. Kids will have a chance to handle harpoons and learn how a Native American clam bake is prepared.

On Jan. 28, a new special exhibit based on the PBS math mystery cartoon series “Cyberchase” comes to the musuem, offering kids a chance to apply their math and reasoning skills to outwit Hacker, the villain of the animated TV series.

In February, the museum introduces another special exhibit featuring the work of Long Island abstract artist Alli Berman, whose work includes interactive puzzle art. Entitled “Swirls, Waves & Puzzles,” the exhibit’s puzzles will be modular art works that can be rearranged by visitors to create their own spontaneous variations of the pieces.

The Long Island Children’s Museum is located on Museum Row at 11 Davis Ave. in Garden City. More information about the museum is available online at www.licm.org or by calling 516-224-5800. General admission is $10 and $9 for visitors age 65 or older.

This month the Dream Act, which was heavily supported by Congressman Gary Ackerman, went down in defeat, the 2010 Census gave advantage to Republican control of Congress and the Electoral College and South Carolina celebrated the 150th anniversary of its secession from the United States with a gala in period dress.

As improbable as it may seem, there are actually important connections and parallels between all of these events.

First the parallel: As the nation contemplates the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the southern states seem to be revising history to downgrade the issue of slavery and make secession almost entirely about states’ rights, a fight which they seem determined to restart. To bolster this myth, southerners point to the fact that only 10 precedent of Confederate soldiers came from slave-holding families – but that is only proof of the phenomenon we see today, of people somehow signing up to fight for causes that actually go against their own self interest (opposing health care reform and Wall Street reform, as recent examples). The Civil War caused the deaths of 620,000 Americans – the equivalent of 6 million in today’s population – the bloodiest, most horrific and tragic in the nation’s history.

But if the issue were really about states rights – and not preserving slavery – each of the states could have come up with their own formula to phase out slavery, as was done in the North and in every civilized nation in the world.

It is just the same with health care – if it were really a matter of states’ rights, each state could have come up with a solution to provide access to health care for each of its citizens. But they have not, so that at the point when Congress finally approved the Affordable Health Care Act last year, there are nearly 50 million people who were shut out of the system.

The South was not fighting for states’ rights. They were fighting to preserve their way of life, but the underpinning of that way of life was slavery. Slavery was the basis for the economy, providing cheap labor (even farmers who did not own their own slaves could pay a slaveholder for the use of theirs), a social order that excused the moral depravity of one group having life-and-death control over human chattel by concocting a notion of superior and inferior beings.

But what is overlooked is the reality of the political control that the South wielded because of slavery. Out of a population of 9 million in the Southern states, 4 million were slaves (a further reason that the South feared an overnight emancipation, which they feared the 1860 election of Lincoln would bring, as an uprising of slaves against their masters). Slaves were counted as 3/5 of a person in the census for the purpose of representation in Congress and the Electoral College. And the Southern states wanted the Western territories that were entering the union to also be slave-holding, in order to expand that political power.

Now, right-wing conservatives who dominate the South – Arizona, for example – make illegal immigrants a key issue. They are really upset that we don’t have martial law and build an electrified fence along the border. They want the government to raid homes and snatch up anyone without documents, throw them into for-profit prisons or deport them. They claim to want to rid the nation of the estimated 12 million undocumented aliens.

But if they were really concerned about lawless illegals, they would have supported the Dream Act, which would have given legal status to several million young people who were brought here as children, grew up here, only know the United States as their home, have gone to college or into the military, who are now are stateless, with no future.

If the right wingers were really interested in addressing the dangers of having an underclass living in the shadows, supposedly engaged in all sorts of illicit activities, they would have supported the Dream Act.

But just as the slaves, business owners, employers and consumes benefit from access to cheap labor with no legal rights or protections.

More significantly, like slaves before the Civil War, immigrants including illegal immigrants are counted in the census – and that figures in how many representatives a district will have as well as that district’s share of $400 billion federal pot But these people cannot vote.

This gives oversized political power to the few over the many.

That may help explain why Republicans were not so fast to reduce the number of illegal immigrants from an estimated 12 million, perhaps by several million people – the children who grew up here, attended schools, and would be given a path to citizenship by virtue of graduating college or going into military service.

But by getting a path to citizenship, they would also become voters, and the Republicans can’t have that.

Hopefully, Congressman Ackerman will find a way in the new Congress, even though he is now in the minority party, to continue this fight – for the fairness, the justice of it, and also, for a fairer body politic.

The process has to start all over again. Hopefully, the Congressman can expose the hypocrisy of the Republican position, and embarrass them to doing the right thing, to break the chains of illegal status. So far, the party has been incapable of being embarrassed.

Karen Rubin

With the election of GOP Mineola Mayor Jack Martins to the state Senate replacing Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson, return of Republican Party control under Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is temporary at best.

Crossover Democrats voting Republican continue following jobs or retire out of state or succumb to old age. GOP outreach to new Caribbean, Hispanic, Asian and other immigrant groups or middle class African Americans has failed. GOP party registration is aging and declining in numbers.

The last Republican stronghold – control of the Senate may fall after the next reapportionment effective in 2012 based upon the 2010 census. This will drive the final nail into the Republican Party coffin. With 2.5 million more registered Democrats than Republicans, the GOP doesn’t have enough voters to gerrymander district lines for maintaining control.

A Republican majority depends on a New York City contingent. They have lost Guy Vellela (Bronx), Roy Goodman (Manhattan), Serf Maltese (Queens) and in 2010 Frank Padavan (Queens) leaving them with only Marty Golden (Brooklyn) and Andrew Lanza (Staten Island). Lost seats are gone forever. Democrats come out of New York City controlling 22 of 24 seats making it difficult for Skelos to retain a majority.

All it will take over the next two years is either Gov. Cuomo appointing one GOP Senator to a cabinet post (Remember the previous Republican Senator Mike Balboni resigning to join the Democratic Spitzer administration. Subsequently, Johnson won the seat in a special election), an indictment or one of the many aging GOP Senators in their 70s or 80s becoming seriously ill and unable to attend sessions or succumbing to old age.

With a fair reapportionment in 2012, Republicans will be represented in the Senate, but continuing in control is questionable.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Just days after Meredith Whitney, a respected financial analyst, predicted on 60 Minutes that there would be 50 to 100 defaults on municipal bonds in the coming year, a state oversight board announced that Nassau County has failed to close its budget deficit. This means that the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority could take control of the county’s finances before the end of the year.

If that happens NIFA would have the authority to demand that the county produce a balanced financial plan and would have the power to approve contracts, borrowing and spending. The authority was created 10 years ago when the county was rescued by a $100 million bailout from the state.

No such bailout is likely to happen in 2011. The state is on the brink of its own financial disaster and unlike municipalities, the state cannot declare bankruptcy. Governor-elect Cuomo is inheriting a financial mess and it’s not likely that he’ll find any money to help one of the richest counties in the nation.

The chairman of this obscure authority, Ronald Stack, said he has no interest in running the county. He told Reuters, “Our role as an oversight is just to look at the numbers, and not to try to discern the reasons why or why not.” The budget, he said, is “just not balanced.”

Nassau County will have to get its house in order and it will have to do so quickly.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano disagrees with the assessment. He threatened to take the authority to court if it tries to impose controls. In a statement, his office said, “Because of strong management practices, the 2010 budget will end with a surplus. Throughout 2011, we will manage our finances and ensure the fiscal year ends in balance.”

Other analysts say Whitney is exaggerating the dangers that the municipalities like Nassau County are facing. But no one doubts that if the public loses faith in municipal bonds places like Nassau County will face very hard times. Raising taxes is not an option. Nassau County already has the second highest property taxes in the nation. At the same time the county’s deficit is approaching $350 million, according to NIFA.

Without wanting to sound like the Tea Party, it appears clear that Nassau County will have to find ways to dramatically reduce spending or risk the imminent takeover by NIFA. If the unions want to retain jobs and avoid layoffs, they will have to work with Mangano to find ways to cut labor costs, including pension benefits.

The predictions of Whitney are frightening. So is the prospect of allowing an authority to run the county’s finances.

Mangano was elected on his promise to get the county’s finances in order.

He has moved in the right direction, but he has a long way to go in a very short time.

Editorial

Blank Slate Media

Village of Thomaston Mayor Stern has strongly opposed the additional noise that will accompany the extension of the pocket track east of the Great Neck railroad station intended to help provide LIRR access to Grand Central.

He also has astutely imbedded in his opposition a viable compromise. Screen the noise with appropriate plantings (and perhaps fencing) decided upon after consultation with the Village and the interested committees of residents. This was refused by the LIRR types who attended the recent Thomaston Village Hall meeting. But it is the way to go to reach an agreement that helps residents who moved to homes near the tracks and permits the trains to better serve the needs of many thousands of people.

Even more important is bridge replacement issue raised by many residents at the Village meeting. They said : “Who needs the bridge anyway?”

First, it should be shut down immediately because the bridge is use by heavier-than-permitted vehicles is a hazard that has been brought to the attention of the Village and the LIRR and exposes both to the possibility of significant liability.

Then we’ll see whether we need it. Probably not.

Certainly the immediate cessation of tremendous noise from the steel mesh bridge deck will be hailed by nearby residents.

Mike Zarin

Great Neck

PFC. Erik S. Redding, son of Susan and James Redding Jr. Of Williston Park, recently completed basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, SC.

Redding successfully completed 12 weeks of training designed to challenge new Marine recruits both physically and mentally.

Redding and his fellow recruits began their training each day at 5 a.m., by running three miles and performing calisthenics. In addition to the physical conditioning program, Redding spent numerous hours in classroom and field assignments, which included learning first aid, uniform regulations, combat water survival, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and assorted weapons training. They performed close order drill and operated as a small infantry unit during field training.

Redding earned the title of expert marksman and top shoot score of his Platoon #2085 of Golf Company.

Redding also received instructions on the Marine Corps’ core values — honor, courage and commitment, and what the words mean in guiding personal and professional conduct. PFC. Erik S. Redding and fellow recruits ended the training phase with the Crucible, a 54 hour team effort and problem solving evolution.

After graduation from Parris Island, he will be stationed at Camp Lejeune for 9 weeks of Infantry combat training.

Redding is an Eagle Scout from Boy Scout Troop#200 and a graduate of Herrick’s High School class of 2009.

In the most emotional moments of a Mineola Village Board meeting filled with emotion, a disabled Iraqi U.S. Army veteran named Christopher Levi was honored by several organizations in the village.

Outgoing Mayor Jack Martins presented Levi with a key to the village and praised him as an example for how members of the Mineola Junior Fire Department and Boy Scout Troop 245 present at the meeting “should live their lives.”

Commander Sal Cataldo and Sergeant at Arms Bill Urianek of Mineola American Legion Post 349 presented Levi with a check for $2,000. Christopher Strauss of the Mineola Junior Fire Department also presented a check to Levi. An 11-year-old Elmont boy named J.P. Iacona presented Urianek with a check for $174 on behalf of the Ladies Guild of Elmont American Legion Post 1033 that he raised by collecting scrap metal. And a member of the scout troop commended Levi for his bravery and his service to his country

Levi’s plight became a rallying point for members of American Legion Post 349 nearly three years ago when former U.S. Marine Bill Urianek read about the then 25-year-old Ranger losing both of his legs when shrapnel from a roadside bomb struck him while he was riding in the passenger seat of a Humvee in Iraq in March 2008. His life was probably saved because he was talking on a hand-held radio when the blast occurred, sending shrapnel into his hand that otherwise would have struck him in the head.

Urianek, 80, who was raising money at the time to refurbish an Apache helicopter, immediately turned his fund-aising efforts to Levi, who was in rehab at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. learning how to use his prosthetic legs.

“That could have been my grandson,” said Urianek, who has two grandsons close in age to Levi.

The American Legion Post’s cause became Mineola’s cause, and ultimately more than $11,000 was raised in contributions to the young Holbrooke, N.Y. veteran to assist with retrofitting his parents’ home.

“Some of the people I’ve met along the way, I can never thank them enough for what they’ve done,” a visibly emotional Urianek said.

Levi, who was introduced to a standing ovation, said, he was “very grateful” for the support he had received from the community that had adopted him.

Standing steady to receive the accolades and the check, he said, “To receive this is very humbling and very endearing.”

The normally voluble Cataldo, who presented Levi with a commendation from the Post, told Levi, “I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to be said,” Levi replied.

“For the first time in my life, I’m speechless,” Cataldo said, drawing applause and laughter from those in the crowded meeting hall.

Vietnam veteran Manny Grillo, commander of Adolph Block VFW Post 1305 in Mineola, pinned an American flag on the lapel of Levi’s jacket and the two men exchanged military salutes. Martins made his presentation, and the village’s tribute to the young veteran was complete.

Afterwards, Urianek recounted his first meeting with Levi and his mother, Deborah, last year when Levi was welcomed home to Holbrook. Urianek presented a check to him for $3,763 at the time.

Urianek recalled receiving anonymous cash donations in his mailbox – $500 in single dollar bills on one occasion – in the course of the fund-raising effort.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the people of Mineola,” Urianek said.

In good holiday spirit, on Dec. 1, the first night of Hanukah, a kitten was brought into Village Hall by the Village of Great Neck Plaza’s Department of Public Works.

The kitten, now named Fisher, was abandoned in the pouring rain on Middle Neck Road, in a cat taxi with a fleece blanket.

Luckily, the staff at the mayor’s office knew right away how to make the kitten feel at home until he was adopted.

Michal Pinto, the assistant to Village Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender, had been looking to adopt a kitten, and could not resist the opportunity.

“Fisher brings so much happiness, excitement, and warmth to my family,” Pinto said. “He is just what we were looking for, and better yet, he hails from Great Neck.”

The vet says Fisher is nine months old, and is a healthy kitten.

Celender urges people not to abandon their domesticated pets, as they should be taken to an animal shelter or should find a new owner.