🌱 Herricks Teacher Arrested + Mineola Clerk Scalero's New Role

Joanne Gallo
Updated ·4 min read

Good morning, Mineola! Let's get you started this Wednesday with everything you need to know going on today in town.

First, today's weather:

Rain and drizzle in the a.m. High: 46, low: 37.

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Here are the top stories today in Mineola:

  1. A Sea Cliff woman and Herricks school district biology teacher has been arrested for reportedly administering a COVID-19 vaccine in her living room to a teenager when she was not authorized to do so and without parental permission, according to police. Laura Parker Russo, 54, had no medical qualifications to give the 17 year old the vaccine. A vice chair of the emergency department at NYU Langone in Mineola, Dr. Audie Liametz, pointed out that the vaccine could have been counterfeit, and that before administering it, a practitioner needs patient or parental consent, patient history of allergies, and medical knowledge of proper handling and procedure. Russo has been reassigned from her class at Herricks Schools, pending the outcome of the investigation. (CBS New York)

  2. Mineola Village Clerk Joseph Scalero has been appointed Deputy Town Supervisor and Chief of Staff of the Town of North Hempstead by newly elected Town Supervisor Jen DeSena. This is DeSena's first appointment of her new administration, and she will announce more appointments in the coming weeks. Scalero has more than 30 years' experience in both the public and private sector, serving the past 16 years as Mineola's village clerk where he helped promote smart-growth development and government transparency. (Mineola American)

  3. Erin Ann Hagerty, 62, who lived most of her life with her family in Garden City, passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 22. Hagerty was born in Mineola with cerebral palsy but went on to thrive and live an independent life. She was an advocate for people with disabilities and even appeared on a TV talk show about dating among the disabled. Hagerty survived breast cancer, and she proudly completed the Los Angeles Marathon. (Suffolk Times)

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Today in Mineola:

  • Free Mortgage Foreclosure Clinic at the Nassau County Bar Association. (3 p.m.)

  • Board of Trustees Meeting — Village of Mineola. (6:30 p.m.)

  • HS PTSA Meeting — Mineola Public Schools. (7 p.m.)

  • HS Music Parents Meeting — Mineola Public Schools. (7:30 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • St. Aidan School - Williston Park: "Artists of the Week! Way to go Tommy, Angelina and Olivia!" (Facebook)

  • Family & Children's Association - Garden City: "Become a part of the FCA family today! We offer excellent benefits, opportunities for professional development, and the chance to be a part of a team that gives so much back to the Long Island community. Go to www.FCALI.org/careers to apply." (Facebook)

  • Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW - Mineola: "Women in unions are paid more than their non-union counterparts, and unionization helps lessen the pay gap for workers of color. 'For too long, women have been underpaid, undervalued and expected to take on most of the unpaid care work,' said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO." (Facebook)

  • Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence - Westbury: "Legislature approves Deputy Presiding Officer Kara Hahn's plan to increase access to fentanyl test strips in effort to reduce alarming increase in overdose deaths, featuring LICADD executive director Steve Chassman! https://www.longisland.com/.../to-prevent-overdose-deaths..." (Facebook)

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You're officially in the loop for today. I'll be in your inbox tomorrow with another update!

— Joanne Gallo

About me: Joanne Gallo is a lifelong resident of Long Island and a writer/editor for 30+ years. After earning a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Writing from NYU, Joanne edited and produced engaging, quality content for a diverse array of consumer publications, from the Johns Hopkins White Papers to Soap Opera Weekly. Raised in the nearby town of Roslyn, Joanne is happy to call Mineola her home for the past 7 years. She loves the arts, dining, gardening and all the natural beauty that Long Island has to offer.

This article originally appeared on the Mineola Patch