Sound Off: Weekly Recap

Here's the scoop on a couple of items that got the Sachem community actively involved in our coverage. Click on the hyperlink to view the story again, and feel free to keep the comment chain going.

There was an overwhelming outpouring of support for the official installation of Louis Antonetti as the new principal of Sachem East, replacing Dr. Rory Manning, who earlier this month.

We reported on the story immediately following the board of education meeting that approved his position, and the comments were all celebratory. In addition, our Talk Back question about whether Antonetti was the right choice didn't garner a massive amount of votes, but 100% of the respondents voted YES.

Some of the comments from our story:

From Cindy Auerbach: "What wonderful news for Sachem East ~ All the best to you!"

From JoeyDani8784: "Congratulations Lou! You definitely deserved this. You  are an outstanding leader and people look up to you!  We are all behind you!  You will do well! Good Luck!"

From Nick James: "Mr. Antonetti used to be my economics teacher and he was great! Sachem East is in for a treat."

Our second hottest topic of the week came from Joseph Pinciaro's reportage of a Democratic candidate polling firm that polled a sample of voting Long Islanders and found that incumbent Congressman Tim Bishop was ahead of challenger Randy Altschuler by a large margin. The comments, as most political stories go, split down the middle along party lines.

From robkoz: "Since Tim Bishop has been in office for over a decade Long Island has been deteriorating. Record jobs losses. Some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Unions strong arming taxpayers with unreasonable contracts. More people turning to social services. Sorry but, can't blame this last decade on Randy. Can't see how Tim is leading by a wide margin. But then again I don't believe in polls. They're too bias and can be manipulated depending on which party is doing the polling. Get back to me after the votes are in."

From Edbo: "Will Randy ever give up? This "canidate" made millions off the backs of hard working Americans by sending their jobs overseas. I would never vote for this guy....ever!"

From Preliator: "They polled only 400 people....fewer than Bishop's slim margin of victory the last election....I would not be touting this as some kind of heavenly choir that Dim Tim is a shoe-in."

From JThaddeustoad: "The issue goes beyond [Altschuler's] business dealings ..... I am just not easy with someone whose quest for power keeps bringing him back into the process and each time with a message that is benign and common knowledge .... We know about Bishop ... It is you Randy that we need to know and your papers attesting to your brilliance are not enough .... What Is Your Plan ??? And why do want this office..."