Viewsday
Analysis, discussion and opinions by members of Newsday's editorial board.
Bessent: Lindsay Lohan needs jail time to save her from herself
Photo credit: Getty Images
Wanted: A hardcase judge to lock-up Lindsay Lohan. It just might save her life. The full-time barfly and part-time actress from Long Island is a mess. She’s been in and out of trouble and in and out of rehab more times than it’s worth counting. She notched a personal worst Thursday when, within hours, she was charged with misdemeanors on both coasts. In New York City the charge was assault, punishable...
Read more »Michaud: Welcoming dialogue about teacher evaluations
Photo credit: iStock
The letters page today published some pretty harsh words about Newsday. Four Long Island school superintendents took issue with a Monday editorial that said school officials are whining when they complain about the cost of a new teacher evaluation system. The editorial came on the heels of a news story that ran last week.
When the Editorial Board publishes criticism of itself --...
Read more »Filler: As Powerball jackpot soars, daydream away
Photo credit: Randee Daddona
Just a few short weeks ago many Long Islanders’ dreams of winning a $500 million Powerball jackpot would have focused on buying a second home and a third car. Now, post-Sandy, at least some of them are hoping for a win so they can buy a first home and any car that doesn’t have seaweed on the dashboard.
The drawing is at 11 p.m. this evening, and the odds of winning are about 195 million to...
Read more »Dolman: Prepare for a fight over funding New York's recovery from Sandy
Photo credit: Handout
Let the games begin.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he will ask Congress to appropriate more than $41 million in supplemental aid in the wake of superstorm Sandy. Of that, $32 billion would help pay for the recovery effort—including $6.6 for Nassau County, $1.8 billion for Suffolk County and $15 billion for New York City.
How easy will it be to get that much money out of Washington?
“I’m...
Read more »McKinstry: Federal money to clean up Sandy debris is smart spending
Photo credit: Meghan Murphy
Consider it money well spent.
Up to 5,000 out-of-work New Yorkers will be hired to help clean up the mess left by superstorm Sandy thanks to a $27-million National Emergency Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The jobs will pay about $15 an hour and the money will be used to hire people age 18 and older who lost their jobs as a result of Sandy or were unemployed before the storm....
Read more »Bessent: Republicans back away from Grover Norquist tax pledge in hopeful sign
Photo credit: AP
Anti-tax radical Grover Norquist is losing his mojo. A few of the Congressional Republicans who signed a pledge to never raise taxes pushed by Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform, are having second thoughts.
The list of those who’ve repudiated the pledge in recent days includes Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.). Sen. Saxby Chambliss, (R-Ga.), Sen. Lindsey Graham...
Read more »McKinstry: Hostess declares bankruptcy, but the Twinkie will live on
Photo credit: Getty Images
When I was 10, I had no concept of saving any dough.
So the 25 bucks or so that I made every week tossing newspapers onto nearly every front lawn in the neighborhood went straight into the local economy: baseball cards, comic books and the Hostess cupcake.
Most days, it wasn’t soon after the 3 p.m. school bells rang that dozens, if not hundreds of kids, from St. Paul the Apostle School...
Read more »Cartoon: How can we prevent global warming?

Mark Wilson is a New York political cartoonist and illustrator who lives in the Adirondacks. He publishes under the pen name Marquil.
MORE CARTOONS: Mark Wilson's cartoon gallery
Bessent: New York will miss Peter King's clout on homeland security panel
Photo credit: Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile
The New York region will lose some of its juice in Congress when Rep. Peter King’s tenure as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee ends in December.
The Republican Party’s term limit for committee chairs is a valuable safeguard against sclerotic leadership that allows fresh, creative thinking to emerge. King, of Seaford, has been the committee’s top Republican since 2005. So he...
Read more »McKinstry: Yonkers joins the Black Friday fray, selling surplus city property
Photo credit: Angela Gaul
Anyone looking to get a leg up on Black Friday shopping can stop by Yonkers for a historic-looking timepiece or a virtually unused “snow dragon.”
While the lines won’t be as long as those at nearby malls, buyers should beware: There are no returns.
The city is hawking its clock -- the one stationed in the main plaza in Getty Square for decades -- for a cool $660.
City officials...
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