By Scott Feldman

This is my final blog for News 12 Long Island.  Friday night at 5pm is my last newscast. I’ve decided to retire after a remarkable 40 years in broadcast journalism and a fantastic 22 years of that here at News 12.  I had always wanted to be a reporter. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. And the news director of the campus radio station at the University of Denver. While attending college, I was a news writer at the NBC radio and TV station. And I anchored radio newscasts for a small station in town. After college, I got my start at a radio station in Toledo, Ohio. Then it was on to a bigger radio station in Cleveland. I made my move to TV in Akron. Then went on to report and anchor at TV stations in Minneapolis, Phoenix, Kansas City. For three years before coming to News 12, I was a Capitol Hill and White House correspondent.  Two of the biggest stories  during those Reagan years were the Iran-Contra hearings and the Challenger Shuttle disaster and hearings.

To be sure, for the past four decades, I have reported just about every story imaginable. Tornadoes, floods, fires, blizzards, nor’ easters. City Hall, county and state legislatures, presidential conventions and inaugurations. Every kind of court case, including the landmark Bush v. Gore US Supreme Court case.  I’ve interviewed Presidents, politicians of all ranks, Civil Rights leaders, astronauts, mobsters, famous athletes and movie stars. Here on Long Island, of course, there was Avianca Flight 052, TWA Flight 800 and both World Trade Center attacks .  I will always treasure hosting The Challenge, our high school scholastic quiz show. And, of course, the Tee to Green series.

Everything I really dreamed of doing has been realized. And I’ve got a lifetime of wonderful memories. News 12 has been my professional family since 1988. And I will dearly miss seeing everyone here on a daily basis.  People have asked me what I’m going to do in retirement. My short answer is play more golf, travel, read more and get in better shape. After that, who knows. Whatever it is, though, I want it to be fun!

To all of you who have showered me with kind comments and encouragement over the years, thank you! I appreciate more than you can know your faith and trust in me to be your “eyes” and “ears” and a “truth-teller” reporting what affects your lives every day.

No, you’ll no longer see me on News 12 after this week, but you will still see me out and about on Long Island. Please say hi! And keep watching News 12 Long Island.  I will.  We are the gold standard for local news. We are as local as local news gets!

By Scott Feldman

Some help today from Washington for the unemployed. President Obama signed a bill that extends unemployment benefits another 14 weeks. It applies to anyone who has exhausted their benefits or will do so by the end of  the year.  Here on Long Island, 110,000  Long Islanders are out of work. About 70,000 of them are collecting benefits.   NYS Labor Department says the new measure signed by President Obama will help 55,000  New Yorkers.  Long Island’s unemployment rate is 7.4 percent. The nationwide figure is 10.2 percent. The highest it has been since 1983. 16 million people out of work.  While Long Island is fairing better than the rest of the nation, Long Island Association Chief Economist  Pearl Kamer tells me she is forecasting a very slow economic recovery for us. She says employers have learned to do more, produce more, with fewer workers, so that means after the recovery begins, they are not going to be so quick to hire.  Gary Huth from the NYS Labor Department says there are not as many jobs as job seekers, but jobs are out there. He advises anyone out of work to go to the state labor department website. He points out that there is a misperception that the state web job bank is mostly entry level jobs. He says there is a full range of job opportunities, including marketing, banking, manufacturing, engineering. So, the labor dept. website is www.labor.state.ny.us And if you are working but finding it hard to make ends meet, you might want to check out this state website that offers a wide range of support. www.mybenefits.ny.gov.

By Scott Feldman

Looking to buy a house?  Congress has agreed on a measure that would expand a popular $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers.  It was scheduled to expire Nov.30, but now it will be extended to cover homes under contract by April 30 of 2010. And it’s no longer just for first-time buyers. If you’ve owned a home for at least five years, you can get a tax credit of $6,500 on a new residence.  And to make it easier to buy a house, income limits for eligibility have been raised.  Those qualifying now are individuals with income up to $125,000 a year and couples earning up to $225,000. The credit is only good for the purchase of a principal home costing $800,000 or less, so vacation homes are ineligible.  That said, the program is not without its critics. They contend most of the credits go to people who would have bought a home regardless of a tax credit. And there’s a government report just released detailing suspected criminal and civil abuses of the program. Still, whether you are buying or selling, this extension and expansion of the tax credit could help the local housing scene.  Long Island realtors think it is just the extra bit of medicine needed to improve the health of the market.   For more information check out www.nahb.org/taxcreditmaterials

By Scott Feldman

Nassau legislative Republicans absolutely giddy today. After ten years in the minority, they now control the county legislature. It happened when Republican Howard Kopel stunned five-term Democrat Jeff Toback. So, now, Republicans have at least a one seat edge. At this writing, the Dave Mejias race against challenger Joseph Belesi was still too close to call.

So, what’s on the agenda now for Nassau Republicans? Peter Schmitt, who expects to be the new Presiding Officer, tells me the GOP will be out to cut excessive spending. But he’s promising services for county residents won’t be negatively impacted. First order of business for the Republicans will be to repeal the 2.5 percent sales tax on home heating fuel. That is expected to generate about 40 million dollars. So, Schmitt says there will have to be a lot of spending cuts to make up the difference. Also high on the GOP list of things-to-do, fix the county’s property tax reassessment system. That’s costing the county hundreds of millions of dollars. Schmitt tells me he finds it hard to believe that Nassau is the only place in the country that can’t seem to get it right when it comes to fairly assessing residential and commercial properties.

And how will a Republican controlled legislature deal with the county executive? Depends on who winds up winning. Schmitt says it will be easier to work with fellow Republican Ed Mangano than Democrat Tom Suozzi. But he made it clear to me that the legislature is not going to roll over for either County Executive.  It looks like it is going to be a while before we know who prevails in that race.  The voting machines and paper ballots have been frozen.  And there  could be court challenges before the race is finally settled. But blessedly, at least we won’t have any “hanging chads.”

So, Nassau politics takes a very interesting turn Nov.3, 2009.  The coming year, 2010, could see some real fireworks at the Executive and Legislative building. But one thing is clear. Voters, who are angry over taxes, will look to see action, not talk.

By Scott Feldman

Elections are supposed to be about choice, right? Well, when Suffolk voters go to the polls this Tuesday, they’ll be faced with a decision whether to vote for three candidates who have no opponents. Democrat District Attorney Thomas Spota, Republican Treasurer Angie Carpenter and Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, a Conservative, are all running unopposed. Have these incumbents done a good job in office? Perhaps. Do they deserve to be re-elected? Perhaps.  But, how do we know they are truly the best people to hold their respective jobs? Shouldn’t there be at least one other candidate to offer opposing views on how they would handle the office? I get why party leaders cross endorse.  They decide a particular candidate would be very tough to beat. And it may be very hard for them to find someone willing to challenge them. So, rather than blow a lot of money in a race they wouldn’t likely win, they put their campaign money and time to seats they think are more competitive. In our latest News 12 Long Island/Hofstra poll, we asked whether you approved of this practice of cross endorsement. 67 percent of those polled approved of it. But 25 percent did NOT approve, and another 8 percent were undecided.  So, what about it?  When you close the curtain on election day, are you satisfied having only candidate to vote for? Is take it or leave it, the best approach? Let me know what you think.  And to read results from our News12/Hofstra poll questions just go to www.news12.com and click numbers and links.