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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
NY judge censured for throwing a fit at school board over his son not being named class valedictorian
A Nassau County judge was censured by a state commission after he threw a fit and publicly chastised a school board for not naming his straight-A son the valedictorian of his graduating high school class last year. Long Beach City Court Judge Corey E. Klein was censured — or written up for misconduct — by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the Albany-based group announced Monday, noting the judge agreed to the censure. Klein stormed into an April 2024 public school board meeting, seeking to challenge its decision and policies that led to his son not being designated top of the class, according to the commission. When the school district lawyer Christopher Powers tried to interrupt Klein's tirade, the judge told him not to 'try to outlawyer me' and pressed on, the group said. Members of the board continued to try and stop Klein's nonsensical rant and even turned off his microphone. Yet he continued to shout, his voice booming as he apparently grew tired of Powers' continued reference to him as 'Counsel.' 'You can refer to me, Counsel, as judge,' Klein said, according to the commission. 'If you are going to try to be a lawyer, then refer to me by my title as well, okay. Thank you,' he added after his microphone was turned back on. As board members tried to explain that the public meeting — which was also streamed online — was not a proper setting to appeal the decision on his son's viability for valedictorian, Klein started to shout over them, the commission said. 'I'm gonna stay up here now and I'm going to continue speaking,' Klein stubbornly insisted. 'Your Honor. We are not in court at this point,' Powers tried to interject, but to no avail as Klein steamrolled over him. 'The fact that I'd have the audacity, okay, because it's the end of my kid's career, to come up here and question a decision that you made, okay, so you try to sic your pit bull attorney on me. It's beyond reproach that you don't do something like that, okay,' Klein eventually concluded after his heated back-and-forth with the board, the commission said. The ranting judge was also accused of helping a professional acquaintance get out of $500 worth of unpaid parking tickets, according to his censure. The person's car was booted as a result of the unpaid tickets, and Klein reached out to numerous police departments to have it removed. Officers, thinking Klein was acting within his capacity as a judge, removed the boot and the acquaintance eventually paid the tickets, according to the commission. 'It corrodes public confidence in the judiciary when a judge lends the prestige of judicial office to advance a private benefit. Doing so impulsively, in an unseemly public argument over who should be a high school's honoree, or as a favor to a parking ticket scofflaw, is especially irresponsible,' Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a statement. Klein has been a Long Beach judge since 2015. His term doesn't expire until the end of 2034, according to the commission.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
NY judge censured for throwing a fit over his son not being named class valedictorian at public school board meeting
A Nassau County judge was censured by a state commission after he threw a fit and publicly chastised a school board for not naming his straight-A son the valedictorian of his graduating high school class last year. Long Beach City Court Judge Corey E. Klein was censured — or written up for misconduct — by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the Albany-based group announced Monday, noting the judge agreed to the censure. 3 Judge Corey E. Klein was censured after his outburst arguing against a school board's decision not to name his son valedictorian. City of Long Beach Advertisement Klein stormed into an April 2024 public school board meeting, seeking to challenge its decision and policies that led to his son not being designated top of the class, according to the commission. When the school district lawyer Christopher Powers tried to interrupt Klein's tirade, the judge told him not to 'try to outlawyer me' and pressed on, the group said. Members of the board continued to try and stop Klein's nonsensical rant and even turned off his microphone. Yet he continued to shout, his voice booming as he apparently grew tired of Powers' continued reference to him as 'Counsel.' Advertisement 'You can refer to me, Counsel, as judge,' Klein said, according to the commission. 3 Klein ordered that the school district attorney refer to him as 'judge', not 'counsel'. City of Long Beach 'If you are going to try to be a lawyer, then refer to me by my title as well, okay. Thank you,' he added after his microphone was turned back on. As board members tried to explain that the public meeting — which was also streamed online — was not a proper setting to appeal the decision on his son's viability for valedictorian, Klein started to shout over them, the commission said. Advertisement 'I'm gonna stay up here now and I'm going to continue speaking,' Klein stubbornly insisted. 'Your Honor. We are not in court at this point,' Powers tried to interject, but to no avail as Klein steamrolled over him. 'The fact that I'd have the audacity, okay, because it's the end of my kid's career, to come up here and question a decision that you made, okay, so you try to sic your pit bull attorney on me. It's beyond reproach that you don't do something like that, okay,' Klein eventually concluded after his heated back-and-forth with the board, the commission said. 3 Klein's term as judge doesn't expire until the end of 2034. Facebook/Corey E Klein Advertisement The ranting judge was also accused of helping a professional acquaintance get out of $500 worth of unpaid parking tickets, according to his censure. The person's car was booted as a result of the unpaid tickets, and Klein reached out to numerous police departments to have it removed. Officers, thinking Klein was acting within his capacity as a judge, removed the boot and the acquaintance eventually paid the tickets, according to the commission. 'It corrodes public confidence in the judiciary when a judge lends the prestige of judicial office to advance a private benefit. Doing so impulsively, in an unseemly public argument over who should be a high school's honoree, or as a favor to a parking ticket scofflaw, is especially irresponsible,' Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said in a statement. Klein has been a Long Beach judge since 2015. His term doesn't expire until the end of 2034, according to the commission.
West Australian
27-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Rainbow jersey for Tanya Bailey as Albany mountain biker wins Masters World Championship after bumpy ride
Albany-based Olympian and now downhill star Tanya Bailey claimed a thrilling rainbow jersey victory at the 2025 Masters Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns on May 17. She pipped fellow Australian Rachel White by finishing the tricky course in 4 minutes 33.356 seconds to take the downhill mountain bike title in the 40-44 age group by just over two-tenths of a second. White was leading at the fourth split, but Bailey found enough in her legs to pip her over the final stretch. Bailey's time was the fastest of all female competitors and placed her 10th overall in the downhill event. The hurdles along the way to victory were not only found on the course as she had a trail bike, not a downhill bike, and the seeding run was cancelled after a bad crash. The seeding run determines in which order riders will race so Bailey had just one chance to make it count. 'The downhill bikes have more travel in the suspension and can take bigger hits, but my little trail bike did the business,' she said. 'I just finished with very, very sore arms.' Bailey decided to enter at the last minute having debated whether it was wise to hurl herself down a mountain before starting a new job. 'I had no sick leave, and the track was a lot steeper and faster than I am used to in WA,' she said. The nerves were high for about three days solid beforehand.' The delay and then cancellation of the seeding race was also disturbing as she had to wait at the top of the track without food or water for an hour. 'It was the same for everyone but no-one likes a last-minute change of schedule.,' Bailey said. 'I did the run and it wasn't perfect but it was good enough to win, and everyone likes to win.' In fact, the 2008 Beijing Olympian said becoming champion was less fulfilling than conquering those pre-race hassles which had hampered her build-up. 'I miss some elements of racing at the real elite level — especially the fitness and strength I had then — but it was really good to overcome those hurdles,' she said. White came home in 4.33.574 for second place with the pair well ahead of Kristy Kerrisk who finished in 5.01.172 for an all-Australian podium.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NY Rep. Ritchie Torres rips Gov. Hochul for running country's ‘worst early intervention program' for disabled toddlers in scathing letter
Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres has accused Gov. Kathy Hochul of bungling oversight of New York's early intervention program for toddlers with developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome. 'New York has the single worst early intervention program in the nation, ranking 50 out of 50,' Torres said in a letter sent Sunday to Hochul. 'The time has come for you to end your dubious distinction of presiding over America's worst early intervention program.' His criticism of the early childhood program is just his latest broadside against Hochul, who Torres is considering challenging in the 2026 Democratic primary for governor. There are 10,000 kids with disabilities on the waiting list for early intervention in the state, a 500% increase since 2020, Torres said. And early intervention providers — who include physical and speech therapists among other specialists — are missing payments for their work, hamstringing the program that's already suffering from a backlog of patients, according to the Democratic congressman. The early intervention program went off the rails last year, when a state Health Department contractor, Massachusetts-based Public Consulting Group, launched a new software system for therapists to manage cases and bill for their services. The transition to the software system has been a glitch-prone and delay-stricken disaster, according to a North Country Radio investigation last month. Half of New York's therapists who provide early intervention services are not getting their full paychecks, according to an industry survey, Albany-based therapist Lacie Schweigart told The Post. Providers have to click 25 times to fill out a form for reimbursement, said Tracy Harris, a 30-year speech therapist who has run her own business, Building Blocks in upstate Watertown, for the last 20. 'I can't take on any new clients. They'd end up on a waiting list,' Harris said. 'The program is the worst it's ever been.' The two therapists said they sent letters to all New York congress members for help and Torres, who represents The Bronx, responded and spoke with them via a Zoom meeting. 'We're so happy he's gotten involved,' Harris told The Post. Torres said the mismanagement of a program for the most vulnerable toddlers is outrageous and unacceptable. 'Even though the broken system of early intervention long predates your time in office, you have broken the broken system to an extent not seen before, plunging the nation's worst EIP into a state of complete chaos, confusion, and crisis,' Torres fumed in his note to Hochul. 'There are families whose disabled children have not gotten federally mandated services. There are working-class providers who have not gotten paid.' He also cited an audit conducted by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in 2023 about delays in services for many toddlers — before the software snafu. Torres urged Hochul to 'radically reduce the workforce shortages and waiting lists that have gotten worse under your watch; to stabilize working-class EI providers with an 11% reimbursement rate increase; and to stabilize cash-strapped counties with their fair share of revenues.' A state Health Department spokesperson, responding on behalf of Hochul said, the software glitches have been addressed. 'New York State's first priority is to ensure that the 70,000 children served by the early intervention program continue to receive the health care and resources they need,' the spokesperson said in a statement to The Post. 'Since its launch on October 15, technical issues with the EI-Hub have been addressed and providers are being reimbursed in a timely manner. 'The Department will continue to work with our vendor to offer provider training and make further improvements to increase efficiency of the system.' The department noted a 5 percent increase in pay for operators was approved, though providers complained they have yet to see it, and that the contractor, Public Consulting Group, won't get paid until the software work is completed. Public Consulting Group had no immediate comment.
