Patriot Awards honor Seaford students and lives lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks

By Kimberly | Published: July 7, 2022

Seaford High School has awarded its annual Patriot Awards in honor of the five Seaford graduates who were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks – Thomas Haskell (FDNY), his brother Timothy Haskell (FDNY), John Perry (NYPD), Rob Sliwak (Cantor Fitzgerald), and Michael Wittenstein (Cantor Fitzgerald).

This year’s Patriot Award winners were Alexandra Leggio, Annarose Romanelli, Brooke Surace, Parker Surace and Bryant Wong. Winners of the award should embody the spirit of the men who were killed in the attacks.

A special award was given to Ryan Haskell, nephew to Tommy and Timmy Haskell, who is known as the “mayor of Seaford”.

Barbara Wittenstein,  Michael Wittenstein’s mother, told Michael Malaszczyk of Long Island Herald, “How Seaford comes out as a community is unbelievable. These kids are unbelievable. My son Michael was the life of the party, and this celebration and these award recipients are a wonderful way of honoring his memory.”

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NYPD is TREDDing new ground with K-9 unit

By Kimberly | Published: July 7, 2022

New technology for the K-9s of the NYPD means that New York’s K-9s can detect more explosives and other devices hidden to most working dogs, reports Dean Moses for AMNY.

The new system, known as TREDD, or Transit Enhanced Detection Dog, defeats new terrorist weapons that most dogs cannot detect.

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Arizona’s Governor Ducey signs 9/11 education bill

By Kimberly | Published: May 22, 2022

Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey has signed House Bill 2325  into law, making education about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks mandatory in Arizona schools. Every public school in the state now must spend some portion of September 11th (or a nearby day if it falls on a weekend) learning about the attacks of 9/11.

Governor Ducey said in a press release, “We have an obligation to teach our children about the events and ideas that made us who we are as a nation. On that day, we faced an attack on who we are and what we stand for: democracy, liberty and freedom. We’re going to ensure future generations of Arizonans never forget how those values were defended on September 11, 2001.”

A sponsor of House Bill 2325, Representative John Kavanagh, was a PAPD officer for 20 years and knew many of the 37 PAPD officers killed in the attacks.

Arizona is the 15th state to require any September 11th instruction.

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