🌱 Whoopi Goldberg Holocaust Comments Suspension + Girls Football

Hey, neighbors! It's me again, your host of the Five Towns Daily.

First, today's weather:

Fog with rain and drizzle. High: 43 Low: 36.

Here are the top three stories today in Five Towns:

1. The New York Jets and Nike are sponsoring girls flag football teams starting this spring, creating 16 new teams across Nassau and Suffolk counties. The 16 schools that were selected to participate will receive grants from the Jets and Nike to start the teams. In Nassau, they are Freeport, Hempstead, Locust Valley, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Massapequa, Plainview-Old Bethpage and West Hempstead. (Patch)
2. Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended for two weeks from "The View" for remarks she made about the Holocaust. On Monday, she said the Holocaust "wasn't about race," and has since apologized. (News 12)
3. A third woman has been arrested in connection with the Amityville fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine scheme. Brooke Hogan, 29, of Patchogue, is a receptionist at Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and she was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree forgery, a felony. (Subscription: Newsday)

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Today in Five Towns:

• Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools has COVID-19 testing in the basement of the Woodmere Education Center today from 1 to 5 p.m. (Facebook)

From my notebook:

• Long Island's groundhogs have mixed messages: Malverne Mel saw his shadow on Tuesday morning, predicting six more weeks of winter but Holtsville Hal did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring. (Patch)
• Nassau County Crime Stoppers is looking for information regarding a homicide on Jan. 30 in Hempstead. (Facebook)
• Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools has pre-K registration in person today at Franklin Early Childhood Center at 9:45 a.m. (Facebook)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed. See you all tomorrow for another update!

— Jackie