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Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Forest Hills Hospital officials and Congresswoman Grace Meng on Tuesday, May 30, unveiled the hospital’s new high-tech robot for orthopedic surgeries that will offer patients a minimally invasive alternative for hip, total knee and partial knee replacements.

The Stryker Mako SmartRobotics system was made possible through $1M in federal funding secured by Meng. The LIJ Forest Hills robot is one of 15 critical care projects in Queens from $21.3 million in federal funding secured by Meng in January.

“People deserve to have a facility in or close to their neighborhood where they can receive state-of-the-art care for hip and knee replacements, and the Mako robot will ensure that local residents no longer have to travel far distances to take advantage of this technology,” Meng said. “As New York’s senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, I’m thrilled to have secured this critical federal funding to help LIJ Forest Hills do an even better job in delivering care to our communities.”

During her visit, Meng met a future patient of the Mako robot — Yolanda Virella, a 72-year-old Jackson Heights resident and retired school aide, who will undergo total knee replacement on her right leg later this summer.

Virella suffers from osteoarthritis — a degenerative joint disease — in both knees and had her left knee replaced using traditional surgery last year.

“I have trouble bathing, dressing and standing while I cook. I get tired and I have to sit,” said Virella, who’s raising her 15-year-old grandson. “I can’t do what I used to and it makes me sad.”

According to Richard Seldes, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and director of orthopedic surgery at LIJ Forest Hills, Virella is a typical candidate for knee replacement surgery. About 60% of all knee replacement operations performed nationwide are done on women.

Patients like Virella who opt for robotic-assisted surgery with the Mako robot undergo a CT scan of their knee prior to the procedure. The anatomical information from the scan is uploaded to the robotic software to map out a customized 3D surgical plan to identify which part of the patient’s bone is diseased and which is good.

“The robot assists with the surgery, but the robot does not do the surgery,” Seldes said. “The robot plans out the cuts for the surgeon, but the surgeon has the ultimate say in what’s being cut and how it’s being done.”

During surgery, the surgeon uses the robotic arm of the Mako robot to make precise bone cuts, sparing surrounding healthy tissue and bone and allowing for an exact fit for the new knee implant. Because the surgery offers a greater degree of accuracy for placing the implant, it can extend the life of the new knee, which typically lasts 15 to 20 years.

“Often times residents of Queens don’t have access to top medical technologies and have to go elsewhere like Manhattan or Long Island to get them,” Seldes said. “To have this technology in their own backyard is a great asset to the community.”

The addition of the Mako robot is the latest technology update at LIJ Forest Hills, which recently added two da Vinci surgical robots to the hospital’s robotic surgery program for bariatric, gynecologic, urologic and cancer surgeries. Robotic surgeries result in smaller incisions, less scarring and pain, shorter hospital stays and a better recovery.

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Fallston High School students found themselves on lockdown Monday all thanks to a furry intruder.

School officials sent an email to parents and guardians of students that explained the situation.

The email shared by WBFF read:

Good afternoon. Today, Monday, June 12, 2023, we went on a brief lockdown, keeping all students and staff indoors, when a bear was seen in the area of school grounds. Our dismissal will proceed as normal with SRO’s and staff present to ensure the safety of students as they board buses. Students waiting to be picked up will remain in the building until their ride arrives. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this unusual situation.

A black bear was spotted recently in the back yard of a house in the 6900 block of Forest Hill of University Park. City officials have warned residents to use caution when walking dogs or being outside while the bear actively roams around town.

A black bear also was spotted that same day in the 4300 block of Oglethorpe Street in Hyattsville and a black bear recently was seen roaming around neighborhoods in Howard County, Catonsville and Windsor Mill.

Black bears emerge from their hibernation in the spring in search of food and breed in June and July. Young male bears tend to wander into new areas looking for a chance to establish their own territory and can be seen in urban areas, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources shared.

Maryland DNR officials say while bear sightings in residential areas aren't uncommon but don't happen all that often. Still, residents need to use caution.

Black bears are naturally attracted to items found on or near a home such as birdseed, chicken feed, dog food and even trash. Homeowners who leave human-generated food sources out in the open may unintentionally draw bears to residential areas, and once a black bear finds an easy meal, they are likely to be repeat visitors, the DNR advises.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recommends that residents and visitors of Maryland’s bear country:

“Keeping bears wild is a community effort that benefits both the bears and their human neighbors alike,” said Wildlife and Heritage Acting Director Karina Stonesifer. “Using care to avoid attracting bears now will help keep them wild and in the woods throughout the year.”

Bears are most common in Maryland’s four westernmost counties – Allegany, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington. However, they can be found anywhere in central and southern Maryland.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recently partnered with BearWise, a non-governmental organization dedicated to providing the public with sound, relevant and easily interpretable information on black bears. For more information about living with black bears and bear behavior, residents should visit the Maryland Department of Natural Resources black bear website or BearWise.

Abingdon resident Joe Kelly has been fishing at the pond at Harford County’s Friends Community Park in Forest Hill since he was a child, a tradition he has continued with his son, Brennan.

The chances of catching a fish at the pond, which is stocked by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources during the spring, can be “hit or miss” for Kelly these days. Much of the pond has become overgrown with plants along the shoreline and algae on the surface of the water and on the bottom.

“It’s way overgrown now ... you’re still catching fish out of here, a lot of trout — they’re stocking regularly,” said Kelly, who visited the park Monday with his son.

They were among a number of people at Friends Park on Monday, enjoying the sunny weather and fishing in the pond, playing at the playground or walking the trails — people can access the northern leg of the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail from there. Other amenities such as athletic fields and a pavilion are available, too.

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Wildlife was active in and around the pond, with birds singing in the trees, several geese floating on the surface and frequently sticking their heads under the water to feed, as well as turtles hanging out near the shore.

Joe Kelly has seen some anglers catch the legal limit in trout within 10 minutes, while others can sit at the pond all day and not catch anything.

“It’s different from when I was younger,” he said.

Other county residents have complaints similar to Kelly’s when it comes to the pond’s water quality and the prospect of catching fish.

Visitors expressed concern about plants, algae, a lower water level than in the past, as well as litter floating by the shoreline. Two turtles hung out by a wooden deck overlooking the water as people fished from it, sticking out amid dried leaves and plant matter, algae and scattered pieces of litter such as plastic wrappers and a paper towel.

The low water level was the first thing the daughter of Forest Hill resident Megan Yarbrough noticed when they came to the park, followed by a question about “all the green stuff” in the pond.

“We were kind of disappointed,” Yarbrough said. “We couldn’t really see anything because the water is so murky and so low.”

John Caldwell, of Forest Hill, fishes at the Friends Park pond on a regular basis; he made his first fishing trip at the park for 2021 on Monday. Caldwell, who noticed “a lot of trash” around the pond, has had luck catching fish there in the past.

“It’s great for kids to come here and fish, to catch guppies and bluegill,” he said.

He brings his children there to fish, and they have caught bass from the small island in the pond, which is accessible via a wooden bridge.

“I haven’t caught bass here in a couple years now,” Caldwell noted.

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The pond was renovated in 2011, and the plants were put in to keep the water at a manageable temperature for the fish, according to county government spokesperson Cindy Mumby.

Workers with DNR stock the pond with fish several times during the spring, with the most recent stocking happening about two weeks ago, Mumby said.

The county also has a maintenance program for the pond, which includes treating algae blooms. Staffers use Aquashade, a dye blend, to control algae. They also remove debris found in the water.

County workers treat the pond once a month from April through September — the first treatment is scheduled for next week, weather permitting, according to Mumby.

“Algae is naturally occurring, and this is a natural pond, so there will be algae,” she said Tuesday. “Our program is to prevent algae blooms.”

Brennan Kelly said he likes coming to the pond but noted “it is a bit overgrown” with many plants around.

“I like coming here, still,” the youth said. “You can still catch a lot of fish, but we don’t catch any fish, really, ever.”

FOREST HILL, Md., July 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Maryland-based urgent care centers, ExpressCare Urgent Care Center announces the opening of its newest walk-in medical clinic in Forest Hill, Maryland. (2006 Rock Spring Road, Forest Hill, Maryland 21050)

ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers will celebrate the opening of the newest clinic with an Open House Celebration on Saturday, July 27, 2019 from 11:00am to 3:00pm. The public is invited to tour our new facility as well as be treated to free gifts for children, free medical kits for parents, free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and Kona Ice treats. Face painting and other surprises will be happening on site as well. The event will be broadcast by 103.7, WXCY-FM. Regular business hours commence August 5, 2019

The location marks the 32nd location for the growing urgent care chain. ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers has partnered with Lifebridge Health and has extended its operation to 32 locations in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, with continued expansions planned.

ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers offer urgent care medical services. Why wait in the emergency room for non-life threatening medical conditions? ExpressCare Urgent Care centers are available when your regular clinic is closed or you can't get a timely appointment with your physician. With digital x-rays and labs on-site, ExpressCare offers immediate medical treatment for common illnesses and injuries such as: coughs, flu, fever, nausea, infections, earaches, sore throats, fractures, sprains, bites, burns, sutures, and much more. Physicals, sports injuries, and work injuries are performed on a walk-in basis. All patients receive a telephone call the next day so their condition can be monitored and questions answered. ExpressCare is open 7 days a week from 8:00am to 9:00pm. No appointment is necessary. ExpressCare offers Express Pass, an on-line registration service where patients can check in and reserve a time at any ExpressCare location. To register, go to www.whywaitintheer.com

In addition to giving excellent medical care, Maurice Reid, Founder, CEO and Chief Medical Director believes in giving back to the community. Working with community programs and sports organizations and ExpressCare's signature high school scholarship programs, ExpressCare was voted by the Daily Record Readers as The Best Urgent Care Centers in Maryland for 2018 and Dover Post and Smyrna/Clayton Sun Times readers' First State Favorite Walk-In/ Urgent Care in 2019.

For more information on ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers, visit us at www.whywaitintheer.com or call 410-569-2441.

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Labor Day used to signify the last hurrah before schools opened for the new academic year.

That’s not necessarily so anymore. This year, only a handful of states will begin classes after the holiday. The bulk of districts in most states started school in August. And in Arizona, Georgia, and Mississippi, most public school students returned to school at the end of July.

Why such differences among school start dates? The reasons vary. What’s best for students’ academic interests isn’t necessarily at the top of those lists.

Later start dates, more tourism dollars?

In recent years, state lawmakers have been at the forefront of efforts to return to or maintain post-Labor Day start times. Increasing summer tourism dollars is often a driving force behind these efforts.

In 2016, for instance, then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order mandating the state’s public schools begin classes after Labor Day. Hogan made the announcement from the boardwalk of Maryland’s resort town of Ocean City, suggesting that the later start date would provide a late-summer economic boost to the state’s tourism industry, give families more time to enjoy summer vacations, and prevent students from attending schools during the summer heat in buildings without air conditioners. In 2019 the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill overturning Hogan’s executive order, stressing that school start date decisions should be made by local schools and communities.

For the 2023-24 academic year, 16 Maryland school systems started before Labor Day, and nine begin after Labor Day. A posting on state education department’s website reads: “These decisions are made at the local education agency level with the input of stakeholders to best meet the needs of the school community.”

Virginia public schools’ start date shuffle followed a trajectory similar to Maryland’s. A state law in the 1980s, dubbed the “King’s Dominion Law” after a popular Virginia theme park, required public schools to start after Labor Day unless they obtained a waiver from the state. In 2014, then-newly elected Virginia Governor Terence McAuliffe fought to preserve the law, telling the Roanoke Times, “I’m very concerned about the tourism issue.”

In 2019, state legislation permitted schools to start as much as two weeks before Labor Day. The majority of the state’s districts now start in August.

Maintaining the status quo

While lawmakers’ goal of bringing in late-summer tourism dollars has been the driving force behind some states’ post-Labor Day school starts in recent years, some educators suggest that they are simply relics from the past. For instance, summer breaks became entrenched in the school calendar decades or even a century ago in part because, especially in urban areas, residents fled cities to avoid the heat.

“It’s honestly surprising to me that the school calendar remains generally untouched. This school calendar has been in place for decades in New York,” Michael Capuana, the district superintendent of Erie 1 BOCES, a service district in Buffalo, N.Y. told USA Today. “In many ways, it seems as though the rationale boils down to ‘we’ve always done it this way.’ ”

This explanation is in keeping with a theory known as “network effects,” where a given standard becomes more useful the more widely it’s adopted. Standardizing schedules can benefit school districts’ recruiting efforts, suggest Pew Research Center experts, as job seekers might be more likely to seek employment in a nearby locale if the schedules are similar. But district leaders aren’t necessarily the people making decisions on start dates.

A push for year-round school

Some education advocates would like to see a more dramatic change to the school schedule than simply starting back to school before Labor Day.

Joann Mickens, the executive director of the advocacy organization Parents for Public Schools, is among them. “I am one of the folks who believes we should move toward a year-round school model,” she said, “if we really believe that children’s focus should be on education.” (Mickens qualified her assertion by saying she was expressing her personal opinion and not necessarily that of her organization.) Education researchers have found that organizing the school year around shorter breaks can result in academic benefits, particularly for low-income students who may not have access to educational or enrichment opportunities during long summer breaks.

The balanced calendar schedule, a common model of year-round schooling, shortens the summer break and builds in regular breaks that allow time for remediation, enrichment, and accelerated programs throughout the year—generally resulting in the same total number of schools days per year, just distributed differently. As of 2020, only about 4 percent of the nation’s public schools followed a year-round schedule, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education.

Given that statewide efforts to move school start dates—even by a few weeks—have ignited fierce debates, it stands to reason that a more significant shift to a year-round schedule would likely result in even stronger resistance.

But critics of shortening summer breaks, whose arguments often include suggestions that doing so would disrupt family time and vacation opportunities, ignore the reality that many of today’s working families struggle to pay child-care costs during summer months when their children are out of school.

“I think oftentimes, not only do we not have students’ best interests in mind, we don’t check in with families,” Mickens said. “They [families] can best tell legislators whether or not starting school after Labor Day is a good idea.”