(NewsUSA) - According to recent reports, Warren Buffet has identified energy deregulation as the next big financial opportunity to reverberate around the country. Similarly, former GE Chairman Jack Welch described deregulation as "the next biggest thing since the Internet."

(StatePoint) With so many options competing for the attention of diners, local restaurants are increasingly having success offering daily deals.

(StatePoint) Not sure what to give your dad for Father’s Day? Classic choices like a tie or cufflinks are nice, but don’t forget to give him the most meaningful gift of all -- quality time.

The comprehensive immigration reform bill that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is co-sponsoring would put millions of immigrants on the path to citizenship and would specifically benefit the Asians here, he said.

“We have a great Asian community and I am a great fan of immigration because it adds to the greatness of New York and the greatness of our country,” Schumer said during a phone press conference Friday.

It’s been 30 years since the New York Islanders won their last Stanley Cup, and frankly, they have been abysmal for most of the years between 1983 and now. During this labor-dispute-shortened National Hockey League season, the Islanders played respectably enough to earn their first playoff berth in seven years as they clinched the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders drew the unenviable assignment of playing Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins, long an NHL powerhouse, in the first round. To their credit, the Isles showed that they weren’t merely happy to be there, as they battled hard to force the series to six games. Unfortunately for the Isles, they lost two overtime games at the Nassau Coliseum, including Saturday night’s finale.

Dear Editor:

Memorial Day is fast approaching, I hope it will not slip by with many forgetting the importance of this day. It is not just another day off to maybe shop for sales and enjoy back yard barbecuing. Memorial Day is a time to remember all those who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.

I find myself thinking what it means to be an American. The answer is crystal clear, and that is the pride to live in a county that allows us our personal freedom to express ourselves and speak our minds. These freedoms come with great personal sacrifice for those who leave family, friends and jobs to serve the greater good. I myself had served during the Vietnam era. Although I never saw combat, I had friends who did and who died serving their country.

So, please honor Memorial Day by honoring those who gave their lives for what we all hold most dear. You can do this by attending parades in your local communities and saluting those who served our country so well. I also ask the many who can to display the flag of our country from homes and businesses You can also call those veterans you know and tell them thanks for serving and keeping us free from tyranny.

The Bellerose, Glen Oaks and Floral Park neighborhoods in Queens were among the very last parts of the borough to be developed, starting right after the end of world War II.

The last virgin lots of farmland were sacrificed for the exploding population of men coming home from the service wanting to get married and start a family. In 1948 a shopping center had to be built to accommodate the needs of the new homeowners. On Union Turnpike between 247th and 248th streets, rows of stores were built on both the north and south sides of the roadway.

A lot can change in five days.

Community Board 7 voted on Monday to approve the proposed Phase One redevelopment of Willets Point, including a controversial 1.4 million-square-foot shopping mall adjacent to Citi Field, after its Land Use Committee initially failed to approve the project.

About a dozen restaurant owners and bikers got the 411 on Tuesday on new delivery regulations.

A package of city laws that went into effect on April 23 requires helmets, reflective vests, lights, bells and identification linking the riders to their employers’ establishments.

The intersections surrounding St. Stanislaus Kostka School are about to get safer.

In an initiative to focus safety improvements at city schools with high accident rates, the Department of Transportation started the Safe Routes to Schools Program, a branch off of the statewide program that began around the same time.

Queens neighborhoods are all ripe with history. There’s a seemingly never-ending parade of people, places and events that define the borough’s 350-year existence and have given birth to hundreds of books and films. From the Flushing Remonstrance through Hurricane Sandy, the myriad of stories can take a lifetime to tell.

Woodhaven’s rich history is not well-known to people outside the neighborhood, but with the help of some tech-savvy and devoted young teenagers, the community’s past will be put on film for all to see.

A Whitestone woman pleaded guilty to taking part in a prostitution-and-money- laundering scheme.

Jay King, 53, pleaded on May 8 to one count of enterprise corruption for taking part in the ring operated with the help of a Manhattan-based ad agency. She is expected to be given a 3- to 9-year sentence.She will also be required to pay $100,000 in forfeiture. She will remain out of jail on $1 million bail until her sentencing.

Corona residents gathered last Wednesday to talk trash.

As part of the ongoing $3 million effort to clean up Roosevelt Avenue, Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-Corona) held a town hall meeting so residents could ask her and representatives from the Department of Sanitation and two community boards about sanitation issues. About 40 attended.

The new executive officer of the 103rd Precinct said crime statistics — particularly those involving guns — are headed in the right direction on Tuesday at the monthly meeting of the precinct’s Community Council.

“Year to date we have had five shootings; last year at this time the precinct had 16,” Capt. James Fey said. “In those incidents there have been six shooting victims. We had 19 in the same period last year.

The New York City Water Board voted on Friday, as expected, to increase water rates by 5.6 percent for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

The average annual water bill for a single-family home will increase from $939 per year to $991. The average increase for a unit in a multifamily dwelling will go up from $610 to $644.

The bill mandating that companies in the city with more than 15 employees eventually provide paid sick leave is awaiting a promised mayoral veto — and an expected override of that veto by the City Council.

The bill passed last Wednesday 45-3, more than enough to nullify the veto promised by Mayor Bloomberg, if members stick to their positions.

From his office on Bell Boulevard and 73rd Avenue, City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens) says he can hear his frustrated constituents at the former Q75 bus stop swearing, yelling, and literally crying out for someone to restore the cancelled bus route.

The Q75, which ran from Oakland Gardens to the F train stations in Jamaica, was eliminated along with 32 other bus routes, 570 bus stops and two subway lines on June 27, 2010, a $93 million service reduction.

September 2014 will mark the end of an era as CBS, the network that has broadcast the championship matches of the US Open as far back as anyone can remember, will not renew its contract with the United States Tennis Association when it expires next year, the Queens Chronicle has exclusively learned.

(NewsUSA) - Many of the key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- better known as ObamaCare -- are already coming into effect this year.

(NAPSI)—You may have more in common with a race car driver than you realize. Consider this: When he’s not busy at the racetrack, NASCAR star Greg Biffle likes to slow down and unwind at home. Like other homeowners, Biffle and his wife Nicole are eager to create a warm, welcoming environment for guests while protecting their investment.

(NAPSI)—As a young child, Ryan Haass spent much of his time on a tractor in Devine, Texas. The Haass family heritage revolves around farming and tractor restoration. When Ryan was 10, the Texas drought was so bad that his family retired its tractors and turned to cattle ranching. With idle tractors around the farm, Ryan’s older siblings, Randolph and Amie, discovered an interest in restoration and began participating in competitions.