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Smithtown East senior lacrosse player Gerard Arceri has been selected to the 2016 U.S. Men’s National U19 training roster. Photo from the Smithtown Central School District

Smithtown East senior Gerard Arceri has been selected to the 2016 U.S. Men’s National U19 30-man training roster and will now compete for one of 23 spots on the final team, which will participate in the World Games next summer.

Smithtown East senior lacrosse player Gerard Arceri has been selected to the 2016 U.S. Men’s National U19 training roster. Photo from the Smithtown Central School District
Smithtown East senior lacrosse player Gerard Arceri has been selected to the 2016 U.S. Men’s National U19 training roster. Photo from the Smithtown Central School District

“Gerard has separated himself from a very strong pool of tryout participants,” said John Jez, 2016 U.S. Men’s National U19 team manager. “He possesses the qualities and skills to potentially make the final 23-man roster and assist in the efforts to bring home a Federation of International Lacrosse world championship in July.”

Arceri will participate in training and team development from Nov. 13-15 at The Ohio State University, followed by a second session on Jan. 8-10 in Bradenton, Fla.

Smithtown Central School District had the most invitees — five — of any public school in America.

Fellow East alum John Daniggelis, who now plays lacrosse at Yale University, made it to the last round of cuts with Arceri. Kyle Keenan, a 2011 Smithtown West graduate, made the U.S. U19 team the last time the games took place four years ago.

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From left, Michael Bertolini, Mary Ellin Kurtz and Staci Rosenberg-Simons in a scene from ‘Arsenic & Old Lace.’ Photo by Samantha Cuomo

By Charles J. Morgan

When a theatrical company does a chestnut, it is because it has not only stood the test of time but has pleased audiences through the years. 

The Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts has trotted out one of those chestnuts, Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic and Old Lace,” that darkly humorous comedy about two charmingly wicked aging sisters who go about murdering lonely men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch” of cyanide as if they were dusting furniture in their antique home in Brooklyn, reminiscent of the old houses on Westminster, Rugby and Argyle roads in your scribe’s native Flatbush.

Mary Ellin Kurtz and Staci Rosenberg-Simons portray the malevolent Brewster sisters, Abby and Martha, respectively. Their overly sweet demeanor toward one another comes off perfectly; their Victorian good manners are the perfect cover for their evil deeds. Their innocence is not even feigned … it is sincere!

Then there is their brother, Teddy, a harmless lunatic who thinks he is President Theodore Roosevelt. Bobby Montaniz has this role and plays it to the hilt. With a bristling moustache and pince-nez glasses, he actually looked like TR. His “Charge!!!” up the stairs, bugle in hand, forces the sisters to explain, “The stairs? . . . San Juan Hill.” In his “signing clothes,” a cutaway frock coat and striped pants, he signs the “Treaty,” which is his own commitment papers to an insane asylum. His TR lines all have to do with real, historical TR incidents. Your scribe’s favorite was when he places his hand on the shoulder of the visiting preacher from the local church intoning “I’ve always enjoyed my talks with Cardinal Gibbons!” Montaniz was the comic foil of this show.

Steve Corbellini plays the sisters’ nephew, Mortimer. He is supreme as the one who discovers what the sisters have done. He is torn between simply turning them in to the police and his nepotic love for them. Corbellini has a remarkable stage presence and a comic ability that is first class.

Lauren Gobes has the role of Elaine, Mortimer’s fiancée. She is pretty, ingénue-like and possessed of impressive range … from beloved to spurned and back again.

On to the scene comes Mortimer’s brother Jonathan, handled expertly by Michael Newman . . . the “bad” Brewster. His voice is threatening and thunderous, and his reciting of his lines in a sort of monotone brings out a deep-seated evil. His shady confederate is Dr.  Einstein, the hard drinking, failed surgeon. Eugene Dailey has the role and interprets it masterfully. Rounding out the cast are Mark DeCaterina, Michael Bertolini, John Steele and Kevin Shaw, all of which do a fine job.

Now chestnuts need good sets, and Timothy Golebiewski as set designer ran a team of constructors including Brian Barteld, Clarke Serv and Russ Brown in mounting a massive, highly impressive interior complete with wainscoting, window seat and, especially noteworthy, a staircase with a double landing leading to “upstairs” rooms. The furniture looked like it had been bought during the presidency of Grover Cleveland.

On to this set steps director Jordan Hue who, confronted with this broad physical venue, had the job of interpreting and blocking the cast, carrying out the director’s job of making the characters as real as possible, and coupling that with the actors own talents and engendering a seamless performance. In this Hue succeeded eminently.

This is a chestnut pulled from the roast for the audience’s delectation. The SCPA has done its usual fine work on a production well worth seeing.

The Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. Main St., Smithtown, will present the classic comedy “Arsenic & Old Lace” through Oct. 4. Tickets are $35 adults, $20 students. For more information, call 631-724-3700 or visit www.smithtownpac.org.

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Smithtown Councilman Bob Creighton. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

Thursday’s Republican primary in Smithtown saw an incumbent fall to the bottom of the pack in the town board race, but only by a slim margin.

Councilman Bob Creighton (R) came in third out of three candidates seeking the Republican line in November’s general election. The other two, incumbent Councilman Ed Wehrheim (R) and challenger Lisa M. Inzerillo came in first and second, respectively, all but assuring them Republican spots, according to unofficial Suffolk County Board of Elections results.

By Friday morning, Wehrheim had collected 40.49 percent of the vote — 1,673 total votes — and Inzerillo earned 31.27 percent, or 1,292 total votes. Creighton came in close behind Inzerillo with 27.81 percent — 1,149 votes.

Creighton had focused much of his primary bid on development in Smithtown that he said could attract new business to the community. He has served on the Smithtown Town Board since 2008 and has been a longtime ally of Wehrheim, often aligning with him in critical votes put before the board over recent years.

“There are still some 200-odd absentee ballots to count, but I have no illusions about that,” Creighton said. “I lost — period.”

Creighton said he attributed part of the loss to low voter turnout, with just about seven percent of Smithtown Republicans hitting the polls. The councilman also said he had full intentions of still running on the Independent, Conservative and Reform party lines come November, whether or not absentee ballots salvage his primary bid later next week.

Wehrheim has been on the board since 2003 and said in a previous interview that he would like to use another term to work on funding more projects to revitalize Smithtown’s downtown area. In a phone interview, the councilman said torrential downpours throughout the voting hours on Thursday may have had an impact on voter turnout, which was slightly lower than the average primary.

“I am very pleased with my position as number-one in the race, but I do believe the weather certainly had an affect on the voter turnout,” he said. “The board, as of late, is fairly divided, but I have a long tenure with the town and I will continue to do what I’ve always done. I will go in there, and work on behalf of the Smithtown resident.”

Inzerillo, a business owner from Kings Park, focused her campaign on making Smithtown’s downtown business district more vibrant. She declared victory following Thursday’s vote in a statement, looking forward to discussing the town’s most pressing issues.

“This grassroots campaign, fueled by family and friends, has inspired and humbled me and I am ready to represent the Republican Party in November,” she said.

Both Creighton’s and Wehrheim’s seats on the board will be up for a vote come November, with the incumbents facing off against Inzerillo and Democrat Larry Vetter, who announced his candidacy earlier this year. The winners will join incumbents not up for re-election, Supervisor Pat Vecchio, Councilman Tom McCarthy and Councilwoman Lynne Nowick — all Republicans.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include comments from Councilman Bob Creighton and Councilman Ed Wehrheim.

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Members of TULIPS, including Philip Schoppmann, second from the right, celebrate the officer’s Excellence in Suicide Prevention Award. Photo from Philip Schoppmann

Police Officer Philip Schoppmann, a Smithtown resident, has been awarded the Excellence in Suicide Prevention Award. Schoppmann is a Suffolk County police officer at the 5th precinct.

Schoppmann is the founder of Trainers United on Long Island for the Prevention of Suicide, or TULIPS. The volunteer group teaches different communities throughout the state of New York suicide prevention and intervention skills. It was established almost a year ago, and the group travels everywhere, all the way from Buffalo to Montauk.

TULIPS is made up of four trainers and includes social workers, state employees, and a marriage and family therapist. Schoppmann said that the group would help train more than 1,000 people by the end of the year.

“Phil is a huge advocate to raise awareness,” Brooke Yonick, a member of TULIPS and co-worker of Schoppmann said in phone interview. “He works nonstop to do what he can to help anyone in need; police officers, citizens, veterans.”

Schoppmann met the other three members of TULIPS at a training program in Albany, and “he really spearheaded the group by naming us and encouraging us to work together, since we’re all from the same region,” Yonick said.

Diane Sweet, another member of TULIPS, agreed that Schoppmann has been the manager of this organization. “Phil’s got the vision. He is the Indian chief and I am just a very happy follower,” Sweet said in an interview.

Aside from being a member of TULIPS, Schoppmann is actively involved in many other suicide prevention programs. He is a member of the Suicide Prevention Coalition, and he also helped create the Suffolk County police department’s Providing Enforcers Education and Resources group, also known as PEER. PEER supports other area police officers who might be going through troubling times.

Schoppmann received funding through a mini grant from the Mental Health Association of New York State to help create a tool called DISTRACT. DISTRACT is a safety plan to use when working with suicidal individuals.

“We want to distract people from death and help them think about life through this safety plan,” Schoppmann said in a phone interview.

He wanted to create this program because he felt that a lot of suicide prevention programs out there teach you the necessary tools, but do not give you something concrete and tangible to go home with or to give to people with suicidal thoughts. He describes it as a list of tasks for the person to stay safe and stay alive.

“A person can fill this out with you so they feel connected. They can walk away with it, and when they feel depressed and need something to focus on, this can be it,” Schoppmann said.

Schoppmann first got involved in suicide prevention when he was a police officer working in New York City. He volunteered there as a peer support officer, and dealt with police officers who were experiencing suicidal thoughts.

“I was scared,” Schoppmann said. “These officers had guns, and were expressing suicidal thoughts. I had to do something, so I looked into learning skills for prevention.”

When Schoppmann moved out to Smithtown, he carried the ideas of this program with him to Suffolk County, with the PEER program. He resides in Smithtown with his wife Dikea; their two sons, John-Michael and Jordan; and a third baby on the way.

Linda Sherlock-Reich, the final member of TULIPS, said she couldn’t say enough about Schoppmann. “He’s amazing, he’s passionate and he coordinates everything. I always say I think he’s a robot because there is no way a human can accomplish the amount of things that he does.”

If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

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Drawing a crowd
Police say a 22-year-old Selden man arrested at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 5 on Broadway in Port Jefferson repeatedly engaged in violent behavior directed toward a nearby crowd.

Out of control
Police said a 56-year-old Riverhead man was arrested on Sept. 5 on the corner of Chereb Lane and Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station. The man was in possession of a controlled substance.

On Sept. 2, police arrested a 25-year-old man from Holtsville for criminal possession of a controlled substance on the corner of Route 25A and Miller Avenue in Shoreham-Wading River. Police found Suboxone when he was detained at 4:10 p.m.

Second time’s the charm
A 29-year-old man from Mount Sinai was arrested in Port Jefferson Station on Sept. 4 after a car crash. Police discovered the man, who had been driving a 1999 Dodge south on Jayne Boulevard at the time of the collision, had been drinking alcohol and was operating the vehicle without interlock, a device that prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol level exceeds the legal limit. The man was obligated to use the device due to a prior drunk driving conviction.

Let there be rock
Police arrested a 21-year-old Centereach man on Sept. 5 after he made verbal threats and struck an unidentified man with a large rock.

Cross-stealing
A 51-year-old man from North Patchogue was arrested at the 6th Precinct in Selden on Sept. 3. Police said the man stole women’s apparel and accessories from Smith Haven Mall.

It happened in the tresspast
An 18-year-old male from Holtsville was arrested in Selden on Sept. 3, about two weeks after police say he trespassed at Sachem East High School.

It’s electric
Police arrested a 61-year-old man from Rocky Point for reckless endangerment on Glenwood Road on Sept. 3. Police said the man had tampered with an electric meter in July.

Calling shotgun
On Sept. 5 at 1:30 p.m., an unidentified person stole a shotgun from a residence on Forest Avenue in Port Jefferson Station.

Steal like an eagle
Police said an unknown person stole lawn sculptures from someone’s yard on Lenox Street in Port Jefferson Station on Sept. 3. One of the pieces was a wooden eagle sculpture.

Entering and breaking
An unknown person stole cash, a laptop and a laptop bag from a home on Middle Court in Miller Place. The incident happened on Sept. 5. Police said the person also broke the window on the driver’s side of a 2001 Ford Mustang that was parked in the driveway.

Clean this
On Sept. 6 at 4:04 p.m., the front glass window of the dry cleaning shop on Echo Avenue in Miller Place was broken.

A jewel of a thief
On Sept. 5, police said an unidentified man took a box containing a bracelet without paying from the Kohl’s on Route 25A in Rocky Point.

Ponti-attack
An unknown person damaged the rear passenger door and tire on the right side of a 2008 Pontiac on Sept. 4 on Route 25 in Selden.

Something fishy
On Sept. 6 someone stole fish and other merchandise from the Shop Rite on College Road in Selden. Police said the person left the store with the stolen items and got into a car that was waiting outside the store.

Cig-nificant steal
Police said on Sept. 5 an unknown person stole money and cigarettes from a 2010 Jeep and a 2005 Saturn. The incident occurred on Middle Court in Miller Place.

Not friends anymore
An unidentified person stole a license plate off a 1988 Jeep on Friendship Drive in Rocky Point. Police said the incident happened on Aug. 30 at noon but was reported on Sept. 2.

Incoming message
On Sept. 4 an unidentified person or persons damaged a mailbox on North Howell Avenue in Centereach.

To Infiniti and beyond
Police said someone broke a window of a 2011 Infiniti on Tree Road in Centereach on Sept. 4. Police were unsure which window was damaged.

Wanted for grand larceny
Suffolk County Police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying and locating the man who used a stolen credit card at two locations last month.
Police said a man used a stolen credit card at Speedway Gas in Lake Grove and Stop and Shop in Ronkonkoma on Aug. 6. The man fled in a red vehicle. A purse containing the credit card that was used had been stolen from a vehicle that was broken into at the LA Fitness parking lot, located at 110 New Moriches Road in Lake Grove on Aug. 6 between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS (8477). All calls will be kept confidential.

Cars vandalized
Suffolk County Police are investigating whether or not a string of incidents of criminal mischief at Stony Hollow apartments on Old Town Road in Port Jefferson Station is related. Residents reported to cops on the morning of Sept. 3 that a number of vehicles were vandalized: a windshield on a Nissan Sentra was shattered; rear passenger windows on a 2007 Mazda and a 2014 Honda were broken; and someone took a GPS cable and damaged the windshield wiper control lever on another vehicle. The incidents are estimated to have taken place sometime between 10 p.m. on Sept. 2 and 4:15 a.m. on Sept. 3. 

Shove off
A 19-year-old man from Clarksburg was arrested in Stony Brook on Sept. 3 at 11:08 p.m. and charged with second-degree harassment. Police said the man shoved a male police officer in the middle of the roadway on North County Road in Stony Brook.

In the dark
Police arrested a 21-year-old man from Stony Brook on Sept. 3 at 11:21 p.m. and charged him with driving while intoxicated. Cops said the man was driving a 2014 Mitsubishi with no lights on when he was pulled over and arrested.

Emergency heroin
A 37-year-old man from Farmingville was arrested in Stony Brook on Sept. 2 and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police said that at 10:10 p.m. the man possessed heroin in the trauma room of Stony Brook University Hospital’s emergency room.

Sloppy DWI
Police arrested a 21-year-old man from East Setauket on Sept. 4 at 1:33 a.m. and charged him with driving while intoxicated. Cops said the man was driving a 2005 Hyundai on Sheep Pasture Road and was pulled over after they observed him failing to maintain his lane, crossing over the yellow lines and into the shoulder.

Not staying in the lines
A 39-year-old woman from Bohemia was arrested in Setauket-East Setauket on Sept. 4 and charged with driving while intoxicated. Police said that at about 3 a.m. the woman was pulled over after she was observed failing to maintain her lane, crossing over the double yellow lines in a 2013 Jeep, on Lower Sheep Pasture Road.

Jewels and jams
Cops arrested a 44-year-old Selden woman on Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. on Nesconset Highway in Setauket-East Setauket and charged her with petit larceny. Police said she took jewelry and headphones from Kohl’s department store on Nesconset Highway.

Taking the high road
Suffolk County police arrested an 18-year-old man from St. James in Smithtown on Sept. 5 at 12:35 a.m., and charged him with operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs in the first degree. Police said the man was driving northbound on Route 25A in Smithtown in a 2004 Jeep and failed to maintain his lane of travel.

Pole-iced
A 44-year-old man from St. James was arrested in Smithtown on Sept. 5 and charged with operating a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage. Police said the accident occurred on Moriches Road in Smithtown on Sept. 4 at 6:35 a.m. — cops said he drove a 1995 Chevy van north on the road, hit a utility pole and fled the scene. He was arrested at the 4th Precinct the next day at 10:30 a.m.

Bud Light blues
Two 17-year-old girls were arrested at the 4th Precinct on Sept. 4, and each was charged with petit larceny for stealing $25 worth of Bud Light beer from Gulf gas station on Express Dive South in Ronkonkoma, on Aug. 28 at 12:30 a.m. One girl was from Ronkonkoma, the other from Holbrook.

Beer me!
A 46-year-old man from Smithtown was arrested in Nissequogue on Sept. 4, at about 8 p.m. and charged for selling alcohol with a revoked license. Police said the man served beer and wine at an event on Long Beach Town Park.

Hug it out
Police received a report of a man and woman pushing each other after getting into a verbal dispute at Watermill Caterers on Nesconset Highway in Smithtown on Sept. 3 at about 10:20 p.m.

Fender, hood damaged
Someone damaged the hood and right fender of a 2015 Nissan parked at a home on Kental Lane in Nesconset. The incident occurred after midnight on Sept. 3.

Check-mate
Someone wrote a bad check out to AAA maintenance in Smithtown on West Jericho Turnpike on Nov. 4 last year. There have been no arrests.

Got mail?
Someone damaged the mailbox of a Grove Road home in Kings Park on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. There have been no arrests.

Pickpocketed
Someone took a pocketbook with money in it from an unlocked 2001 Toyota parked on County Road 14 in Kings Park on Sept. 2 at 11 a.m. There have been no arrests.

Bad hair day
Someone broke the driver side window of a 2004 Toyota at Pat’s Place Hair Salon on Lake Avenue in St. James on Sept. 6 at 1 p.m. There have been no arrests.

Wheeled away
Someone stole a black Raleigh speed bike from a driveway on Lake Avenue in St. James on Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. There have been no arrests.

Three’s a crowd
Police arrested a 32-year-old woman from Wantagh and charged her with leaving the scene of a crime and property damage. Cops said that on Sept. 5 at about 2 a.m. the woman struck a 2015 Toyota on High Street in Huntington. Driving a 2005 Nissan, she hit the Toyota and the Toyota then struck a 2013 Nissan. Significant damage was caused to all three vehicles. The woman then fled the scene and was arrested later that day at the 2nd Precinct.

High time
Cops arrested a 21-year-old man from Huntington Station on Sept. 3 and charged him with unlawful possession of marijuana . He was arrested at the corner of 5th Avenue and West 11th Street at 12:40 p.m. inside a 2012 Nissan.

Coke in sheep’s clothing
Cops arrested a 52-year-old man from Huntington Station at Tremont Court in South Huntington on Sept. 3  at 4:25 p.m. and charged him with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police said he had a large quantity of cocaine in a cigarette pack.

Heroin spotted
A 20-year-old man from Dix Hills was arrested in Dix Hills on Sept. 2 and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Cops said he was in a 2010 Jeep in the driver’s seat at Otsego Park in Dix Hills at 10:50 p.m. when an officer observed heroin on the center console of the vehicle.

Partying too hard
Cops arrested a 41-year-old man from Massapequa on Sept. 6 at about 7:30 a.m. off the road on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington and charged him with driving while ability impaired by drugs, with a prior conviction in the past 10 years. Police said they found the man passed out, slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle with the key in the ignition and the engine running.

Weed on display
Cops arrested a 24-year-old man on Sept. 4 and charged him with criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree. Police said he was on the corner of West Shore Road and Mill Dam Road in Huntington with a large quantity of marijuana in public view.

The wrong kind of batting team
Two men reported being jumped by multiple men on Sept. 9 at 4 a.m. in Huntington Station on Broadway. The suspects kicked and punched the victims multiple times with a baseball bat, causing a broken nose and many contusions. Both men were transported to Huntington Hospital to be treated. Nothing was stolen from either.

Not so luck-key
A woman found her gray 2008 Honda keyed on the driver’s side in the Walt Whitman Mall parking lot in South Huntington on Sept. 6. She reported the incident at 10:50 p.m.

Chasing the Chase imposter
A man said someone withdrew money from his Chase bank account without his permission on Sept. 4 at 9 a.m. in Dix Hills.

Pickpocketed in plain sight
A woman reported that she left her pocketbook in the front seat of her car on 2nd Avenue in Huntington Station on Sept. 5. She saw a suspect open the door of her car, remove her pocketbook and then flee the scene at 11:20 p.m.

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McCarthy, Nowick, Vecchio vote again to table Creighton’s proposal to pay seasonal workers $9 an hour

Smithtown Town Hall. File photo by Rachel Shapiro

A previously tabled motion to increase the minimum wage for Smithtown employees was sidelined once again, and the town board is at odds over the reasoning behind it.

Councilman Bob Creighton (R) had initially proposed, at a work session in August, to raise the town’s minimum wage from $8.75 to $9 per hour as of April 2016, but Councilwoman Lynne Nowick (R) later floated a motion to table the proposal, which was unanimously approved. The measure reappeared on Tuesday’s Smithtown Town Board meeting agenda and Nowick once again voted to table the discussion, drawing 3-2 split from councilmembers, with support from Councilman Tom McCarthy (R) and Supervisor Pat Vecchio (R).

“This doesn’t mean I am not in support of this,” Nowick said, in justifying her decision to table the proposal a second time, after Councilman Ed Wehrheim (R) had publicly asked her to explain her decision. “I want to look at the budget, which is not due for another 30 days or so.”

In a phone interview, Creighton said he was caught off guard by the decision to table the proposal a second time, and the councilwoman’s explanation to wait for the budget process early next month bewildered him.

“It does not seem to be a justification, in my mind, for postponing the vote,” said Creighton, who, along with Wehrheim, voted against Nowick’s motion to table the proposal for a second time. “You’re either for it or against it.”

Creighton said the 25-cent raise for the town’s roughly 150 seasonal workers making $8.75 an hour — would ultimately cost roughly $23,000, which he said could be factored into the budget now so the budget process could react accordingly.

“The actions of those three are asinine,” Creighton said. “It’s an insult to the kids who are working hard in this town.”

Wehrheim said he was concerned with the way the procedure went through, given the fact that the councilmembers who voted against the resolution had weeks since it was last tabled to voice their concerns regarding its financial impact on the town. He said the $9 minimum wage proposal was not only in line with state law, but was also run by Vecchio, Comptroller Donald Musgnug and the town’s personnel department, which he said validated the proposal.

“Not one word was uttered about any intention to table that resolution,” Wehrheim said. “The time to have that discussion was certainly at our work session. I know Councilwoman Nowick said she’d rather look at the budget first, but there is no reason to. I don’t think it’s fair to the public.”

Musgnug had no comment on the matter. But Vecchio later said Creighton’s resolution was a politically motivated decision, as most town workers were already making more than $9.

Over the last several months, Smithtown resolutions for municipal hires showed workers being hired at rates anywhere from as low as $8 to as high as $16 per hour. The town, however, is not legally bound to abide by a minimum wage.

McCarthy, who voted in favor of tabling the discussion alongside Nowick and Vecchio, said in a phone interview that he was in favor of raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour for the town’s seasonal workers, but believed it should be put into the budget. He also said he and his fellow councilmembers had full intentions of seeing the raise put into effect through the budget.

McCarthy said everyone on the board was ultimately in favor of raising the minimum wage, but they disagreed over how to implement the change.

“Going up to $9 is not a problem,” McCarthy said. “But the process is not putting it into a resolution. We’ve never done that before, ever. I tabled it because I will be putting it into the budget myself, definitely.”

In a similar instance last year, McCarthy had put forward a successful 3-2 resolution to increase the salary of the deputy supervisor — his own position — by $30,000, but ultimately rescinded the decision and said he would rather see that call come via the budgeting process. The raise was later included in the 2015 budget and passed.

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Passion for music thrives thanks to eSight glasses

Justin Crilly uses the eSight electronic glasses to perform simple tasks like using a computer. Photo by Rachel Siford

By Rachel Siford

Justin Crilly of Smithtown has had an eye-opening experience.

Legally blind 16-year-old Crilly had started using eSights on his eyes and is now able to pursue his passion for music. eSights are electronic glasses that utilize a high-definition camera in the headset to capture a real-time video feed. The headset connects to the processing unit that adjusts every pixel to allow Crilly to see and also houses the battery.

The tech company is fairly new since it launched in 2013.

“When I was first considered legally blind at 3 months old, the doctors said I would never see again,” he said.

Crilly’s mother, Stacy, said she saw an ad for eSight on Facebook and was intrigued. They went to a demo in the city and tried a pair out, and immediately fell in love with them.

“I don’t have to squint walking down the hallway anymore,” he said. “Now I can see when I go to a concert or a movie.”

Justin Crilly sports the eSight glasses, which help him overcome blindness. Photo by Rachel Siford
Justin Crilly sports the eSight glasses, which help him overcome blindness. Photo by Rachel Siford

Crilly’s mother has noticed considerable differences in her son’s behavior since he started wearing the glasses this past March.

“The eSights have increased his independence tremendously,” his mother said. “It makes me less afraid for him to go out into the world.”

She went on to say that it gives him the freedom to do anything he wants, like go away to college when he graduates if he so chooses.

“There was always this worry about how far was he going to make it independently, but now I am elated to know that he can be as independent as anybody else,” Stacy Crilly said. “In a way these glasses freed him from his disability.”

According to his mother, since Justin Crilly was a baby, he always gravitated toward music. He has been looking into music schools for the past several years, excited about where to go to college to pursue a career in music production.

He has been taking music theory and recording at Hauppauge High School for the past year. He is able to plug his eSights directly into the computer, making using the software to make music, at home and at school, much easier. Justin Crilly has taken voice, piano and drum lessons throughout his life and has recently started learning how to DJ at Spin DJ Academy in Hauppauge.

Before he started using eSights, it took Justin Crilly about three hours or more to do homework every night, but now he can knock it out in an hour.

He said he wants to show people that anyone with disabilities can do anything they want.

“I want people to hear my music and think ‘despite that he has a disability, he still made music sound that good,’” Justin Crilly said. “No matter if you have a disability or not, you can do anything with your life.”

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Empty canvas
Between Aug. 21 at 4 p.m. and Aug. 30 at 5:45 p.m., an unknown person used spray paint to make graffiti on the walls of an unoccupied building on Hallock Avenue in Port Jefferson Station.

Cheap Jeep owner
On Aug. 26 at 3:30 p.m., a man in a white Jeep took a kayak from the back of another man’s Toyota truck. Police said the incident took place on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station.

Path to prison
A 32-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station was arrested on North Bicycle Path for grand larceny on Aug. 24, after police said he stole a credit card and made purchases at a Pathmark.

Conditioned to steal
Someone stole cash from a restaurant on Echo Avenue in Sound Beach between Aug. 25 at 10 p.m. and Aug. 26 at 7 a.m. The person climbed into the restaurant by removing an air conditioning unit from a window.

Please take your receipt
Police arrested a 53-year-old Calverton woman on Aug. 26 on Middle Country Road in Selden. Police said last year she found a receipt at a K-Mart, retrieved the listed items from around the store and pretended to return them, fraudulently receiving cash in exchange.

All-terrain thieves
Between Aug. 26 and 28, someone entered a residence on Friendship Drive in Rocky Point and took three all-terrain vehicles. Police said more than one thief was involved in the incident.

I saw it on television
Police said between Aug. 26 and 27 an unidentified person entered another individual’s house on 3rd Avenue in Rocky Point and stole a television.

License to repeat
A 57-year-old Coram man was arrested at Route 25A and West Gate Drive in Mount Sinai for driving with a suspended license on Aug. 27. Police said the man, who was driving a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass, has had his license suspended 10 times before.

Feetgum
Police said an unknown man kicked in a fence on Aug. 30 at a residence on Sweetgum Lane in Miller Place.

Meat me in prison
A 20-year-old man from Selden was arrested for reckless endangerment on Aug. 27 at 2:00 a.m., near Adirondack Avenue in Selden. Police said he had an altercation with a friend and threw a bottle of Windex and a bottle of meat marinade, which broke when it hit the floor. No one was injured.

Sleeping while intoxicated
On Aug. 27 at 1:37 a.m., police arrested a 21-year-old man from East Setauket for operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs. He was observed sleeping in the driver’s seat of a 2013 Toyota in Mount Sinai. Police said the man wasn’t steady on his feet and failed a sobriety test.

School of crime
Police arrested a 55-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station for criminal mischief. Authorities said he took a hammer and smashed the front passenger headlight and the windshield of a 2009 Suzuki SX4 on School Drive on Aug. 28 at 3:40 a.m.

Dozing driver
Police arrested a 23-year-old man from South Setauket on Aug. 29 for driving while ability impaired by drugs. The man was driving a 2001 Mitsubishi Galant down Route 25A in Centereach and passed out behind the wheel while waiting at a traffic light.

Hungry for cash
An unknown person shattered the glass on the front door of a restaurant on Middle Country Road in Centereach and broke into the building between Aug. 29 and 30. The individual stole cash and the cash box.

Between Aug. 27 at 10 p.m. and Aug. 28 at 6:45 a.m., an unidentified person broke into a restaurant on Route 25A in Miller Place. Police said the suspect broke the glass of the building’s front door and stole cash.

Simple physics
On the morning of Aug. 30, an unknown person damaged the rear passenger window on a 2010 Nissan. Police said the vehicle was damaged on Newton Avenue in Selden.

Give me Liberty
On Aug. 30 at 2:30 a.m. an unidentified person entered another person’s 2002 Ford Flex on Liberty Drive in Centereach and stole an iPod.

Dirty DWI
On Aug. 30 at 12:15 a.m., police arrested a 24-year-old man from Rocky Point for driving while intoxicated. Police said he was driving an unregistered Honda dirt bike on Noah’s Path in Rocky Point and that he was involved in a crash. It was not clear if anyone was hurt.

Stick ’em up
Suffolk County police arrested a 24-year-old man from Centereach in Setauket-East Setauket and charged him with first-degree robbery, burglary and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Police said that the man displayed a gun and stole cash and lotto tickets from OK Petroleum fuel station on Middle Country Road in Centereach on Aug. 23 at 2:35 a.m. Before that, he entered the bathroom of another gas station, BP fuel, using burglar’s tools, but he didn’t take anything. He was arrested on Aug. 27 at 3:43 p.m. when he was stopped at the parking lot in Home Depot on Pond Path in South Setauket, where cops found him with prescription drugs without a prescription.

Shopaholic stopped
A 48-year-old woman from Central Islip was arrested in Setauket-East Setauket on Aug. 26 and charged with petit larceny. Police said the woman took a gift bag, trading cards, Kool-Aid, board games and a bath rug and fled a Target on Pond Path. She was arrested at 4:11 p.m.

Lights out
Police arrested a 29-year-old man from Setauket and charged him with first-degree driving while intoxicated. Cops said that on Aug. 26 at 11 a.m., the man was driving a 2003 Jeep SUV westbound on Route 25A in Setauket and was pulled over because his rear taillight was out.

Chump change taken
An unknown person took change from a 1996 Honda on Sycamore Lane in Stony Brook, sometime between 3  and 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 29. There have been no arrests.

Identity stolen
Someone reported an incident of identity theft from Saddler Lane in Stony Brook on Aug. 29. The person told police that someone made two Internet purchases and an ATM withdrawal from the individual’s account between 8:50 and 9:01 a.m. on Aug. 25.

Wallet woes
A woman told police that someone removed cash from her wallet in her purse while at the Three Village Inn on Main Street in Stony Brook. Cops said the incident occurred sometime between 4:50 p.m. on Aug. 28 and noon on Aug. 29. There have been no arrests.

Shoot!
Someone took two camera lenses, a Nikon camera and assorted gift cards from a 2014 Acura MDX on Blinker Light Road in Stony Brook between 6 p.m. on Aug. 26 and 10 a.m. on Aug. 27. There have been no arrests.

Phone, change stolen
Someone entered an unlocked Honda on Driftwood Lane in Setauket-East Setauket and took a Verizon cell phone and change. The incident happened between Aug. 28 at 10 p.m. and Aug. 29 at 6 a.m.

Who’s keeping score?
Someone took a metal scoring table with steps and a bench from Ward Melville High School on Old Town Road in Setauket-East Setauket sometime between Aug. 16 and Aug. 27. There have been no arrests.

Police search for store thief
Suffolk County police are seeking the public’s help in identifying and locating a woman who stole items from a Commack store last month.
Police said a woman stole Chanel and Gucci perfume bottles from Ulta, located at 78 Veterans Memorial Highway, on July 30, at about 2:15 p.m. The perfumes had a combined value of approximately $750.
Police described the woman as dark skinned, with long black hair, approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall and wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

Sheet out of luck
Suffolk County police arrested a 19-year-old Smithtown woman on Aug. 29 at the Smith Haven Mall and charged her with three counts of petit larceny. Cops said on June 17 and on June 21, she stole a sheet set and flat iron from T.J. Maxx on East Jericho Turnpike and both times returned them to the front desk for store credit. Police nabbed her on Aug. 29 at about 2 p.m. when she took various men’s Polo undergarments from Macy’s. She was arrested at about 2:30 p.m.

U-Gone
Someone rented a 2002 U-Haul trailer from a Smithtown location on Nesconset Highway and didn’t return the vehicle. Police said the incident occurred between June 19 and Aug. 28.

Buzz off
A woman told police that someone was leaving her harassing voicemails. The incident, reported on East Main Street in Smithtown on Aug. 28, occurred between the 27th at 9 a.m. and the 28th at 7:30 p.m.

Items taken
Someone stole items from the room of a nursing home on Route 25A in Smithtown sometime between Aug. 26 at 6 and 10 a.m. There have been no arrests.

Gadgets grabbed
Someone snagged a GPS and a DVD/CD player from a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck on Lancelot Court in St. James sometime on Aug. 24 at 10 p.m. and Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. There have been no arrests.

Door damaged
Someone keyed the front doors of a 1999 GMS on Lincoln Avenue in Kings Park, sometime between Aug. 28 at 3 p.m. and Aug. 29 at noon. There have been no arrests.

Laptop, smash-top
Someone smashed the rear passenger window of a 2002 Chevrolet TrailBlazer on Nesconset Highway and stole a laptop and two credit cards sometime on Aug. 27 between 5 and 11:10 p.m.

Drugs galore
Two 25-year-old men from Huntington were arrested on the corner of West 4th Street and 3rd Avenue in Huntington Station on Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. One man was charged with possession of marijuana, and the other man was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, for possessing prescription pills without a prescription.

Blurred lines
A 47-year-old Huntington man was arrested for driving while intoxicated driving westbound on Fairmount Street in Huntington, on Aug. 29 at about 3 a.m. He was driving a 2012 white Mercedes and was observed swerving outside the travel lanes.

Boats and woes
A unknown person stole a watch, laptop, television, toaster, sunglasses and earrings from a boat docked at Knutson Marine in Halesite. The incident was reported on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.

Life’s a beach
A wallet was stolen from a doorless and topless 1998 Jeep parked at Crab Meadow Beach in Northport on Aug. 28. The wallet contained cash, a driver’s license and a debit card.

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone signs the county’s tobacco age law. File photo by Rohma Abbas

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Health Commissioner James Tomarken encouraged residents who use tobacco to break their addiction through the “Learn to Be Tobacco Free” program.

“We are promoting good health to all residents in Suffolk County,” Bellone said. “For those who are addicted to tobacco or nicotine products, we urge them to get the support they need to prevent illnesses that are caused by tobacco.”

Smithtown’s session was scheduled at Smithtown Public Library, 1 North Country Road on Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 21, 28, Oct. 5, 19, 26 and Nov. 2.

The classes are free to Suffolk County residents, though there is a nominal fee for medication for medically eligible participants.

“Breaking an addiction to nicotine can be very difficult,” Tomarken said. “Studies have shown that smokers who try to quit smoking using a combination of behavioral support and medicine are three times more likely to be successful than those who try to stop smoking without support.”

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One vehicle seized after overnight weekend patrol on Route 347 serves as warning before Labor Day

Eleven arrests are the result of a weekend sobriety checkpoint in Smithtown. File photo

Suffolk County Police collected 11 arrests and one vehicle seizure by the end of an overnight sobriety checkpoint in Smithtown this past weekend, authorities said.

The county’s police highway patrol bureau set up the sobriety checkpoint at 575 Smithtown Bypass in Smithtown around 11:37 p.m. on Friday night and stayed there until about 3:20 a.m. on Saturday with hopes of preventing injuries and fatalities associated with driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, cops said.

The checkpoint, police said, served as a prelude to the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend.

The driving while intoxicated arrests included residents across the North Shore and beyond. Arrests included Rachel Hartman, 23, of Centereach; Jorge Reina, 54, of Flushing; Brian McMahon, 32, of Nesconset; Patrick Kotowicz, 25, of Hauppauge; Russel Figueroa, 58, of Miller Place; Orrie Wolfer, 21, of Smithtown; Odys Kurek, 45, of Nesconset; Nakia Brantley, 22, of Bay Shore; Peter Evans, 22, of Smithtown; and Dennis Sposato, 39, of Lindenhurst. Frederick Panciroli, 18, of Hauppauge, was also arrested for driving while ability impaired by drugs.

A total of 988 vehicles went through the checkpoint, Suffolk County cops said.

Suffolk County Police have used checkpoints as a precursor to the upcoming Labor Day weekend, so residents are reminded not to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs as they celebrate the holiday.

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