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Monthly Archives: October 2015

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iSad about iPad

A residence on Woodbury Road in Cold Spring Harbor reported that an unknown person entered a locked vehicle and stole an iPad from the car on Sept. 30 at 9 a.m.

Drug bust

A 30-year-old man from East Northport was arrested after police said he had pills on him with no prescription and marijuana on Sept. 30. He was arrested on Curtis Path in East Northport at 4 p.m. and charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Time to get a new watch

A resident of Eatons Neck Road in Eatons Neck said an unknown person stole a watch from inside his or her vehicle at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 29.

Cuffed for a controlled substance

On Sept. 30 a 45-year-old man from East Northport was arrested for having heroin in his possession, according to police. He was arrested at 11:35 a.m. near Larkfield Road and Clay Pitts Road and charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Trying to rock out

A resident of Grover Lane in East Northport said someone threw a rock at a windowpane at the front of their house at 8:35 a.m. on Oct .4

Off the chain

Police said a 31-year-old woman from Huntington Station grabbed a chain off another woman’s neck on Broadway in Huntington Station at 3:45 a.m. on Oct. 4. She was charged with fourth degree grand larceny.

Finders keepers

Someone said they lost their wallet at Walt Whitman Road in Huntington on Oct. 1, and between 1 and 5 p.m. someone used their credit card inside their wallet to buy items at numerous stores in the mall.

A pair of thieves

Two 27-year-old women from Hollis were arrested in Huntington Station on Oct. 3 after police said they stole a sweater, scarf, pants, four belts and two pairs of sunglasses from Lord & Taylor on Walt Whitman Road at 1:55 p.m. They were both charged with petit larceny.

High tide at the beach

On Sept. 30 a 22-year-old man from Huntington Station was arrested in Huntington after police said he had marijuana on him. He was arrested at Gold Star Beach Park on Browns Road at 7:25 p.m. and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

Crack is whack

A 26-year-old female from Huntington Station was arrested after police said she had crack cocaine in her possession. She was arrested on Railroad Street and Mckay Road in Huntington Station at 1:50 p.m. on Oct. 3 and charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Car meets brick column

A woman was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze on Oct. 1 at 1:48 a.m. on Jericho Turnpike near Terry Road in Smithtown when her vehicle left the roadway, struck a brick light column in front of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on East Main Street, overturned and hit a tree. The victim was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries.

Cold crime

An unknown person stole a jacket and bottled water from a Target on Henry Street in Commack on Oct. 1 at 11:40 a.m.

Day drunk

A 33-year-old man from Coram was arrested on Oct. 3 after police said he was driving drunk. At 12:07 p.m. he was driving on Main Street and Elliot Place in Smithtown in a 2007 Nissan Murano when he was involved in a car crash. According to police, he then fled the scene and refused to show his license when arrested. He was charged with a DWI, first degree leaving the accident and failure to show license.

Someone’s gotta loose

Someone parked their 2002 Honda Accord on Locust Street in Nesconset and then said an unknown person broke into the car and stole the owner’s wallet, lottery ticket and credit card between 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 and 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 1.

Stop in the name of the law

On Oct. 1 a 61-year-old woman from Kings Park was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated. Police said she was driving a gray Toyota in an erratic manner on Edgewood Road and Nissequogue River Road in Smithtown at 9:28 p.m. She was accelerating, slowing and stopping for no apparent reason before police pulled her over.

Tire trouble

At Key Food on Indian Head Road in Kings Park, someone damaged four tires of a 2003 Chevrolet Astro at 11:20 p.m. on Oct. 2. 

Sit ‘n’ Bit

At Sit ‘n’ Sip Inn on 296 Maple Ave. in Smithtown on Sept. 30, a 25-year-old woman from Smithtown was arrested after police said she bit a man on his forehead and left arm at 5:40 p.m. The man needed medical treatment, and she was charged with assault with intent to cause physical injury.

Climbing in your windows

A resident of Washington Avenue in St. James reported that someone entered their home through a garage window on Oct. 2 between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and stole assorted jewelry.

Armed robbery

At a 7-Eleven on Jericho Turnpike in Commack on Oct. 2 at 12:40 a.m. an unknown person entered and displayed a handgun. They then demanded cash and fled the store.

Targeted for theft

Two females entered a Target on Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack on Oct. 1 at 8:45 p.m. and stole assorted clothing.

On the Pathmark to jail

On Oct. 4, police arrested a 37-year-old woman from East Setauket for petit larceny at the Pathmark on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station, after she allegedly stole beauty and cooking supplies.

Gunnin’ for goods

Police arrested four people between the ages of 17 and 21 for armed robbery on Oct. 1, shortly after they approached an unidentified man on Dewey Street in Port Jefferson Station, pulled out a gun and stole cash and marijuana from the victim. Police didn’t specify which of the suspects was holding a weapon but said they were arrested on Olympia Street, the next block over.

Getting comfy

A 32-year-old woman from Mount Sinai was arrested on Oct. 1 for petit larceny after she allegedly stole a comforter set from the Kohl’s on Nesconset Highway in East Setauket 10 days earlier.

A sleepy surprise

Shortly after midnight on Oct. 4, police arrested a 34-year-old man from Centereach for criminal trespassing on Mark Tree Road in Centereach. Police said the man entered someone’s home and slept in a bedroom, but the man didn’t break into the home, and it was unclear if the man knew the homeowner.

Third time was not the charm

Police arrested a 40-year-old man from Miller Place on Oct. 3 for operating a vehicle with a suspended license. Police said the man was driving a 1999 Toyota when he was pulled over on Miller Place Road. The man’s license had been suspended three times in the past.

A 49-year-old man from Centereach was arrested on Oct. 4 for operating a vehicle with a suspended license. Police said the man was driving a 2015 Ford Fiesta down Holiday Park Drive in Centereach around 2:18 a.m. and was pulled over and arrested at the scene shortly afterward. They said the man had his license suspended three times in the past.

Wrecked windows

Police said a 17-year-old man from Syosset was arrested for criminal mischief on Oct. 3. According to police, the man smashed the back window of a 2002 Nissan Silvia on Ruland Road and of a 2012 Honda Civic on Mallard Avenue, both on Aug. 10 in Selden. Police arrested the man at the 6th Precinct.

Shore thing

Between Oct. 1 at 10 p.m. and Oct. 2 at 1 p.m., an unidentified person stole credit cards and identification from a 2011 Toyota. Police said the car was parked on Shore Road in Mount Sinai.

Police said an unidentified person stole house keys and an insurance card from a 2002 Cadillac between Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. and Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. The car was unlocked and was parked in a driveway on Shore Road in Mount Sinai.

A sweet steal

Someone broke into the back entrance of Sweet and Savory on Main Street in Port Jefferson on Oct. 3, stealing money from the cash register.

Mailbox madness

An unidentified person smashed a mailbox on Westchester Drive in Sound Beach.

On Oct. 3 around 10:37 p.m., police said someone struck a mailbox on Patricia Lane in South Setauket with a metal rod.

Suits him

On the afternoon of Oct. 4, two unidentified people got into a verbal dispute. Police said one of the individuals entered the residence of the other and stole assorted men’s clothing. Police were unsure when the dispute occurred in relation to the theft.

Rosy robber

On Rosewood Road in Rocky Point, an unknown person stole a purse containing a woman’s license and checks from a car on Oct. 1.

Rock on Branch

A woman reported that an unidentified person threw a rock at her garage door and damaged it on Oct. 4 on Branch Lane in East Setauket.

Out of step

Police said an unknown person entered the backyard of a residence on Tudor Road in Centereach on Oct. 2, stole a 10-foot fiberglass step ladder and fled.

Tailgates and tools

Police said a 2011 Dodge Ram was parked in a driveway on Hawkins Road in Selden on Oct. 1 when someone stole the tailgate from the truck, as well as a drill, a separate drill set and a table saw from the bed of the truck.

Theater theft

Between Oct. 1 at 9:15 p.m. and midnight on Oct. 2, someone shattered the front driver’s side window of a 2013 GMC Denali while it was parked in the Loews Theater lot in Stony Brook. The unidentified person stole a camera, cash and assorted Michael Kors merchandise from the car.

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File photo

Detectives charged a man with second-degree murder this week, just days after his wife was found dead in their Lake Grove home.

The Suffolk County Police Department said Paul Leitgeb injured his own wrist and throat, threatened to further harm himself and threatened officers before he was taken into custody on Tuesday. Cops had tracked him to a hiking trail in Pawling, N.Y., and authorities from the state police, the Dutchess County sheriff’s office and the Metro-North police extensively searched the area before a state canine team found the suspect on the Appalachian Trail that day.

Police allege that Leitgeb, 49, murdered his wife, 42-year-old Tricia Odierna. The SCPD said last week that Odierna was found dead in their home on Win Place in Lake Grove on Oct. 1, and authorities believed the woman’s cause of death was criminal in nature.

Her body was discovered as Suffolk County patrol officers responded to a 911 call that afternoon and entered the house, near Hawkins Avenue. The woman was publicly identified a few days later.

Attorney information for Leitgeb was not available Thursday. Police said he was treated for his injuries at a hospital in Poughkeepsie before being transported to a hospital in Suffolk County for further treatment, and would be arraigned when he is released.

Detectives from the SCPD’s Homicide Squad are still investigating the alleged murder. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 631-852-6392, or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

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Mayor blasts state comptroller’s scoring of village

Huntington Bay Village’s mayor is contesting a fiscal rating by the state comptroller’s office. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Huntington Bay Village’s mayor strongly disagrees with a recent release by the New York State Comptroller’s office ranking the municipality as susceptible to fiscal stress.

The comptroller’s office sent out a statement about the scores last week but Herb Morrow said  the score is misleading and Huntington Bay is in sound fiscal shape.

“The report is worthless because what they do is take a snapshot of one point in the year,” Morrow said in a phone interview. “They don’t take the financial planning into consideration.”

Morrow said the comptroller’s office ranked Huntington Bay as “susceptible” to fiscal stress in February because its reserve fund decreased.

“We did some major reconstruction of the police department to save taxpayers an enormous amount of money in the long term,” Morrow said. The reorganization included incentives and retirement costs that reduced reserve funds but, Morrow said, over time would reduce village payroll for police by $400,000.

“We are in great shape, and the residents are not listening to the comptroller’s story.”

Despite what Morrow said, the state comptroller’s office confirms Huntington Bay is susceptible to fiscal stress.

According to a statement from Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office, “susceptible to fiscal stress” is the least severe of three categories that all municipalities found to be under fiscal stress were filed into. The other two category designations are “moderate fiscal stress” and “significant fiscal stress.”

In order to be designated as “susceptible to fiscal stress,” a municipality has to reach at least 45 percent of the total points of the fiscal stress score. The scores are made using annual financial reports that are submitted by local governments to the state comptroller’s office. Fiscal stress is usually defined as a local government’s inability to generate enough revenues within its current fiscal period to meet its costs. The comptroller’s system evaluates local governments based on both financial and environmental indicators.

The indicators of a local government’s financial state are its year-end balance, operating deficits, cash position, use of short-term debt and fixed costs. Environmental indicators include population, age, poverty, employment base and more. Fund balances, like Huntington Bay’s reserve fund balance, are used to identify the amount of money available to cushion revenue shortfalls or expenditure overruns.

According to DiNapoli’s office, a negative or low-level fund balance can affect the local government’s ability to provide services at current levels. It also claims that fund balance is a strong measure of the financial condition of a local government.

In a letter Morrow posted to the Huntington Bay website when the scores were originally released in February, he criticized the message that the comptroller’s office was sending to residents.

“It makes the jobs of local leaders harder. It is a waste of New York State taxpayer dollars,” Morrow said in the letter. “With no conversation or discussion with our village, we were given a negative designation that is very misleading to our residents. By releasing reports that create inane headlines, they confuse residents.”

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File photo

Update, Oct. 12, 1 p.m.: Police have identified the pedestrian killed on Oct. 7 as 27-year-old Rocky Point resident Alejandro Chamale Cubule.

A pedestrian was killed in Rocky Point late Wednesday while attempting to cross a busy road in the dark.

The Suffolk County Police Department said the victim was trying to cross Route 25A just east of Rocky Point Road when he was hit by a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe. That car had been driving east on Route 25A.

The driver, a 27-year-old Rocky Point resident, stayed at the scene of the crash, which occurred just after 11:30 p.m., police said.

Police did not immediately identify the deceased, pending notification of his family.

The Hyundai was impounded for a safety check.

Detectives from the SCPD’s 7th Squad are investigating the crash. Anyone who may have witnessed it is asked to call them at 631-852-8752.

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‘Onions and a Secret Place,’ watercolor, by Eleanor Meier, using the Setauket Grist Mill as inspiration

By Sue Wahlert

Beginning Oct. 9, Gallery North will open its doors to its annual Local Color show, Then and Now. As the final event of its 50th anniversary celebration, Judith Levy, executive director of Gallery North, has brought together works created by the Gallery’s Artist Advisory Board, a talented and renowned group of local artists.

“We wanted Local Color to be focused,” said Levy, who collaborated with Historian Bev Tyler of the Three Village Historical Society to select local historic sites as the artists’ inspirations. “We wanted the artists to go to their selected location and interpret in their own way,” she added.

Each artist had the opportunity to look through historic photos provided by the TVHS and select a historic location. Local artist and advisory board member Pam Brown said of the idea, “History and the arts are a natural relationship. Artists have been the keepers of history throughout time by recording the life and events on canvas and paper.” The result of this collaboration is a multidimensional show full of passionate and meaningful reflections related to these historic spots.

The artists

Kelynn Alder
Fred Badalamenti
Sheila Breck
Pam Brown
Nancy Bueti-Randall
Jeanette Dick
Flo Kemp
Bruce Lieberman
Carol Marburger
Kevin McEvoy
Eleanor Meier
Terence Netter
Doug Reina
Pat Solan
Fernanda Vargas

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a conversation with six of the 15 artists in the show about their process and contributions to Then and Now. Artist Fernanda Vargas, who is originally from Brazil and has lived in more than nine countries, felt it was important to find a place that makes her feel comfortable and connected. She chose the Gamecock Cottage, which is at the end of Trustees Road at West Meadow Beach in Setauket. “The cottage is,” according to Vargas, “a little paradise corner.” Her two graphic works on old French linens reflect the intimate time she spent exploring this historic cottage.

Doug Reina researched the historic area near his studio on Main Street in Setauket. Selecting a building next to the Country Corner Pub, which formerly housed a bakery, led to a friendship with the owners of the pub, who used to live in the bakery building. “I wanted to feel the building,” said Reina. “I sketched it over and over. It forced me to come up with more creative ideas. I used the building as a launch pad using texture and color.”

Other artists chose locations with environmental, social or political histories.  Pam Brown, sculptor and fabricator, chose an area on Main Street, which used to be home to one of two rubber factories in Setauket. Located by the marsh and waterways, the factory greatly affected the local environment during this industrial period. Reflecting on these circumstances, Brown uses her elaborate bird sculptures to examine the past and present of the marshland and its survival. “My work is fabricated onto copper and silver, which is very connected to industry,” said Brown. “My hope is to bring people out to these sites.”

Other artists such as Terence Netter and Sheila Breck focused on Setauket’s West Meadow Beach and reflected on its transition from bustling cottages to its natural restoration. Netter whose painting is entitled, “A New Dawn at West Meadow Beach,” reflects his “oasis of peace” in his nonrealistic painting of the beach. From another point of view, Breck reflects on the ever-changing face of the beach in her painting, which shows people occupied by their cell phones, in the oil painting entitled  “Beach Reading.” 

Nancy Bueti-Randall chose the historic area near the Grist Mill in Stony Brook.  However, the mill is not the focus but instead the artist’s connection with the stream adjacent to the mill.  Bueti-Randall reflected, “I painted this 12 years ago, the waterway does not change, within the small space. The same reeds and the same house are still there. You connect to the subject intellectually and emotionally.”

Each piece of art visitors experience at Local Color: Then and Now is a look into the creative minds and hearts of the artists and how they process the local historic areas in and around Setauket and Stony Brook. As Netter said, “There’s a lot of history in the little old town,” and it is certainly worth exploring, visiting and reflecting upon.

Local Color: Then and Now will run through Nov. 13. An artist reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. and an ArtWalk by Historian Bev Tyler will be held on Oct. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Gallery North is located at 90 North Country Road in Setauket. For more information call 631-751-2676 or visit www.gallerynorth.org.

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Ice crystals grown in the lab with phytoplankton parts. Photo from SBU

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … phytoplankton? Parts of tiny creatures that live on the top layer of the oceans, and the stuff they excrete, get carried into the air when bubbles at the surface burst and waves break on top of them. These airborne particles help form ice clouds.

In large parts of the Southern Ocean, the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, sea spray aerosol containing this marine biogenic material can represent a source of ice-forming particles.

While researchers had known that parts of these microorganisms could become freed from their water environment and rise into the air, they didn’t realize the extent to which so-called exudate material, which is secreted or released by phytoplankton into the water, could also become a part of ice clouds. This includes excess material from phytoplankton photosynthesis, waste material and other secretions.

“We found the ice forming material in the ocean microlayer and can attribute it to material produced by photoplankton,” said Daniel Knopf, an associate professor at the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres at Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.

Indeed, Lynn Russell, a professor of Climate, Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, described these results, which were recently published in the journal Nature, as a “big step.”

Stony Brook scientists Josephine Aller and Daniel Knopf in the laboratory. Photo from SBU
Stony Brook scientists Josephine Aller and Daniel Knopf in the laboratory. Photo from SBU

“It’s an interesting finding,” Russell said. “This shows that [other] organic material” can contribute to the formation of ice clouds.

Josephine Aller, a professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said understanding the role of phytoplankton in the atmosphere could offer a better awareness of how any changes that affect phytoplankton, such as an increase in carbon dioxide or a rise in temperature, might also change the formation of clouds.

The Stony Brook researchers combined field work, which included a northwest Atlantic cruise, and lab work performed at Stony Brook and at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Stony Brook team probed microlayer film to determine its spectroscopic, or chemical, signature. They discovered the controlled experiments produced particles that were similar to the ones in the field.

Finding the same material in the lab that they observed in nature was “like a rocket launch,” said Knopf. “For me, I thought, ‘Wow, this half millimeter thick ocean surface may affect a cloud at ten kilometers in height.’ How incredible is that?”

Over oceans, where dust and inorganic materials are scarce, ice clouds can form around these phytoplankton parts.

Some studies over the last few years suggest that ocean acidification is likely to impact biological processes in ocean surface waters and modify the nature and production of organic matter, Aller said. If this happens, there may be an effect on material that is transferred from the surface to the atmosphere, with the greatest effect likely occurring in polar regions.

Scientists don’t yet have enough of the big picture, such as a vertical distribution and numbers of particles and a physical description of how ice forms depending on temperature and relative humidity, to feed this information into global climate models, Knopf said.

To gather more information about clouds and the particles that make them up, researchers have used converted spy planes that take 20 minutes to reach their target altitude and can collect data for about seven hours.

“The pilot has to be like an astronaut in a space suit,” Knopf said. “Our knowledge is a bit limited” due to the limited sampling opportunities.

While scientists know that thunderstorm clouds have a cooling effect, while others, such as cirrus clouds, have a warming effect, they can’t always predict the type of clouds that will form under different conditions. The specific cloud type depends on the particle involved, Knopf said.

Still, the two scientists, who have worked together for seven years, said they will continue collecting this kind of information which, one day, may offer a greater understanding of how a changing ocean might impact phytoplankton growth and potentially the release of airborne particles.

A resident of Huntington, who is originally from Germany, Knopf and his wife, Jeong-A Seong, have a primary school daughter. Aller, meanwhile, lives in Stony Brook with her husband, Robert Aller, a distinguished professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. The couple have four adult children.

As a trained physicist, Knopf said he appreciates how his awareness of phytoplankton’s role in the atmosphere can inform what he sees.

“I go to the beaches on Long Island and I see the film and I sometimes think, ‘maybe this thing, in two weeks, is … making ice crystals,’” Knopf said. Under the right conditions “it could come back as a raindrop.”

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Preschool students enjoy the newly installed playground at Nassakeag Elementary School. Photo by Andrea Moore Paldy

Little ones burned off energy as they played on the newly installed playground just outside their classroom.

Inside, little chefs whipped up imaginary creations in a play kitchen, while a few yards away, eager fingers grasped crayons, poised for writing.

This was a typical morning for preschoolers at Nassakeag Elementary School, where the Three Village Central School District is partnering with SCOPE Education Services to offer a tuition-based prekindergarten for 4-year-olds. 

Like most preschools, the day starts with a morning meeting and includes lessons in literacy as well as art. There are learning centers and outdoor play.

Kristin Rimmer, Nassakeag assistant principal and prekindergarten liaison, said what makes this program stand out — in a community with no shortage of preschools — is its role in easing students’ transition to kindergarten.

“We have an understanding of what the expectations are in our kindergarten programs,” Rimmer said.

Rimmer, who began her career as a kindergarten teacher, said she worked with the district’s kindergarten, first and second grade teachers to develop a curriculum that emphasizes the skills students will need in the early elementary grades. She then collaborated with SCOPE, which runs several universal prekindergartens and fee-based programs across the island, to create a curriculum specific to the needs of future Three Village students.   

“We’re really giving them those building blocks in this program that they can use to transition up into the kindergarten program,” she said.

For instance, the preschool uses “Fundations,” the same phonics program used in Three Village primary grades. Rimmer added that New York State-certified teachers, hired and supervised by SCOPE, use multi-sensory approaches to guide students in a way that is developmentally appropriate and fosters creativity as well as social and emotional growth.

“Though there is an academic focus, the way that we are delivering that instruction is through play and through interactive activities,” she said.

SCOPE, which offers programs in neighboring Comsewogue, Commack and Hauppauge, handles the staffing, licensing and day-to-day operation of the preschool. Tuition payments — $400 a month for half-day and $1,100 for full day — are paid to SCOPE.

Mellisa Krauss, supervisor for prekindergarten programs at SCOPE, said the organization “had great administrative support to implement and maintain” the program.

“We collaborate on all aspects. It’s a team effort,” she said.

Krauss said there are currently 29 students enrolled in the new prekindergarten.  Of that number 18 attend half-day, 8:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. or 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and 11 are in the full-day program that runs from 8:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Parents can extend the day by enrolling their children in school-aged childcare for an additional fee.   

The preschool follows the Three Village school calendar, which means it issues progress reports and holds parent-teacher conferences on the district’s schedule. Rimmer said that information from the quarterly assessments would be used to measure the strengths of the program and determine what improvements can be made.

The district spent $24,000 on the purchase of  playground equipment for the preschool. The funds came out of the district’s portion of the Smart Schools Bond, money earmarked for learning technology and prekindergarten spaces, said Jeffrey Carlson, assistant superintendent for business services.

Rimmer said early entrée to the Three Village school community provides the opportunity to identify students who may need additional help and to help parents get special services that might be needed. 

Since the preschool is open to Three Village residents and children of district staff, families are invited to join the Nassakeag PTA and to take part in the school’s upcoming harvest festival.

Though the program is a little more than a month old, the addition of a three-year-old program will be considered if there’s a need, Rimmer said.

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Could the stuff you’re washing your face with end up in your sushi? It sounds crazy, but yes.

We don’t often agree with legislators who want to add more restrictions to businesses, but a recently approved law, drafted by Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), tries to take tiny pieces of plastic out of the equation.

The culprit is known as microbeads, which are used as exfoliants and are becoming more and more common in personal care products like facial scrubs and toothpastes. The tiny particles are too small for our treatment plants to filter out of wastewater, so they pick up toxins and are discharged into our waterways. Small creatures confuse them with food and ingest them, and those small creatures are consumed by larger creatures — which then reach us at the top of the food chain.

Hahn’s law passing this week means products containing microbeads are going to start disappearing from Suffolk County shelves, with complete removal by 2018.

While some of us may lose our exfoliant, we will all gain a healthier water supply and environment. It’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make, because without it, we may not have the clean water we need to exfoliate with in the first place.

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Drops Centereach, 4-1, in enemy territory

Huntington junior defender Mark Rafuse heads the ball away from the net. Photo by Desirée Keegan

By Desirée Keegan

We’ll be seeing the Huntington Blue Devils this postseason.

With a 4-1 win over Centereach Tuesday, the Huntington boys’ soccer team sealed its fate as the team moved to 7-1-1 in League II, guaranteeing them a spot in the playoffs.

Huntington senior forward Carlos Rivera stops the ball to change direction. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Huntington senior forward Carlos Rivera stops the ball to change direction. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“Clinching playoffs is nice,” Huntington head coach John Pagano said. “The score makes it look as if we won by a big margin, but I still don’t feel we played the way I think we could.”

Huntington senior forward and co-captain Carlos Rivera put the first point on the scoreboard after taking a short pass off a corner kick and up to goal and shooting the ball into the right corner of the net.

With 5:02 remaining in the first half, senior midfielder and co-captain Wilber Parada scored on the inside left corner off a serve into the box from the right side, for the 2-0 point advantage.

Centereach wouldn’t go down quietly though, and with 1:30 left in the half, junior forward Elmer Alfaro scored on a straight shot up the center, to cut Huntington’s lead, 2-1.

“They played hard,” Centereach head coach Jon Galfano said of his Cougars. “There were a couple of mistakes on the field, but you have to give Huntington credit, too. They set up some beautiful plays.”

Centereach opened the second half with several attempts, but it was Huntington’s Rivera who scored the next goal, off another short pass off the corner kick.

“I have to be proud of my guys, because they never give up, they never quit,” Galfano said. “As a coach, especially at the high school level, that’s all you can hope for, because the kids keep fighting.”

The game grew physical between the two teams, and Pagano said he was pleased with how his team handled the situation.

Centereach defender and co-captain Nick Gennardo tries to get the ball out of Cougars territory. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Centereach defender Nick Gennardo tries to get the ball out of Cougars territory. Huntington midfielder Wilber Parada fights him. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“The game got very physical and actually could have gotten out of hand, but my guys were able to keep their composure,” Pagano said. “They realized the importance of all of these games down the stretch and how we can’t afford to have a player thrown out because of a fit of anger, so I liked that, and our finishing was good. We scored four good goals.”

Centereach junior goalkeeper Jared Steiger made several diving saves to keep the score close, but with the net being pounded, seven saves were not enough.

“I felt good,” Steiger said of his work between the pipes. “There were a few I think I could’ve got, though. As a team, I think we played alright, but we could’ve played better. I think we need to control the middle of the field better.”

With 10:35 left to play, Huntington senior midfielder and co-captain Olvin Palma scored after rocketing a shot on net from nearly 30 yards out, which surprised Centereach’s defense, leaving it with little time to react.

On the opposite side of the field, sophomore goalkeeper Nat Amato, who is in his first year with the team, made some key saves. He made a total of five.

“I felt pretty confident,” he said of being in net, adding that the players have been warm and welcoming to the new addition. “This team has great chemistry, since they’ve all been playing together since they were young. It’s a great team.”

While the Blue Devils are excited for another postseason appearance, the team’s main goal is having a home playoff game.

“We haven’t had a home playoff game in a real long time,” Pagano said. “I think we’re on track to do it. This is a really, really good group of kids, and as you continue to win games, you start to think that maybe a county final run isn’t out of the question. So right now, the way we’re playing, I think we have as good a shot as anybody.”

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Tab Hunter in his youth. Photo from Jud Newborn
Tab Hunter photo from Jud Newborn
Tab Hunter photo from Jud Newborn

By Stacy Santini

Studebakers, drive-ins, saddle shoes and ice cream parlors will instantly conjure up images of a decade that most people remember fondly and others wistfully wish they could visit. Iconic television programs such as “I Love Lucy” and “Father Knows Best” were viewing staples in most living rooms and matinée idols such as Ricky Nelson, James Dean, Natalie Wood and Debbie Reynolds graced the big screen before the term “celebrity” found its way into our vernacular. It was the 1950s, an era known for Truman and Eisenhower politics and innocence savored.

Tab Hunter was a star that seemingly endorsed the mainstream value system and fulfilled every notion that Hollywood was projecting at the time. Unbeknownst to his droves of fans, he was living a secret life that, today, wouldn’t have had to be so secret. “Tab Hunter Confidential,” a documentary exclusively premiering at Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, on Wednesday, October 14th, bravely tells Tab’s story and is a brilliant peek into Hollywood during that time; an epoch that simply will not fade away.

Director Jeffrey Schwartz has adapted Tab Hunter’s memoir into a riveting narrative that clues the viewer in on the struggle this dashingly handsome, sun-kissed, all-American screen darling dealt with through most of his career. Fearful of shattering his well sought after image, Tab Hunter lived openly as a heterosexual, having well-publicized romances with numerous Hollywood starlets while knowing he was unequivocally gay. Not only is this acclaimed documentary a fascinating depiction of Hunter’s impressive career, but with same sex marriages recently legalized in many states, the world’s mindset is rapidly changing and the story is well suited for the times.

Tab Hunter in his youth. Photo from Jud Newborn
Tab Hunter in his youth. Photo from Jud Newborn

While living in the closet, Hunter was consistently number one at the box office and often the same on the music charts. Movies such as “Damn Yankees” and songs like “Young Love” quickly propelled him from stable boy and figure skater to heartthrob. Later taking on the role of Todd Tomorrow, opposite Divine, in John Water’s cult classic, “Polyester,” only further secured his role as Hollywood royalty.

Curating the event is Jud Newborn, an international multimedia lecturer who has a formidable list of credentials, one of which happens to be curator for special programs for Cinema Arts Centre. He began his studies at New York University, became a residence writer at the University of Cambridge, Clare Hall, and capped off his impressive education with his dissertation on the hidden cultural meanings of the Holocaust at University of Chicago, where he received his doctorate. Often considered an expert on Nazi warfare and the Holocaust, he not only co-authored the book, “Sophie Scholl and The White Rose,” but also founded and curated The Living Memorial to the Holocaust at The Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

Newborn has a knack for recruiting prestigious and very famous guests to Cinema Arts Centre, and his reputation as curator is well earned. Securing Tab Hunter is no surprise. Always considering the Centre his second home, Newborn states, “It is so diverse, so stimulating. It is a joy to bring in these exciting programs for the audience.” Elaborating further, “ Adding to the Cinema’s already outstanding roster prior to my post here, I have brought in Christopher Plummer, Tony Curtis, Dick Cavett, Norman Lear, Leslie Caron, Erica Jong, Rita Moreno, Steve Guttenberg and so many more. It has been such a pleasure.” When asked what his secret is, he jovially says, “I’ll never tell.”

Tab Hunter in his youth. Photo from Jud Newborn
Tab Hunter in his youth. Photo from Jud Newborn

Cinema Arts Centre is a true cultural gem for Long Island. With more than 10,500 members, it has served as the template for prominent film festivals ,such as Sundance. Started in 1973, it parallels the Film Forum and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. The venue has three state-of-the-art theaters, the aesthetically pleasing Sky Room for receptions and patio gardens. At 7:30 p.m., the Cinema will screen “Tab Hunter Confidential” as part of an alluring program. The documentary will be followed by an interview with Hunter conducted by famed author and lecturer, Foster Hirsch, which will include an audience Q&A. Afterward, there will be a dessert reception in the Sky Room, with a performance by jazz guitarist Mike Soloway.

Tab Hunter might be considered an anomaly for Hollywood, surviving a culture that was once known for devouring their young stars, and rising above what was once considered an obstacle. He has embraced a lifestyle that was true for him and fearlessly tells the world about it. Witnessing such integrity is a rare opportunity and should not be missed.

Cinema Arts Centre is located at 423 Park Ave., Huntington. Tickets are $25, $20 members. For more information, call 631-423-7611 or visit www.cinemaartscentre.org.

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