Yearly Archives: 2016

Smithtown West starts off strong with 12-6 win

by Desirée Keegan - March 29, 2016

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Smithtown-West-girls-lacrosse-Natalia-Lynch-1-032816_Keeganw — Smithtown West senior Natalia Lynch makes her way down the field. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Smithtown West junior Chelsea Witteck tallied a game-high five goals and one assist. Photo by Desirée Keegan — Smithtown West junior Chelsea Witteck tallied a game-high five goals. Photo by Desirée Keegan

With help from Chelsea Witteck’s five goals and one assist, the Smithtown West girls’ lacrosse team pulled away with a 12-6 victory over Sachem North Monday, putting the group’s first tally in the record book.

The Bulls came bursting out of the gates with senior midfielder Mackenzie Heldberg winning the first draw and getting the ball back to take it to goal for the 1-0 lead just 11 seconds in.

Off the ensuing draw, Heldberg won it again and brought the ball into Sachem North’s zone. A crossing pass was made and a shot missed, but the ball still managed to bounce in just seconds after the first goal.

At the 2:23 mark, Witteck scored off a quick pass in front of the net for a 3-0 advantage.

“In the first half we came out strong — winning the draws, finishing our shots,” the junior attack said. “I’ve been working on my shots and we’ve been working a lot on our plays and getting good looks and everyone can feed and play all over the field.”

Smithtown West sophomore Grace Langella wins up to pass the ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The draw wins kept coming, and with them, came more goals. By the 14-minute mark, Smithtown West had an 8-0 lead before the Flaming Arrows put their first point on the board.

“Our offense is our strength,” assistant coach Peter Klement said. “We move the ball around real well when we handle it well.”

By halftime, the Bulls were up 11-2, but came out with less urgency in the second.

Again, 11 seconds in, Smithtown West scored. This time, it was Witteck off a feed from senior midfielder Natalie Lynch.

“I think we were pretty well-prepared for this,” Lynch said. “We worked really hard together in the first half and I think everyone really wanted this. I think we lost our fire in the second half a little bit, but we don’t have a team where just one person can score or two people can score, and that’s definitely a plus having so many different options.”

Smithtown West freshman Taylor Mennella gains control of the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

After the first goal of the final 25 minutes, the Bulls wouldn’t score again. Sachem North controlled the tempo and dominated the time of possession, rattling off the final five unanswered goals, but the Flaming Arrows’ comeback effort was not enough, as Smithtown West’s early lead kept the team ahead.

Heldberg and sophomore attack Grace Langella finished with two goals and an assist apiece, and Lynch and junior midfielder Kayla Kosubinsky each added one goal and two assists.

“I think we got a little too comfortable and once we realized that we needed to play harder defense, get ground balls and run faster, I think we were able to pick it up,” Heldberg said. “On defense, we have a lot of returners so that keeps us strong. On offense, we blend very well and have so many options and we’re able to move the ball well and quick in transition. I’m excited — I think we’re going to have a great season.”

Blighted bar demolished five years after shooting shutdown

by TBR Staff - March 29, 2016

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Oxygen-Bar-demo-w — Councilwoman Jane Bonner and Councilman Michael Loguercio oversee the demolition. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

On March 21, Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) was joined by Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge) at the demolition of the building formerly known as the Oxygen Bar, on the northwest corner of Route 25A and Broadway in Rocky Point.

The demolition comes after numerous Brookhaven Town building code violations and resident complaints. The Town shut down the bar in 2011 due to an expired Place of Assembly permit after a non-fatal shooting of four people occurred there. It has been a vacant eyesore in the community ever since that time.

“This is a happy day in Rocky Point, and a long time coming,” Bonner said. “Removing this blight will keep the revitalization of our business district right on track. We’ve got more to do, and I look forward to working with our local business and community leaders to keep moving ahead.”

The Town purchased the property in November 2015 and Bonner is working with the Rocky Point VFW to transform it into a veteran’s memorial square, which will serve as the gateway to the downtown business district.

“Removing blight has such an immediate, positive impact on the community,” Loguercio said. “I commend Councilwoman Bonner for her determination to get this eyesore demolished.”

Thousands flock to Benner’s Farm for annual Easter egg hunt

by Giselle Barkley - March 28, 2016

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The hills of Benner’s Farm in Setauket were alive with children this past weekend.

Around 3,200 guests filed onto the farm for its seventh annual Easter Egg Hunt, with some families coming from as far as Queens and the Bronx. According to Bob Benner, the event grows more popular every year, with more than 11,000 eggs used for this year’s hunt.

Participants purchased spring flowers, took photos with the Easter Bunny, visited the farm’s new baby piglets or held baby chicks and bunnies while they waited for one of the farm’s three egg hunts to start.

Benner’s Farm, located at 56 Gnarled Hollow Road, Setauket, officially opens to the public for the spring on April 16 and 17 from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 631-689-8172 or visit www.bennersfarm.com.

Legislator hopes to create child fatality review team

by Phil Corso - March 28, 2016

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Kara-Hahn-2015_Keeganw — Kara Hahn photo by Desirée Keegan

County lawmakers are taking a proactive approach toward keeping Suffolk kids safe.

The Legislature unanimously voted last week to establish a 13-member Child Fatality Review Team panel tasked with reviewing all childhood fatalities across Suffolk County deemed to be unanticipated, suspicious or the direct result of physical trauma.

Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), who sponsored the bill, said the team’s findings would not be used to assign criminal or civil liability in death cases involving children, nor would they be used for prosecutorial purposes. The main objective, she said, was to make it so similar incidents do not repeat themselves at Suffolk County children’s expense.

In a statement, Hahn, who serves as majority leader in the Suffolk County Legislature, said the panel would work to identify the underlying causes of a child’s death and find what resources, if any, could have prevented that outcome.

“As a culture, we strongly hold that children aren’t supposed to die,” Hahn said. “When that understanding is challenged by a child’s death, natural or otherwise, there is a reflexive and necessary motivation to uncover the reasons why and ways to prevent similar circumstances from leading to additional losses.”

The 13-member panel would be made up of medical, child welfare, social service and law enforcement professionals who would be looking at the facts and circumstances relating to the deaths of children under the age of 18. The deaths would also need to be deemed either unexplainable or the result of violence, including that which is self-inflicted.

“Suffolk County takes the public health and safety of all our residents, especially our most vulnerable, very seriously,” the county’s Chief Medical Examiner Michael Caplan said. “By assembling this review team and collaboratively studying the recent losses of life in Suffolk County, we may be able to prevent similar tragedies in the future and provide potentially life-saving services to those who may be in need of them.”

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone’s signature is the only thing standing in the way of this bill becoming a law. In a statement, the county executive said he was in favor of the review team and planned on signing it into action promptly.

“The public safety of all of our residents, especially our most vulnerable, is of paramount concern to us,” Bellone said. “By creating this review committee, we are creating an opportunity to analyze and review circumstances surrounding violent child deaths in an effort to prevent similar tragedies and provide potentially life-saving services to those who may be in need of them.”

Hahn said the team would hold its first meeting within 90 days and quarterly thereafter.

The panel’s data would not include any identifiable information and its records would be kept confidential, Hahn said. Any reports generated by the team would also be submitted to the state’s office of children and family services when they are finished.

The North Shore is no stranger so incidents that could qualify for the kind of review Hahn’s panel would be seeking.

In October 2014, 16-year-old Thomas Cutinella of Shoreham-Wading River High School suffered a fatal head injury after colliding with another player during a football game. In July 2014, a Kings Park man was convicted of beating his 43-day-old son to death. In December 2015, an 11-year-old from Kings Park died just days after a van struck her as she crossed a road in her hometown.

The state’s office of children and family services said Suffolk County recorded an average of 12.6 child fatalities annually between 2010 and 2014. The office also found that in the year 2015, average percentage of case workers with more than 15 investigations on their caseload on the last day of each month between July and December was 33 percent.

Huntington Station man gets 55 years to life for shooting cop

by Victoria Espinoza - March 28, 2016

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Sheldon-Leftenant-Alleged-Cop-Shooter-PerpWalk-031215-Donlon4w — Sheldon Leftenant, the man who allegedly shot police officer Mark Collins, is escorted out of the 3rd Precinct on his way to arraignment in March. File photo by Barbara Donlon

The Huntington Station man convicted of attempted murder of a police officer was sentenced in Riverhead on Monday morning to 55 years to life in prison, Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota said.

A jury convicted Sheldon Leftenant, 23, of attempted aggravated murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest on Jan. 26. On Monday, a judge sentenced him to 40 years to life on the attempted murder charge and 15 years to life on the weapons charge.

Spota said he was pleased with the sentence for Leftenant, who authorities have said is a member of the “Tip Top Boyz” street gang.

Police officer Mark Collins speaks after the sentencing of the Huntington Station man who shot him twice. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

“I think the judge said it best, that this is a man who deserves absolutely no mercy,” he said. “He has no regard for human life. He certainly, on the evening of this occurrence, had no regard for the life of police officer [Mark] Collins and he deserved the maximum. I hope and I trust that he spends every single day of the remainder of his life in jail because that is where he belongs.”

Just before midnight on March 12, 2015, Collins, a 13-year veteran of the Suffolk County Police Department, pulled over a speeding car in which Leftenant was a passenger near Mercer Court in Huntington Station. Collins, a plainclothes member of the 2^nd Precinct gang unit, ordered Leftenant to exit the vehicle before the suspect started running, forcing the officer to chase him. Collins deployed his Taser twice on Leftenant, hitting him in the back. As the officer tried to handcuff the man, unaware of his suspect’s weapon, there was a struggle and Leftenant shot Collins twice — once in the neck and once in the hip.

Leftenant fled and was soon apprehended.

Collins survived the gunshot wounds. From the courthouse, he reacted to the Huntington Station man’s sentencing.

“I’m just happy to be here and be back to work and live a healthy life again,” Collins said.

He thanked everyone from his fellow officers to the staff at Stony Brook University Hospital for their help and support.

“I still have some lingering side effects but I am not going to let them hold me back. I have a whole different outlook on life, and a lot of things mean a lot more to me these days and I am happy to be here.”

Sheldon Leftenant's wife Angelica said her husband is innocent after the sentencing on Monday. Photo by Victoria Espinoza — Sheldon Leftenant’s wife Angelica said her husband is innocent after the sentencing on Monday. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

He also said he was satisfied with Leftenant’s sentence.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini said the case highlights the importance of the county supporting their law enforcement officials.

“Suffolk County will not stand for violence against our law enforcers,” he said after the sentencing. “It is that simple.”

Leftenant’s wife Angelica said she believes her husband did not have a fair chance in the case, saying that despite the verdict, he is not guilty.

“Sheldon Leftenant is innocent and we will prove that in an appeal,” she said. “Sheldon will be walking home on an appeal. I laughed [when I heard he was sentenced to 55 years] because he’s coming home. My husband will be walking home next to me. [The] case is going to be dropped.”

Robert Biancavilla, the deputy homicide bureau chief within the DA’s office, disagreed.

“Mr. Leftenant could not have been given a more fair trial in this case,” he said. “Everyone basically bent over backward to ensure that all of his rights were guarded and that he received a fair trial. The evidence against Mr. Leftenant was overwhelming and he to this day refused to acknowledge that or take responsibility for it.”

Port Jefferson eggs on Easter with parade and hunt

by Elana Glowatz - March 28, 2016

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The chamber of commerce’s annual Easter parade and egg hunt returned to Port Jefferson on Sunday, March 27, bringing big smiles to the faces of local children. After walking through the village’s downtown area, the procession headed to the harborfront park so the kids could collect Easter eggs full of treats.

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Man stabbed in bar fight

by Elana Glowatz - March 28, 2016

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A young man who was stabbed inside a bar early on Saturday morning transported himself to the hospital, police said.

After an altercation in the bar — Finley’s, on Green Street at West Carver Street in downtown Huntington — the 22-year-old victim was stabbed at about 1 a.m., according to the Suffolk County Police Department. The man went to Huntington Hospital, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was released.

Detectives from the SCPD’s 2nd Squad are still on the hunt for the stabbing suspect, who they described as a white male.

Anyone with information is asked to call the detectives at 631-854-8252, or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

All-American Selections announces National Garden winners for 2016

by Heidi Sutton - March 28, 2016

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By Heidi Sutton & Ernestine Franco

Winter was a long time coming to Long Island this year. The first snow did not fall until the weekend of Jan. 23, and then it fell with a vengeance — some areas of the Island were covered with more than 2 feet of snow. Following this, we went into the deep freeze the weekend of Valentine’s Day, with temperatures plummeting to minus 20 with the wind chill. To really confuse people, animals and plants, the thermometer reached 56 degrees two days later and we had a rainstorm.

So this year, it is not just gardeners who can’t wait for spring. Everyone may be checking out All-America Selections’ recently announced National Winners for 2016 — new varieties of flowers, fruits and vegetables that will do well in any climate throughout the United States and Canada. With fun names like Tomato Candyland Red, Strawberry Delizz and the exotic Mizuna Red Kingdom, these cultivars are the best of the best, beating out thousands for superior taste, disease tolerance, unique colors and flavors, higher yield, length of flowering and harvest, and overall performance.

Here’s what the judges had to say about these award winners:

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None of these AAS winners are bred or produced using genetically modified organisms (GMOs). For a complete list of 2016 new plants winners chosen by the AAS by region, visit their website at www.all-americaselections.org.

Huntington Hospital heralds in emergency room overhaul

by Victoria Espinoza - March 25, 2016

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Front-entrance-of-hunt-hosp-ERw — The front entrance of Huntington Hospital's new emergency department that will open in 2017. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

By Victoria Espinoza

The days of dreading the emergency room may be over come Jan. 2, 2017.

Huntington Hospital is more than one year into $43 million worth of renovations for its new emergency department, which was designed to herald in shorter wait times, a separate pediatric section, an expanded trauma center, and private rooms for all patients.

The department is expected to open the day after New Years Day next year, with all state-of-the-art equipment and protocol.

“Most of our admissions come through the ER, most of the people in the building came through the ER, so that’s your face to the community,” said Gerard X. Brogan, MD, executive director at Huntington Hospital and professor of emergency medicine at Hofstra North Shore LIJ School of Medicine.

The plan for Huntington Hospital's new emergency department, which will be more than twice the size of the current one. Photo by Victoria Espinoza — The plan for Huntington Hospital’s new emergency department. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Brogan said the current ER sees about 51,000 patients a year, but was designed for 24,000. Coming in at around 31,000 square feet, this new facility promises to be bigger and better than anything Huntington residents have seen before, Brogan said.

“So this will be more than twice the size of the current department,” he said.

By far the most common complaint patients visiting the ER have is the wait time. And Brogan said the new layout and protocol would help cut wait time down and expedite the process of a patient being treated.

“Part of that bottleneck starts right up front. You wait to even get triaged and see a nurse,” he said. “This ER has four different triage stations, and at the time of triage there will be either a physician, a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner there. As you’re getting triaged the workup is already starting. We’re taking blood samples, we’re deciding if you need any X-Rays.”

Brogan also said that by the time a patient is sent to the department to be treated, “your blood is already cooking in the lab, radiology is already coming to find you for an X-ray and a doctor is already started to direct your work up.”

He said the hospital’s current ER has already put this method into effect and has cut down patients’ visit by an average of 48 minutes — about one third of their stay.

“It shouldn’t be a penalty for being sick that you sit in an ER for five hours,” Brogan said.

New staff protocol should also cut down wait times. This includes a new lab testing system that has just been put into use, which brings the quickest results in the North Well health system, according to Brogan. Biofire FilmArray, a molecular multiplex assay, allows for results to be returned within an hour rather than 24 hours. This helps patients spend less time at the hospital and allow for treatment to be administered faster if necessary.

The floor to ceiling windows that will be featured in the special results waiting area in the new Huntington Hospital emergency department that will open in 2017. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

“Determining someone’s illness and beginning to treat it quickly is vital for the patient,” Gary Stone, MD, associate chair of pathology and laboratory medicine said in a statement. “This faster laboratory test will also help Huntington Hospital’s emergency department to diagnose, treat and release patients faster.”

Another way Brogan said the ER plans to keep patients happy while they wait is through additional lounge areas.

“Some tests, by their very nature, take at least 45 minutes to an hour to actually perform, so we will have a special results waiting area with comfortable recliners and floor to ceiling windows,” he said. “You’re not going to be sitting on a stretcher, you’ll be out in a lounge area, looking outside and seeing sunlight or watching the sunset.”

The layout also aims at redoing the current entrance system, he said. There will be two entrances in the new ER, one for ambulances and one for patients and families coming in. “Now, if you’re walking your kid in with a sore throat there can be an ambulance unloading right next to you,” Brogan said. “This way, we keep the dramatic traumas which might be uncomfortable to young children around the corner.”

The new department will be giving patients single rooms that measure up to 11 feet by 13 feet.

“You can close your door, and you don’t have to see or hear or smell any of the other cases going on in the emergency department.”

In terms of the ER, which is now 20 years old, Brogan said nothing has been decided yet as to what it will be used for. But some ideas, he said, included creating an advanced treatment center — which would help patients whose illnesses might’ve taken days to diagnose and treat before — be treated within several hours instead of being committed to the hospital for a few days.

The pediatric emergency department has already been renamed after New York Islanders Hall of Famer Clark Gillies, who committed to donating $2 million to the department through the Clark Gillies Foundation. Staff said they are still hoping to receive other donations to rename parts of the ER including the special results waiting area.

Although residents won’t be able to walk through the doors for another 10 months, staff is already eager to share the space.

“I think for the patients, the experience is going to be just phenomenal,” Brogan said. “You’ll have your own room, auditory and visual privacy, with all the bells and whistles, and monitors in every room outfitted for the most complex patient.”

Art exhibit winners pay tribute to Shakespeare

by TBR Staff - March 25, 2016

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Sam-Juliet-Margaret-Minardiw — ‘Sam Juliet’ by Margaret Minardi

We all recognize that the works of William Shakespeare continue to inspire us. In recognition of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the Huntington Arts Council invited artists to submit work, literal or abstract, which was inspired by the line “A rose by any other name” from Juliet’s balcony scene in “Romeo and Juliet.” Barbara Applegate, director of the Steinberg Museum of Art at Hillwood/LIU Post, juried the exhibit.

Participating artists include Shain Bard, Christine Ardito, Joanna Gazzola, Jeff Grinspan, Ellen Hallie Schiff, Shelley Holtzman, Chrysoula Highland, Yossi Manor, Pamela Waldroup, Jackie Stevens, Jan Guarino, Michael Fairchild, Michael Chait, Holly Black, Chris Ann Ambery, Brian Grandfield, Terry Canavan, Frances Ianarella, Joanne Schenendorf, Margaret Minardi, John Killelea, Vera Mingovits, William Grabowski, Jim Finlayson, Susan Sterber, Rodee Hansen, Karen Levine, Randy Ilowite, Jessica Henry, John Moore, Geraldine Hoffman, Linda Adelstein Watson, Caryn Coville, Richard Gardner, Robbii Wessen, Renee Caine, Alisa Shea, Jason Trentacoste and Jovanna Hopkins.

Best in Show was awarded to Margaret Minardi for “Sam Juliet,” and honorable mentions were given to Christine Ardito for “Roses for Anna” and William Grabowski for “Side Show.”

“A Rose by Any Other Name” will be on exhibit at the HAC’s Main Street Gallery, 213 Main St., Huntington from March 24 to April 16 with an artist reception on April 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. and a curated talk with Barbara Applegate on April 14 at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend these free events. For more information, call 631-271-8423.

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