CLOSE
Tags Posts tagged with "Northport"

Northport

by -
0 234
Mario Buonpane pays respects at a 9/11 memorial ceremony at Heckscher Park last year. File photo by Rohma Abbas

Mario C. Buonpane, Jr., a staunch local veterans’ activist, avid golfer and a family man, died on Monday after losing a vicious battle with prostate cancer. He was 83.

Buonpane, best known for his work with Huntington Town’s veterans — having served as a charter member and chairman of the Huntington Town Veterans Advisory Board and a past commander of the Northport American Legion Post 694 — is credited with spearheading the rehab of the Northport Veteran Administration Medical Center’s golf course, which brought golfers to the grounds and proceeds to the hospital, according to his son Mark Vincent (Buonpane).

Mario Buonpane speaks at last year’s town remembrance of 9/11. File photo by Rohma Abbas
Mario Buonpane speaks at last year’s town remembrance of 9/11. File photo by Rohma Abbas

“That’s his legacy,” Vincent said. “That will remain and serve the community for years and years to come.”

He received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army and he joined the town’s veterans advisory board as a charter member in 1987. He became chairman in 1993, and since its inception, the group enhanced Veterans Plaza at Huntington Town Hall with the completion of a number of memorials honoring veterans of all wars fought by the U.S.

“Our Veterans Plaza is one of the finest on Long Island and we still have plans to improve it,” he wrote in a list of his accomplishments.

He was also the chairman of the legion’s Veterans Affairs Golf and Tournament Committee, through which he helped negotiate a contract to take over the golf course in 1996. When the group took over, the course hadn’t been mowed in five years, the greens were diseased and there were no facilities, according to Buonpane. Since then, the course touts a clubhouse with a deck, new fairways and more.

Buonpane was instrumental in getting the Northport American Legion’s Boys State and Girls State programs up and running. The programs select girls and boys off to participate in a model governments to teach them how they work, and under Buonpane’s leadership, the number of candidates the legion has sponsored has grown, from one in 1982 to about 20. The program, “teaches you how to be a good citizen,” Vincent said.

Aside from his many community contributions, Buonpane was, at heart, a family man, The father and husband, who worked for Grumman as an electrical engineer and designed electrical harnesses on the lunar module always had time for sports with the kids, Vincent said.

“He taught us great values, he taught us how to earn things the honest way, play by the rules, tell the truth and have great integrity,” Vincent said.

On his work at Grumman, Vincent said, “he contributed to the greatest journey humans had ever done.”

Buonpane’s dedication and never-give-up attitude was his trademark, the son said. He took up running in his 50s and could only run a few laps around the track but ultimately trained until he completed the New York City Marathon. He still went to the gym, even with stage 4 cancer.

“He was tough,” Vincent said. “He was a trooper.”

Others in the Huntington Town community were touched by Buonpane’s contributions, too. Supervisor Frank Petrone issued a statement on Buonpane’s death.

“He worked tirelessly to support efforts ensuring that we all remember, honor and respect our veterans and that veterans got the services and benefits they earned by serving our country,” he said. “We will miss his presence as the master of ceremonies at our wreath ceremonies and other veterans’ events.”

Joe Sledge, communications director at the Northport VA, also spoke highly of Buonpane’s contributions. Sledge said he had known Buonpane since he first started working the VA 23 years ago.

“It was he who sponsored my entry into the American Legion over 14 years ago,” he said. “He made many significant contributions to Northport VA Medical Center through his time, talent, and countless generous acts.  All who knew him would agree that Mario was a thoughtful, hard-working man whose life’s mission was to brighten the lives of others, especially hospitalized veterans. He will be sorely missed.”

by -
0 2242
Extreme low temperatures caused enough demand to require use of the Port Jefferson Power Station. File photo by Erika Karp

Port Jefferson Village moved another chess piece in its match against the Long Island Power Authority last week, filing a lawsuit to dispute the utility’s property tax challenges from the last few years, which are still pending in court.

Village Attorney Brian Egan said at the board of trustees meeting Tuesday night that the village filed the lawsuit last Friday contending LIPA had promised not to challenge its property tax assessment at the Port Jefferson power plant unless the assessment was disproportionately increased.

That perceived promise links back to a 1997 letter from former LIPA chairman Richard Kessel, upon inking a power supply agreement between LIPA and the Long Island Lighting Company, as the former was taking over for the latter. That agreement covered power plants now owned and operated by energy company National Grid, which includes those in Port Jefferson and Northport.

Back then LIPA and local municipalities were embroiled in other tax assessment challenges. Kessel’s letter said the utility would drop those challenges and would not “initiate any further tax certiorari cases on any of their respective properties at any time in the future unless a municipality abusively increases its assessment rate.”

Port Jefferson has actually gone in the opposite direction on the neighborhood power plant’s assessment, officials confirmed Tuesday — LIPA’s assessment was only proportionately increased over time, and since it began challenging its assessment in 2010, it has in fact seen a decrease. Officials called that 10 percent decrease an act of good faith as they negotiated with the utility on the matter.

At the heart of the issue is a disagreement over the worth of the local power plant: LIPA contends it is grossly overassessed, forcing the utility to pay more in property taxes than it should.

The power plant is a large source of tax revenue for the area, particularly the Port Jefferson school district and the village. Smaller stakeholders include the Port Jefferson fire and library districts and the Town of Brookhaven.

As LIPA’s property tax challenges trickle through the court system, Port Jefferson’s latest lawsuit piggybacks on an idea from out west — Huntington Town and the Northport-East Northport school district filed a similar suit a couple of years ago in their battle on the Northport power plant, which mirrors the situation in Port Jefferson. That inceptive lawsuit, challenging LIPA’s ability to challenge its property tax assessment, faced a motion to dismiss that New York State’s highest court recently denied — allowing the case to play out. Seeing the ruling in favor of Huntington and Northport, Port Jefferson followed suit.

“I feel very strong,” Egan said about the case.

According to the village attorney, he will ask that court action on LIPA’s tax challenges be delayed until the new lawsuit is resolved.

The Port Jefferson and Huntington area lawsuits may also be joined, and it is possible more plaintiffs, such as Brookhaven Town and the Port Jefferson school district, could jump in.

At the time the courts denied LIPA’s motion to dismiss Huntington Town and the Northport school district’s lawsuit, a LIPA spokesperson said the utility does not comment on ongoing litigation.

If the municipalities win their lawsuits regarding LIPA’s right to challenge its property tax assessments, those pending challenges would be thrown out.

by -
0 2618
Crab Meadow Beach in Northport. File photo by Rohma Abbas

Three boys got more than they bargained for on Monday when they paddled their canoe toward the Long Island Sound with the hopes of fishing and met powerful winds that blew them 1.5 miles offshore.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the Huntington Station kids — brothers Davin Miles, 12, and Kenyon Miles, 10, and their friend, 12-year-old Chris Gurr — launched the canoe from Northport’s Crab Meadow Beach early in the evening but as the paddled away from the shoreline, the wind picked up and they were blown out 1.5 miles.

Marine Bureau officers Michael O’Leary and Charles Marchiselli, on SCPD patrol vessel Marine Bravo, were on routine patrol on the Sound when they discovered the kids and brought both them and their canoe aboard.

Police said the boys were all wearing flotation devices and were uninjured, but had been unable to paddle back to the beach because of 15 to 20 mile-per-hour winds and 2-foot waves.

O’Leary and Marchiselli brought the kids to their parents, who were waiting at Crab Meadow.

by -
0 287

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.

by -
0 1872

Test results show grounds are sound

David Badanes speaks at a Northport-East Northport school board meeting. File Photo by Eric Santiago

By Eric Santiago

The soil at Norwood Avenue Elementary School is safe for children, an environmental engineer told the Northport-East Northport school board last week.

“I would expect concentrations in my own backyard would be very similar to what we found on the school property,” said Paul Lageraaen, the environmental services department manager for H2M architects + engineers.

Last month, the school board tasked Lageraaen’s firm with analyzing the school grounds to determine if the area had been contaminated with hazardous chemicals out of “an abundance of caution, and in response to low levels of contaminants found in the soil of a neighboring farming property proposed to be developed into a winery,” according to a statement from Superintendent Robert Banzer. Dust from a property that is proposed to be developed into a vineyard next to the school may have fallen on school grounds while the land was being cleared out, officials said. Lageraaen presented the firm’s findings at Wednesday night’s school board meeting.

Of the dozens of herbicides, metals and pesticides tested, only one was discovered at noteworthy concentrations. Arsenic, a common ingredient in pesticides before it was banned in 1991, was found at moderate levels in the northwest corner of the school. The proposed vineyard property is along the school’s eastern border.

This was not a great concern to Lageraaen.

H2M tested its soil samples against New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation Regulations Part 375. According to these regulations, residential areas should have a maximum arsenic concentration of 16 parts per million (PPM). The sample from that corner of the school was analyzed at 17 PPM. This was one of 16 samples taken from across the school grounds. The rest all tested below this level.

Lageraaen pointed out that regulations are not an actual limit.

“It’s defined as an objective,” he said. “It’s not a hard and fast action level.” This is because there isn’t a definitive consensus for what that level should be. For example, New Jersey regulations say that 19 PPM should be the maximum concentration for residential areas.

But the key finding Lageraaen cited was that were was no sign that soil around the school had been moved, disturbed or contaminated by a dangerous chemical.

“The soils that are at Norwood school are the same soils that have been there for 60 years,” he said. “If I found an area where suddenly arsenic or some other compound was at 100 PPM and everything else was at 15 PPM, then you have to be concerned.”

Once the presentation was finished, David Badanes, vice president of the school board, asked the central question for the board.

“I guess the bottom line question is this: Are the children that are going to play at Norwood safe?”

“Yes,” said Lageraaen, who also coaches community soccer at the Northport fields. “I have no qualms about returning there to coach or my kids playing on those fields.”

In closing out the discussion, board President Andrew Rapiejko said that the board has been in contact with the town about the proposed vineyard, and encouraged concerned community members to do the same.

In a phone interview on Thursday, Fred Giachetti, who owns the property and wants to develop it into a vineyard, stressed that he has contacted local officials and experts to ensure the property is managed responsibly.

“I have never been irresponsible and reckless in my whole life,” he said. “I’m a graduate of Northport High School. My wife and I have been trying to do something that is bringing back the agrarian traditions of our community because we have a great interest in it and a family history. We think it’s a wonderful idea — instead of building more McMansions or condos or townhomes, we could try and bring something back to the community that we’ve lost.”

by -
0 2057
Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers freed a trapped bird in Northport. Photo from SCPD

A bird has got new wind beneath its wings, thanks to rescue efforts by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Marine Bureau, whose officers freed the creature on Sunday after it became entangled on an offshore fuel platform in Northport.

Officers Charles Marchiselli and Michael O’Leary were aboard Marine Bravo when they observed the bird tangled in string along the railing of the platform, about two miles north of National Grid’s Northport power plant, at approximately 11:15 a.m. O’Leary distracted the bird with a wildlife pole while Marchiselli covered it with a blanket and cut the entangling lines.

The bird appeared uninjured and swam away after being freed, police said.

The officers saw the bird while they were conducting a homeland security check of the platform, which is used to offload fuel for the power plant.

National Grid owns and operates the plant, and sells its produced energy to utility PSEG Long Island, which distributes the power to Long Island residents.

by -
0 3005

Girls’ lacrosse players will compete at the Division I level next year

Northport's Katie Cook defends against a Bay Shore player. File photo by Desirée Keegan

By Clayton Collier

It’s not often that an individual high school team gets multiple athletes to commit to college programs.

The fact that Northport girls’ lacrosse will send seven athletes to play at the collegiate level this fall is impressive enough, but longtime head coach Carol Rose said this isn’t out of the norm.

“Typically almost all my seniors go on to play lacrosse in college at the next level; very few do not,” Rose said. “Six girls is about the average per year, and we already have five other kids committed.”

Heather Engellis competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan
Heather Engellis competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan

This year, the team exceeded the average.

Kristen Brunoforte, Heather Engellis, Victoria D’Amato, Gabbi Labuskes, Emily Yoo, Amy Breitfeller and Katie Cook will be playing at Jacksonville University, the University of Oregon, the State University of New York at Cortland, The Naval Academy, Binghamton University, Wesleyan University and SUNY Geneseo, respectively.

Five rising seniors have also already committed, as Courtney Orella, Ryan Columbus and Noelle Peragine who have verbally committed to Villanova University, Fairfield University, and Georgetown University, respectively, and Kelly Jacobsen and Natalie Langella will attend Bryant University.

Labuskes, an All-County attack who has already started with the Naval Academy, said Northport gave her the skills necessary both as an athlete and as a leader.

“Overall, I think it pushed me to better myself as an athlete, a friend and a person,” she said. “I have taken all the lessons learned and carried them with me. Many of which I have been able to use here at the Naval Academy, and will continue to use and be grateful for for the rest of my life.”

Heather Engellis competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan
Heather Engellis competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan

Engellis, an All-League attack, said she didn’t start playing lacrosse until the past few years, and wasn’t sure the sport was for her until being convinced by Rose.

“I improved significantly thanks to Coach Rose,” she said. “She actually was the one who persuaded me to play, and looking back, I cannot thank her enough. She’s taught me everything from the basics to all the technical stick work and beyond.”

Rose, who also coaches the Long Island Yellow Jackets, started the Northport program in 1990 with her husband, Alton. Throughout the entirety of the program’s history, the couple has coached together.

“We are best friends and love watching film together and discussing all aspects of the team together,” Rose said of working with her husband. “He is great defensively and we complement each other well, since I am more offensive orientated.”

Brunoforte, an All-League goalie, said she enjoys the husband-and-wife coaching dynamic. Though entirely coincidental, her new coaching staff at Jacksonville is also a married couple.

Gabbi Labuskes competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan
Gabbi Labuskes competes for Northport in a game against North Babylon last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan

“I feel like when coaches and assistant coaches are close it makes teaching the game a lot easier,” she said. “They complement each other, especially in the sense that they usually teach two different sides to the game.”

In addition to Brunoforte, Engellis and Labuskes, the loss of an All-County midfielder in D’Amato, All-League attack in Yoo and key defenders in Cook and Breitfeller to graduation, would be quite the hit for any program to immediately recover from on paper. At Northport, however, it’s next woman up.

“There is a lot of potential for next year,” D’Amato said. “They have a lot of talented girls.”

Despite all the comments and kind words for Rose, she said it’s due to her athletes’ own hard work.

“They dedicate a lot of time to their sport year-round and showcase themselves to college coaches throughout the country,” Rose said. “We give them a lot of opportunities for exposure and they take advantage of it.”

by -
0 270

Parking lot possession
Police arrested a 23-year-old woman from Shoreham on Aug. 20 for possession of Suboxone, a controlled substance. The arrest took place in a parking lot on Mariners Way in Port Jefferson. A 25-year-old man from Huntington was arrested in the same location that day, for possession of heroin.

Give him some credit
On Aug. 21, police arrested a 40-year-old man from Miller Place for petit larceny in the Sunrise Service Road Plaza, for stealing Timberland boots from an unidentified store and returning them for store credit. Police also found heroin in the man’s possession.

Can’t dodge DUI
A 53-year-old man from Bohemia was arrested in Centereach on Aug. 22 for driving under the influence. The man was driving a 2002 Dodge south on County Road 97 when he rear-ended the car in front of him. Police discovered the man was driving while impaired.

At the corner of heroin and theft
Police arrested a 39-year-old woman from Coram on Aug. 22, after she took unidentified items from a Walgreens on Middle Country Road. She was also found in possession of heroin.

King of barcodes
On Aug. 21, a 63-year-old man was arrested at the King Kullen in Independence Plaza in Selden for manipulating a barcode scanner machine. Police said the man previously committed the same act at two other locations.

Kicked and keyed
On Aug. 20 an unknown person dented and keyed a person’s car on Piedmont Drive in Port Jefferson Station. The individual dented the car by kicking it.

Dognap ends happily
A female took a small black Maltese dog from a female complainant on Piedmont Drive in Port Jefferson Station on Aug. 20, at 1:40 a.m. The complainant was reunited with her dog and didn’t want to press charges. Police said the complainant knows the woman who took the dog.

You’re Heinekidding me
An unknown person walked into the CVS Pharmacy on Main Street in Port Jefferson on Aug. 22 and stole a six-pack of Heineken beer.

Up against the wall
On Aug. 19 at 8:40 p.m. a man was walking on Linden Place in Port Jefferson when someone approached him from behind and pushed him against a brick wall. The suspect demanded money and took it from the man’s wallet before fleeing on foot.

I’ve got the power
An unknown person removed assorted power tools from a box truck on Aug. 19, at 1:56 a.m., on Middle Country Road in Miller Place.

Unsafe driving comment
Two male customers at a gas station on Nesconset Highway in Mount Sinai got into a dispute on Aug. 22. One customer assaulted the other, punching and pushing him to the ground. According to police, the dispute arose because the complainant told the other customer that he had made an unsafe driving maneuver.

Turning the other cheek
Two women got into a dispute on Broadway in Rocky Point on Aug. 19. At 12:05 a.m., one woman threw a drink at the complainant and struck her on the side of the face with a beer bottle. There were no serious injuries.

Tackling petty crime
Police said on Aug. 21 a suspect and two other people ran “football-style” into a person’s mailbox on Monticello Drive in Shoreham at 1:19 a.m. The mailbox was damaged.

Gas money
On Aug. 19 at 9:40 p.m. an unknown suspect entered a gas station on Middle Country Road in Centereach and displayed a black handgun. He demanded cash from the register before taking it out himself.

Check, please
An unknown person and their party got into a verbal dispute with other people at the Olive Garden in Centereach. The incident took place on Aug. 19 at 9 p.m., when police said the former group chased the latter out of the restaurant and damaged the restaurant’s front door in the process.

Pumping and running
An unknown person pumped gas on Middle Country Road in Centereach and left the station without paying.

DWI crash
A 54-year-old man from Ronkonkoma was arrested in Stony Brook on Aug. 21 and charged with driving while intoxicated in the first degree. Police said the man was driving a 2014 Dodge pickup at 10:09 p.m. at Gibbs Pond Road and Pleasant Drive in Smithtown when he was involved in a motor vehicle crash. He was transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was arrested.

Gifted
A 39-year-old man from Shirley was arrested on Aug. 21 at 11:40 a.m. and charged with petit larceny. Police said he activated a Visa gift card and left Home Depot on Pond Path without paying at 10 p.m. on Aug. 20.

Dunkin’ GoNuts
A Dunkin’ Donuts employee at a store on Nesconset Highway in Setauket-East Setauket told police that someone head-butted him in the nose at 5:50 a.m. on Aug. 22. The attack came after staff asked the angry customer to leave.

Like taking candy from a baby
Someone stole a female Walmart shopper’s pocketbook that was located in the rear of a baby carriage while at the store on Nesconset Highway in Setauket-East Setauket on Aug. 19. The pocketbook contained cash, an iPhone and a child’s wallet.

Gone in a flash
Someone stole earphones, a cell phone case and a flashlight from Target located on Pond Path in South Setauket on Aug. 19 at 3:50 p.m. There have been no arrests.

Swept away
Someone took a Dyson vacuum cleaner from Lowe’s Home Improvement on Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook on Aug. 23 at 3:50 p.m. There have been no arrests.

An unwelcome visit
Suffolk County Police said a 28-year-old man from Lake Grove was arrested at the 4th Precinct on Aug. 21 at 12:20 a.m. and charged with second-degree burglary. Police said the man entered a residence on Shepherd Lane in Nesconset and stole property sometime between Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. and Aug. 4 at 11:30 a.m. Police couldn’t say what he stole.

Speedy DWI
A 22-year-old Northport man was arrested on Aug. 20 at Derby Place and Route 25A in Smithtown at 1:45 a.m. and charged with first-degree driving while intoxicated. Police said the man, who was driving on Route 25A in a 1997 Buick, was observed speeding before being pulled over.

Bad reality check
Police said a 44-year-old man from Brentwood was arrested by Suffolk County Police on Aug. 20 at the 4th Precinct at 10:50 a.m. and charged with third-degree grand larceny. Police said the man knowingly cashed a bad check.

Jewelry jam
A 49-year-old man from Selden was arrested in Smithtown on Aug. 19 and charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Police said that in 2013 and 2014, the man sold several items of stolen jewelry to pawn shops on Walt Whitman Road in Melville.

Falling flat
Police arrested a 49-year-old woman from Central Islip on Aug. 19 and charged her with petit larceny. Police said she stole a 48-inch flat screen TV from Walmart on Veterans Memorial Highway in Islandia on Aug. 8 at 2:25 p.m. She was arrested at the 4th Precinct.

Pole patrol
A 23-year-old man from Medford was arrested in St. James on Aug. 22 and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08 of 1 percent in the first degree, and driving while intoxicated. Police said the man was driving a 2008 Jeep on Middle Country Road east of Lake Avenue in St. James at 3:15 a.m. when he struck a pole.

Lights out
Someone pushed over a light post in front of Katie’s bar on West Main Street in Smithtown on Aug. 20 at 1:47 a.m. There have been no arrests.

Come take my car
A man told police that someone took his 2014 Nissan Altima parked on the street in front of his parents’ home on Valleywood Drive in Smithtown on Aug. 19. Police said the complainant told them he left his car unlocked and the key in the glove box.

Wallet woes
A man told police someone stole his wallet from a 2007 Honda CRV sometime between Aug. 20 and Aug. 21 on Springmeadow Drive in Kings Park. The wallet contained credit cards and a driver’s license.

Crash ‘n dash
A 52-year-old woman from Huntington driving a 2013 Nissan Sentra attempted to flee the scene on Aug. 21 following an accident. She was arrested on New York Avenue and charged with an aggravated DWI, DWI and leaving the scene. She rear-ended a 2015 Chevrolet. There were no passengers inside the car.

Taking the high road
Police arrested a 48-year-old woman from Huntington at exit 50 of the Long Island Expressway on Aug. 21 and charged her with operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs. She was driving a 2005 Chrysler and was involved in a crash with an unknown vehicle.

Stickin’ it to them
On Aug. 20, a 21-year-old woman from Huntington was arrested at the LIE and Route 110 in Huntington and charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, for unlawful possession of a collapsible baton. She was also charged with using a vehicle by temporary custody, no contest. She had it in the passenger side of the 2015 Ford she was driving. Police discovered this after pulling her over for being in violation of a rental agreement with U-Haul.

Joy ride
At approximately 10 p.m. on Aug. 20, a 19-year-old man from Huntington was arrested on Clay Pitts Road in Greenlawn and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Cops found the drug on him during a traffic stop.

Parks and theft
On Aug. 22, at approximately 10:40 p.m., a man told cops that three men surrounded him while he was at Heckscher Park in Huntington. One of the three men punched him and stole his laptop.

On a roll
Huntington Mazda, on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station, reported to police that four rims and four tires were stolen from a 2010 BMW between midnight and 12:30 am on Aug. 19.

Charger jacked
A woman at the Family Service League on Park Avenue in Huntington reported to police that her cell phone charger was stolen on Aug. 20. She said she placed it by a common sleeping area and when she returned it was gone.

by -
0 259
Jennifer Thompson, center, with her family, husband Brent, son Sterling and daughter Lauren. Photo from Thompson

After serving for more than six years as a trustee on the Northport-East Northport school board, Jennifer Thompson has set her sights on a bigger role.

Thompson, 44, wants to be the Huntington Town Board’s next councilwoman, and she is seeking election to one of two seats up for grabs on Nov. 3. She’s running alongside incumbent Councilman Gene Cook (I), both of whom are endorsed by the Huntington Town Republican Committee.

Last Friday, the Northport mother-of-two sat down for an interview at Book Revue in Huntington to talk about her campaign. She had just gotten back from a boat trip to Connecticut to celebrate her birthday on her family’s 27-foot sailboat, with her husband Brent and their children, Sterling and Lauren.

A passion for education was instilled in Thompson at a young age — through her parents who emigrated to the U.S. from eastern India — and it seems fitting that Thompson’s first role as a public servant was on the school board, where she felt a responsibility to be engaged in the community.

“Both of my parents had a strong sense to live differently, and the main reason they immigrated was for a better education,” Thompson said.

Although she was born in Queens, she lived in California for most of her life, moving there when she was four years old. Thompson received her undergraduate degree from The Master’s College, and her graduate degree from California State University. After graduating, she worked as a special education teacher in California and then as an administrator.

In 2006, Thompson and her family moved to Northport. Her husband got a job at Suffolk County Community College. Just four years later, she was petitioning for her first term as a school board trustee.

If elected, Thompson would transition off the school board, and her seat would likely remain vacant until elections in May, although it would be up to the board to decide exactly how to proceed.

“She is very focused and approachable, and is 100 percent focused on whoever she is representing,” Tammie Topel, a fellow school board trustee, who has served four years with Thompson, said about her colleague. “She dedicates herself and is extremely reliable.”

At a recent Suffolk County Police Department 2nd Precinct community meeting, residents called for an increase in the police force following three shootings in July and August.

Thompson was at that meeting, and afterwards she researched whether adding staff is the best solution to solve the problem. “Sometimes it’s about your resources and seeing if you’re using them as effectively as possible.”

According to Thompson, the Town of Riverhead has specialized police forces, and she believes this contributes to the town thriving in the last five years. She said she believes the solution of more specialized forces would work in Huntington as well.

Residents have sounded off on overdevelopment in Huntington Town in the past few years. Thompson is clear that she is against overdevelopment, and that she would’ve voted against the zone change permitting the Seasons in Elwood, a 256-unit project for individuals 55 and older, to go through.

“That community did not want it in their community, and the fact that the town council disregarded that is, I think, heartbreaking,” she said. “They were elected by these people to be their voice and to not come alongside the very residents they represent. I think it is anti-democratic.”

She added that she feels that Huntington has the right balance of industrial and business areas and open land, something she doesn’t want to see compromised. “If we wanted to live in Queens, we would’ve bought a house in Queens.”

Recently, Eaton’s Neck residents have been urging the town board to allow for longbow hunting of deer. The residents claim deer have overpopulated the area and pose a public health risk, as the animals are linked to increases in tick-born illnesses like Lyme disease.

This issue literally came into Thompson’s backyard the night before, as she showed a photo of the deer by her fence she snapped from her bedroom window. While she is mindful of animal’s rights, she said she is more mindful of the risk to the public. “I’m always going to be more concerned with public safety.”

If elected, Thompson would like to introduce legislation governing town board term limits. Two terms would be her preference.

“If our highest elected official can’t go more than two terms, why should local officials go longer?”

Thompson confirmed that if not elected, this would be her last term as a school board member. She signed a petition brought to the board earlier this summer to reduce the size of the school board. The petition also suggested looking into term limits.

“I signed the petition because I think the community deserves the opportunity to vote on it,” she said. “Whatever the community decides, I will support that.”

Tim Farrell, a personal friend of Thompson’s for more than 10 years, believes Thompson will bring a powerful work ethic to the town board, if elected. He believes she will also bring a level of transparency and honesty.

“She never settles for anything, even small things, like planning a weekend for the kids,” he said. “She doesn’t generally fail; she won’t allow it.”

by -
0 480

Huntington Town hosts 4th Annual Sand Castle Contest

1 of 11
Dominick Chiusano digs at the fourth annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Anthony Chiusano digs at the fourth annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Anthony and Dominick Chiusano, and Deniz and Angelina Akdas work on their sandcastle at the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
All the contestants of the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
A scene from the fourth annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Sisters Molly and Mia Hodgkinson dig at the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
A sandcastle at the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Sisters Molly and Mia Hodgkinson at the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
A decorative part of a sandcastle at the town’s annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
A scene from the fourth annual sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Kaille, Jennifer and Gavin Schneider with their sandcastle titled “Crabby” at the sandcastle contest at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Five teams competed in Huntington Town’s 4th Annual Sand Castle contest, held at Crab Meadow Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 19. The event, hosted by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson’s (D) office, included lifeguards as judges and teams won awards for designs that were most creative, most original and more.

Prev1...293031...37Next Page 30 of 37
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©