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Riverhead parks official gets stipend for new duty
Photo credit: Carl Corry
Riverhead’s town board has given parks and recreation administrator Ray Coyne an $8,000 stipend, for taking over work this year typically done by the youth bureau director — a job eliminated from the town’s budget.
“Ray has taken over the youth bureau duties ... he’s saving the town $90,000 a year,” said Councilman George Gabrielsen before the vote on Tuesday.
Before the vote was taken,...
Read more »Free estate-planning event for firefighters in West Babylon
Photo credit: Fran Berkman
Volunteer firefighters across Long Island can get free estate planning and will preparation Saturday in West Babylon.
The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York is offering the service along with MetLife and the lawyers of K&L Gates from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the West Babylon Fire Department, 126 Arnold Ave.
“There are many ‘ifs’ in everyone’s life. Our firefighters should...
Read more »Suffolk credit downgraded, interest rates higher
Photo credit: Photo by Ed Betz
Suffolk County has sold $62.3 million in long-term bonds at an annual interest rate of 3.61 percent for various construction projects in the wake of last week’s credit downgrading by Moody’s Investor Service.
The interest rate was higher than the 2.96 percent the county paid last fall for a similar borrowing for 20-year bonds. Christina Capobianco, chief deputy comptroller, said the bond rating...
Read more »Farmingdale tax-break vote set for Bartone Plaza
Photo credit: Handout
The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency is expected to vote Tuesday on granting a 20-year property tax break for a $38-million mixed-use, transit-oriented development planned in downtown Farmingdale.
The vote on the Bartone Plaza project would follow four postponements by the IDA and passage of a resolution by the village board Monday night asking the IDA to act.
IDA chairman...
Read more »Westhampton Beach voters OK new $15.7M firehouse
Photo credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Westhampton Beach voters resoundingly approved a ballot proposition that will lead to a new firehouse estimated to cost $15.7 million.
The proposition passed Tuesday, 286-156, according to Carol Nemeth, Westhampton Beach Fire District treasurer.
Fred Overton, chairman of the Westhampton Beach Board of Fire Commissioners, thanked voters in an email for supporting the project.
Fire...
Read more »Readers ID East Hampton ‘mystery’ bust artist
Photo credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
It’s still unclear how a life-size terra-cotta bust of a woman ended up at a construction site behind the East Hampton Library. But Newsday readers say there are enough clues to identify the artist who created it.
They say it is Nick Della Penna, now 72, who used to live in Babylon. He and his wife, Lorraine, moved to upstate Phoenicia a decade ago. The bust is inscribed: My Wife, Forever,...
Read more »Hempstead Village gets more than $1M reimbursement for Sandy cleanup
Photo credit: Daniel Brennan, 2012
Hempstead Village has been awarded more than $1 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency public assistance funding to reimburse the village for the cost of debris removal in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, federal officials said.
“This reimbursement for debris cleanup is critical in making sure that residents of Hempstead are not on the hook entirely for the expenses,” Sen. Charles...
Read more »Improv comedy night will benefit children with cancer, honor Sarah Grace Weippert
Photo credit: Handout
When Matt Weippert thinks about his daughter, Sarah, he remembers her sense of humor.
“She was a little bit of a practical joker,” said Matt Weippert, 55, of Hicksville. “She kept us laughing and she gave us a lot of strength while she was sick.”
Sarah died in 2002 at the age of 12 after losing her battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood cancer, but her family has kept her...
Read more »Smithtown board approves $4.27M in borrowing, industrial park to get improvements
Photo credit: Alessandra Malito
The Smithtown Town board Tuesday approved a borrowing plan that includes funds for road repaving and improved lighting at the Hauppauge Industrial Park.
The $4.27 million package includes about $3 million to replenish Highway Department funds spent on superstorm Sandy cleanup, and $1.2 million on industrial park improvements. The borrowing plan was approved unanimously.
Industrial park...
Read more »Islip councilman strikes back at Democrats over ballfield criticism
Photo credit: Heather Walsh
Islip Town Councilman Steven J. Flotteron said yesterday that calls by the Democratic Party for an investigation into a Central Islip Little League fields project were “inappropriate” and “political.”
“It’s inappropriate that they’re using this hard-hit community — with everything that happened with the gang shootings — as a political football,” the Republican said after a town board meeting....
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