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Valley Stream Central principal: 'Our kids walk the hall without barriers'
Photo credit: Brittany Wait
Dr. Joseph Pompilio, 53, of Huntington, has been the principal of Valley Stream Central High School for 11 years. When community journalist Brittany Wait caught up with him last Friday for our Town Focus series, he was wearing a royal blue mesh jersey over his business attire, which read “Tough guys wear pink,” to raise money for breast cancer research.
Explain this neat shirt.
Today...
Read more »LIers win chance to meet Giants QB Eli Manning
Photo credit: Handout
Lauren Goldman named her cat Eli Manning, but that was the closest she ever thought she’d get to hanging out with the two-time Super Bowl champion Giants quarterback.
That will change Tuesday morning as Goldman, 23, of Commack, and 19 other winners from the tri-state area of a Dunkin’ Donuts-sponsored sweepstakes get the chance to have breakfast with Manning at MetLife stadium.
During...
Read more »Lindenhurst gets $200G for road elevation
Photo credit: Alexi Knock, 2011
The Village of Lindenhurst has received $200,000 in state funding to help repair flood-prone South Wellwood Avenue.
The money was secured by Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) through the state’s Community Capital Assistance Program. The funding will be used for the village’s Coastal Zone South Wellwood Avenue Road Elevation and Drainage Improvement Project.
The project involves...
Read more »Coffeehouse owner brews up ideas to help Valley Stream
Photo credit: Handout
David Sabatino, 26, co-owns Sip This, a popular coffeehouse in Valley Stream, with his longtime friend Stephanie Pontillo, who also grew up in the village.
While he was studying urban planning in graduate school at New York University, he founded Envision Valley Stream in May 2009, a community-based organization which aims to create a brighter future for the village.
Community affiliations:...
Read more »Brookhaven Town officials plan to save wildlife center
Photo credit: James Carbone
Brookhaven Town board members Connie Kepert and Tim Mazzei plan to introduce a resolution at Tuesdays town board meeting that would save the Holtsville Wildlife & Ecology Center.
Combining the Division of Traffic Safety with the Highway Department — and moving the division’s funding from the general fund to the highway fund — would produce enough savings in the general fund to keep the...
Read more »Kings Park High School baseball field gets fixes
Photo credit: Fran Berkman
A rocky, weed-strewn baseball field at Kings Park High School has been spruced up by local volunteers.
New fences, sod, sprinklers and a concrete dugout floor are being added to the school’s junior varsity ballfield. Kings Park Youth, a community group that runs local sports programs, donated more than $20,000 and recruited more than a dozen volunteers for the project. Work began Sept. 17...
Read more »History comes to life at 27th annual Rock Hall fair
Photo credit: Mary Kate Mahoney
Private Ryan Reece of the Confederate Army’s 30th Virginia Infantry Company B found himself stationed in Union territory this weekend, when he joined the encampment at the 27th annual Rock Hall Museum Country Fair in Lawrence.
Reece, 27, of Northport, has been participating in Civil War re-enactments in towns all along the East Coast since he was 7 years old.
“My father got me into it,”...
Read more »Bayville’s Bailey Ryan, family host fundraiser for Winthrop cancer center
Photo credit: Kathleen Fordyce
When Bayville’s Bailey Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia just before his third birthday in 2000, his family made a promise.
“We said when this is over, we are going to throw a big party,” said Alice Lovegrove, Bailey’s mom, smiling at the memory.
Bay, as Bailey is affectionately called, endured three years of chemotherapy. Luckily, he does not remember much from that time, only that it...
Read more »Real-life cowboys saddle up in Riverhead
Photo credit: Jessica Stallone
Denise Collura mounts her caramel-colored horse, checks the ammo in her single-action revolver and awaits further instructions at the starting line.
“You can start with any color,” said Joe Mugnai, 51, of Farmingdale. “You choose your color and you stick with that color.”
Collura didn’t hesitate.
“I’m going for white,” said the 31-year-old Bellmore woman.
She was among the...
Read more »Hard Cider Festival raises money for Beer for Brains Foundation
Photo credit: Ursula Moore
Kara Matejov spent four months studying abroad last year in London.
While she was there, she visited her first hard cider festival and loved every minute of it.
So the 22-year-old Seaford woman jumped at the chance to attend the inaugural Pour the Core: A Hard Cider Festival on Saturday hosted by and held at the Peconic Bay Winery in Cutchogue.
“I knew I had to come today because...
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