Sunday News

• Steve Israel skillfully uses incumbency to gird for challenger

  WASHINGTON - With the Capitol dome behind him on a recent clear day, Rep. Steve Israel unveiled a legislative package to help the middle class: 13 bills that he conceded could not be enacted until next year.

• Bailout package boosts Paulson's powers

  WASHINGTON - Despite all the constraints Congress supposedly wrapped around him, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson is about to become the most powerful mortgage financier of the modern era - most likely of any era.

• Onus on McCain to catch Obama in presidential race

  WASHINGTON - One month before Election Day, Barack Obama sits atop battleground polls in a shrinking playing field, the economic crisis is breaking his way, and the Democrat has made progress toward winning the White House.

• When Times Get Really Bad

  WITH bank failures in the thousands, more than a quarter of the workforce jobless and everyone's incomes down by more than a fourth, there was nothing to rival the Great Depression as an economic nightmare. The recessions of 1980-82 and 1990-91 were much smaller crises by comparison.

• THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER: Broccoli gorws in cancer fight

  Broccoli, the stalky green vegetable long sniffed at by children and even a U.S. president, is one of a growing number of common foods that may help stop breast cancer before it starts.

• Ellis Henican: Gosh, a debating Palin exceeded our low expectations

  Ah, the gift of low expectations!

• Consumer advisers: Fast cash fix should be last resort

  Consumers strapped for cash and cut off from credit may be looking to less-than-perfect solutions in this less-than-perfect financial environment.

• O.J.'s unlucky number 13, facing life in prison

  LAS VEGAS - In a city where luck means everything, O.J. Simpson came out the big loser - and his unlucky number in a case full of bizarre twists was 13.

• Rick Brand: Cost of Suffolk land preservation programs questioned

  After three decades, Suffolk's smorgasbord of land preservation programs have delivered 34,000 acres into the public domain, but they've come at an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 billion. Or so says Martin Cantor, head of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute.

• Lead from shooting range still problem at school

  'Ventilation, that's the heart and soul of your system," said Andrew Hardwick, deputy commissioner of Nassau's Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums, as we walked through the county's indoor rifle and pistol range on Friday.

• Foot soldiers hit NYC streets at breast cancer walk

  Smiling broadly as she briskly entered the Wellness Village of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer yesterday on Randalls Island, Nicole St. Germain looked remarkably fresh for someone who had walked more than 26 miles in one day.

• N. Korean leader reportedly makes public appearance

  SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's state news agency reported a public appearance by reclusive leader Kim Jong Il for the first time in nearly two months, an absence that prompted speculation he was seriously ill.

• "Wall Street" scriptwriter sees missed message

  Two weeks ago, Michael Douglas fielded questions at a United Nations panel discussion on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. During the course of the conversation, the actor/activist was asked to compare nuclear Armageddon to the "financial Armageddon on Wall Street." After he answered, he was asked by another reporter, "Are you saying, Gordon, that greed is not good?"

• Staying through Hurricane Ike proves deadly for many

  GALVESTON, Texas - The final hours brought the awful realization to victims of Hurricane Ike that they had waited too long. This storm wasn't like the others, the ones that left nothing worse than a harrowing tale to tell.

• Leon Goldberg, intercom manufacturer, dies at 84

  Leon Goldberg, a founding member of the East Northport Jewish Center, once donated an ambulance to a community in Israel. His family found out - 20 years later.

• On the trail

  John McCain spent yesterday at a resort hotel in Sedona, Ariz., preparing for his second debate with Barack Obama. The Arizona senator plans to stay the weekend at his family retreat outside Sedona. Obama and McCain are scheduled to meet Tuesday at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., for the second of three debates. The televised debate moderated by NBC's Tom Brokaw will feature issues raised by audience members and submitted by Internet participants in a town-hall format.

• Endangered turtles mate, but eggs don't hatch

  SUZHOU, China - She's around 80 years old. He's 100.

• Stan Kann, vacuum-obsessed "Tonight Show" guest, dies

  Stan Kann, an organist with an affinity for antique vacuum cleaners whose unlikely hobby made him a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and other talk shows, died Monday at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis of complications from open heart surgery. He was 83.

• YOUR COMMUNITY WATCHDOG: Loop Parkway merge still needs some work

  Is anyone looking into how much worse the recent change in the ramp from Loop Parkway to the Meadowbrook Parkway is? I have been in three major traffic backups due to accidents on the Loop approaching the Meadowbrook. Drivers are scrambling to get over to the left lane because of the new pavement markings (see video at newsday.com/watchdog). What happened to our nice, easy merge of two lanes into one lane? Also, the redesigned roundabout at the Jones Beach tower was unnecessary. Now, drivers are trying to figure out what lane to be in! Get rid of the wacky arrows and signs (see video) and let the roundabout do what it was built to do - let traffic move freely.

• Homes, businesses using solar panels part of LI tour

  Because 24 solar panels in Cliff Roode's yard produced more electrical energy than his Mount Sinai home needed last year, the Long Island Power Authority paid him $6.64.

• Officer's friend recalls him as "generous, friendly"

  Claire Larkin, of Amityville, grew up with Michael Pigott in Lindenhurst.

• Benefits of broccoli, compounded

  Dr. Paul Talalay has developed a propagation technique for broccoli sprouts that ensures the seedlings are endowed with a high concentration of a compound he believes guards against breast cancer.

• Federal judge orders Shinnecocks' case reviewed

  A federal judge has ruled that the Shinnecocks' claim that the federal Department of Interior has "unreasonably delayed" making a decision on whether they should be a federally recognized tribe should be reviewed in court.

• WORLD & NATION UPDATE: ABROAD

  A UN nuclear conference indirectly criticized Israel yesterday for refusing to put its atomic program under international purview, but the Jewish state evaded a Muslim-led attempt to link it to nuclear proliferation in the Mideast. As in past years at the International Atomic Energy Agency's general conference, Iran, Israel's most outspoken foe, spearheaded the verbal attack on Israel, which is widely considered to have nuclear arms but has a "no tell" policy on the issue. Chief Iranian delegate Ali Ashgar Soltanieh said Israel's nuclear capabilities represent a "serious and continued threat to the security of neighboring and other states." And he took the U.S. and other Western backers of Israel to task for their "shameful silence" on what he said was the menace posed by Israel's atomic arsenal.

• Nation in brief: Supreme Court keeping a low profile

  The Supreme Court is doing its best to stay out of the spotlight in the final days of the presidential campaign and while the other two branches of government struggle to deal with turmoil in the financial markets. The justices open their new term tomorrow with no cases on abortion, race or other social issues that might split the court and the nation. The most entertaining case of the term involves celebrities' use of profanity on live television.

• The Simpson saga

  July 9, 1947 - Born in San Francisco.

• ONE MONTH TO GO

  MCCAIN'S STRATEGY

• Palin's Northern accent has Midwestern exposure

  MINNEAPOLIS - Sarah Palin is no Minnesotan. But she can sure sound like one. Turns out, there's a darn good reason for it, too.

• Long Beach turns green for Irish Day Parade

  At Long Beach's 19th annual Irish Day Parade, there were furry green hats and knee-high green socks, and green streaks highlighted strands of hair.

• Scary drive for pregnant woman

  Danielle Gruttadaurio was a day away from her due date and she was tired of being cooped up at home waiting. So she ventured out for a shopping trip with her mother-in-law.

• ARRESTS IN BAR INSPECTIONS

  Several people were arrested in inspections at bars in Lake Ronkonkoma and Bay Shore yesterday, Suffolk police said. Jasmin Rivera, 30, of 347 Mill Rd., Medford, was arrested at her bar, Sonidos de la Frontera, 846 Portion Rd., Lake Ronkonkoma, when Rivera sold alcohol to an underage undercover agent, said Sixth Precinct Crime Section Sgt. Todd Barone. Rivera was charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child as well as two counts of employing unlicensed security guards, Barone said. Bartender Lorena Mina-Aquino, 23, of 45 Peters Blvd., Central Islip, was charged with first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child, police said. After patrons' IDs were checked, Juan Acosta, 26, of 700 Rte. 25A, Setauket, was arrested because of a warrant from a probation violation. Manolo Arias-Bonilla, 22, of 147-11 Hoover Ave., Jamaica, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument because he had a fake New York license, Barone said. Rivera was also issued 26 summonses for building code violations and not having a certificate of occupancy, Barone said. About 70 were in the bar, exceeding its limit of 65, he said. Third Precinct officers led a similar operation at La Hamaca Sports Bar at 61 Bay Shore Rd., police said. Owner Jamel Belhouji, 46, of 79-09 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn, received five violations, police said. Steven Maxie Jr., 22, of Norfolk, Va., and Janetta Banks, 22, of 27 Lafayette St., Huntington, were charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Keith Banks, 28, of 61 S. 31st St., Wyandanch, was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana. Neither the defendants nor their relatives could be reached yesterday.

• WAR UPDATE

  Two U.S. helicopters collided while landing at a base in Baghdad yesterday, killing one Iraqi soldier and wounding four people, including two Americans, the military said. It was the second helicopter crash in two weeks. The U.S. military said hostile fire did not appear to be the cause. The two UH-60 Black Hawks crashed shortly before 9 p.m. in a northern section of the capital known as Azamiyah, the military said.

• THIS DATE IN HISTORY

  1892: The Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, was practically wiped out while attempting to rob a pair of banks in Coffeyville, Kan.

• YOUR COMMUNITY WATCHDOG: County vows a cleanup of Bay Park

  Bay Park in East Rockaway, a Nassau County park, is a disgrace with garbage, litter and cigarette butts all along the bulkheads where people fish and sit. The garbage cans are overflowing and attract green flies and yellow jackets. At the end of the park by the water, the garbage and litter is disgusting (see video at newsday.com/watchdog). The bathrooms were not working for a long time so people were urinating against the outside bathroom walls. Complaints have been made to the county, but we have seen the same litter there for weeks. We were told that the park is cleaned daily but we rarely see anyone cleaning it.

• Iran plan on hold

  WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned.

• Poll shows support for Bloomberg's third term

  New York City residents are saying yes to a third term for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but no for members of the City Council.

• YOUR COMMUNITY WATCHDOG: Brookhaven trims low-hanging limbs

  I recently purchased a boat and trailer. My boat lights have been damaged four times as I drive to the Mount Sinai Marina. The problem is the low clearance height from tree limbs on Harbor Beach Road. Can you help?

• CAMPAIGN WORKER SUSPENDED.

  A Manhasset man has been suspended without pay from Barbara Donno's State Senate campaign after being charged with stealing her opponent's signs, campaign officials said. The man, identified as Vincent Jeffrey, 22, was spotted in the act on Port Washington Boulevard by a state Sen. Craig Johnson campaign volunteer, who took down a license plate number. Jeffrey was arrested Thursday, the Johnson campaign said. Donno campaign spokesman Bryan Hurst described the incident as the action of "an overzealous campaign supporter."

• 3 BOYS ACCUSED OF ARSON.

  Three boys were arrested Friday on charges of setting a vacant West Islip building on fire Sept. 25, Suffolk police said. Two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old were charged as juveniles with third-degree arson for the fire at 220 Higbie Lane, which had housed a florist in the past, said Arson Section Det. Sgt. Ed Fitzgerald. They were released to their parents with a future Family Court date, Fitzgerald said.

• FBI STILL DIGGING

  FBI agents continued searching yesterday for three bodies that may be buried in an industrial site in East Farmingdale. Several agents dug in three places where an FBI informant said bodies were buried, directing a backhoe and regularly examining dirt. Digging will continue today, the FBI said.

• STUDENT ILL WITH MRSA

  A Harborfields High School freshman was diagnosed with MRSA yesterday, a district spokesman said. Michael Conte said the student is expected to recover and that workers are disinfecting common areas.