Long Island briefs
HEMPSTEAD
The Hempstead-based Operation Get Ahead organization is hosting a Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative awards breakfast Friday in Uniondale.
The organization will host its 26th annual breakfast to give awards in the community and read excerpts from the MLK Scholarship essay contest. A scholarship will also be awarded by the family of local businesswoman Mary Grant.
Operation Get Ahead organizers are planning to award the Minister Gerard Burnett Sr. award to his wife and son. Regina and Gerard Burnett Jr.
Gerard Burnett Sr., a minister at Antioch Baptist Church in Hempstead and the chief executive of the Carl C. Burnett Funeral Home, died in 2011. He was 47 and lived in Freeport.
The Rosa Parks award will also be given to the daughter of Hempstead NAACP president Barbara Powell.
Several other awards will be given to community leaders.
The awards breakfast will be held Friday Jan. 15 at the Long Island Marriott, 101 James Doolittle Blvd. in Uniondale from 8 a.m. to noon.
An interfaith service will follow Sunday at 7 p.m. at Zion Cathedral Church of God in Christ in Freeport and a Martin Luther King Day luncheon is scheduled 11:30 a.m. Jan. 18 at the Long Island Marriott.
JOHN ASBURY
AMITYVILLE
Amityville Long Island Rail Road commuters can apply for 2016 parking permits at the station Jan. 19 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Village employees will be on hand to take payments and permit applications. Payments should be cash or check. To save time, village clerk-treasurer Dina Shingleton suggests that applicants bring a completed application, although blank applications will be available. Applications may be downloaded from the village website, amityville.com.
Yearly resident parking permits cost $30. Nonresident passes cost $150 for the year. Permits are valid Feb. 1 through Jan. 31, 2017.
Permit applications will also be taken at Village Hall during regular business hours and until 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 and Jan. 28.
NICHOLAS SPANGLER
GLEN COVE
The city has overhauled its website to make it easier for residents to view on mobile devices.
City public relations officer Lisa Travatello announced the new design during Tuesday’s pre-council meeting.
“Our goal is to make information accessible and user-friendly . . . ,” Travatello said before passing her smartphone around the conference table for councilmembers to view how the site looks on a mobile device. “It’s taking us into the 21st century.”
Previously, only portions of the city website would appear on viewers’ mobile phones, she said.
The new website also has more vibrant graphics and the ability to display news, service and bad-weather alerts, she said. In addition, items listed on the city’s calendar of events now include maps and other features.
With the new website, residents can download and print PDF versions of building permit applications, the city zoning map, City Council resolutions and other documents
In the past, the city paid an outside company to post items on the website. The new content-management system allows employees in the mayor’s office to do so themselves, which will lead to more timely posts and save the city money, Travatello said.
The website also has a button to click to send emails directly to the mayor.
The city website is glencove-li.us.
DAVID OLSON
SUFFOLK COUNTY
Local nonprofit organizations that support veterans can now apply to receive some of the nearly $160,000 that was raised during 2015’s inaugural Suffolk County marathon and half marathon.
More than 3,500 runners from 25 states and four countries participated in the running events held Sept. 13, one of six races that was a part of the Suffolk County Veterans Running Series held across the region last year, according to a news release.
Before the race, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone committed all net proceeds from the marathon to “enhancing local veteran services,” according to the marathon website, which adds that Suffolk County has the state’s largest population of veterans.
“I am extremely proud of what the inaugural event accomplished as we will be able to make a significant impact to veterans in our local communities,” Bellone said in a statement. “I encourage all eligible nonprofit organizations to apply for grant funding through this program so we will be able to continue to assist our heroes who live in Suffolk County.”
Applicants will be asked several questions, including what services the funds would be used for, why those services are needed by area veterans, and how soon the project could be underway, as well as a project budget, according to the application.
The process will be directed by the Suffolk County Marathon Fund Disbursement Advisory Committee, which was established to assess the needs of the county’s veterans, come up with a set of guidelines for awarding the funds and will make recommendations on where the money should go. Organizations that apply will be ranked based on a list of priorities, goals and objectives set by the committee.
Applications must be submitted to the Suffolk County Veteran Services Agency by 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 29. The grant application can be downloaded at suffolkcountyny.gov/veterans/home.
SARAH ARMAGHAN
The sometimes spotty lighting at Babylon Town’s Tanner Park baseball fields will be replaced by mid-April, Deputy Supervisor Antonio Martinez said Thursday.
“We want to make sure these facilities are available before the season starts,” he said, a day after the town board voted 4-0, with Councilman Thomas Donnelly absent, to award a $638,268 installation contract to low-bidder Bellport-based Relle Electric Corp.
Tanner Park, on the Copiague waterfront, was among the town facilities hit hardest by superstorm Sandy in October 2012, and the new lights will be the latest piece of what has been an extensive refurbishment, Martinez said.
The old lights were 20 to 25 years old and did not always work. The replacements will use energy-efficient bulbs and will make for brighter fields with less light pollution for surrounding neighborhoods, Martinez said, correcting what he said had been a problem.
“We were having this big glow,” he said. “Residents will see an improvement.”
NICHOLAS SPANGLER
There’s a new marriage officer in Babylon Town: Deputy Supervisor Antonio Martinez, who was authorized by a 4-0 town board vote on Wednesday to “solemnize a marriage within its territorial limits.”
Martinez, who speaks Spanish fluently, said he volunteered after an incident that occurred at Town Hall over the holidays, when much of the bilingual staff was on vacation or working out of the office, and a Spanish-speaking couple asked for help filling out their marriage certificate.
“Although they understood English, they felt more comfortable in their native language,” Martinez said. “Meeting this couple, I realized there was a need. . . . We’re here to help our residents, and make them feel at home.”
Martinez did not get an invitation to the wedding, although he noted the couple was “very appreciative” for his help.
Clerk Carol Quirk and Supervisor Rich Schaffer are already empowered to carry out marriages in the town.
NICHOLAS SPANGLER
SMITHTOWN
Smithtown Town Councilwoman Lisa Inzerillo, who was elected in November, was sworn in during a private ceremony at Town Hall.
The ceremony was held on Dec. 26 with a small group of family members, friends and supporters, said Inzerillo. She was sworn in by Suffolk County District Court Judge John J. Toomey Jr.
When asked in an interview on Jan. 8 why she preferred to have a private ceremony as opposed to a public swearing-in on the steps of Town Hall as previous elected officials have done, she said, “It’s just my personality to be with my family and my friends and my supporters.”
Inzerillo was sworn in again on Jan. 4 by Smithtown Town Attorney Matthew Jakubowski and signed her oath of office that day, she said.
In a written statement, Inzerillo thanked various elected officials, campaign supporters, residents, and her husband, Anthony, “for having the faith and trust in me.”
“I look forward to serving the residents of Smithtown with honor and integrity, and very excited to begin work with Supervisor Vecchio and the town board members to make our government more effective and efficient,” she said in the statement.
LAUREN R. HARRISON
Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV