LI NEWS BRIEFS

ISLANDWIDE / Change in federal shelter funding policy urged

Heeding Long Island's call to restore $1 million for programs such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Friday urged the administrator of the federal program to reconsider the way funding is calculated.

"A sudden change of this nature jeopardizes the ability of local governments to adequately respond to the challenges of homeless and hunger at a time when this assistance is needed most," Gillibrand said in a letter to Craig Fugate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Suffolk didn't qualify for the money this year because the county's jobless rate came in at 7.4 percent, just shy of the 7.8 percent required by the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which is overseen by FEMA.

And, though there are pockets of communities with 12 percent or higher unemployment rates, which would make Suffolk eligible for funding, the county was disqualified because these neighborhoods are unincorporated.

Nassau's unemployment rate is 6.9 percent but the county did qualify for its $695,000 in funding. That was so because the incorporated Village of Hempstead's jobless rate was 9.8 percent, above the limit set by the federal agency.

Although Nassau got its money, County Executive Ed Mangano joined Suffolk's county executive in asking Gillibrand and Sen. Charles Schumer, both Democrats, to look into the way funding is calculated.

- Chau Lam

LAKE SUCCESS / Trustee, wife charged with tax evasion

A Village of Lake Success trustee and his wife were arrested and charged with tax evasion, the state Department of Taxation and Finance announced Friday.

Adam and Adrienne Kolodny, both 47, of 3 School House Lane in Lake Success, were charged with a felony count of failing to file income tax returns. They didn't file returns for 2002 through 2006 during which they had income of more than $2 million and didn't pay about $82,000 in state income taxes, according to a news release from the department.

Lake Success Village administrator Carol Pogrell said Friday that Adam Kolodny resigned from his position as trustee. She would not say when he resigned and declined to comment further.

Adam Kolodny is director of finance for MITEQ Inc. in Hauppauge, which develops radio frequency and microwave products. Officials did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Kolodny, reached at home, declined to comment.

- Jennifer Sinco Kelleher