LI BRIEFS

SEAFORD/Town Board OKs request for expansion to King home

It was a modest request like countless others decided by the Hempstead Town Board of Zoning Appeals, but Wednesday the homeowner was no ordinary citizen.

After a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, the board approved, 5-0, a 153-square-foot addition to the family room of Rep. Peter King's Seaford home. King, a Republican, said he hopes the $20,000 expansion is finished by Christmas.

On paper, the applicant was King's wife, Rosemary, but the case prompted the recusal of board member Katuria D'Amato, whose husband, Alfonse, the former U.S. senator, is a political ally of King and employs King's son Sean.

King's house work required special approval because it expanded the home to 30 percent of its lot's area, just over the town's 27.5 percent limit.

King said his wife was more involved in planning the expansion, so it made sense for her to handle the building permits. He said he wanted to avoid appearing to use his influence.

- Michael Amon

ISLANDWIDE/Two mosquito pools test positive for West Nile virus

Mosquito pools in Bethpage and West Babylon have tested positive for the West Nile virus, the health departments of Nassau and Suffolk counties confirmed Wednesday.

In each case, the virus was identified as Culex pipiens/restuans.In Suffolk, the sample testing positive was collected June 23 in West Babylon; in Nassau, the positive sample was collected June 30 in Bethpage.

Each county health department said no humans have tested positive for the West Nile virus. Officials said preventive measures, including inspecting breeding sites and applying larvicide, will continue.

- GARY DYMSKI