Long Island briefs

EAST MEADOW

Park displaying Wall of Remembrance

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, in conjunction with the United Veterans Organization and Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, is presenting the Wall of Remembrance for viewing by the public. The wall went on display yesterday in parking field 8 of Eisenhower Park and will continue round-the-clock through Thursday.

This will be the first time the memorial will be displayed on the East Coast of the United States, Nassau officials said.

"I am honored to present the Wall of Remembrance here in Eisenhower Park to pay tribute to the veterans and all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation's freedom and ensuring our safety in the Global War on Terror," Mangano said in a statement.

The traveling memorial pays tribute to those lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and to the fallen heroes and veterans who answered the call to defend the nation over the past 30 years in the global war on terrorism.

The wall is 94 feet long by 6 feet high and is made up of 31 panels. Currently, there are almost 11,000 names on the wall. The full-color timeline goes from 1983 to the present day.

BROOKHAVEN

Wrinkles mar board's change to paperless

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine unveiled a paperless meeting agenda system last week that he said would reduce waste and save taxpayers millions of dollars.

But the electronic system, in which town board members access information on computer notepads instead of receiving printed material, met with skepticism from some council members who used it for the first time during a work session Thursday.

One councilman, Tim Mazzei, threw up his hands in exasperation.

Romaine defended the system in an interview after the meeting.

"We're going to save a ton of paper," he said. "We're going to save money. It's going to be more efficient."

The format posts town board agendas and copies of resolutions on the town website, where they can be read by the public, town officials said.

Town Attorney Annette Eaderesto, whose staff downloads resolutions into the system, told council members it would make more information available faster before upcoming meetings.

"It's going to work," she said. "We're going to get better at it."

OYSTER BAY

Challenge against candidate adjourned

A challenge to independent candidate John Quirk's petitions to run for the Nassau County Legislature as a Libertarian was adjourned on Friday for a week because the State Supreme Court judge was not in court. Court spokesman Daniel Bagnuola could not confirm that Justice Arthur Diamond was out because of the Jewish holy day Rosh Hashanah, but said that roughly half the court's judges did not come in on Friday.

Oyster Bay resident Richard LaMarca, who is a registered Republican, challenged about 650 signatures, which would be enough to keep Quirk off the ballot for an open seat in the 18th Legislative District. Quirk, a district superintendent for the New York City Department of Sanitation, said that he was confident that he had enough signatures that could be verified as legitimate to get on the ballot.

"It just wastes taxpayers' money," Quirk said of the legal proceedings. "If you look through some of these [challenges], it's ridiculous."

Quirk said he had to take off work to go to court and would need to take off work again because of the adjournment.

LaMarca's attorney, Kenneth Gray, who is a partner at the Mineola-based law firm Bee, Ready, Fishbein, Hatter & Donovan LLP, said, "There are enough objectionable signatures that will invalidate the petition as a whole." The law firm is known for representing Republicans in election cases, including the Nassau Republican Committee.

LaMarca did not return a call on Friday for comment.

If Quirk makes it on the ballot, he will face Republican Donald MacKenzie, an Oyster Bay Water District commissioner, and Oyster Bay Democratic leader David Gugerty in the general election.

The county board of elections has yet to review the challenges.

PT. LOOKOUT/

ISLIP TOWN

Park to host LI's largest 9/11 service

Long Island's largest Sept. 11 memorial service will take place Wednesday for the 12th time at Hempstead Town Park at Point Lookout.

Pre-event activities begin at 4:30 a.m. and the service begins three hours later, Hempstead Town officials said. The park is located at the intersection of Loop Parkway and Lido Boulevard in Point Lookout.

Hundreds of residents gathered in Point Lookout in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, in part because the Manhattan skyline is visible from the area, Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray said in a statement. Residents gathered and looked westward, where they could see smoke rising from the World Trade Center, she said.

"This is where we came to reflect during the saddest moment in our nation's history," Murray's statement said.

The service will include an interactive program in which residents will be encouraged to write messages on a 35-foot replica of the World Trade Center. There will also be speakers and music.

Islip Town also will remember the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks with a ceremony Wednesday.

The event will be held at 5 p.m. at the town's Sept. 11 memorial on the front lawn of Town Hall (655 Main St.).

The town's officials will read aloud the names of the 90 victims who had ties to Islip. Representatives of local religious groups also will be present, along with members of the town's fire departments.

KINGS PARK

District plans to host Common Core forum

The Kings Park school district plans to host a "roundtable" tomorrow night to inform parents, staff and board of education members about the implementation of Common Core standards and instructional supports for students to meet those standards.

The meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. at Kings Park High School before the regular board meeting, also will allow attendees to ask questions and offer suggestions, officials said.

Superintendent Susan Agruso, speaking at a board meeting last month, compared the more rigorous Common Core curriculum to shorter, younger children being expected to play regulation basketball.

"All of the content of the game, all of the skills to play the game, you develop over years as you yourself are getting bigger and bigger and bigger and better able to meet the standards of professional basketball," she said. "Well, Common Core standards are a little bit like that, except the little kid has to meet the regulation basket now -- before they have the years and years and years of practice and development."

The roundtable follows last month's release of state test results for grades 3-8. Last year's tests were the first based on the Common Core curriculum.

More than 126,000 Long Island students scored below proficiency on state math tests this year, compared with fewer than 51,000 in 2012. More than 122,000 students received subpar scores on the latest English tests, compared with fewer than 68,000 in 2012.

"We all want our students to do well," Agruso said at the board meeting. "We will all agree with you that when it came to giving those tests last year, it was much too fast, a lot quicker than any of us think was appropriate, and it really would have been nice if the state had just given us another year or two to work with our students to better prepare them and have everybody ready to make those baskets."

SMITHTOWN

Board to address bargaining, homes

Smithtown officials plan to vote on several resolutions at tomorrow's town board meeting.

The agenda for the 2 p.m. meeting at Town Hall includes a resolution from Supervisor Patrick Vecchio to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the Civil Service Employees Association part-time unit, which requires town board approval.

Other resolutions include town board approval of the expenses and costs incurred by the town in relation to two Smithtown homes that violated the town's property maintenance code.

"The resolution is authorizing the amount to be assessed against the property," said Smithtown Town Attorney John Zollo of the $64,975 in costs incurred at 7 Hadley Dr. and the $36,277 in costs incurred at 30 Helen Ave.

Both homes, damaged by fires, were vacant and were demolished by the town, said Zollo, adding that officials had meetings with the owners about the violations before the demolition.

The town board also will vote on a new agreement with the Town of Brookhaven for the disposal of residentially generated construction and demolition debris at Brookhaven's Horseblock Road landfill in Yaphank at an initial fee of $50 per ton.

"This is the best alternative of where to bring it and the least expensive," said Councilman Thomas McCarthy, adding that officials otherwise would have had to truck the debris out of state because no other landfills are open nearby.

NORTHPORT/

GREENLAWN

Navy vet, 73, gets high school diploma

On a Seattle-bound train in 1999, Gil Harris happily disclosed fond memories of serving in the Navy from 1957 to 1963 to a writer he met on the trip, despite never finding out her name. Two weeks later, he received a letter from that same woman, translating his recollections into writing.

Shortly after, that one-page letter inspired him to write a 10-page detailed account of his Navy days serving on two destroyer ships and making it through two hurricanes at sea.

Harris, a Northport resident and member of the Greenlawn American Legion Post 1244, volunteered to speak to eighth-graders at Oldfield Middle School on Feb. 21, providing them copies of his story.

His willingness to share his service experience with young people led to his -- at age 73 -- finally receiving his high school diploma during Harborfields High School's 2013 graduation ceremony on June 22.

He had dropped out of Kings Park High School, one credit shy of graduation, at age 17, after his father died of a heart attack on Father's Day in 1955 at age 51. To support his mother and five siblings, he picked up a job as a cook at a diner, earning 35 cents an hour.

Post Commander Bob Santo, 68, of Huntington, said Harborfields High School Principal Rory Manning found out about Harris' classroom visit. Manning reached Harris through the Legion and told him he was eligible for a "Life Experience" diploma, awarded through a state program to military veterans based on their knowledge and experiences serving in the military.

Part of the letter Harris received in 1999 summed up his pride for how his life turned out, even after losing his father so suddenly, he said.

"Gone ashore for good, we will brag about our Navy days, when the seas belonged to us and a new port of call was ever over the horizon," it read. "I will stand taller and say, 'I was a sailor. I was part of the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Navy will always be a part of me.' "

NORTHPORT

Walking Club on course for 10k race

After waking Wednesday at sunrise, they drove to Northport Harbor, parked their cars and began walking briskly through the village's sleepy Main Street, continuing on nearby streets, never taking for granted the captivating scenic views of the harbor and foliage en route.

Walking the last five miles of the annual Great Cow Harbor 10K race -- a national race in Northport that draws nearly 5,500 runners and more than 25,000 spectators -- has become a weekly Wednesday morning practice habit for 10 residents of Northport, Centerport and Greenlawn.

Calling themselves the Walking Club since 2007, they not only walk part of the route to practice for this year's race on Sept. 21, but also walk at other nearby places on Fridays and Sundays. Most members of the group will run the race.

The group's founder and leader, Barry Aronowsky, decided to form the club after using the route to train for a hiking trip in Costa Rica. And after spending most of his adult life running marathons, he said it was time to slow down, especially after injuring his neck falling off his bicycle in 2010.

"After the trip, a bunch of us continued walking, and as mentioned by word-of-mouth the group continued to grow since its inception six years ago," said Aronowsky, 72, of Greenlawn. "The best part for me is being out in the fresh air to clear my mind."