Long Island briefs

BROOKHAVEN TOWN

Supervisor Romaine to be sworn in today

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine will be sworn in today after his original inauguration last Thursday was postponed by a blizzard-like snowstorm.

The ceremony is largely symbolic as Romaine earlier took an official oath of office last Thursday, allowing him to conduct Brookhaven business.

The 3 p.m. swearing-in ceremony at Town Hall in Farmingville also will include Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent Daniel P. Losquadro and town council members. But the 4th Council District won't have representation because results of that election are in dispute.

A winner has not been declared in the race between incumbent Democrat Connie Kepert, whose second term as the district's councilwoman expired last Tuesday, and Republican challenger Michael A. Loguercio Jr. The council district includes Bellport, Yaphank, Farmingville, Gordon Heights and parts of Ridge and Coram.

Today's ceremony is open to the public.

BRENTWOOD

Booster club gets $3G service award

The Brentwood Athletic Booster Club will be presented with a $3,000 check today from Team Up 4 Community, a nonprofit that is rewarding student-athletes for completing nearly 8,500 community service hours during the holiday season.

About 800 children in the Brentwood Union Free School District -- from the fencing, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, track football swimming and soccer teams -- completed the service hours in a 30-day period between November and December, according to John Rueb, president of the booster club.

The effort was part of the nonprofit's Long Island Holiday Sports Challenge, where schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties signed up to collectively fulfill 10,000 community service hours.

"There's a big need in the Brentwood area for help from others from the outside, there's a lot that are going without," Rueb said. "It's nice to see these kids step up for their neighbors and their classmates."

The volunteers in grades 3 through 12 helped in food, toy, clothing and coat drives, as well as feeding the homeless, coaching younger children and cleaning up courtyards around the neighborhood.

Team Up 4 Community -- an international community giveback project with the W20 Foundation, which was started by former New York Islanders' player Steve Webb -- will present the check during halftime at the boys varsity basketball game at the Brentwood High School Sonderling Gymnasium. The game starts at 4 p.m.

The Moriches Youth Lacrosse-Blue Devils also received a grant of $1,500 and Alexis Gonzalez, a Long Island University softball player, received $500.

STONY BROOK

Demos runs TV ads for congressional run

Republican congressional contender George Demos Monday launched his second TV ad blitz saying he is "fed up" with politicians, both Democrat and Republicans.

Demos launched his new cable ad after announcing last week that he has loaned his campaign another $1 million on top of the $1 million he put when he launched his run in October. He spent about $100,000 on an earlier spot that ran for about one month.

Demos, of Stony Brook, is likely to face two-term state Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) in a combative GOP primary in June where the winner will take on Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop of Southampton in November.

While Demos went on TV, Zeldin countered with an appearance Monday at the "New York Meeting," where national leaders discuss ideas "to put the country back on track" and a later interview on the "Wilkow Report" on Sirius Satellite Radio. He also announced a campaign kickoff rally for late tomorrow.

Demos' new campaign spot decries "politicians who ignore us and vote against us" and voted for "higher taxes and Obamacare." The ad then touts Demos as someone who is "not a politician," even though the candidate is making his third try to win the congressional seat.

Demos then said he's running because "I'm fed up with the go-along, get-along crowd in Albany and Washington."

Zeldin's rally will be held at the Portuguese-American Center in Farmingville at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of these briefs included an incorrect date for state Sen. Lee Zeldin's rally.

BELLMORE/MERRICK

District hosts transition program

The Bellmore-Merrick school district will host an event for students with disabilities at Sanford H. Calhoun High School tonight.

The event, titled "Fair for Transitioning Students with Disabilities: From Eligibility to Employment and Beyond," is designed to help the students make the transition out of a school environment.

There will be presentations about subjects such as travel training, Social Security benefits and special needs trusts, organizers said. More than 40 agencies will be on hand with information, organizers said.

"This fair works to educate and prepare a valuable portion of the student population of Long Island as well as those who support them and benefits the future economic and social landscape of our region," organizers said in a statement.

The high school is located at 1786 State St. in Merrick. The event begins at 6 p.m. and lasts until 9:15 p.m., organizers said.

NASSAU COUNTY

NICE highlights local vendor hot spots

Nassau bus riders can now support local businesses while waiting for their ride.

The Nassau Inter-County Express, or NICE Bus, has posted interactive "Hot Spots" at several small businesses -- and at NICE bus stops near them -- to provide information about vendors, including directions for getting to the businesses by bus.

Customers can use their smartphones to scan QR codes on the small signs and be directed to a NICE video clip showcasing a local business. In recent weeks, the spots have featured a Mineola deli, a New Hyde Park golf course, and a Westbury lounge.

"The Hot Spots program is another way NICE can strengthen our connection to our riders and merchants," NICE officials said in a statement. "We're really happy to be doing some value added for both groups."

NICE officials are asking the public to visit its Facebook and Twitter pages to nominate local merchants operating near bus stops as Hot Spots.

ISLANDWIDE

Volunteers sought to count homeless

The Long Island Coalition for the Homeless is seeking volunteers to help count the number of people who are homeless on the Island this month.

The count, which will take place on Jan. 22 in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how much funding to allocate to different regions for homeless services.

A three-hour training session for volunteers will take place beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 15 at the Touro Law Center in Central Islip.

For more information, contact gguarton@addressthehomeless.org.

ISLANDWIDE

State looks to hire plumber apprentices

The state is looking for a few good plumber apprentices.

The state Department of Labor plans to conduct a recruitment for 20 plumber apprentices from tomorrow through June 25 for a program administered by the Joint Apprenticeship Committee of Plumbers.

Applications must be completed in person at Local Union No. 200, 375 Central Ave. in Bohemia. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, excluding holidays.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a high school diploma or GED with a transcript required at the time of the interview. Applicants must also sign an affidavit attesting they are physically able to do plumbing work including piping, setting toilet fixtures, chopping holes and digging trenches, and similar activities.

Applicants must also have a valid New York driver's license, reliable transportation to and from job sites, have lived on Long Island for at least six months before the application, agree to a drug test, agree to buy required text materials for classes, appear for an interview, and provide military transfer or discharge information if applicable.

For more information, contact Local Union 200 at 631-567-3083.

BRIDGEHAMPTON

Second rare whale found ashore dead

A dead rare True's beaked whale calf was discovered in Bridgehampton Sunday night, hours after another whale of the same species was found dead on a Southampton beach about 4 miles away.

Rob DiGiovanni, executive director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Wildlife, said the second whale, a male, washed ashore between Mecox Beach and W. Scott Cameron Beach. He said the person who found the beached animal and called the foundation's hotline indicated that it was already dead.

Officials from the foundation, with assistance from East Hampton Town, retrieved the whale Monday afternoon and took it to its facility for an necropsy.

DiGiovanni said his staff was still performing a necropsy on the adult female True's beaked whale they recovered from the Southampton beach.

The female whale measured 15.5 feet long and weighed more than a ton; the male was 9 feet long and weighed about 400 pounds, DiGiovanni said. Researchers had not determined whether it was a juvenile or an adult, and whether it was related to the female. The male had no obvious markings on it to indicate its cause of death, he said.

True's beaked whales live deep in the ocean so that seeing one, dead or alive, is rare, said Kim Durham, the foundation's rescue program coordinator. Until this week, DiGiovanni said, the foundation had only studied two other True's beaked whales in the past 30 years.

UPTON

Gas leak sealed at national laboratory

A natural gas leak yesterday morning at Brookhaven National Laboratory was quickly sealed by emergency personnel, authorities said.

The leak at a compressed natural gas refueling station happened about 8 a.m. according to a news release from the lab, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Employees in several buildings were "sheltered in place until the leak was controlled," officials said.

The leak did not present a risk to employees or the public, and staff members have returned to normal operations, officials said.

The Department of Energy was notified and the federal agency also will conduct a full investigation, officials said in the statement.

A lab spokesman said the refueling station is used for a fleet of about 65 natural gas-fueled vehicles, mostly pickup trucks and cargo vans that are driven by on-site maintenance personnel.

MELVILLE

Funds raised to help athlete's recoveryBrianna Watt took a break from bowling at Bowlmor Lanes in Melville Sunday to recall the moment nearly four years ago that she saw Catherine O'Malley-Moriarty collapse on a field at Babylon High School.

Watt, 21, and Patric McQuade, a physical therapist who has been treating O'Malley-Moriarty since then, were among more than 250 people who filled the bowling alley for a fundraiser to support her recovery efforts.

The event, hosted by O'Malley-Moriarty's family, featured two hours of bowling and the raffling of 150 prizes.

O'Malley-Moriarty collapsed on March, 8, 2010, the first day of tryouts for Babylon's varsity girls lacrosse team.

O'Malley-Moriarty, then 17, had gone into idiopathic sudden cardiac arrest, which resulted in a hypoxic brain injury, according to McQuade, a physical therapist who has worked with O'Malley-Moriarty to regain her speech and other basic functional skills.

Money from the fundraiser was to pay for continued therapy. About 80 percent of the therapists are provided by the Babylon School District, but since Catherine is turning 21 this March, she's going to "age out" of the system, her family said.