TOWNS NEWS BRIEFS

GREENPORT / Village among ports for tall ships race

The tall ships are sailing into Greenport Village this Memorial Day weekend, and the tickets are on sale now.

After a five-year hiatus, the waterfront village will hold a three-day maritime festival in connection with the historic ships' arrival, beginning on May 26.

The Tall Ships Challenge Race starts in Savannah, Ga., on May 3, and moves up the East Coast to Greenport before departing for Newport, R.I., and Halifax, Canada, on July 19.

Ticket holders will be able to board the ships and talk with their crews about life aboard the massive sailing vessels. At least six ships will be in port for the festivities.

Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors age 65 and older, and free for children 12 and under. To purchase in advance, go to greenport.showclix.com. Prices will be higher when purchased at port on Memorial Day weekend.

-- STACEY ALTHERR

SEA CLIFF / Options eyed amid Nassau precinct plan

A study into whether Sea Cliff Village should drop Nassau County police in favor of protection by neighbor Glen Cove will take into account the recent vote to downsize Nassau police precincts, Sea Cliff Mayor Bruce Kennedy said.

"It seems like every time we get a good handle on what's going on, the county changes what they're going to do," Kennedy said at Monday's board of trustees meeting.

He was responding to a resident's request that the village consider Old Brookville police, which serves six North Shore villages, as an additional alternative to Nassau.

The resident, Jerry Romano, also cited Laurel Hollow's decision last month to drop Nassau and contract with Oyster Bay Cove police.

Sea Cliff last fall commissioned a feasibility study into whether Glen Cove police would save the village money without forcing it to sacrifice protection. The results -- and a decision on future police contracts -- might not come for several more months, Kennedy has said.

Sea Cliff is paying $2.2 million in annual Nassau police costs, Kennedy said Monday.

He said he's keeping future costs in mind.

"My biggest concern is sustainability," he said. "We don't want to -- 10 years down the line -- be paying more than we'd be paying Nassau County."

Added trustee Carol Vogt: "We're trying to get the best deal possible."

Currently, there are, statistically speaking, 0.75 cops in Sea Cliff at all times, Kennedy said. "I think that we should have more protection than we do," he said. "Nassau County says we're over-policed based on our crime rates."

-- EMILY NGO

PATCHOGUE / Plan to fix sidewalks with sewer funds

The Patchogue Village Board is hoping to tap into its $2 million sewer fund surplus to help fix up sidewalks and parks in the community.

The trustees unanimously voted in favor of a resolution introduced by Mayor Paul Pontieri at Monday's board meeting -- a home rule request to amend the portion of village code that mandates that sewer fund money be used only on sewer projects -- and asked that 40 percent of the surplus, or $800,000, be made available for infrastructure improvements.

The sewer fund has a surplus because of "key money" paid to the village by large developments such as Copper Beech Village and Artspace Patchogue, Pontieri said after the vote.

"We charged them for the right to hook up to our sewer system," he said. The village wants to now use the surplus to improve the infrastructure affected by the sewer system.

"My premise is that sewers by nature, because they create density and housing through industrial and commercial projects, they create stress on your infrastructure," Pontieri said. "So we need to be able to take some of this money to upgrade some of those things, whether it's sidewalks or waterfront parks."

Assembly members Dean Murray and Lee Zeldin will sponsor the resolution in the State Legislature in April. "Hopefully we'll have the money by summer," Pontieri said. Priorities for the money are improving parks, and building more sidewalks near village schools and parks, he said.

-- SOPHIA CHANG

OYSTER BAY / Town extends Cold War vets' tax deal

A partial exemption from real property taxes for Cold War military personnel will be continued for another decade, Oyster Bay Town officials decided Tuesday.

The Town Board voted, 6-0, with one councilman absent, to adopt a local law that amends the town code to renew the exemption through 2021.

Cold War veterans, defined in the code as those who served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces between 1945 and 1991 and who were honorably discharged or released, can apply for the exemption through Nassau County, town spokeswoman Marta Kane said.

Kane could not say what percentage of a qualified person's real property taxation the legislation affects.

James Foote, 63, of Sea Cliff, who served in the Navy from 1968 to 1972, said he will apply for the exemption for the first time. He channeled a son of Oyster Bay -- President Theodore Roosevelt -- in support of the renewal during Tuesday's public hearing: "Any man or woman who is willing to shed their blood for this great nation of ours deserves a square deal afterward."

Foote then added his own touch: "Keep up the square deal. I appreciate it."

-- EMILY NGO

NESCONSET / Roadway work plans available on Web

Plans for rebuilding a section of Smithtown Boulevard in Nesconset can be viewed online.

An interactive feature on the website of Suffolk Legis. John M. Kennedy Jr. (R-Nesconset) allows residents to view the plans and comment on them, Kennedy's office said.

The plans, in a report prepared for the county Department of Public Works by a Melville consultant, the RBA Group, can be seen at legis.suffolkcountyny.gov/do/do12/do12.html. From that website, residents who want to comment on the proposals are invited to click on a link labeled "Click here to respond."

The consultant proposed altering traffic patterns on Smithtown Boulevard, which is County Road 16, around two intersections: the one at Gilbert Avenue and Sheppard Lane, and a second at Mayfair Road. Proposals include raised medians in the middle of the street, a single-lane roundabout, or painting new stripes that would redirect traffic.

The earliest the reconstruction could begin is 2013; there is no estimate of the project costs.

In a statement, Kennedy said soliciting residents' comments on his website helps "make civic participation possible for busy families attempting to balance work and child-raising, for whom attending weeknight meetings may be impossible."

Smithtown Boulevard is considered dangerous by officials because of sharp curves and blind spots. A 15-year-old Nesconset boy was critically injured in 2007 when he was struck by a vehicle while riding a bicycle on the road near Gilbert Avenue.

-- CARL MACGOWAN

GARDEN CITY / Forum on latest ways to fight breast cancer

A medical forum to discuss advancements in breast cancer treatments will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Adelphi University's Ruth S. Harley University Center Ballroom in Garden City.

Speakers include Dr. Kathie-Ann Joseph -- director of the breast service at Health and Hospitals Corp., Southern Manhattan, and assistant professor of surgery at New York University Langone Medical Center -- and Dr. Steven M. Sugarman, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Commack.

Joseph has several grants for breast cancer research and seeks to provide cancer screenings to communities that lack those resources.

Sugarman is assistant chair, Department of Medicine, for Clinical Trials in the Regional Network. He has participated in trials involving breast cancer research. Along with news about treatment advances, there will also be information on health care and updates on clinical trials.

The Beth C. Tortolani Foundation and Meghan's Pansies Breast Cancer Fund, charities devoted to breast cancer awareness, are sponsoring the event.

For more information or to make reservations, call 516-877-4325.

-- ANNE WINBERRY

HOLTSVILLE / Mom wins chance to relive special day

Catherine "Cat" Charrett Dykes spends most of her days in her laundry room at home, or as she refers to it, "the cave."

The 44-year-old Holtsville wife and mother has suffered for the past nine years from chronic migraines, and the limited light in the laundry room provides at least some relief. Charrett Dykes has endured numbness in her hands, extreme pain in her joints, and blurry vision.

Her life is a far cry from her past, which included teaching karate at Kempo Martial Arts Dojo of Holbrook.

Botox injections every 2 1/2 months, which Charrett Dykes started last September, have made the condition more manageable and allowed her to pursue a special opportunity.

One of her worst experiences in dealing with her migraines was missing her family reunion four years ago in New Hampshire. Charrett Dykes submitted a story to the Rewrite Your Day contest, detailing the sadness she felt missing her reunion and how important family is to her.

The contest is sponsored by the nonprofit National Headache Foundation; HealthyWomen.org, a nonprofit health source for women; and Allergan, a multispecialty health care company. Charrett Dykes was one of 15 individuals from around the country living with chronic migraines who were given the opportunity to have a special moment they lost "rewritten." Her family reunion was re-created Feb. 29 at Il Mulino Restaurant in Roslyn.

"I am happy to be here and spend time with my mom since we usually don't get to do a lot of things together," said 15-year-old Maegan Charrett Dykes, one of Charrett Dykes' two children.

Charrett Dykes also has a son, 17-year-old Ian, with her husband of 19 years, Christopher.

-- URSULA MOORE