The Town of Hempstead held its annual lighting ceremony last Tuesday at Hempstead Town Hall Plaza. Town Supervisor Kate Murray and town officials were joined by Santa Claus at the ceremony, which included the lighting of the Christmas Tree, Kwanzaa Kinara and Hanukkah Menorah. This year, the supervisor had the assistance of Levittown resident Hedy Navarro and her son Justin in the lighting of the holiday symbols. Hedy's husband and Justin's father, Rick Navarro, is a sergeant in the US Army Military Brigade who is serving in Iraq and will not be home to celebrate the holidays with his family. FULL STORY

Earlier this and last month, some 45 World War II and Korean War veterans from the 15th and 19th Assembly Districts finally received something they'd been waiting for almost their whole lives - a high school diploma. FULL STORY

The seventh grade boys basketball team improved their record to a perfect 2 and 0 with a dramatic come from behind 42-39 victory over Mattlin Middle School. The boys trailed by as many as 13 points in the third period before battling back in the fourth and fifth periods to take the lead and win the game by three points. John Howard continued his impressive performance by dropping 17 points in the second half and dominating the boards, grabbing over 10 rebounds. Nick Bruzzese was a spark plug off the bench, adding seven points and pushing up the tempo of the game on the Bulldog fast break. Also scoring for the team were Matt Passatempo, Tom Hart and John Thearle with five points each and Anthony Mele and Ryan Tolan each added a basket. Eric Fazio was the defensive star of the game, shutting down the opponents' guards by playing suffocating man to man defense. FULL STORY

Coaches Mike Pellegrino, Bob Merrill, and Joe Myles would like to congratulate the fourth grade girls of St. Bernard's travel team for winning the Thanksgiving tournament. They defeated Our Lady of Victory 34-8 and beat St. Aidan's 22-10 to capture their first tournament. The Most Valuable Player award went to Nicole Pellegrino, whose 19 points led all scoring. Other scorers included Jillian Mulholland (12 pts.), Amy Zdrodowski (6 pts.), Kelly Kempf (6 pts.). Other team contributors were: Allison Merrill, Margoo McGinty, Susan Ballantyne, Hayley Myles, Melissa Pashko, Jackie Catalano, Maggie Carew, and Courtney Boneillo. Captain Margo McGinty commended the team's fine play and said, "the team really knows how to step it up when it counts." The team now has a record of 8-3 as they continue their great season. FULL STORY