The county executives of Nassau and Suffolk counties held a joint press conference on Feb.14, appropriately Valentine's Day. Newly installed Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi introduced Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney as "our friend from the East who made the first phone call I received after I was elected." Mr. Gaffney lauded "the improvement since January 8 in the cooperation of the county executive." Although Gaffney is a Republican and Suozzi a Democrat, both men referred to mutual regional concerns. "An inability to deal with them is detrimental to both of us," Gaffney said. "We may not be able to work together on every issue but we can on a lot of them." Both men stressed the fact that the two counties have a combined population of 2.6 million, "significant enough to get attention from New York State and the federal government." Suozzi said that the fact that he and Gaffney were from different political parties could be an asset. "The whole is bigger than the sum of its parts," he said. FULL STORY

It was a bittersweet Valentine's party at St. Francis Hospital on Friday, Feb. 15 as her many friends gathered to bid farewell to Sister Jean Pignone, who has lived and worked at The Heart Center for 61 years. Sister Jean, 85, would have liked to stay but she is a member of the Sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary who has taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. In this case, obedience means leaving St. Francis and moving to the order's assisted-living facility in Rhode Island. Although many of Sister Jean's friends have suggested that, if she is frail, there could be no better place for her than at the hospital she has served so faithfully for so many years, one administration member pointed out that she is a resident, not a patient, at St. Francis. FULL STORY

On Saturday night, Feb. 9, Senior Captains Garrett Spitz, Jimmy Faello and Jamiel Hendricks scored 30 of Manhasset's 59 points to carry the team to a second-place finish in the county championship finals. Westbury won the county title in a field of 24 schools. Manhasset carried on the tradition of 22 years of finishing first, second or third in the indoor county championships. FULL STORY

Nine members of the Manhasset Express girls soccer team and their coach awoke before the sun on Feb. 10 to travel to Brentwood for The Ray Perez Memorial Indoor Soccer Tournament. The team expected fun, but since the other teams usually played in more competitive divisions and some were older, no one predicted going home with trophies. Their Olympic pride, spirit and skill helped them get the silver. FULL STORY