The Town of North Hempstead won a significant victory in the appellate division of the New York State Supreme Court on Aug. 21. A five-member panel ruled unanimously to uphold Judge Robert Roberto's decision, which affirmed the town's right to create district lines for the new ward system. The North Hempstead Republican leader, Peter Cavallaro, had filed suit to prevent the town board from drawing the new district lines, maintaining that this is the responsibility of the board of elections. When the lower court decision supported the town's position, Mr. Cavallaro appealed that decision. FULL STORY

Hollywood may be coming to Munsey Park! At its Aug. 13 meeting, the board of trustees of the Incorporated Village of Munsey Park heard a presentation from Tom Yeager, New York location manager for the production of a major motion picture entitled Mr. And Mrs. Smith, to star Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The production proposes to use 80 Bellows Lane as the setting for the movie, to be filmed over five or six days in January 2004. The village attorney explained that the Munsey Park Code does not have a provision that authorizes film shooting in the village, but a local law could be adopted in the next few months establishing a procedure by which the board of trustees could issue a permit, with conditions to protect the neighbors and the village from any adverse effects of the filming. Mr. Yeager explained that he has written to most of the immediate neighbors about the project and everyone he contacted was excited about the possibility of the village being the location for the movie. The board of trustees designated Mayor Nicolaides and the village attorney to meet with Mr. Yeager to discuss specific conditions for the filming and further directed the village attorney to prepare an appropriate local law for discussion at the next meeting of the board on Sept. 10. FULL STORY

The accomplishments are fresh in our memories, but each September it seems as if we must start from scratch. The key to our continued success is the recruiting of parents who want to accomplish a simple mission: improve our kids' experiences in school by supporting the athletic program. FULL STORY

Try to imagine over 200 Laser, Laser Radials and Laser 4.7s sailing on Manhasset Bay. Sails would probably fill the horizon - it would be a beautiful sight. That's just what happened recently at the Sayville YC on the south shore of Long Island, when 203 juniors sailed in the United States Laser, Laser Radial and Laser 4.7 Championships. The event drew 114 Lasers, 80 Radials and, for their first US Champs, 9 Laser 4.7s, making it the largest US Champs in recent memory. Conditions on the Great South Bay gave the competitors a range of challenging conditions - a southwesterly sea breeze on the first day, with up to about 20 knots of wind, to puffy winds on the second day, to a final two days of shifty, northwesterly breeze. The competition was fierce in all the fleets, particularly in the Laser fleet with many North American Olympic hopefuls present as well as top talent from Australia and New Zealand. At the end of the day, Andrew Childs, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, sailing a consistent series came in first, Clay Johnson took second for top US finish, Brendan Casey from Australia rounded out the top three. Todd Hawkins took first in the Radial Fleet, followed by Patrick Curran and Ryan Minth. John Moulthrop took the first ever Laser 4.7 US Championship. Local juniors who competed included Tedd Himler (Laser 4.7), Tommy Matesich, Marissa Diaz and Laura Browning (Laser Radials). Ryan Eric Minth, president of the International Laser Class Association from the North American Region had this to say about the Laser 4.7 Class, and the regatta in general, "These youth are the future of our Class and sport. Their exposure to top-level Laser events is critical as they see and experience firsthand what sailing a Laser regatta is all about." FULL STORY