In 2007 Nassau County politicians begin playing musical chairs when Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer names Senator Michael Balboni New York's Homeland Security Chief. Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, Republican, declares candidacy for 7th Senatorial Seat vacated by Balboni. Nassau County Legislator Craig Johnson unanimously selected as Democratic candidate to run for Balboni's seat in 7th District Special Election February 6.

Manhasset School District proposes a $19,059,810 Infrastructure Bond Referendum primarily to address items from the New York State Education Department mandated 2005-2006 Building Conditions Survey. District Superintendent Charlie Cardillo said the bond provides for the reconstruction and the upgrading of the district's infrastructure, security systems, and technology network. Manhasset High School, with its landmark tower, opened to students in 1935 and, as with any 72-year-old building, is in need of repair. School district schedules a series of tours of the secondary school complex pointing out those areas that will be addressed by bond projects.

Manhasset Community Fund reinstates local Boy Scout Council as a grant recipient. Over a year ago, the community fund decided that it could not make grants to any national organization with policies that could be viewed as discriminatory. The issue was hotly debated for while it supported the nation's deep-rooted principles of non-discrimination, it was detrimental to local Boy Scout troops. Manhasset Board of Education appoints three community residents to serve on its 2006-07 five-member audit committee: Geralyn Cannella, Mark Pappas and Gene Pesci. Also serving on the committee are school board members Aline Khatchadourian and Carlo Prinzo. Rotary's Gift of Life program, begun in 1975 when a 5-year-old child was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Manhasset for lifesaving open-heart surgery, helps four Iraqi children. Two of the children were operated on at Schneider Children's Hospital. Their parents could not imagine people who were kind and generous enough to save their children.

Grassroots movement forms to halt proposed two-bay drive through sought by Wachovia Bank at the former Wright Hardware/Lessing's Restaurant site that would create an exit for the drive-through close to the busy intersection of Bayview Avenue and Plandome Road. Les Forrai, Manhasset Minuteman Press, installed as the new Manhasset Chamber of Commerce co-president, and will serve with Bernard Rolston. Forrai replaces Diane Harragan, Coach Realtors, following her many years of service as co-president. School board discusses Wicks Law, a state mandate affecting school construction that can increase costs about 20 to 30 percent. St. Mary's Elementary School appoints Debbie Meyer, a resident of Plandome, as its first athletic director. Manhasset's Varsity Indoor Tack team wins the 800-meter relay at the Conference VI Championships. Kodeem Howell (11), William McIntosh (11), Shea Licata (11) and Chase Cotter (11), outran 10 other teams for the championship and gold medals.

Lucas Alcaraz, Cub Scout, Pack 3, takes first place in both the Den and Pack competition in this year's Pine Wood Derby and will represent his fellow Cub Scouts at the county competition. Manhasset's Tedd Himler and Elizabeth Whipple are among the US sailors competing at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman delivers State of the Town address stating the town had maintained its Aa2 Moody's rating, while also receiving an upgrade from Standard & Poor's Rating Service to AAA/AA from the previous A+, putting the town in the top 1 percent among all the 1,500 towns, villages, and cities in New York State. The Town of North Hempstead has, within its borders, over 100 municipal governments, 31 villages, 14 school districts, 60 special districts. Kaiman also noted that the town would soon establish an intermunicipal task force, one to be comprised of 15 to 20 representatives from villages, special districts, and school districts, all in an effort to address such issues as ambulance services and park projects. More specifically, Kaiman touted the establishment of the town's 311/Town Stat system, a townwide hotline designed to solve everyday problems more rapidly. A team of nine local students in the fourth through eighth grades, known as the CongoBots (take their name from their meeting place, the Congregational Church of Manhasset), scored a major success at an Island-wide regional robotics tournament, winning a trophy for Best Research Presentation. The Manhasset Middle School Girl's Swim Team celebrates two undefeated seasons. James J. Regan, at 26, gives his life for his country. A United States Army Ranger killed in Northern Iraq, Regan had already served four tours of duty - two in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. The entire community mourned the loss of their local hero. Thomas P. DiNapoli resigns from his 20-year position as Assemblyman for the 16th Assembly District on Feb. 7 and later in the day is sworn in as the 54th person to hold the position of comptroller for the state of New York. Craig Johnson is the new state senator from the 7th district, winning in the special election. Wachovia Bank withdraws application for two-bay drive-through. Manhasset Girl Scout Association sponsors first-ever father-daughter ballroom dance, complete with professional dance instruction. The Nassau County Boys and Girls Indoor Track Championships held on Super-Bowl Sunday and Manhasset's Shannon Mason (12) won the county championship in the 55-meter dash; was fourth in the long jump and ran the anchor leg on the county championship 4 x 200 meter relay team with three junior teammates: Kadeem Howell, Shea Licata and Chase Cotter. Buckley Country Day School includes Mandarin Chinese in its after school program for grades K-6. In an outpouring of support for the Regan family and a desire to honor such an outstanding young man, an unprecedented number of people attend the wake of Sgt. James J. Regan held at St. Ignatius Retreat House on Searingtown Road in Manhasset. Sgt. Regan was a member of the 75th Army Ranger Regiment. He was struck by a roadside bomb on Feb. 9 while conducting combat operations in Iraq. An equally large number of people lined Plandome Road as the funeral procession passed by and then attended the funeral service at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church on Northern Boulevard. The Manhasset Wrestling team competed in the Nassau County Championship and ended up winning for the third consecutive year. Michelle Schimel is the Democratic choice for New York State's 16th Assembly District, running for the spot recently vacated by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Ms. Schimel is currently North Hempstead town clerk, an elected position she has held for the past eight years. The Republican tapped for the position is Ryan DeCicco, 26, currently a maintenance mechanic for Nassau County Department of Parks and Recreation. Schimel wins 86 percent of the vote to replace Tom DiNapoli on March 27 and 12 hours later is sworn into office in Albany. An 11-year-old Iraqi boy born with two holes in his heart, formed a relationship with an American soldier stationed in Iraq, U.S. Army Reservist Captain Brian Freeman. Ali needed heart surgery, life-saving surgery he could not get in Iraq, and Captain Freeman arranged for two visas to the U.S. Just one day after Ali and his father received their visas, Captain Freeman was killed in Iraq. Ali underwent heart surgery at Schneider Children's Hospital made possible, in part, by sponsorships from the Gift of Life, Inc., a national organization based in Manhasset, chaired by Robert Donno of Manhasset. For the fourth consecutive year, the Greentree Foundation has made a substantial grant to the Manhasset Community Fund for distribution to address priority needs facing the people of the Town of North Hempstead. This year's grant of $175,000 brings Greentree Foundation's total donations to the Community Fund over those four years to $650,000. Town of North Hempstead holds Community Visioning Meeting to present the results of a town-commissioned study by the engineering firm RBA Group on traffic, safety and parking concerns on Plandome Road and surrounding streets. Some facts uncovered are that the accident rate for this segment of roadway is nearly five times the statewide average. The study also contends there are approximately 170 on-street parking stalls along Plandome Road, and nearly 1,200 off-street parking stalls in the study area, although attendees were skeptical. Richard A. McMahon announces his retirement as principal of Manhasset High School/Middle School. Village elections are held. Wayne Wink is the Democrat running to succeed Craig Johnson as Nassau County Legislator for the 11th Legislative District. Results of the visioning process for Plandome Road are examined leaving residents to wonder if the process was flawed. The escalating feral cat population is a growing problem that needs to be addressed at the county level. The 116th Woodstick Classic is sponsored by the Manhasset Booster Cub. Since 1935 the Manhasset Indians have met the Garden City Trojans in the nation's longest running boy's varsity lacrosse rivalry. Bruce Bent, chairman and founder of The Reserve, a New York City-based money market fund with over $50 billion in assets, lectures at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville. In 1970, Bent created the world's first money market mutual fund, which pioneered an industry that now exceeds $2 trillion. Dr. Freeley, College of Management at C.W. Post, said, "His innovative idea allowed the middle class to earn higher interest rates on their savings that were only available to the rich." When John Gagliardi is not playing lacrosse for the Long Island Lizards or with Team USA, he can be found teaching the game of lacrosse to young players in Manhasset and all across the United States. He co-founded No Limit Lacrosse Camp in 1999 with Paul Carcaterra, which was recently named the No. 1 lacrosse camp in America by Sports Illustrated. This past summer John represented Team USA and achieved one of the highest honors in lacrosse, being named to the All-World Team, an award given to the top 10 players at the World Championships. His passion for the game started in the Manhasset PAL system under coaches like Doc Nicosia and Rob Reddington. The St. Mary's Gaels Hockey team won its ninth straight NYS Championship and 12th in 13 years last weekend at the Rinx Sports Complex in Suffolk. The Gaels 32-3-2 for the year won all (five) games in the Tournament. Residents are reminded the first response to any public health threat or disaster is a local one - whether the threat is an influenza epidemic, chemical spill or act of terrorism. To assist in large-scale emergencies, two volunteer organizations have been created: The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Created in response to the outpouring of volunteer support in the days following September 11, 2001, the MRC is a network of community-based citizen volunteers established through the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH). MRC assists its community by being trained to mobilize quickly in order to minimize disability, death and emotional trauma. Practicing or retired medical professionals and others can volunteer for the Medical Reserve Corps. To date, Nassau County has approximately 360 MRC volunteers. The goal of CERT is to train and maintain a cadre of volunteers from any walk of life to be ready for emergency deployment by the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management or the NCDOH. To date, there are over 500 CERT volunteers. Nassau County Museum of Art Annual Ball will honor Michael Mazzei, owner of nuBest, the Manhasset hair salon and spa on Northern Boulevard, that he has owned for the past 34 years. April 16 is last day to file a petition to run for two board of education positions that expire on June 30, positions currently held by Aline Khatchadourian and Larry Belinsky both of whom seek re-election. Two candidates with platforms of lower school budgets have declared for the two open positions, Jack Vivinetto and Martin Deckom. Residents encouraged to plan ahead for their summer vacations as this year, according to Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, the wait for passports can be 10 weeks. The delays O'Connell said, "Are attributed to the new requirements established by the US Department of Homeland Security, which requires anyone traveling to or from Canada, Bermuda, Mexico, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, to possess a passport." Board of Education adopts 2007-08 school budget of $76,778,409 showing a 5.98 percent increase over last year's budget. School board seeks residents for new Citizens Advisory Committee on Legislative Affairs in part to better understand federal and state legislation affecting school district budgets. Manhasset's Day of Lacrosse Sponsored by the Booster Club honors Harry Baugher who passed away on Jan. 18, 2007 and Jimmy Regan, killed in combat in Iraq on Feb. 8, 2007. Manhasset Chamber of Commerce undergoes makeover including newly designed logo. Questions posed at April meeting regarding town's visioning process for Plandome Road's beautification, safety and traffic improvements which, other than the town's study conducted by an engineering firm, seems to have come to a halt. The Manhasset Public Library budget hearing attracted the Manhasset Press, and three residents. Officials present were: library director, Marion Robertson; president, Francis Hone; and trustees Carol Ascrizzi, Seval LaRocca, Richard Tortora and James Pelzer. The three residents brought up the issue of local groups not being able to exhibit their art at the library, done regularly at the old library. One reason given was the library does not have an individual on board to coordinate art exhibits. The proposed 2007/08 total budget of $4,239,633 represents a 3.61 percent increase over last year. Frank Hone is running unopposed for the one open 5-year trustee position. The library budget passed on April 18 with 401 votes for and 244 votes against. Sue Auriemma and Katie Miller selected for inclusion in North Hempstead's Women's Roll of Honor. Both are co-founders of Coalition For A Safer Manhasset (CSM). Board of Education appoints Greyhawk as construction manager for school bond/capital projects.