Water District Completes Petition Drive

Criticizes DEC response to groundwater situation

For months, the Massapequa Water District has been in the forefront of the pressing issue of clean water on the South Shore of Long Island and especially as it relates to what it fears what water district officials call “highly toxic contaminated groundwater plume,” which they claim is emanating from the Navy Grumman site in Bethpage.

Recently, the water district completed its extensive petition drive, one that netted over 5,400 petitions. The petitions will be taken to Albany. The purpose, water district officials said, is to demand action by Governor Andrew Cuomo to take the necessary steps to have the polluters stop such plume.

TOB Homeowners On Alert For Asian Beetle

TOB Homeowners On Alert For Asian Beetle

While the Asian Longhorned Beetle is most active between June and September, it can be present as early as May and as late as October. With that in mind, residents in the Asian Longhorned Beetle quarantine area to be on the alert for infestations of the beetle. The quarantine area in the town covers most of the Massapequa/North Massapequa area, inclusive of several blocks north of Southern State Parkway, several blocks west of Broadway/North Broadway, east to the town line and south to Great South Bay.

“So far, the town’s efforts to keep the Asian Longhorned Beetle from spreading beyond the quarantine area have been successful, due, in part, to the vigilance of our residents,” Oyster Bay Town Councilman Joe Muscarella said. “We must remain on the alert, though, if we are to preserve the remaining trees in the quarantine area and prevent the beetle from advancing into new areas.”

Election Results

The following are the results of the May 15 Massapequa Board of Education, Massapequa School District and Massapequa Public Library election and budget votes.

Joseph LaBella: 2,535
Maryanne Fisher: 2,333
Diane Sheffield: 1,948
Joseph Marsh: 1,552
Joseph Carozza: 956

(Both LaBella and Ms. Fisher were elected)

School budget: 3,208, yes; 1,814, no

Library budget: 3,390, yes; 1,575, no

Joseph LaBella Elected To School Board

Maryanne Fisher re-elected; school, library budgets receive approval

Another highly competitive board of education race has ended with voters in the Massapequa School District electing a new school board member, while also re-electing the lone incumbent in the race.

Joseph LaBella was the top vote getter with 2,535 votes. Incumbent Maryanne Fisher was re-elected to a fourth term with 2,333 votes.

Reopening Of Tackapausha Museum Held April 21

Renovations completed on 84-acre land area in Seaford

In February, local residents traveled to Seaford to rally for the reopening of the Tackapausha Museum. At the rally, Bob Dwyer and Eileen Krieb, both deputy commissioners with the Nassau County Department of Parks told those gathered that they hoped to reopen the museum in the spring. And the county did come through as the reopening ceremonies took place on Saturday, April 21 at museum headquarters, 2225 Washington Ave. in Seaford.

The museum had been closed since December 2011 for renovations and local residents were so anxious to have the museum reopened that some of them formed a committee, Friends of Tackapausha Preserve.

Five Candidates Vie For Two BOE Seats

The Massapequa School District will hold board of education elections on Tuesday, May 15. The following are profiles of the BOE candidates. Five candidates are running for two contested BOE seats.

Maryanne Fisher

Maryanne Fisher is running for re-election to the Massapequa School Board. She issued the following information on her candidacy.

“I have lived in Massapequa for over 55 years with my husband Peter,” she said. “My two children went through and graduated from the Massapequa public schools. After graduation both continued their education and graduated from a four-year program from SUNY-Albany and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.  I am also a 1973 graduate of Massapequa High School.  I also received a Bachelor of Arts from C.W. Post campus of Long Island University in Brookville.

“My family started the move from Brooklyn to Massapequa in 1938. I am very lucky to also have many of my family still living in Massapequa. The last count was approximately 30 relatives.

Ex-Yankee Arrested For Sexual Abuse

North Massapequa resident charged on two separate incidents

A former New York Yankee and current North Massapequa resident has been arrested for sexual abuse.

The Nassau Special Services Squad reported the arrest of Rosendo Torres for sexual abuse that allegedly occurred on both Monday, April 30 and on Tuesday, May 8 in Plainview.

According to detectives, Torres is charged with four counts of sexual abuse, first degree involving an 8-year old female victim.

The investigation, detectives added, is ongoing.

SPECIAL REPORT: THE FIRST OF A THREE-PART SERIES: Just One Pill

Forget dealers—new generation of addicts goes straight for the medicine cabinets

The 10th-grader selected her favorite color. It was a very simple task that she and most young people have probably done countless times before. However, this time, the stakes were never higher. She was not choosing a color for a blouse, a cell phone case or curtains for her bedroom. Instead, she was selecting a pill from a menagerie of narcotics that her peers had brought to a “pharm party” – an alarming and frightening phenomenon that’s been making a comeback among teenagers throughout Long Island.

Tax Levy Comes In Under New York State Cap

Expenditures in Massapequa budget slightly less than last year’s numbers

­As noted in last week’s issue of the Massapequan Observer, the board of trustees recently approved a 2012-13 budget, one that totaled $6,158,148 in appropriations. That number represents a slight decrease from the $6,165,979 appropriated in the 2011-12 document.

The BOT found savings in its own board of trustees segment. Also, decreases were possible in the purchasing budget, other general government support, control of animals, street lighting, drainage, and the buildings budget. The street lighting budget decreased to $179,000, down from the previous year’s budget of $198,500. Likewise, the buildings budget totaled $171,165, down from last year’s expenditures of $196,165. There were increases in the youth programs budget, plus those concerning street maintenance, snow removal and streets administration.

Anniversary For Berner Middle School

Boom years for Massapequa schools

This year marks the Golden Anniversary of a major institution in the Massapequa School District. Berner Middle School, formerly Berner High School, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Its history mirrors the rise of suburbia and Massapequa’s transformation into having the largest public school district in Nassau County.

The school’s construction was a response to overcrowding at both grade schools and middle schools in the district. By the early ’60s, Nassau County’s own transformation from a rural area to suburbia was in full swing and a new high school was badly needed for Massapequa. At first, it wasn’t easy. In the 1950s, there had been three voter rejections of a proposition to buy the 52-acre John J. Burns Park for elementary and secondary school sites. In fact, Massapequa was growing so fast that by 1958 there were only three available large land sites that could hold a new high school. Of the three, neither the Massapequa Zoo nor the Amityville Laundry land sites were available. Fortunately, the Carman Road land site fit the bill and construction was soon under way.