"Drive drunk-lose your car," said District Attorney Kathleen Rice, speaking at the Mineola Chamber of Commerce. She said if you are arrested for DWI, you could lose your vehicle, depending on the ruling of the judge in each case. Ms. Rice also spoke about the fight against sexual predators and identity theft and finally, about getting illegal guns off our streets. Kathleen Rice is the first woman elected to the position of district attorney in the history of Long Island. Working under Jim Hynes as assistant DA, she prosecuted burglaries, robberies, rapes and murders. Our guest at the meeting was Fran Dempsey, whose son, Bill Dempsey, is one of Ms. Rice's assistant DAs. She took time out to chat with Fran at the end of the meeting.

In a related matter, Mineola's leading painter, Dennis Walsh, got a call from his bank that someone in Georgia was using his credit card to make purchases. As Dennis hadn't been to Georgia, the bank realized something was going on and canceled the card. The culprit had made $1,500 in purchases, but always in small amounts like $40 and $50, so as not to attract too much attention. You've got to be careful, that's for sure.

Ron and Kathy Woyciechowski, formerly of Mineola and now living in North Carolina, tell us that they love it there. They have a beautiful house; great weather and taxes are low. Kathy, who was born in Mineola, misses her many friends and yes, Ron, still roots for the Yankees.

Murray Chanin of the County Seat Condominiums is home after spending the winter at Boca Raton, FL.

Dennis Liberatos, owner of the Davenport Restaurant, is opening a pub in Bristol, RI, right at the water's edge. While at the Davenport we met Peter and Freida Martselos and Neil Fleet of the Canadian Mounted Police. Peter is the mayor of Fort Smith, which is in the far north of Canada, not too far below the Artic Circle.

Jim and Donna Doran were at the Jericho Diner. They have lived in Florida for the last two years. Jim was a plumber and he and Donna lived on Sheridan Boulevard. They said that they have their first grandchild. Their daughter, Danielle, is the new mother.

John and Barbara McGuire live in Williston Park. John was born here and is a retired LIRR conductor.

Jericho Diner customers may have noticed that Julio Quijada is no longer there. Julio started at the Jericho as a bus boy and worked his way up to be a cashier and finally the daytime manager. He also found time to graduate from Nassau Community College, taking a two-year course in hotel management. He now works at the Wingate Hotel as a manager in the housekeeping department, which is right up his alley. Pretty good for a fellow who, 10 years ago, could not speak English.

Arthur Grix is an ex-NYC cop and now a private eye. He does all types of surveillances. Arthur also knows Ellis Henican of Newsday and has been mentioned in his column.

Carmen Encizo of Pennsylvania Avenue and Flore Rowe of Williston Park lunched at Panera's Bread.

Our daughter, Sister Annemarie joined a large group Good Friday in NYC. They do the Stations of the Cross moving around the City. They start at the UN, at 42nd Street and proceed to Times Square praying at various places along the three-hour march.

Many people came to Charlotte Raad's wake. We met her sons, Tom and Don and granddaughters, Laura Raad of Richlee Gardens and Karen Raad of NYC. Also present were Arline Cavanaugh, Ann Phelan, Mary Leahy, Larry and Sarah Cascio, Annette Marks, Ann Redmond, she and her husband, Greg, live in Jersey and she is the former Ann Canavan, who was a classmate of our daughter, Annmarie. Also there, were Bernadette O'Brien and Julie McCrave. We received the shocking news that her husband, Richard, had died as we wrote this column. Our condolences to the family.

Great to exchange Easter greetings with so many old friends like Jim Agnew, Ken and Gerry Aiello, Frank and Maria Caetaire, Stephen Freitas of The New York Times, Eileen Whelan, daughter of Jack and May, Augie Gaeta, Narges and Alfred Maleki, John Consenza and, above all, Helen Hinck, the 96-year-old mother of former Mayor Bob Hinck.

Sandy Hoffer is a really delightful woman [translation, she likes my column a lot]. She and her husband, Stu, live on First Street. Sandy is the manager of business and professional office in Huntington.