Oyster Bay Town Councilman Chris J. Coschignano, citing what he referred to as "a proliferation of development focused in the hamlet of Oyster Bay," is asking his fellow town board members to look into the feasibility of a building moratorium while the town conducts a study of potential preventative measures to guard against over-development in the hamlet. FULL STORY

Irene Virag is Newsday's Home & Garden Editor. She is widely known for her garden column, which focuses on people as well as plants. Additionally, she writes a home column centered on the way we live. She has won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and is an 8-time winner of Newswomen's Club of New York awards for column and feature writing. She won several awards for a series on her struggle with breast cancer. As she fought what she called "the bad seed," she drew inspiration from Long Island's natural beauty. In 2003, she was a lead writer for Newsday's 13-month-long series, Long Island: Our Natural World. She found the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center a living resource and said that she is forever grateful to its director, Trish Pelkowski, for her advice and guidance. FULL STORY

This year, as part of their annual Swim-A-Cross, the American Red Cross in Nassau County is honoring Renata Maimone of Bayville who passed away this year. Throughout her life, Renata would swim each day of the summer in Long Island Sound, continuing to swim over a mile each day until the last few months of her life. When she was not swimming in the Sound, Ms. Maimone swam at the Glen Cove YMCA.

On July 27 a fast-moving squall approached Oyster Bay Harbor just as Sagamore Yacht Club was preparing to start the weekly Wednesday night race. A few boats ventured out around 1700 hours thinking they could weather the approaching storm or get in a quick sail before it hit, while most decided to weather the storm at the clubhouse or inside their anchored boats.