Continuing with tradition, here are the Plainview Herald's top stories of this past year, as selected by the editor. They are listed here in no particular order.

On Feb. 23, during a Hell Raisers Ball held at the Vanderbilt Catering Hall, located at 1600 Round Swamp Road in Plainview, a confrontation occurred between a group of Pagans and Hells Angels, two rival motorcycle clubs. Nassau County police officers from multiple precincts and Bureau of Special Operations together with 20 New York State Troopers and 50 Suffolk County police officers responded to the scene. The incident occurred at approximately 4:10 p.m.

According to Detective Lieutenant Kevin Smith, in the parking lot outside the Vanderbilt, police officers stopped a Chevrolet van with 10 subjects inside. One of the subjects, a 51-year-old resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, had a serious gunshot wound which resulted in a fatality. The homicide squad is continuing its investigations.

At the south end of the parking lot, officers arrested 30 individuals for various weapons charges. Police officers discovered two individuals with gunshot wounds and arrested 17 individuals for assorted weapons charges.

Police officers stopped a white Bronco and arrested two individuals with loaded guns in the vicinity of Janet Drive and Old Country Road. In front of 1425 Old Country Road, near Newton Road, police officers stopped a van with four subjects. One subject was the victim of a gunshot wound to the back. The subjects were arrested for weapons charges. A loaded Uzi with two loaded magazines and a dagger were recovered from the van. The injured were taken to area hospitals. Two shotguns were recovered from areas in and around the Vanderbilt.

Nassau County police officers and detectives conducted over 500 interviews with assistance from members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other police agencies.

The day after the incident, the homicide squad reported that they arrested a 38-year-old Oceanside resident, in connection with the fatal shooting. The victim succumbed to his injuries at North Shore University Hospital in Plainview. The defendant has been charged with second degree murder.

Local residents and community leaders banned together in 2002 to fight KeySpan's proposed power plant on Spagnoli Road in Melville. As a result of many community meetings and frustrated residents banning together, LIVES was formed - Long Island Voters for Environmental Safety.

The site for the proposed facility is located on Spagnoli Road in the Town of Huntington, a property owned by KeySpan. The proposed facility would occupy approximately four acres of the 31-acre site located on the south side of Spagnoli Road, approximately one-half mile west of Route 110. This area borders nearby Town of Oyster Bay residents.

The proposed 250-megawatt, gas-fired power plant violates Huntington Town Zoning and noise ordinances and KeySpan filed an application asking the state to overturn local zoning laws.

On Jan. 30 KeySpan Energy Development Corporation announced that it is seeking approval with the New York State Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment to construct the power plant. The Company filed an Application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need in accordance with Article X of the Public Service Law.

Local residents and newly formed groups, such as LIVES, held press conferences to let the Town of Huntington Board know that there was opposition to this proposal. The Town of Huntington hired an attorney to review all of the materials presented to them. The board was waiting for New York State to render a decision.

In mid-May, KeySpan Energy Delivery Long Island announced that the New York State Public Service Commission granted the company a certificate to construct a gas transmission line needed for the proposed Energy Center. The certificate, based on findings of environmental compatibility and public need, is contingent on whether the Spagnoli Road Energy Center is approved for construction under Article X of the Public Service Law.

In August, the Town of Huntington announced that they reached a settlement agreement with KeySpan on the Proposed Spagnoli Road Energy Center. Attorneys for the town announced the agreement on the first day of testimony in the Article X siting proceedings in front of the New York Public Service Commission. The Town of Huntington board made its unanimous decision to negotiate rather than move forward with a lengthy and expensive process, knowing that no municipality has won a favorable decision from the siting board of the New York State Service Commission.

The Article X proceeding is still ongoing.

The 102nd United States Open (US Open) Golf Championship came to Bethpage State Park's famed Black Course, one of five golf courses at the park, in June.

While many local residents expressed great concern regarding security and traffic issues, village and school officials stressed that plans for the event are under control. Many local roads and some highway access were forbidden to residents and Open attendees were restricted to the grounds of the event, later to be transported back to their cars which were parked at either SUNY Farmingdale or Jones Beach or to the Farmingdale train station. All eight precincts in Nassau County assisted in the security and patrolling of the area, as did some members of upstate police departments, the Highway Patrol and other security agencies. In late May and in June, village officials released travel plans and tips to local residents who may have been affected by the Open due to their proximity to Bethpage State Park.

Tiger Woods was the winner of the 2002 Open. Later in the year, village officials, together with Governor George Pataki, announced that the US Open would return to Bethpage State Park in 2009.

In 2002, the 81-acre Underhill Property, located in Jericho, took a step closer toward preservation. In September, environmentalists and civic leaders demonstrated in front of Oyster Bay Town Hall against development on the Underhill property. The protest targeted Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler for what environmental and civic leaders called a "secret deal" to permit development of a 102-unit housing project on the 81-acre parcel that lies in a state-designated Special Ground Water Protection Area.

The story changed focus from preserving Jericho's Underhill Property to local civic leaders and environmentalists publicly disagreeing with Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler. These two groups were once unified in their quest to preserve the Underhill property.

Eisler explained that she has been meeting with landowner Roger Tilles and developer Gerald Monter to resolve the battle, but nothing was in writing.

According to Eisler, her deal would have allowed 46 acres to be preserved and roughly 30 acres would be available for the developer to build about 102 units on. The Society to Preserve Underhill and other environmental groups claim that Eisler's plan would preserve less than half of the 81 acres and would pay developers millions of dollars for land they are required by the State to set aside as open space in connection with their high-density housing project.

In response to the rally, Clifford Eisler, Bonnie Eisler's husband, started an advertising campaign in several of the local weekly newspapers, including Anton Community Newspapers, attacking the Society to Preserve Underhill and specifically Joseph Lorintz, executive director of the Long Island Drinking Water Coalition and past president of the Society to Preserve Underhill, for opposing the verbal deal Eisler reached with Tilles and Monter.

Through the advertisement, it was revealed that Mr. Eisler recently started a new society, named the Society to Save the Underhill Property (This society has no affiliation with the Society to Preserve Underhill), which he is president of, in response to what he described as "destructive behavior by the Society to Preserve Underhill."

In mid-October, Governor George Pataki announced an agreement to preserve the Underhill property. Under the agreement, New York State, Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay will acquire 50 acres of the environmentally-sensitive land.

According to the proposal, 50 acres of the Underhill Property will be purchased from landowner Roger Tilles using preservation funds from the town, county and state. The state will use $7.5 million from the Environmental Protection Fund to acquire 25 acres of the site. Nassau County will acquire 16.67 acres for $5 million and the Town of Oyster Bay will purchase 8.33 acres for $2.5 million with another $5 million earmarked to settle lawsuits. In addition, the development rights of an additional 20 acres would be contributed by Bill and Ellen Doremus who own the property adjacent to Underhill. According to the proposal, the Holiday Organization, a development company, will build 102 single-family homes on the remaining 31 acres. Under the proposal, the developer agreed to sell 40 percent of the homes to people 55 and older to lessen the impact on the Jericho School District.

This plan pleases all groups involved, as preservation was the main goal of all involved parties.

In June 2001, the Town of Oyster Bay Board voted 6-1 to reject an application submitted by the Taubman Company to build an 860,000 square foot mall on the 39-acre Cerro Wire factory site in Syosset. In July 2002, State Supreme Court Justice James M. Catterson ruled that the town did not base its decision on substantial evidence and annulled the decision made by the town board.

In his ruling Catterson annulled the board's decision and returned the proposal to the town for further consideration. Catterson concluded that in several instances the town's findings were "arbitrary and capricious and not based on substantial evidence."

Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto authorized the town's council to appeal the decision. The order from Judge Catterson is for the Town of Oyster Bay Board to reconsider the application under certain guidelines. Venditto said that he was confident that the town board reviewed all necessary information and that they made the correct decision in denying Taubman's application.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District, as well as the students, had a very successful 2002.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School student Sharon Bielik was the first Plainview and Old Bethpage student to be accepted into the 2002 MENC/Tri-M International Honors Ensemble Orchestra. MENC, Music Educators National Conference, is the national professional organization for music educators K-College and Tri-M is the International Music Society.

Three hundred of America's high school seniors, including one from Plainview-Old Bethpage, were recently honored for their excellence in science as they reached the semifinals of the Intel Science Talent Search (STS). Often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize," the Intel STS is America's oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition. Courtney Drayer, a senior at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, was honored for her project entitled Petrographic and Geochemical Analysis of Mesozoic Fossils to Evaluate Potential for Direct Dating with Emphasis on Uranium.

Bradley Jerson, a resident of Plainview, was honored by Governor George E. Pataki as one of 62 of New York State's outstanding youth leaders at the Second Annual Governor's Youth Recognition Day celebration. The award recipients, who represent each county in New York State, were honored for the community service they performed in 2001.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School varsity science olympiad team placed second in Nassau County in a competition of 50 high school teams. To add to the good news, the junior varsity team placed tenth overall. The DECA also had a very successful 2002.

Jason Schatten was named the class valedictorian of the Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School Class of 2002 and James Battista was named salutatorian.

Fifty-nine students at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School were named AP Scholars by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement (AP) examinations. Approximately 23 percent of America's graduating seniors have taken one or more AP examinations. Only 13 percent of the more than 700,000 students who took AP examinations in May 2001 performed at a sufficiently high level to merit such recognition.

Local voters returned incumbents to their seats in Congress, the Senate and the Assembly in November.

Democratic incumbent David Sidikman defeated Jacqueline Biggio in the 13th Assembly District. Republician incumbent Donna Ferrara was elected to her sixth term after defeating Democratic challenger Jim Buonagura in the 15th Assembly District race. Republican incumbent Carl Marcellino defeated Democratic and Green Party candidate Roger Snyder and Liberal and Right to Life Party candidate Paul Nehrich in the 5th Senatorial District. Republician incumbent Kemp Hannon defeated Democratic candidate Norman St. George in the 6th Senatorial District. Democrat Steve Israel was re-elected in the 2nd congressional district after defeating Republican, Conservative and Right to Life candidate Joe Finley and Green Party candidate John Keenan. In the 3rd Congressional District Republican incumbent Peter King defeated Democrat Stuart Finz.

In January, Oyster Bay Town officials were sworn into office after being elected or returned to their positions. Those elected included Supervisor John Venditto, Councilman Angelo Delligatti, Councilman Chris Coschignano, Town Clerk Martha S. Offerman and Councilwoman Mary McCaffrey. They joined Councilman Joseph Muscarella, Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler, Councilman Anthony Macagnone and Receiver of Taxes James J. Stefanich on the Town of Oyster Bay Board.

Assemblyman David S. Sidikman celebrated his Tenth anniversary in 2002 as a state assemblyman. Sidikman is a longtime resident of Old Bethpage. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School. He then attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1958 from New York University, which he attended on a full merit scholarship. He was admitted to the bar the same year. Since then he has maintained a private law practice.

Sidikman was first elected to the New York State Assembly in a special election in 1992 and subsequently re-elected in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998 for full terms.

The Plainview Fire Department held a parade and block party on Saturday, July 20 to honor the 75th Anniversary of the Department. The parade, which started at the Plainview Park on Washington Avenue and concluded at Fire Department Headquarters on Old Country Road, withstood the threat of rain. Ed Ocker was honored as the Grand Marshal of the parade. He is an ex-chief of the Plainview Fire Department more than 50 years of service.

In December 2001, Plainview and Old Bethpage residents approved the library's $5,163,317 bond referendum, which is equal to $42 per year for an average house assessed at $7500 for 15 years. The library expansion consists of two additions - the family center will be expanded and a lecture/program facility will be added to the east side of the building.

In early July 2002, the New York State Education Department, Facilities Planning Division issued the Plainview-Old Bethpage library a review number for the planned expansion. The architectural and mechanical plans need to be reviewed by an engineer and approved before the construction can begin.

The Plainview Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce has a long history in the community, although it was not always an active one. According to past chamber president Donna Goldstein, the chamber started about 30 years ago and then, for unknown reasons, it was discontinued.

Approximately ten years ago, the chamber started up again and was called the Greater Plainview Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce. Donna Goldstein got involved about four years into the new chamber's existence. She then sat in the presidency for awhile. Although her passion was there, trying to run three businesses and the chamber was hard for Goldstein. The chamber went on a hiatus although never officially shut their doors.

A new president was elected and other officers and board members were re-elected. John Casal, president; Linda Eisenberg, vice president; Donna Goldstein, executive director; Ligia Ramirez, treasurer; Anna Goidell, board member; Francesca Carlow, secretary and Eugene Goidell, board member.

John Casal stepped up and is picking up where the chamber left off.

The Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, Inc. sponsored a community forum, which was held at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library on July 15. The purpose of the forum, which is the second educational forum that Concerned Citizens has sponsored, informed residents how to maintain quality of life and safeguard children as well as inform the public about public health issues.

The forum featured speakers from Long Island Neighborhood Network, who updated residents on local news regarding Pesticide Notification Legislation and shared their expertise on Organic Lawn Care Alternatives, SHARED, a local alliance of business and community members who discussed KeySpan's proposed 250 Megawatt Power Plant on Spagnoli Road including insights into public health concerns over this project and the Plainview Water District who reported on the status of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's monitoring and cleanup of the MTBE spill at the former Mobil gas station at the corner of Old Country Road and Manetto Hill Road.

Plainview-Old Bethpage Cares, a community program for seniors over the age of 60, assists residents of Plainview and Old Bethpage to find the support they need to remain in their homes and live independently.

A survey was distributed Plainview and Old Bethpage seniors, 60 years or older that gave them the opportunity to share what they're thinking and feeling about what they need now and in the future if they wish to remain in Plainview-Old Bethpage and continue living independently.

In July, POB Cares completed their survey. Approximately 430 responses were sent back out of the 2,200 surveys that were distributed and 20 percent of the people who filled out the survey offered to volunteer in the community. POB Cares also held two community forums to discuss the results of the surveys with local residents.

On March 15, Senator Carl L. Marcellino and Assemblywoman Donna Ferrara announced that the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (Rt. 135) was renamed the "Ralph J. Marino Expressway."

Senator Marino who was known to everyone as a gentleman held the powerful position of New York State Republican Majority Leader for six years during the late 1980s. When Governor George Pataki came to power, he lost that title to Republican Joseph Bruno. After winning his last election of 13 Senate terms in 1994, he stepped down and Carl Marcellino was elected to replace him.

Ralph J. Marino, died on Saturday, April 6, 2002 at the age of 74, at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre after a gallant fight against tongue cancer.

The senator is survived by his wife Ethel Bernstein Marino, a daughter, Judith Marino of Oyster Bay; two sons, James, of Chicago and Robert of Armonk; his mother Catherine of Rochester; three sisters, Mildred LoVecchio, Gloria Camuso and Santa Pullano, all of Rochester and three grandchildren.

In February, Richard Klebanoff, a resident of Plainview and a graduate of Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, held a Random Acts of Kindness open house at CitiBank in Plainview to promote and enlighten people about the mission of kindness.

Established in 1995 as a nonprofit organization, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness. The emphasis of the foundation is to create and strengthen communities by inspiring local coordinators, individuals, teachers, schools, faith groups, service clubs and other community-based groups to share kindness with others and/or participate in kindness activities.

Each person contributes to the Random Acts of Kindness movement in different ways and Klebanoff holds open houses. He purchases hundreds of Random Acts of Kindness books and gives them away to people during the Kindness movement. He also gives away free gifts, which are donated to him by local stores.

For the past several years, the Plainview Water District has led the battle to ban the use of MTBE in automotive gasoline. MTBE is a gasoline additive, which is non-biodegradable, has a propensity to sink into the aquifer system and is soluble in water. Once the compound contaminates groundwater, it is difficult to remove with the traditional methods of air stripping and GAC filtration.

As residents may recall, the water district has taken progressive, landmark legal action against Exxon Mobil Corporation to ensure that the gasoline spill located at Mobil's former station on Old Country Road be cleaned, and that MTBE does not encroach on the community's supply wells. The Board of Commissioners reported that all Plainview Water District supply wells and plant site outpost monitoring wells are free from MTBE.

Plainview and Old Bethpage residents recently re-elected Edward Shulroff to the Plainview Water District Board of Commissioners at an election held Dec. 10. 144 residents voted in this uncontested election. Shulroff will be sworn into office during a special ceremony in early January.

With his re-election, Shulroff will continue to make the quality and safety of the district's water supply his first priority, while also making decisions regarding the district's budget and other fiscal matters.

Governor George Pataki held a ceremony in September to announce the creation of the new Trail View State Park - Long Island's newest state park, which is located along the Old Bethpage Parkway right-of-way in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The dedication ceremony took place where the property crosses Jericho Turnpike just west of Woodbury Road.

Trail View State Park is the fifth park that the governor has created on Long Island and one of 17 statewide that have been established since 1995. The more than 400-acre park, which spans 7.4 miles, running north from Bethpage State Park to Cold Spring Harbor State Park, will offer multi-use trails for hiking, cycling, birding and other trail-related activities.

Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club Conservation Chair Guy Jacob said, "This is the governor who makes our environmental dreams come true. This momentous occasion will be remembered as a zenith in New York State history. This day we develop a haven in the midst of our evermore developing finite Island."