Continuing with tradition, here are Plainview Herald's top stories of 2003, as selected by the editor. They are listed here in no particular order and due to space constraints, not all stories could be included.

The Long Island Power Authority's 1.1 million electric customers became part of the largest blackout in history when 50 million people lost electric service in the Northeast, portions of Canada and the Midwest on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 4:14 p.m.

Local townships, government, fire departments and hospitals responded to all problems to help residents. In some parts of Nassau County, families spent more than 24 hours with no electricity.

On April 2, the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), Region 10 held a public information meeting for the proposed Long Island Expressway (LIE) commercial vehicle/truck inspection safety facility to be located on state land on the south side of the LIE between Washington Avenue and Round Swamp Road, exits 48 and 46 in Plainview.

In cooperation with law enforcement personnel, including Nassau County Police and New York State Police, the DOT has plans to build a permanent, dedicated commercial vehicle inspection facility. According to the DOT, approximately 97 percent of all goods and services on Long Island are delivered by commercial trucks and there are currently no inspection sites in Nassau County. The proposed project will enhance the enforcement of existing regulations regarding commercial vehicle equipment, hazardous materials, driver regulations and the codes, rules and regulations of federal, state and local government agencies as well as reduce commercial vehicle related accidents, according to the DOT.

According to statistics from the DOT, over 19,000 trucks, on the average, drive daily on the Long Island Expressway. Currently the only inspection point is at exit 66 on the expressway and in 1996, when inspections first began there, almost all trucks failed the inspection. This number dropped to 50 percent by the year 2000, according to information from the DOT.

Construction was set to begin in the spring of 2004.

Jeffrey Mosenson was traveling to class at the New York Institute of Technology from his Woodbury home on Jan. 28 when he was involved in a fatal car accident. Due to slippery road conditions, his 2000 Chevrolet Blazer struck a tree on Brookville Road. Jeffrey was 20 years old.

Jeffrey is survived by many family members and friends including his parents David and Gayle Mosenson, siblings Jonathan, Joanna and Jenna and grandparents Sue and Saul Zucker and Cecil and Joan Mosenson as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Nassau Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation purchased the Vanderbilt in Plainview in May from the Morey Group for $6.35 million to turn the once catering and concert hall into an upscale horse racing teletheater.

The 47,000 square-foot building, which is located at 1600 Round Swamp Road in Plainview, just south of the Long Island Expressway and just west of the Suffolk County border, will be named "The Race Palace" and house Nassau County's only teletheater.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce had a very successful 2003 and is looking to grow even more in 2004.

In May, the chamber held elections for the board of directors. Donna Goldstein, David Dender and Francesca Carlow were elected to a three year-term. Marianne Plummer, Richard Schatzel and Linda Greenbaum were elected to a two-year term and Anna Goidell, Charlene Calise and Sheila Kreisberg were all elected to a one-year term. The newly elected board then nominated the chamber's officers. Francesca Carlow was elected president; Donald Ingram, a CPA with his office in Plainview, was elected vice president; Cheryl Hodes from Astoria Federal was elected treasurer; Beth Bleistift from Met Life was elected recording secretary and Charlene Calise from Chestnut Grove was elected corresponding secretary.

The chamber has played a very active role in giving the Plainview and Old Bethpage communities an identity. They have been working with elected officials to obtain grant money for a welcome sign and also working to determine the best location for the sign.

The chamber meets on a monthly basis and discusses issues pertinent to both the Plainview and Old Bethpage businesses and residents. For more information on the chamber, please call 937-5646.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District boasted a very successful 2003 school year. In January six students from John F. Kennedy High School received word that they had been selected as semifinalists of the 62nd Annual Intel Science Talent Search. The six semifinalists represent the most ever from the school district.

Melanie Krieger, director of research for the school district, happily told Nina Bai, Stacey Kallem, Tara Kelly, Janaki Parameswaran, Tedi Setton, and Mandeep Virdi that they were among the 300 students nationwide selected as semifinalists.

Also in January, the high school's DECA chapter competed in the Nassau County Regional Contest Program at Nassau Community College. Over 900 DECA members from the county competed in various marketing related competitions.

In March, the high school announced the 12 building winners and two Nassau County winners in the National PTA Reflections program for 2003.

The building winners were - in literature: Brian Horowitz, Allison Levine, and Samantha Levine. In photography: Tatiana Jordan, Daniel Lachar, and Katelin Morrissey. In visual arts: Shani Bob, Brian Strumwasser, and Alison Werbel and in musical composition: Christopher Lane, Andrew Morgasen, and Sung Hei Yau.

The winners in Nassau County were Allison Levine in literature and Tatiana Jordan in photography.

In March, the high school Robotics club, the POBOTS, held their third annual Robot Rally on March 15 at Chestnut Grove Assisted Living Facility in Plainview.

Students were required to build a robot from start to finish. They were given specific requirements that they had to follow and the parts they were allowed to use to create a robot. Each team had six weeks to create their robot using the specification provided.

In June, Dawn Michelle Eichen and Stacey Kallem were named co-valedictorians of the Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School class of 2003.

In October, Felice Solomon, Director of Guidance, introduced four new counselors to the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District. Jessica Baker and Jennifer Block are counselors at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School. Danielle Caroleo is beginning her first full year at POB Middle School as a seventh-grade counselor. Gilda (Jill) Candela has been a guidance counselor for 22 years and an elementary classroom teacher for 10 years before that. Although she is officially retired, Candela enjoys her career so much that she just couldn't pass up the chance to assist POB School District when the need arose.

In November, Cheryl Dender was sworn in as a new trustee to the board. Cheryl replaced Sharon Dinkes, who resigned from the board earlier in the year.

The Plainview Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School Varsity Baseball Team made it into the Nassau County Finals for the first time since 1992.

The Hawk's manager, Mark Colleluori, who won this year's Manager of the Year honors, also won his 100th game of his career as the Hawks' skipper this season. In June the team won the Long Island AA Baseball Championship. The game was played at Herricks High School versus the Suffolk County Champions East Islip High school. The team finished the 2003 New York State Class AA Baseball Playoffs in second place out of 760 teams in the state. The Hawks were the first baseball team from Plainview to win the Nassau County Championship, the Long Island Championship, as well as the Semifinal game versus Greece Arcadia.

Three students were recently named semifinalists in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition: Lindsay Fourman, Samuel John, and Alexander Slade. The Siemens Westinghouse Foundation provides more than $1 million in college scholarships and awards each year for talented high school students in the United States. Congratulations to these three individuals.

In December 2001, residents approved the proposed expansion at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Library.

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 March a groundbreaking ceremony was held to commemorate the upcoming expansion at the library.

At the end of May, fencing was put around the construction site at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library and the entrance at the east end of the building was eliminated. In preparation for the construction, library officials tried to save as many of the plantings as possible.

Construction started in late July and is proceeding as scheduled.

The Oyster Bay Town Board hosted its fifth annual Women of Distinction awards ceremony in March and Claire Millman, a resident of Plainview for 43 years, was named a Distinguished Woman in Government.

Millman was president of the Alliance for Smoke-Free Air and has served as an advocate for the enactment and strengthening of legislation to restrict smoking in public places. She has also worked to raise public awareness about the hazards of smoking and secondhand smoke.

She has often been called the "Guardian Angel for a Smoke-Free Environment." She has worked for over 29 years to protect the health of the public from the hazards of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Plainview resident Roni Benson, co-director of the Long Island Professional and Parent Education Network (LIPEN) and the 21st Century Save Our Kids Task Force, was recently named one of this year's honorees for the "Women: Trailblazers of the New Millennium" awards.

Plainview residents Roni Benson and Ginger Lieberman recently co-authored a book entitled Bully Frog, which is geared to students in kindergarten through fifth grade and explains the reasons and remedies for bullying behavior. Unlike other books on the subject, Bully Frog addresses the issue from a child's perspective.

The book is a story of young frogs in the town of Lily Pond during their first days of school in Leapfrog Elementary School. Bully Frog wreaks havoc on the lives of two youngsters and soon the adults step in to help remedy the situation. But it is basically the students who must solve the problem by becoming proactive about caring, acting responsibly and being inclusive.

Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, Inc. held their second annual Community Forum at the library allowing residents the opportunity to be updated on local issues facing the community.

The main focus of the meeting was the Plainview Water District and the lawsuit against Exxon-Mobil. Commissioners Kevin Langberg and Joel Kessler as well as Superintendent Paul Granger were on hand to make the presentation to those in attendance.

The Plainview Water District became aware of a significant gasoline spill located at the site of a former Exxon-Mobil Station at 1101 Old Country Road. The gasoline spill unfortunately contains Methyl Tertiary Buthyl Ether (MTBE), which is an additive in reformulated gasoline for reducing carbon monoxide emissions from motor vehicles. The MTBE will eventually impact two local drinking water supply wells unless immediate and determined action is taken to remediate the spill and provide treatment at the supply wells, according to the Plainview Water District.

For more information, please call Plainview Water District Superintendent Paul Granger at 931-6469. For legal questions regarding the lawsuit with Exxon-Mobil, contact Marc Bern, Esq. At 212-267-3700 and for health related questions, please call the Nassau County Department of Health at 571-3323.

The Concerned Citizens of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Community, Inc. have been involved in many different environmental actions in the area and need the community's support in order to continue their involvements. For more information please call 433-6001.

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. They had a very successful year helping many local seniors.

Volunteers were busy all year visiting homebound seniors, driving them to appointments, and doing routine maintenance for local seniors who are no longer able to do so on their own.

The Town of Oyster Bay commemorated its 350th anniversary in 2003. Oyster Bay has a remarkable history, from its pivotal role in the American Revolution, to being the home and final resting place of our nation's 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, to being the birthplace of Grumman's Lunar Module, the first spacecraft to land on the moon.

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 and since the Taubman Company decided to appeal the decision, the court battle has raged on.

In March, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Town of Oyster Bay's decision regarding the mall. This decision upheld a prior decision by State Supreme Court Justice James M. Catterson in Riverhead in which he overruled the Town Board's decision.

The appeal process has continued to move back and forth. In the most recent decision, which was announced in December, the Town of Oyster Bay was ordered by Judge Catterson to issue a building permit to the Michigan-based Taubman Company to construct an 860,000 square foot shopping mall. The Oyster Bay Town Board and local civics are going to appeal this decision.

The developer viewed this last decision as a victory and sees it only as a matter of time before construction begins. They set up a toll-free number for local residents to call and leave a message voicing their opinions, concerns and thoughts. Call 1-866-872-0822 or visit www.mallatoysterbay.com.

Local residents returned incumbent Supervisor John Venditto to a fourth term in office and re-elected the two incumbent Republicans, Joseph Muscarella and Anthony Macagnone, and elected political newcomer Rose Walker to the Town of Oyster Bay Board.

Challenger Steve Labriola, current New York State Assemblyman of the 12th Assembly District, defeated Oyster Bay Town Clerk Martha Offerman, the Democratic incumbent and Receiver of Taxes James Stefanich held onto his seat after going neck and neck with challenger, Republican John Canning.

In county elections, the Democrats held onto their 10-9 majority in the Nassau County Legislature with close victories in some key districts. In the 16th Legislative District, residents overwhelmingly supported Democratic incumbent Judy Jacobs, presiding officer of the legislature with 9,550 votes to Republican candidate Patricia Doyle's 4,464 votes.

In the 17th Legislative District, Edward P. Mangano, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic challenger Linda Burns-Gleason. Mangano received 8,348 votes to Burns-Gleason's 3,789.

Residents who live in the 14th District elected a new legislator, as incumbent Salvatore B. Pontillo did not seek re-election. Democrat Dave Mejias defeated Republican Greg Carman in a very tight race, receiving 6,106 votes to Carman's 5,725.

Also in a very tight race this year were the two candidates for county assessor - Democrat Harvey Levinson was elected over Republican incumbent Charles O'Shea.

Approximately 100 local residents gathered in the auditorium of Plainview-Old Bethpage Middle School to hear Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi's plan for economic development and to discuss the overall vision for Plainview and Old Bethpage in the future.

According to Suozzi, Nassau County has drafted an Economic Development Plan that outlines broad goals for the future development of the county in order to combat the problems individual communities face as well as to further add to the benefits of living in each community.

The process started in Plainview and Old Bethpage with a bus tour of the area. Suozzi boarded a bus with approximately 20 local residents and toured both Plainview and Old Bethpage.

Suozzi discussed problems he found specific to Plainview and Old Bethpage, the first being no discernible downtown area. Suozzi stated that Plainview and Old Bethpage are comprised mostly of individual strip malls and a distinct downtown area would create a community identity. Many discussions have taken place around where "downtown" Plainview would be and Suozzi mentioned Old Country Road as one possibility.

Another problem specific to Plainview and Old Bethpage according to Suozzi is high traffic volumes. He pointed out many high traffic areas focusing on the corner of Woodbury Road and South Oyster Bay Road.

Some of the other problems that Suozzi mentioned include lack of adequate parking, lack of affordable housing, environmental issues, the future use of Plainview Properties, and the use of industrial parks.

Another focus of the discussion by Suozzi dealt with Old Bethpage Village Restoration and Suozzi believes it should be more of a tourism site. This meeting was the first step in the process but it allowed Suozzi the opportunity to meet with the community and hear their concerns as people voiced their opinions during a question and answer period after the presentation.