Continuing with tradition, here are the Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald's top stories of 2007, as selected by the editor. They are listed here in no particular order. Due to space constraints, not all information can be included in this list. We encourage residents to write or e-mail in their top stories of the year. E-mail D.Nash@antonnews.com or send comments to the Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald at 132 East Second Street, Mineola, NY 11501.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School seniors Lesley Slade, Radha Parameswaran, Benjamin Wienert and Adam Borowski were selected to compete in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium's Long Island regional competition at Adelphi University.

Also this year, DECA sent 74 members to compete in the Nassau County Regional Competition at Nassau Community College. Out of the 800 competitors from across Long Island, 36 of the winners are from Plainview's chapter.

Cristina Speirs, a resident of Plainview and a junior at the high school, is a member of the school gymnastics team as well as a private club team. With the private club, she competes as a level 10 gymnast and competes both locally and at different meets in other states and had a very successful 2007.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School celebrated the 35th anniversary of its student-run radio station, WPOB 88.5 FM, which is one of only four high school stations broadcasting on Long Island, and only about 200 nationwide. The station was built in 1972 with the help of district computer person Jan Schatzberg.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School Principal James Murray announced the valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2007 - Oren Factor and Jenna Katz.

Residents passed the budget this year with 1,980 voting in favor and 1,208 voting against the budget, which is 7.58 percent higher than last year's, but the tax levy is being held at 4.9 percent. This is the lowest tax levy percentage increase in nine years.

All three incumbents were defeated in the recent election and Lori Weinstein, 2,075 votes, Gary Bettan, 1,547 votes and Angel Cepeda, 1,419 votes, were elected. Wendy Richter received 1,110 votes, Cheryl Dender received 1,068 votes and Cathy Schapp received 1,050 votes.

Following their excellent performances in the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, high school students Jinju Yi and Theodore Tzanetos flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest pre-collegiate science fair in the world.

Odyssey, the official yearbook of the Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, was honored with an award of excellence. Walsworth Publishing of Mercelene, Missouri, the publisher of the POBJFKHS yearbook, presented the award to the Odyssey staff for its outstanding work in layout and design.

The high school marching band was congratulated on an outstanding performance at the 45th Annual Newsday Marching Band Festival.

Gloria Jones retired after 35 years. She helped Plainview DECA become one of the most important commodities the school district has to offer.

After seven years as superintendent of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District, Dr. Martin Brooks retired at the end of the school year. Dr. Brooks is now the superintendent of the Ridgewood School District in New Jersey.

The Plainview-Old Bethpage School District hired Gerard Dempsey as the interim superintendent of schools. A search is ongoing to find a replacement for Mr. Dempsey.

Plainview Water Commissioners Joel Kessler, Ed Shulroff and Kevin Langberg honored the 18 winners of the Plainview Water District's 2007 Water Conservation Poster Contest during a standing-room-only awards ceremony.

In August, the Plainview Water District celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated Plant 2 facility on Donna Drive in Plainview. One of 12 supply wells in the Plainview Water District, Plant 2 was fitted with a new water treatment system that will further enable the district to provide its customers with the cleanest and safest water possible. The Plant 2 facility supplies 2 million gallons of water per day to over 10,000 households in the Plainview Water District.

Veteran employee Michael Gelé was named superintendent of the Plainview Water District effective September 10. Gelé replaces former superintendent Paul Granger, who has accepted a job in the private sector.

Residents re-elected incumbent commissioner Joel Kessler who defeated Lawrence Farbman during a December election.

The Plainview Water District is a local leader in promoting civic responsibility in New York State, and was recently recognized for its outstanding performance in the "Operation Save New York" energy conservation program, sponsored by Buffalo-based Energy Curtailment Specialists, Inc.

Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto, together with Kids Helping Kids by Kids Way, Inc. co-founders Robert A.J. Eslick and Philip M. Eslick, announce that their co-sponsored Kids of Distinction program was returning for 2007.

The program was initiated in 2005 in an effort to recognize outstanding young people who have been active in exceptional endeavors in their community.

Plainview resident Zack Alexander, was a finalist. He is a seventh-grader at Mattlin Middle School, reaches out to others in a way that not many middle school students probably do. Zack volunteers at an after-school group for youngsters with autism and related disabilities. This program is administered by the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District and is known as TAG. Zack contributes between four and six hours each week to the participants in this program, for which his older brother is an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Therapist.

Among the highlights of the annual Awards Brunch of the Long Island Association of USA Track and Field was the presentation of the inaugural "Most Valuable Person" Award to Susan Polansky of Plainview.

Literacy Nassau (formerly Literacy Volunteers of America - Nassau County) tapped finance executive Richard A. Mills of Plainview to join the 39-year-old organization as a director of its board. He will serve his first three-year term ending in June 2010.

Over the summer, Plainview mail carrier Russell Huber must have a detective's sense for those in trouble. After a few days off, he noticed an elderly customer had not taken in his mail for a few days. He called 911 and the police eventually broke into the house and found the man laying at the foot of a stairway in a pool of blood, incoherent, a gash in his head. Thanks to Huber, the customer was stabilized and had sustained numerous injuries in his fall.

Dr. Mario Macaluso, a resident of Plainview and a former teacher and department chairperson of foreign languages at Syosset High School for 30 years, published his sixth book - My Mother's Sunset Journey. His success continued through 2007.

Nassau County signed a contract in 2007 for the creation of Restoration Farm, a privately run, economically viable organic vegetable farm at county-owned Old Bethpage Village Restoration.

The county signed a six-year use and occupancy permit contract with Restoration Farmers, LLC, a new company formed by Daniel Holmes and Caroline Fanning, two young but experienced Long Island farmers. Under the agreement, Restoration Farm will sell its produce to the public through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. For use of the land, Restoration Farm will pay a percentage of its revenue to Nassau County.

Restoration farm is located at 1303 Round Swamp Road in Old Bethpage. Please e-mail info@restorationfarm.com or visit www.restorationfarm.com for more information.

Dr. Harvey Finkelstein, who practiced in Plainview, is accused of using needles multiple times on the same patients and of possibly contaminating vials of medications when the syringes were reinserted.

Senator Kemp Hannon, chair of the Senate Health Committee, held public hearings in 2007 regarding the case surrounding a Nassau County physician infecting patients with Hepatitis C by improper sterilization procedures.

The recent recommendation by the New York State Department of Health, based on findings of improper needle sterilization, that hundreds of patients should be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV have sparked widespread alarm and questions into the adequacy of measures to ensure the quality and safety of health care in Nassau, specifically focused on infection control procedures.

The case is ongoing.

We, at the Plainview-Old Bethpage Herald, wish you all a happy and healthy 2008.