To most of us Main Street is a familiar place we traverse, often forgetting to look around us, as we head to our intended destination. But those who are more aware of their surroundings will have noticed the interesting changes that have occurred at Beacon Pharmacy. Last Summer Joel Berstein started renovations at his drug store and the work was done with amazingly little interruption to the running of the business. This was achieved by much of the work being completed outside the rear of the store, with the team working until daylight deserted them preparing the fixtures and fittings. FULL STORY

Amid much sniping and shouting at the Jan. 8, board of education meeting, the members of the BOE discussed the site and safety logistic plans for the construction phase of the bond project for Weber Middle School and Schreiber High School. FULL STORY

The Vikings have been playing very well this season, evidenced by their success in the pre-season tournaments and in their first few games of this conference season. They nearly pulled off a "double dip" on the road as they easily manhandled, Valley Stream Central, 70-51, but just fell short at Elmont, 61-58. Port's standard bearers kept the team moving swiftly against VS Central as they got off to a big lead in the second period and never turned back. Valley Stream put up a strong fight early as they matched the Vikes to a near even first period score as they were only behind 17-15 when it came to a close. The Vikes got their game in high gear in the second period with their usual contributors: Mandelkern, Ross, Ferrucci, Mulqueen and James. FULL STORY

It is probably not a good idea to be wandering around the streets of mid-town Manhattan in the middle of the night in mid-January, or anytime for that matter. But if you happened to be out and about on 44th Street in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 10, you would have been treated to a spectacular sight. For you would have seen Stars and Stripes, of Team Dennis Conner, gracing the front door of the New York YC, in town for a naming ceremony for Conner's newest navy blue 79-foot yacht. Never before in the 132-year history of defending the America's Cup has the New York YC brought one of its boats to New York to be christened. But these are unusual times for New York and it seems fitting that the Club would welcome Conner back in such a grand style. It was Dennis Conner, representing the NYYC, who lost the Cup back in 1983 to Australia's winged-keel wonder. FULL STORY