Many children look forward to their free time over the weekend, but fourth-grade students at Drexel Avenue and Powell's Lane Schools in the Westbury School District prefer to spend that time furthering their education. Saturday Academy, an extra day instructional program, is one of the driving forces behind the academic strides that have been made at both elementary schools on the New York State Assessment tests. FULL STORY

As a result of an April 29 referendum, North Hempstead is required to establish six council districts, or "wards," to replace the previous system of at-large election of council members. The town board took the first step in that direction at a special meeting held on Wednesday, May 7, at Town Hall in Manhasset. At the meeting, the board passed a resolution accepting Town Clerk Michelle Schimel's certification of the vote. Residents voted 5,468 to 3,944 in favor of Proposition 1, which called for the creation of councilmanic districts. They voted 5,344 to 3,776 to increase the number of districts from four to six. The board then established a sub-committee of other Councilmanic District Commission which had held hearings on the issue throughout 2002. The board named three Democrats, Roma Connable, Sharon M. J. Commisiong and Jerry Scharfman, and two Republicans, Dr. Rudolph H. Clark and Thomas Liotti to the committee. Alternates are Democrats John Fabio and Matthew Cuomo and Republicans Gerard Cummingham and Michael J. Camardi. They hired Grass Roots Solutions to advise the committee on technicalities of setting up districts and special counsel Jeffrey Wice. FULL STORY

The Westbury Village Department, in concert with the Long Island Okinawan Martial Arts Center, will offer karate classes every Monday night and Saturday morning at the Westbury Recreation Center. There will be two classes on each of these days. One class will be for boys and girls ages 8 to 12. The other will be for ages 13 to adult. For more information, call the Westbury Recreation Department at 334-5560. FULL STORY