Two People Arrested at Smithtown Social Club

SMITHTOWN (Suffolk County Police Department) - Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section Officers, assisted by COPE and Patrol Officers, as well as the Smithtown Fire Marshal, conducted an inspection at a Smithtown club and arrested two employees for maintaining a criminal nuisance premises and other charges.
 
Prompted by multiple community complaints of underage drinking and smoking at the Fire and Ice Hookah Lounge in Smithtown, Crime Section Officers conducted an inspection of the premises that were purported to be a tobacco lounge, on March 28, 2009 at 12:06 AM.  On arrival at the Hookah Lounge, the officers noted that underage youth were bringing beer and consuming it openly within the premises.  It was also noted that the employees were allowing such conduct within the premises.
 
The officers arrested the Head Manager, Amar Patel, 25, of 479 West Main Street, Patchogue, and Host/Manager, Poonum Patel, 20, of 435 Washington Avenue, Brentwood, and charged them with Criminal Nuisance 2nd Degree, under the Penal Law, and Unlicensed Bottle Club, under the State Alcohol Beverage Control Law.  The Patels were issued Appearance Tickets and will be arraigned at First District Court, Central Islip, on a future date.
 
In addition, the Fire Marshal issued 15 summonses for violation of the Town Fire Code and closed the premises down.
 
A criminal charge is an accusation.  A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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House GOP offers alternative budget, with details to come

By David Lightman

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ Republicans in the House of Representatives answered President Barack Obama's challenge for a GOP alternative budget on Thursday by producing their own plan _ but the document contained virtually no specifics on spending, taxes or deficit reduction.

Instead, the glossy 18-page book, "The Republican Road to Recovery," was largely a harangue against Democratic policies and a series of statements of long-held Republican principles. House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio promised details next week.

Obama at his Tuesday news conference had criticized Republicans, saying, "We haven't seen an alternative budget out of them."

"Here it is, Mr. President," Boehner declared on Thursday.

Asked if the Republican plan would cut the deficit in half in five years, as Obama proposes, Boehner said, "It'll be better."

The House and Senate expect to vote next week on fiscal 2010 budgets, and separate votes are expected on Republican alternatives.

Since Democrats have comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress, and such budget debates are tightly controlled, the bills they have written are expected to pass easily.

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Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the top Republican on the House Budget Committee, set the tone for the Republican effort, calling the Democratic plan "so reckless, so irresponsible ... a gusher of new spending followed by a gusher of new borrowing we cannot sustain."

Democrats would spend about $3.55 trillion next year. Obama wanted a 10.1 percent boost in nondefense discretionary spending, which includes most domestic programs. The House Democrats' version would pare that to 9.5 percent, while the Senate's would cut it to 7 percent.

Most of Obama's key initiatives, such as health care, climate change and his "making work pay" tax credit, will be considered later this year. The House and Senate Democratic budgets require that their costs be covered by tax increases or offsetting cuts in spending elsewhere.

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Democrats scoffed at the GOP plan.

"It's like being in the era of the Bush administration all over again," said Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., the House Budget Committee chairman.

The GOP plan methodically takes the Democratic bill apart. On health care, it complains that "Democrats propose to finance nationalized health care," and says a better solution would be allowing people to shop across state lines for insurance policies.

On spending, the Republican plan lists specific objections to Democrats' plans, but proposes only that the GOP would "cut overall nondefense spending by reforming or eliminating a host of wasteful programs deemed ineffective by various government entities."

Taxes would be lower, the Republicans promise, in a "simple and fair tax code" with a 10 percent tax rate for incomes up to $100,000 and 25 percent thereafter, as well as "a generous standard deduction and personal exemption."

However, Republicans also would "allow any individual or family satisfied with their current tax structure" to pay those rates, though it would drop the two lowest brackets by 5 percent. Rates currently range from 10 percent to 35 percent.

On energy, the Republican plan would open the Arctic Coastal Plain to energy exploration, while making it easier to build new nuclear reactors.

And the party says it would help ease financial industry turmoil by discouraging bailouts and creating a climate of "certainty and economic growth."

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ON THE WEB

Republican road to recovery plan": http://www.gop.gov/solutions/budget/road-to-recovery-final

Internal Revenue Service description of 2009 tax brackets: http://tinyurl.com/6xpayy

Congressional Budget Office budget projections: http://tinyurl.com/ddjb9p

President Obama's 2010 budget outline: http://tinyurl.com/bcbxk6

Concord Coalition budget analysis: http://tinyurl.com/cwjb2e

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

In Fargo, flood crest could be highest ever

Michael Stensgaard uses one of his family's boat to get back to their home a few yards away from the Red River in Minnesota, March 25, 2009. The water is over 40 feet and has completely surrounded their home. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minneapolis Star Tribune)

By Matt McKinney, Allie Shah and Bill McAuliffe

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

(MCT)

FARGO, N.D. _ Shifting from confident to jittery, flood fighters in and around Fargo intensified their dike-building Wednesday after a dire new forecast called for the Red River to swell to its highest level ever by Saturday.

Authorities used airboats, helicopters and large military trucks to rescue dozens of trapped residents in the North Dakota towns of Oxbow and Abercombie. And if the rising river weren't enough to heighten anxiety, eight inches of snow blew in with ice and wind to handicap sandbagging efforts and close highways not already swamped with floodwater.

"It's uncharted territory," Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said. "If nature has anything else to throw at us, it'd have to be a tornado."

The mayor pleaded for more sandbag volunteers and urged exhausted crews to raise the dikes another foot _ to 43 feet _ before Saturday's expected crest of 41 feet. That would eclipse the 1897 record level of 40.1 feet in Fargo and the 39.57 feet reached during the devastating 1997 flood.

Beginning Thursday, Fargo officials will start distributing evacuation information.

"People are starting to get worried," said Robin Mattson, a staff sergeant with the Minnesota National Guard, supervising intersections across the river in Moorhead.

When one resident tried to drive his sand-filled pickup over an earthen levee, police were called to issue a warning.

"He ignored the National Guard to put his own sand in, endangering everyone else," Mattson said.

For the most part, though, neighbors continue to help each other in an overwhelming spirit of cooperation. For a while Wednesday afternoon, Moorhead resident Scott Peterson worried he wouldn't get enough sandbags to raise his backyard dike the extra foot authorities have requested.

Just then, a group of college students arrived along with a truck towing a trailer of sandbags.

"If it wasn't for Concordia College," Peterson said, "our neighborhood would be under."

In Oxbow, a small town just south of Fargo, water from the Red spilled onto several residential streets, trapping homeowners. Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said airboats helped on a dozen rescues and he anticipates many more in coming days.

"A large number of people are in their homes and we know they're going to need to come out," he said, adding that airboats and military trucks are the only vehicles that could pass through some of the streets submerged in 2 feet of standing water.

A Coast Guard helicopter plucked a family from a farmhouse two miles southwest of Abercrombie, N.D., where overland flooding from the Wild Rice River increased rapidly. Richland County, N.D., spokesman Warren Stokes said five adults and one child were rescued from the house by a basket and taken to a social service center in Wahpeton.

Flood-fighting crews in Abercrombie had put up dikes to protect the town against Red River flooding, but they shifted their efforts to battle overland flooding from Wild Rice River to the west.

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"We've never worried about anything from that direction," said Vice Mayor David Hammond, adding that the town would open its school to house any farmers flooded out of their homes.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Across the river in Wolverton, Minn. _ which sits an eighth of a mile from the river bank _ water flowed into the streets in lower areas. Maryann Olthoff was hoping that sandbag dikes up to 5 feet tall around her house would hold back the water, which she said was higher than anybody in the town of 120 people has ever seen.

"God willing and the creek don't rise," Olthoff said.

Back up in Fargo, bundled-up residents and volunteers braved the miserable conditions, piling up sandbags in vulnerable neighborhoods amid blowing snow, temperatures in the 20s and a strong wind.

"The bags are starting to freeze," said Martin Fisher, adding another layer of sandbags onto his backyard dike. "That's a problem. You can't put rock on top of rock."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

Despite the city's efforts to keep the bags warm by storing them overnight in a heated garage, some bags were as hard as stone.

"Frozen!" one volunteer called out, alerting the rest of the assembly line.

Many flood-fighters swapped their rain boots for their winter boots, anticipating the pain that comes from standing outside for hours at a time in the icy mud. But slinging sandbags really builds up a sweat, and you hardly notice the cold, according to Bill Eral, who drove from St. Paul, Minn., to help.

With an outside fire pit, Sarah Keim's driveway was the place to be in Fargo's Oak Creek neighborhood. A steady stream of neighbors and volunteers popped in to warm their hands and nibble on homemade banana bread.

Between the snow and the flooding, several highways from Ada to Zerkel were closed or under water in western Minnesota. State officials urged motorists to call 511 or click on www.511mn.org for current road conditions.

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(Staff writers Curt Brown and Bob von Sternberg contributed to this report.)

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© 2009, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Visit the Star Tribune Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.startribune.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): FLOODING

GRAPHICS (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20090325 River FLOODING and 20090325 FLOODING dikes

Huge public lands bill gets final congressional approval

Map of the U.S. locating lands to be protected as wilderness; the House has passed and sent to President Barack Obama a long-delayed bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness. MCT 2009

By Michael Doyle

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON _ The House of Representatives on Wednesday gave long-awaited final approval to a massive public lands package designed to protect wilderness, restore rivers and expand national parks.

Years of debate and negotiations ended anticlimactically, as the 1,218-page bill strolled to victory on a 285-140 margin. Approved earlier by the Senate, the legislation now goes to the White House for President Barack Obama's signature.

"It will restore balance to the management of our public lands ... after nearly a decade in which responsible land stewardship was abandoned," said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Tactically constructed, with provisions targeting a majority of states, the bill drew 38 Republicans to join 247 Democrats. Even so, conservative GOP critics lambasted the bill as a land grab put together with what one Republican lawmaker termed "every legislative trick in (the Democratic) playbook."

House Democratic leaders brought the measure to the floor in a way that blocked potential amendments.

"The passage of this bill is another disappointing display of heavy-handed Democratic tactics that rely on secret, backroom bill-writings that are then jammed through without any opportunity for alternatives," complained Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington, the senior Republican on the House resources panel.

Dubbed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, the measure pulled together more than 150 separate public lands, parks and water bills into one package. Among other things, the legislation designates 2 million acres of additional wilderness in nine states and 1,000 miles of new wild and scenic rivers. It creates three new national park units, one new national monument and 10 new national heritage areas.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Provisions in the bill range from honoring President Bill Clinton's birthplace in Arkansas to creating a national institute for the study of caves. It designates a Wyoming river as wild and scenic, creates a geologic trail that tracks cataclysmic ice age floods and requires the government to research the problem of increasingly acidic oceans.

"Altogether, it is one of the most sweeping conservation laws that Congress has passed in many, many years," declared Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The bill will be expensive. It authorizes projects expected to cost more than $5.5 billion over five years if Congress provides the money, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also adds an additional $900 million in spending after 2013, the nonpartisan budget office estimates.

Hastings warned the bill would restrict potential development of energy resources on public lands, while other lawmakers focused on the addition of new lands to the national wilderness roll.

"The federal government already owns 30 percent of the total land area of the United States," said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif. "I don't think we need any more."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, called the bill's passage "a day of celebration for all who treasure and enjoy our natural and cultural heritage," and numerous environmental groups had been lobbying hard for its passage. In many cases, the public lands package collected provisions that had lingered without action during the years that Republicans had controlled Congress.

One provision, for instance, names a new wilderness in California's Sierra Nevada mountains after former California Rep. John Krebs. The measure creating the John Krebs Wilderness was first introduced in 2002.

The bill's occasionally rocky road to passage included a controversy over allowing guns in national parks and a concern that some amendments might expose potentially vulnerable lawmakers to difficult votes.

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(Les Blumenthal and Erika Bolstad contributed to this report.)

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© 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau on the World Wide Web at www.mcclatchydc.com.

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GRAPHIC (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20090325 LANDS map

Three People Arrested, Heroin and Cocaine Seized

Suffolk County Police today arrested three people on drug related charges after seizing heroin and cocaine at their home in Copiague.

First Squad detectives, First Precinct Community Oriented Police Enforcement (COPE) officers, Emergency Service officers and Canine officers executed a search warrant at 13 39th St. in Copiague at 6:35 a.m. Detectives seized more than 100 packs of heroin, 1/4 once of cocaine along with more than $3,000 in cash.

Arrested were:
·Richard Beltre, 19, of 13 39th Street, Copiague, who was charged with one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th Degree.

·Stephanie Filippone, 21, of 13 39th Street, Copiague, who was charged with one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th Degree and three counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree.

·Leoncio Beltre, 50, 13 39th Street, Copiague, who was charged with one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree.

The Suffolk County Police Narcotics Section assisted in this investigation. All three suspects will be held overnight for their arraignment tomorrow at First District Court in Central Islip.

North Carolina Fugitive Arrested in Mastic

MASTIC (Suffolk County Police Department) - Suffolk County Police Fugitive Squad Detectives, assisted by the Seventh Precinct Gang Unit, COPE and Patrol Officers, arrested a Bloods street gang member who was wanted for Attempted Murder in North Carolina, at a house in Mastic.

The suspect, Sean Lamar Melvin, 21, fled North Carolina after the March 4, 2009, attempted murder incident. An investigation by Raleigh, North Carolina Police revealed he had fled to the Mastic area and Suffolk’s Police were notified. The subject was located at a residence on 6 Elm Place, Mastic, and was arrested as he tried to flee from that location.

Melvin was transported to the Seventh Precinct and charged with being a Fugitive from Justice under NY State law and the outstanding North Carolina Attempted Murder warrant. He will be held overnight at the Seventh Precinct for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip.

In addition two other subjects at that location were charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration and various drug charges.

SCSD: Accolades and Updates 3-24-09

Edward Ehmann, Superintendent of Schools of the Smithtown School District, made the following announcements at the March 24th Board of Education meeting at the Joseph M. Barton Administration Building.

March 27, 2009, originally scheduled as a Superintendent’s Conference Day, will remain for the purpose of scoring the Math 6-8 assessments. K-5 students will attend school as usual, but there will be no school for students in grades 6-12.

The 2009-2010 budget will be presented to the Board of Education for approval at the April 14th Board of Education Meeting.

A Facilities Committee Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 26th at 7:00 p.m. at the Joseph M. Barton Building, 26 New York Avenue, Smithtown.

All transportation requests for the 2009-2010 school year for private or parochial school students must be made by April 1, 2009, regardless of whether the request is for a first-time applicant or is a renewal.

Mary Cahill, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Administration, recently received an award from the Council of Administrators and Supervisors in Recognition of Her Outstanding Leadership in the Field of Education. Scope Education Services also presented her with The Administrator Service Award in Appreciation for Her Outstanding Service to the District.

Three Smithtown Juniors, Valentine Esposito, Reena Glaser and Jessica Noviello, have been awarded a Simons Summer Research Fellowship at Stony Brook University. Only 32 juniors are selected to participate in this prestigious program which receives applications from students throughout the country.

Congratulations to Smithtown High School East students Ashley Beck and Cara Hallahan for earning All County Honors this winter track season. Cara was the Large School Champion in the high jump and Ashley placed 2nd at the State Qualifier, also in the high jump. Ashley represented Suffolk County at the State Track Meet at Cornell University.

Robyn Suchy is a 16 -year-old HSE student who already has a published book. Robyn is part of the Young Poets Mentoring Program established in 2007 by Suffolk County Poet Laureate Dr. David Axelrod. This program gives students the opportunity to publish their first book of poems. A collection of Robyn’s poems can be found in the book, “Stairwells and Window Frames” published by Writers Ink Press.


Smithtown High School East & West DECA completed its best ever results at the recent State Championship Conference in Rochester. More than half the students received recognition with four receiving first place in the state recognition. With their phenomenal performance, 28 students will represent Smithtown at the International Conference to be held in Anaheim, California beginning on April 29th.

During the month of March, National Nutrition Month, the Mount Pleasant PTA’s Health and Wellness committee has sponsored “Tasting Tuesdays”. Every Tuesday the students have been given the opportunity to try different healthy fruits and vegetables during their lunch period.

The Smithtown Teachers’ Association recently had a fundraiser and raised $1,000 for a medically fragile student.

Students from each grade level at Saint James Elementary School were awarded certificates for exhibiting compassion by taking care of themselves, each other, and St. James. Compassion is one of the character traits that are celebrated as part of the St. James Character Education Program.

Accompsett Elementary students recently had the opportunity to meet with local author Brian Heinz. The students first met with Mr. Heinz and were taken through the process “From Writer to Reader”. Mr. Heinz then shared his writings and many of his wildlife experiences which are the basis of his works.

Smithtown High School West Leadership Club recently hosted the Spring Blood Drive.
The third graders at Smithtown Elementary culminated their study of Japan with a Japan Day celebration. Children and teachers dressed for the occasion in clothing typical of the Japanese culture.

Under the direction of Librarian Harriet Pasca-Ortgies and Linda McCann, 44 students from GreatHollow Middle Schoolhad their original poetry published in the Pine Tree Poetry book for 2009.

For the third time in five years, the Nesaquake Middle School Trivia Team took first place in the Middle School Division of the Suffolk County United Cerebral Palsy Trivia Contest.

Matthew Hennings’ Sports Management Class at HS East recently had an opportunity to meet with Andy Collier from The Baseball Hall of Fame via videoconference. Students experienced a unique lesson in free enterprise through the evolution of contracts and commerce. In addition students had an opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion with Mr. Collier.


Ms. Armstrong’s second graders from Smithtown Elementary held a videoconference with Michael Hare from the NASA Johnson Space Center to learn about the Solar System in the Distance Learning Lab at HS West. Students also had an opportunity to see live footage of the Astronaut Training Center and the International Space Station.
Through the Kids Helping Kids Book Drive, Accompsett students and parents donated more than 3,190 gently used or new books for the Hope’s Children’s Fund. The foundation will use these books to create a library for children in Africa. The Kids Helping Kids Book Drive was used to jump start the school’s PARP (Parents as Reading Partners) month.

Three DECA West students, Lauren Baruch, Thomas Kirnbauer and Connor Levens, won first place in New York State DECA Career Conference for their work on the Smithtown Solar/Energy Savings Initiative Public Relations Campaign.