MiniCon Brings SciFi Fans Together For A Cause

Second annual event raises money for Cerebral Palsy

For the second year, The Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County is holding their Annual Sci-Fi Mini Convention at Levittown Hall, 201 Levittown Parkway, Hicksville, NY on Saturday, July 22nd from 12pm – 5pm. This event is sponsored by Jovia Financial Credit Union.

This year’s MiniCon will feature members of the 501st Legion’s Empire City Garrison, The Rebel Legion’s Echo Base, and the Saber Guild’s Endor Temple in their Star Wars Costumes. There will also be visits by members of the Long Island Ghost Busters and Princesses from Royal Princess Prep Entertainment. There will be games and activities including Blast-A-Trooper, Jedi Training, and meet and greets with media guests. There will be Light Saber demonstrations from the Saber Guild.

Chris Feehan, Development Assistant at The Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County (CPNassau), is the point of contact between the 501st and CPNassau and the person spearheading MiniCon. He said that while last year’s event was a run-away success, it happened almost organically. “Last year’s Con came together by chance. The 501st Legion wanted to put on a small event for (CPNassau) with some cosplayers from the 501st and the Rebel Legion. We then expanded that and included the Saber Guild and the Ghostbusters and some other costuming people to kind of put on a little mini convention to help raise money for the Cerebral Palsy Association. Well, that kind of exploded and we got some additional guests; we got some actors, some wrestlers, and some professional cosplayers to come together. This year, we’ve had a little more time to plan and learn from our experiences. We have even more guests and more exciting activities for kids and adults.”

A lot of the fundraising is being generated by the activities. There are a number of things both children and adults can participate in. Feehan detailed some of the different experiences available. “If you want to blast the trooper you can take some shots with a Nerf gun at some of the stormtroopers. There is also our big trash compactor set. We’re charging $5 for that. If you’d like to do Jedi training with the Saber Guild, that’s going to be a $5 activity. The activities are very family friendly priced, so that you can choose to do what you want to do.”

Another source for donations is the raffles, with many collectibles and event tickets available. “There are going to be some incredible raffles. We’ve gotten some great donations from some local vendors, including Joebba’s Palace, who’s going to be there as a vendor. They donated a large TIE fighter worth about $200 that we’re going to be raffling off. There are some large Star Wars baskets and other baskets that have other donated items that we’ve gotten throughout the year. There are things like Six Flags tickets, Dorney Park tickets, tickets to different

SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCES BY:

Rochelle Davis (Actress)

Sarah in The Crow (1994) / Hell House

George Papadimatos (Actor)

The Deuce / Daredevil / Jimmy’s & Jenny’s

Angelo Mercado (Actor)

New Amsterdam / Little Voice / Model

Lula Lukas (Artist)

Freelance and Comic Book Artist

Michael Jan Friedman (Author)

Star Trek Novelist and Comic Book Author

Rage & Kaos (Pro Wrestlers)

Stranglehold Championship Wrestling Network

Movie Cars: Batmobile & DeLorean

(Weather Permitting)

Robin Channing

Mind-bending Magician & Performer

COSPLAYERS INCLUDING:

Angel_Ta2 Jacobella Luongo mcheretic / Abigail Ruby Rinekso

Mets games, and some other sports memorabilia that was donated by our partners.” Feehan said.

For those who want to take home something crafted, there are handknit items for sale. “The Ladies Council Auxiliary is actually making some homemade knit items, including some baby Grogu dolls, hats and pillowcases with Star Wars themes. These are all things that they’ve handmade over the past two months, which they are donating to sell at the Sci Fi MiniCon. So there will be some neat merchandise there that’s handmade and handcrafted with love, all to raise money for this association.”

Feehan is excited to see where MiniCon goes in the future. Considering its humble beginnings, the event is already a success. “We really hope (to expand) we’re going to see what works, what doesn’t work and what really gets people excited. If we start seeing a real nice crowd attend, we may expand it into an even bigger, better convention next year. We just want to do something that’s for the community, to help support our agency in the most fun way possible. Last year we had over 1000 people and the event was only three hours long, from five to eight o’clock at night. And that was because it came together so late we couldn’t get the venue for the whole day. I think (with this year’s Con running) from noon to five, we’re hoping we’ll have in excess of 2000 people throughout the day.”

PUBLIC STATEMENT HEARINGS TO BE HELD IN PSC CASES 23-G-0225, 23G-0226 - NATIONAL GRID NY AND NATIONAL GRID FOR GAS SERVICE

On April 28, 2023, The Brooklyn Union Gas Company d/b/a National Grid NY (KEDNY) and KeySpan Gas East Corporation d/b/a National Grid (KEDLI)(collectively, the Companies) led amendments to their gas tari schedules proposing to increase their annual gas delivery revenues e ective March 31, 2024. KEDNY proposes to increase its revenues by $414 million (a 28 percent increase in base delivery revenues or a 17 percent increase in total revenues). KEDLI proposes to increase its revenues by $228 million (a 24 percent increase in base delivery revenues or a 14 percent increase in total revenues). Although the actual bill impacts of these proposed changes on any particular customer class will vary based upon revenue allocation and rate design, the Companies state that a typical KEDNY residential heating customer will have a $30.95 average monthly bill increase and a typical KEDLI residential heating customer will have a $28.52 average monthly bill increase.

The Companies state that the rate increases are largely due to the need to invest in critical infrastructure to comply with Federal and State pipeline safety mandates, increased costs to deliver expanded energy e ciency and other demand reduction o erings, and economic factors such as rising cost of material due to in ation, increased contractor costs, and increases in property taxes. The Companies state that their rate lings are focused on delivering safe and reliable service, meeting the needs of customers, and advancing the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The Companies propose to e ectively maintain the current pace of leak prone pipe replacements through a more targeted replacement strategy; aggressively repair gas leaks and target the repair of high-emitting leaks through the use of advanced leak detection technology; continue or expand customer oriented initiatives to ensure energy a ordability, improve customer experience and maintain customer satisfaction; improve the resiliency of the distribution system by investing in automation, safety valves, and storm hardening projects; and continue or expand many CLCPA-supporting initiatives such as non-pipe alternatives, energy e ciency and demand response programs.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that virtual public statement hearings will be held before Administrative Law Judges

James A. Costello and Maureen F. Leary on:

DATE:Tuesday, August 1, 2023

TIME: 1:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.

DATE:Wednesday, August 2, 2023

TIME: 1:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.

A more comprehensive notice that contains further information on how to attend the hearings electronically is available at https://dps.ny.gov/ask-psc.

Any person wishing to provide a public statement must register by 4:30 P.M. Monday, July 31, 2023, for the August 1 hearings and Tuesday, August 1, 2023, for the August 2 hearings.

To register electronically: Registration information for participants who would like to provide a statement and will login to a hearing electronically may be found in the notice available at https://dps.ny.gov/ask-psc.

To register by phone: Any participant who is not able to login to a hearing electronically may participate by phone. Call-in participants who would like to provide a statement must register to do so in advance by calling 1-800-342-3330, where they should follow prompts to the appropriate hearing and provide their rst and last name, address, and phone number.

On the appropriate date and time of a hearing, all call-in users should dial 1-518-549-0500 and enter:

Access Code [2338 061 1494] and Password [28410176] for the 1:00 p.m. hearing on August 1

Access Code [2348 462 8182] and Password [28410676] for the 6:00 p.m. hearing on August 1

Access Code [2334 693 7249] and Password [28420176] for the 1:00 p.m. hearing on August 2

Access Code [2336 515 1615] and Password [28420676] for the 6:00 p.m. hearing on August 2

Each public statement hearing will be held open until everyone who has registered to speak has been heard or other reasonable arrangements to submit comments have been made.