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N E W S P A P E R
VOLUME SIXTEEN, ISSUE 32
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
24 PAGES
DIX HILLS
The Paramount Spotlight
Ham Pulls Ahead In Bid For Party Post Lead changes after count of paper ballots in committeeman race By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandergroup.com
Stand-up comic Carly Aquilino grew up in Commack.
Commack Native Bringing Home The Laughs By Arielle Dollinger adollinger@longislandergroup.com
Once the girl beneath the bright red tresses and now the girl beneath the bubble gum pink strands, Commack native Carly Aquilino will take the stage of The Paramount on Sept. 26 – the stand-up comic's first-ever Long Island performance. The 23-year-old comedian, who graduated Commack High School in 2008, worked as a hairdresser in New (Continued on page A16)
He appeared to be down one vote when polls closed Sept. 9. Now, according to Suffolk County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Anita Katz, Nathaniel Ham, the disgraced former head of the Huntington Housing Authority, appears to have pulled ahead by one in his bid to become a committeeman. The turnaround comes, Katz said Monday, after the counting of paper ballots from poll inspectors who live in the district in the race for a pair of two-year terms to represent the 98th Electoral District on the Democratic committee. When polls closed Tuesday, incumbents Richard Wanat and Arlene Morante were in the lead with 14 and 12 votes, respectively. Ham and his wife, Denise, each had 11 votes, according to unofficial returns that night. However, on Monday, Katz said Wanat
and Ham were the winners, back scheme that inflated the with 14 votes each, with cost of post-Sept. 11 projects Denise Ham and Morante with fake bills and unneceseach trailing with 13 votes. sary work, federal prosecuTown Democratic Comtors said at the time. mittee Chair Mary Collins In connection with these said she received word of the projects, the 14 Con Ed inlead-change a day earlier spectors solicited bribes in through a phone call from the exchange for approving conSuffolk County Board of tractor invoices that listed Elections. phantom pay items, allowing If the results hold, Collins contractors to perform unsaid they have few options necessary additional work Nathaniel Ham but to accept the results of the on the projects and expeditdemocratic process. ing Con Ed payments to the contractors. “You don’t always like the people that Prosecutors said the scheme cost Con Ed are elected… but you have to deal with millions. them,” Collins said Monday. “I know Ham, who was convicted in March people aren’t terribly happy with it, but 2011, was found to have laundered bribes there’s not a lot that can be done.” through his credit union accounts. He reHam was one of two Dix Hills resi- ceived a 32-month sentence and was redents among 14 construction inspectors leased from federal prison on May 2. He and a pair of contractors sentenced Nov. was also ordered to pay more than $1.136 22, 2011 for their role in a nine-year kick(Continued on page A16)
DIX HILLS/ELWOOD
Town Seeks Full Environmental Work-Up By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandergroup.com
The Huntington Planning Board recommended the town board order a full review of potential environmental impacts tied to a nearly half-million square-foot commercial project eyed for approximately 56 acres along Jericho Turnpike in Elwood. The recommendation, approved by the planning board at its Sept. 10 meeting, was expected to have been ratified by the town board on Sept. 16, a meeting which occurred after press time. “There is a finding that there is the potential for significant adverse environmental impacts from the proposed project,” town spokesman A.J. Carter said Friday. Across the street, three shop owners at (Continued on page A16)
A proposal to build a nearly 500,000 square-foot commercial development on 56 acres of the Mediavilla orchard property along Jericho Turnpike in Elwood, is expected to undergo a full environmental review.
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