BEACON RECORD The Village
Animal & WellnHealth ess Veterin ar y Office,
volume 31, no. 17
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File photo above by Desirée Keegan; file photo on right by Rohma abbas
the results between republican challenger Steve tricarico, above, and legislator Sarah anker, right, may not be ready until after thanksgiving.
Official guide for the 20th annual Port Jefferson Dickens Festival
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Jury still out on Legislator Anker’s re-election By deSirée keegan & Giselle Barkley
Voters may have to wait a little longer for 6th Legislative District election results. As vote tallies poured in on Election Day, it appeared Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) had edged out Republican challenger Steve Tricarico by just one vote — literally. But with absentee ballots still being counted,
Hope House purchases Little Portion Friary
The Mount Sinai building will house more drug-addicted patients
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according to Nick LaLota, the commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections, the final results may not be available until after Thanksgiving. According to LaLota, the board began counting the more than 550 absentee ballots on Nov. 12. Although the margin between the two candidates is slim — Anker squeezed past Tricarico with 5,859 votes to Tricarico’s 5,858 — Anker hopes she can continue the work she’s been doing.
“I love doing my job,” she said. Tricarico did not return calls for comment. Anker said she’s been able to win support from a lot of Republican voters in the past, which she attributes to being active and having a presence in the community. For now, she is not giving up on the projects she is working on, like addressing traffic safety on Route 25A and drug addiction throughout the county —
while staying within the budget. “I am fiscally conservative,” she said. “What I try to do is take our resources and make the most of them without spending additional money.” “I’m very honored to be able to — hopefully when the count is official — to continue the work I do,” Anker said. “To get by, by one vote … Every vote counts. I’m hoping we can resolve the final count and I can continue the work I love to do.”
Heritage Park tries to close the gap on funding By Giselle Barkley
Taxpayer dollars don’t go to the Heritage Park in Mount Sinai. The 15-year-old park is funded by the Heritage Trust Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps keep the park and its annual community events alive. Earlier this year, two of the organization’s popular community events — Summerfest and the carnival — were rained out. The group lost $3,900 from Summerfest and only made $7,500 from the carnival; they were hoping to raise $5,000 and $25,000 from the events, respectively. Now, Heritage Trust is $25,000 below its operating budget. The lack of money left Heritage Trust board members with an idea to “create a Close the Gap Campaign,” shortly after the carnival ended on Oct. 5 — the only day community members attended for the four-
day event— to try to raise funds to make up for the lost money. In the past several days, the organization raised $2,680, around 10 percent of the online fundraiser’s goal of $25,000. The Heritage Trust has 47 more days to raise money. According to Heritage Trust President Lori Baldassare, the money raised from this campaign will go toward upkeep of the park, paying off various insurance or financial expenses and funding future events. “We were hoping the carnival would help us get back on our feet,” Baldassare said. She added that the trust’s request for donations with the online campaign wasn’t created because they weren’t doing well. “It’s because of circumstances like the weather that prevented us from meeting our goals,” she said. Heritage Trust holds around
Photo by giselle Barkley
the heritage trust Fund is raising money to help maintain the park for community members.
eight fundraising events in addition to occasions like the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which is free to residents. This year they added a fundraising event on Nov. 6 to help their effort. According to
one of the founding board members Tom Carbone, the organization had its ups and downs, but he said they haven’t “been in the situation [they’re] in now.” HeRITage PaRK continued on page a4