Police charged Leonidas Cotsifas, 50, of Bethpage with attempted murder and several other crimes on Thursday afternoon after he allegedly struck a 71-year-old man on the head with a paving stone in his Nassau Street home in Bellmore, critically injuring him. more

Nassau County police are asking the public for help in identifying the driver of an SUV that struck and injured a man crossing Bellmore Avenue last Friday night, and then drove off. The 19-year-old victim was crossing the street in front of the offices of Bellmore Pediatric Medical Associates at 2053 Bellmore Ave., just south of Oak Street, at around 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 25, according to Sgt. Stephen Fitzgerald. more

Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham high schools all celebrated Homecoming on Saturday, and students had a blast at the pre-game parades and at the big football games, despite all three home teams losing. Calhoun went down to Massapequa, 24-20. Kennedy lost a heartbreaker to Division, 21-20, after being up 20-0 at halftime. And Mepham was overpowered by No. 4 seed Wantagh, 30-7. more

The Hempstead town council and members of the public shined the spotlight on New York Islanders owner Charles Wang and his development team on Tuesday at a marathon hearing to determine the proper zoning for the vast project Wang is proposing at the Nassau Coliseum site. The town council did not reach a decision on the Lighthouse project at the conclusion of an often heated and emotional meeting that lasted nearly 12 hours and included lunch and dinner breaks. While the majority of the large crowd at Hofstra University’s John Cranford Adams Playhouse expressed support for the privately funded, $4 billion project, which would refurbish the Coliseum and develop the 150 acres that surround it, there was a vocal contingent of opponents, most of them from neighboring Garden City. more

Each year, drunken drivers cause deadly accidents and claim innocent lives. Their stories often become local and sometimes national lore, cautioning others about the potentially deadly consequences of a crime that some see as socially acceptable. But there is another type of loss that goes with drinking and driving, I recently learned. One that may be considered insensitive or politically incorrect to discuss. Three defense attorneys I interviewed saw the possible loss of one's reputation and even future employment as an unfair fate that befalls many of their clients. I contacted the lawyers after the Nassau County Police Department and the district attorney's office gave me a firsthand look at what a DWI arrest entails. Police simulated my arrest for DWI, including everything from handcuffing me to locking me up. Later, the district attorney's office brought me to District Court, where I took a tour of holding cells, courtrooms and assistant district attorneys' offices. I wrote about the experience for Herald readers. But as I spoke with defense lawyers, expecting to hear mainly about the financial burden of a DWI conviction, I learned that some of the most serious consequences for the convicted are harder to quantify. more

More than 300 people united against cancer at Clubhouse Road Park in Merrick on Sept. 26 from 5 to 11 p.m., raising $42,000 for cancer research at the Bellmore/Merrick Relay for Life, said Paul Gruol, director of special events for American Cancer Society Foundation and a Merrick resident. In what Gruol described as "a very touching" event centered around survivorship and commemoration, more than 21 teams walked to raise funds and more than 350 candles were lit, including several spelling out the word "hope.'" Gruol extended special thanks to event chairwoman Hildy Teplitz, her daughter Julie, and state Sen. Charles Fuschillo, without whom he said the event could not have achieved such success. more

A 74-year-old woman died on Saturday in a fire that destroyed a Bellmore home. Barbara Goldfarb was found unconscious in her second-floor apartment in a home at 2025 Henry St., just south of Natta Boulevard, on Sept. 19, shortly after 9:35 p.m. when she had activated a MedicAlert to call for help, police said. Smoke and fire were streaming out of a second-floor window of the brick ranch-style home when the Bellmore Emergency Medical Services responded, Nassau County Police said. At the time, local fire department members were participating in the annual Sixth Battalion Parade and Drill in Massapequa, following a drill team tournament at the Four Towns Training Center in Merrick during the day. more

A crash or a death. When caused by a drunk driver, the media is often all over it. But last week I went behind bars at Nassau County Police Headquarters to get an inside look at the less-publicized side of a DWI arrest. more

"Four DWIs [is what] it took before that woman killed my child," said Deena Cohen, president of the Long Island chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Cohen was speaking before an assembly of about 50 students at Seaford High School, arranged by State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican, and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, a Democrat who is up for re-election. Cohen’s 21-year-old daughter, Jodi, was killed by a drunk driver 20 years ago. "I need you to understand the importance of [not] drinking and driving and drugging and driving," Cohen told the students. "The pain never goes away, ever ... The pain is still here. The 20-year number did something to my head. Jodi is gone almost as long" as she was alive. Tears were welling up in students' eyes as Cohen spoke. more

Months of negotiations between community liaisons and NextG Networks, the company that installed 35 cellular antennas on telephone poles in Merrick, were recently halted by a lawsuit filed against NextG, the Town of Hempstead and Metro PCS. Patrick Ryan, an attorney for NextG, abruptly postponed a Sept. 1 meeting with civic leaders and government representatives after members of the Merrick Gables Association filed the $100 million suit in New York State Supreme Court, according to Joe Baker, president of the South Merrick Community Civic Association. NextG spokesman Robert Delsman said, "NextG does not offer public comment on matters in litigation." The meeting was to be one of several held since June to potentially look at relocating certain antennas based on suggestions of community members who were disturbed to find the metal boxes affixed to poles about 10 to 20 feet from the ground. The antennas began appearing in the summer on town rights of way, often close to schools and people's front yards. By many accounts, the antennas were often installed late at night or early in the morning, with little or no notice to homeowners. more