On May 8, the construction of a new village hall in the Village of Kings Point officially began with a groundbreaking ceremony. The 12,000 square foot building with a targeted completion date of January 2001 at a cost of $6 million will accommodate a courtroom, administrative offices and conference room for village business. The police department will share the building as well with a separate entrance. Contained within what is described by the architectural firm, the Spector Group, as a series of pavilions will be a police desk, reporting room, squad and locker room, secured access and support functions. FULL STORY

Bug bites. Used to be that a little scratch here and some calamine lotion there would relieve them. Now, for parents especially, bug bites are a worry. No one knows for certain yet if West Nile fever, carried by mosquitoes, will be a problem this summer, but deer ticks, that can transmit Lyme disease, have established quite a foothold on the eastern seaboard. With parents being warned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be exceedingly cautious with the use of DEET on children, the need exists for a safe and effective repellent. FULL STORY

Boris Muladzhanor, owner and professional photographer of Photo 83, has donated a group picture of the Great Neck Spirits Special Olympics Club to Bernard Kaplan, principal of Great Neck North High School. FULL STORY

The Mariners' track and field team traveled to West Point this past weekend to race Army's Invitational. Senior Wayne Allen (Danbury, TX) was second in the 200 meters (21.70) and fourth in the 100 in 11.12. Freshman distance runner Kris Houghton (Beaverton, OR) was third in the 1500, crossing the finish line in a time of 3:58.00. Sophomore Tim McLaughlin (Roslyn, PA) threw three personal bests en route to a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw (42.48 meters). In the pole vault, freshman John Rapacki (Hauppauge, NY) and junior Ty McMichael (Waveland, MS) both cleared 12' 3", equaling their bests for the year. Rapacki and McMichael finished fourth and fifth in the meet respectively. Junior Eric Horton (Liverpool, NY) was fifth in the 400 meters, running a time of 52.01 seconds. Freshman Eric Pickett (Annapolis, MD) had his fastest 200-meter dash of the year, finishing 10th in a time of 23.78 seconds. FULL STORY