The proposed reinstatement of a commuter tax on Long Island residents who work in New York City was the topic of discussion at a recent hearing sponsored by Suffolk Assemblyman Thomas F. Barraga, the ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, and his colleagues in the Assembly Republican Long Island Delegation. The hearing was held last month in Northport. FULL STORY

The library administration and board of trustees anticipate a 5.99 percent increase in the library budget for fiscal year 2003-04. This increase is being driven primarily by state-mandated costs over which the library has no control. The issue rests with the contribution required by the New York State Retirement system. Library contributions over the past several years have remained low while the Retirement System enjoyed lucrative returns from its stock market investments. When the stock market went into a downturn after Sept. 11, 2001 the Retirement System advised members to plan for a payment of three to four percent of their payroll. FULL STORY

Things aren't going too well for Team New Zealand - they are losing 3-0 to the Swiss challenger, Alinghi. If the history of the America's Cup is a predictor of future events, Skipper Dean Barker and his young crew have much to worry about. Since 1983, the match Challenger Australia II won over Defender Liberty (4-3), becoming the first challenger to win the America's Cup in 132 years, the matches have been very one sided. The five matches since that historical one in 1983 have produced a combined score of 20-1. Even with the hull appendage, or Úquot;hula,Úquot; Barker and company are up against tough odds to win the Cup. The defenders' afterguard are very young - Barker is 29, his tactician Hamish Pepper is 31, traveler Adam Beashel is 34, navigator Mike Drummond is 40 and strategist Peter Evans, the Úquot;old timerÚquot; of the group, is 41. Collectively they have raced in just 14 America's Cup races, winning four. Compare that with the stats of the Alinghi team whose afterguard of Russell Coutts, Brad Butterworth, Murray Jones, Ernesto Bertarelli and triple Olympic gold medalist Jochen Schuemann, have an average age of 42 years old. The three New Zealanders, Coutts, Butterworth and Jones, have won 12 out the last 12 America's races. Another advantage that the Swiss have is that over the last three months they have sailed against a range of differently designed yachts and a number of different crews. FULL STORY

A big win would be putting it lightly for the Port boys' basketball team. After struggling to search for an identity for most of the regular season, the boys took it up a notch and came out Saturday afternoon firing on all cylinders. Using an array of strong inside presence, and pin-point accuracy from the outside, Port (13th seed) upended the Spartans from Elmont (4th seed) by a score of 68-67. FULL STORY