Continuing with tradition, here are the Syosset-Jericho Tribune's top stories of this past year, as selected by the editor. They are listed here in no particular order.

With most of Nassau County's open space resting in the Syosset and Jericho areas, many leads covered by the Syosset-Jericho Tribune deal with land issues and preservation. Although battles over open space seem to rage on and on in the courts due to the appeals process, one long-standing issue neared an end in 2002. The 81-acre Underhill Property, located in Jericho, took a step closer toward preservation.

In September, environmentalists and civic leaders demonstrated in front of Oyster Bay Town Hall against development on the Underhill property. The protest targeted Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler for what environmental and civic leaders called a "secret deal" to permit development of a 102-unit housing project on the 81-acre parcel that lies in a state-designated Special Ground Water Protection Area.

The story changed focus from preserving Jericho's Underhill Property to local civic leaders and environmentalists publicly disagreeing with Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler. These two groups were once unified in their quest to preserve the Underhill property.

Eisler explained that she has been meeting with landowner Roger Tilles and developer Gerald Monter to resolve the battle, but nothing was in writing.

According to Eisler, her deal would have allowed 46 acres to be preserved and roughly 30 acres would be available for the developer to build about 102 units on. The Society to Preserve Underhill and other environmental groups claim that Eisler's plan would preserve less than half of the 81 acres and would pay developers millions of dollars for land they are required by the State to set aside as open space in connection with their high-density housing project.

In response to the rally, Clifford Eisler, Bonnie Eisler's husband, started an advertising campaign in several of the local weekly newspapers, including Anton Community Newspapers, attacking the Society to Preserve Underhill and specifically Joseph Lorintz, executive director of the Long Island Drinking Water Coalition and past president of the Society to Preserve Underhill, for opposing the verbal deal Eisler reached with Tilles and Monter.

Through the advertisement, it was revealed that Mr. Eisler recently started a new society, named the Society to Save the Underhill Property (This society has no affiliation with the Society to Preserve Underhill), which he is president of, in response to what he described as "destructive behavior by the Society to Preserve Underhill."

In mid-October, Governor George Pataki announced an agreement to preserve the Underhill property. Under the agreement, New York State, Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay will acquire 50 acres of the environmentally-sensitive land.

According to the proposal, 50 acres of the Underhill Property will be purchased from landowner Roger Tilles using preservation funds from the town, county and state. The state will use $7.5 million from the Environmental Protection Fund to acquire 25 acres of the site. Nassau County will acquire 16.67 acres for $5 million and the Town of Oyster Bay will purchase 8.33 acres for $2.5 million with another $5 million earmarked to settle lawsuits. In addition, the development rights of an additional 20 acres would be contributed by Bill and Ellen Doremus who own the property adjacent to Underhill. According to the proposal, the Holiday Organization, a development company, will build 102 single-family homes on the remaining 31 acres. Under the proposal, the developer agreed to sell 40 percent of the homes to people 55 and older to lessen the impact on the Jericho School District.

This plan pleases all groups involved, as preservation was the main goal of all involved parties.

In June 2001, the Town of Oyster Bay Board voted 6-1 to reject an application submitted by the Taubman Company to build an 860,000 square foot mall on the 39-acre Cerro Wire factory site in Syosset. In July 2002, State Supreme Court Justice James M. Catterson ruled that the town did not base its decision on substantial evidence and annulled the decision made by the town board.

In his ruling Catterson annulled the board's decision and returned the proposal to the town for further consideration. Catterson concluded that in several instances the town's findings were "arbitrary and capricious and not based on substantial evidence."

Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto authorized the town's council to appeal the decision. The order from Judge Catterson is for the Town of Oyster Bay Board to reconsider the application under certain guidelines. Venditto said that he was confident that the town board reviewed all necessary information and that they made the correct decision in denying Taubman's application.

Local residents and community leaders banned together in 2002 to fight KeySpan's proposed power plant on Spagnoli Road in Melville. As a result of many community meetings and frustrated residents banning together, LIVES was formed - Long Island Voters for Environmental Safety.

The site for the proposed facility is located on Spagnoli Road in the Town of Huntington, a property owned by KeySpan. The proposed facility would occupy approximately four acres of the 31-acre site located on the south side of Spagnoli Road, approximately one-half mile west of Route 110. This area borders nearby Town of Oyster Bay residents.

The proposed 250-megawatt, gas-fired power plant violates Huntington Town Zoning and noise ordinances and KeySpan filed an application asking the state to overturn local zoning laws.

On Jan. 30 KeySpan Energy Development Corporation announced that it is seeking approval with the New York State Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment to construct the power plant. The Company filed an Application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need in accordance with Article X of the Public Service Law.

Local residents and newly formed groups, such as LIVES, held press conferences to let the Town of Huntington Board know that there was opposition to this proposal. The Town of Huntington hired an attorney to review all of the materials presented to them. The board was waiting for New York State to render a decision.

In mid-May, KeySpan Energy Delivery Long Island announced that the New York State Public Service Commission granted the company a certificate to construct a gas transmission line needed for the proposed Energy Center. The certificate, based on findings of environmental compatibility and public need, is contingent on whether the Spagnoli Road Energy Center is approved for construction under Article X of the Public Service Law.

In August, the Town of Huntington announced that they reached a settlement agreement with KeySpan on the Proposed Spagnoli Road Energy Center. Attorneys for the town announced the agreement on the first day of testimony in the Article X siting proceedings in front of the New York Public Service Commission. The Town of Huntington board made its unanimous decision to negotiate rather than move forward with a lengthy and expensive process, knowing that no municipality has won a favorable decision from the siting board of the New York State Service Commission.

The Article X proceeding is still ongoing.

The Jericho Fire District, which is currently headquartered on Route 106/107 across from the CVS Shopping Center, submitted a site plan in October 2001 to the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Planning and Development to construct a new fire department across the street from the current location. In October, the Town of Oyster Bay Board voted unanimously to approve the Jericho Fire Department's site plan for a new firehouse, which would be located 240 feet north of Birchwood Park Drive in Jericho.

Some community members confronted the board at a Board of Commissioners meeting asked for more information about the fire house. The fire commissioners called for a community meeting on Dec. 12 to discuss the plans.

The meeting gave residents the opportunity to see the plans and speak with the architect and also allowed the fire commissioners to communicate with the residents about their plans. Although the plans have been approved by the town, the fire commissioners said they would listen to suggestions that local residents may have to improve the plans.

The commissioners and the residents agreed that the communication between the two groups has not been as good as it could be and this is something that everyone would like to see improved.

The Syosset Central School District won many awards in 2002. To name a few, the District was awarded the 2002 New York State Alliance for Arts Education Annual School Board Recognition for Arts Education Leadership Award. Syosset was also named the winner of the 2002 School Board Award, which is given by the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network and National School Boards Association to the best school district in arts education, which includes visual arts, music, drama, and dance. The district also won for having the number one programming in the arts.

Five students from the Syosset School District were named semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. Emily Breidbart, Joshua Ruderman, Rebecca Schoer, Kevin Miu and David Tobias were named semifinalists.

Elaine Chao was honored as the first inductee into the Syosset High School Alumni Honor Roll of Distinction on Nov. 22 at Syosset High School. She graduated Syosset High School in 1971. She was involved in her class as she was a member of the field hockey team, theater club and yearbook committee, but her past teachers described her as quiet. They never expected that 30 years later, Chao would be back visiting her alma mater as the United States Secretary of Labor.

Syosset School District residents showed strong support for the 2002-2003 Syosset Central School District budget voting in favor of the proposed budget at a rate of two to one. Incumbents Maria Anderson, Anthony Alizzi and Ellen Meller were each re-elected to the board for another three-year term.

Jericho School District ranked first among Long Island schools as having the highest percentage of advanced placement scholar seniors and also the highest percentage of seniors graduating with a Regents diploma on Long Island.

Four students from Jericho were honored for their excellence in science as they reached the semifinals of the Intel Science Talent Search. Often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize," the Intel STS is America's oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition. Elaine Shum, Bari Spielfogel, David Robbins and Dhruva Kothari were named semifinalists.

Although there were four semifinalists from Jericho, nine students entered and all dedicated a lot of time and hard work to the project. The other entrants were Matthew Chung, Ankur Tanna, Aprajita Mattoo, Lisa Marx, and Blake Eger.

Tanmay Chheda, Chris Lamberti, Sean Mehra and Jeffrey Reitman, all students at Jericho High School, were named regional winners in the 2002 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards competition for their entry entitled "The Bright New Future of Circuitry: A Focus on Brittle Starfish Microlenses to Improve Optical Computing." Their entry was selected from over 4,200 team entries that were received representing the work of over 13,000 students.

Jericho High School student and figure skater Chloé Katz was selected to represent the United States in the prestigious 2002 Copenhagen Trophy figure skating competition held on March 1-3. Hosted by the Danish Skating Union, the competition is sanctioned by the International Skating Union. The ISU is the international governing body for figure skating with 55 member nations participating.

Mary Marks, public information consultant for the Jericho School District, won many awards from the 2002 National School Public Relations Contest and the Annual Communications Contest of the New York School Boards Association honoring her dedication to the Jericho School District and for her communications and community relations efforts.

Voters in the Jericho School District easily passed the proposed 2002-2003 budget by a 2 to 1 margin. The budget received 779 yes votes and 395 no votes. The school budget of $65,978,950 represents an average tax rate of $56,45 per $100 of assessed valuation, a 13.3 percent ($6.64) increase over the 2001-2002 tax rate.

Incumbent school board members re-elections were unopposed. Barbara Krieger received 935 votes and Toni Meliambro received 908 votes.

The Jericho Public Library Budget also passed without difficulty. There were 864 yes and 284 no votes cast. Peter Piro was unopposed in his election for the library board with 890 votes.

Local voters returned incumbents to their seats in Congress, the Senate and the Assembly in November.

Democratic incumbent David Sidikman defeated Jacqueline Biggio in the 13th Assembly District. Republican incumbent Donna Ferrara was elected to her sixth term after defeating Democratic challenger Jim Buonagura in the 15th Assembly District race. Republican incumbent Carl Marcellino defeated Democratic and Green Party candidate Roger Snyder and Liberal and Right to Life Party candidate Paul Nehrich in the 5th Senatorial District. Democrat Steve Israel was re-elected in the 2nd congressional district after defeating Republican, Conservative and Right to Life candidate Joe Finley and Green Party candidate John Keenan. In the 3rd Congressional District Republican incumbent Peter King defeated Democrat Stuart Finz.

In January, Oyster Bay Town officials were sworn into office after being elected or returned to their positions. Those elected included Supervisor John Venditto, Councilman Angelo Delligatti, Councilman Chris Coschignano, Town Clerk Martha S. Offerman and Councilwoman Mary McCaffrey. They joined Councilman Joseph Muscarella, Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler, Councilman Anthony Macagnone and Receiver of Taxes James J. Stefanich on the Town of Oyster Bay Board.

The Syosset Chamber of Commerce had another successful year with the annual holiday lighting celebration being the spotlight.

The annual Holiday Lighting Ceremony took place last month and, as usual, it was a huge success. The chamber was successful in uniting the community to celebrate the holiday season together.

At the Dec. 12 meeting of the Syosset Chamber of Commerce, new officers and directors were unanimously elected into their new positions and begin their posts this month. President James Tinnelly, CFP; 1st Vice-President Tricia Shannon; 2nd Vice President Michael A. Biggiani; Secretary Steven E. Cohen; Treasurer Steven Rothmaler.

The chamber meets on the second Thursday of every month from 7:30 - 9 a.m. at St. Mary's Children and Family Services at 525 Convent Road in Syosset.

When the Jericho Fire Department received an alarm at approximately 7:45 a.m. on March 12 for a vehicle accident involving an overturned tractor-trailer they had no idea of the severity until first units responded. A dump tractor-trailer carrying scrap iron was attempting to negotiate a right turn from Brush Hollow Road onto east bound Jericho Turnpike. The load shifted and it caused the trailer to topple over spilling the truck and its contents onto the six cars that were waiting in the west bound lanes to turn left directly landing on top of two cars, trapping drivers in both of them. Seven people were injured in the accident. The driver of the truck, a resident of Staten Island, was not.

According to details by Det. Lt. Steven Skrynecki from the second squad, the material inside the truck shifted causing the truck to overturn. The truck was impounded for safety checks. An investigation at the scene found no criminality; however the operator was issued eight tickets - three for overweight conditions and five permit violations. The vehicle was found to be overweight by approximately three tons.

On March 15, Senator Carl L. Marcellino and Assemblywoman Donna Ferrara announced that the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway (Rt. 135) was renamed the "Ralph J. Marino Expressway."

Senator Marino who was known to everyone as a gentleman held the powerful position of New York State Republican Majority Leader for six years during the late 1980s. When Governor George Pataki came to power, he lost that title to Republican Joseph Bruno. After winning his last election of 13 Senate terms in 1994, he stepped down and Carl Marcellino was elected to replace him.

Ralph J. Marino died on Saturday, April 6, 2002 at the age of 74, at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre after a gallant fight against tongue cancer.

The senator is survived by his wife Ethel Bernstein Marino, a daughter, Judith Marino of Oyster Bay; two sons, James, of Chicago and Robert of Armonk; his mother Catherine of Rochester; three sisters, Mildred LoVecchio, Gloria Camuso and Santa Pullano, all of Rochester and three grandchildren.

Last summer, residents in the East Birchwood section of Jericho were hit with a string of burglaries. Although detectives were investigating some leads, they advised residents that the best protection against being burglarized is being observant and cautious. The best leads, according to police officers in the 2nd Squad, come from neighbors seeing something suspicious and calling 911.

No arrests were made in connection with these instances.

The Syosset Public Library director and board of trustees announced plans for expansion in 2002 and met with residents in August to discuss the proposed plans.

The library held a bond referendum vote on Dec. 3 to offer residents the opportunity to vote on the proposed expansion at the library. The residents voted down the expansion with 932 voting against the expansion and 764 voting in favor of it.

The preliminary cost for the expansion, based on estimates, floor plans, and elevations was $13.3 million. This would have cost each homeowner less than $60 a year, which is $5 a month and $1.25 a week.

Earlier in the year, the Syosset Public Library budget passed with 2,237 yes and 851 no votes.

Governor George Pataki held a ceremony in September to announce the creation of the new Trail View State Park - Long Island's newest state park, which is located along the Old Bethpage Parkway right-of-way in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The dedication ceremony took place where the property crosses Jericho Turnpike just west of Woodbury Road.

Trail View State Park is the fifth park that the governor has created on Long Island and one of 17 statewide that have been established since 1995. The more than 400-acre park, which spans 7.4 miles, running north from Bethpage State Park to Cold Spring Harbor State Park, will offer multi-use trails for hiking, cycling, birding and other trail-related activities.

Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club Conservation Chair Guy Jacob said, "This is the governor who makes our environmental dreams come true. This momentous occasion will be remembered as a zenith in New York State history. This day we develop a haven in the midst of our evermore developing finite Island."