Continuing with tradition, here are the Syosset-Jericho Tribune's top stories of 2003, as selected by the editor. They are listed here in no particular order. Due to space constraints, not all information can be included in this list.

The Long Island Power Authority's 1.1 million electric customers became part of the largest blackout in history when 50 million people lost electric service in the Northeast, portions of Canada and the Midwest on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 4:14 p.m.

Local townships, government, fire departments and hospitals responded to all problems to help residents. In some parts of Nassau County, families spent more than 24 hours with no electricity.

Jeffrey Mosenson was traveling to class at the New York Institute of Technology from his Woodbury home on Jan. 28 when he was involved in a fatal car accident. Due to slippery road conditions, his 2000 Chevrolet Blazer struck a tree on Brookville Road. Jeffrey was 20 years old.

Jeffrey is survived by many family members and friends including his parents David and Gayle Mosenson, siblings Jonathan, Joanna and Jenna and grandparents Sue and Saul Zucker and Cecil and Joan Mosenson as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.

In September, Recycle-A-Cycle, the flagship project of the Syosset Teen Council, closed its doors after six years and according to program director, Tom Montalbano, the demise had nothing to do with a lack of interest among neighborhood teenagers.

The end became evident at the beginning of the summer, when Governor Pataki announced that state grants for programs such as Recycle-A-Cycle would be frozen until other New York State budgetary issues were resolved. When summer's end arrived and there was still no funding in sight, the program director knew it was time to make a tough decision.

The 2002-2003 school year was very successful in many ways for the Syosset School District.

The 2002-2003 graduating class of 458 was granted a total of $9,685,684 in college scholarships - the highest amount ever for a graduating class at Syosset High School. There were 10 National Merit Finalists and also 10 students receiving the prestigious Robert C. Byrd Scholarship. The New York State Scholarship of Academic Excellence was awarded to 17 graduating seniors. There were five Intel Semi-Finalists and two of the research students became Intel Finalists and traveled to Washington, DC, where they met the President.

A ninth-grader won the DuPont Challenge Science Essay competition and won a trip for herself and her teacher to the Space Center in Houston, TX. This was the first time in the competition that students from the same high school won in two consecutive years. Many other honors too numerous to mention were earned by students in all areas of academics.

Every varsity team advanced to the playoffs. There were 10 students from Syosset High School named All American Athletes. Syosset students also received many honors in co-curricular activities. The Forensics team won the regional competitions and competed in the state tournament. More than 30 students won titles at the New York State DECA Convention. It was another great year for Syosset thespians. ACT (Association of Creative Thespians) won a Citation for Outstanding Performance at the 2003 Yankee Thespian Festival, held in Rutland, Vermont. They also won the title of "Best Play" for the 2002-2003 Long Island Critics Program.

For the fourth consecutive year, Syosset was named as one of the top 100 districts for music education in the country. Band students demonstrated their tremendous ability on an airing of News 12 Long Island.

In addition to student achievements, faculty and administrators were also recipients of a number of awards and honors. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carole G. Hankin was named Woman of Distinction in Education by the Town of Oyster Bay. At the National Convention of Association for Curriculum and Supervision Development Dr. Hankin and a group of administrators were selected to present a session on Building Cultural Partnerships and the Integrations of Arts Education in the Curriculum.

Syosset High School received an evaluation from the Northeast Division of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools naming it "one of the finest public high schools in the northeast."

Carly Weinreb was named valedictorian and Jared Evans Salutatorian.

Also in June, Syosset Central School District residents voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed school budget for the 2003-2004 school year, and returned the three incumbent school board members to the board of education. President Janet Cox and trustees Shari Dorfman and Wendy Stapen were each elected to serve for another three-year term. The budget passed with 61 percent of the vote.

In June, Syosset School District was ranked 60 on Newsweek's list of America's top high schools.

2003 was a successful year for Jericho School District.

In June, Jericho School District was ranked number five on Newsweek's list of America's top high schools.

The Council of Administrators and Supervisors (CAS) honored Hilari Cohen, president of the Board of Education, in January for her outstanding contributions to education.

In March, Edward Mardovich, Jennifer Armstrong, Joel Flatow, Wendy Schack and Paul Pellicoro were named to the 13th annual Jericho Alumni Hall of Fame.

High School students Andrew Chang, Nikhil Gupta, Jeremy Price, Anh Pham, and Andrew Song were named finalists at The Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, which is considered an annual showcase of the best high school science, math, and engineering projects from Long Island.

The Jericho residents overwhelmingly approved this year's budget with 1,086 voting in favor and 480 voting against it. Incumbent school board members Hilari Cohen and Ira Checkla were re-elected to their positions on the board.

Adam Kaufman was named co-valedictorian, Glenn Todaro was named co-valedictorian and Marissa Markowitz was named Salutatorian for Jericho's class of 2003.

Michael Goldfarb, a junior at Jericho High School attended the Future Business Leaders of America Conference (FBLA), a professional association for students pursuing business careers, in Dallas, Texas.

Mary Marks, director of public information and community relations for the Jericho School District and former district information liaison for East Williston Schools, was recognized for her communication and community relations efforts as an award recipient in the 24th Annual Communications Contest of the New York State Public Relations Association.

Sean Mehra and Jeffrey Reitman earned national honors in the 2003 Siemens-Westinghouse Science Competition. The Jericho High School seniors will split a $50,000 scholarship as the second place winning team in this national contest.

This is only some of the greatness that the Jericho School District experienced in 2003.

The Jericho School Community joined together, more than 900 strong, to "Relay For Life." This enormous school community gathering was held to support the outstanding research, education, advocacy, and service of the American Cancer Society.

"Relay For Life" is an overnight celebration of hope, progress, and answers. Groups of friends, families, neighbors and co-workers form teams and walk around a track to raise funds, awareness and spirits of those present. Groups walked the track throughout the night. Theme laps brought out Disney costumes, outfits from the 50's and 60's, crazy hats, basketballs, hula-hoops and even a limbo pole. Co-chairs Hilari Cohen, Doreen Leibowitz, Theone Rinaudo and Josh Rudin successfully coordinated all activities and entertainment for the event. The event raised an incredible $80,000.

In January, Ira and Stella Edelblum, residents of Syosset, were awarded a check for $7,558,502 after winning $13.5 million in a New York Lottery drawing. The Edelblum's won on a quick pick ticket with the numbers 5, 24, 29, 31, 39 and 48.

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 and since the Taubman Company decided to appeal the decision, the court battle has raged on.

In March, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the Town of Oyster Bay's decision regarding the mall. This decision upheld a prior decision by State Supreme Court Justice James M. Catterson in Riverhead in which he overruled the Town Board's decision.

The Appeal process has continued to move back and forth. In the most recent decision, which was announced in December, the Town of Oyster Bay was ordered by Judge Catterson to issue a building permit to the Michigan-based Taubman Company to construct an 860,000 square foot shopping mall. The Oyster Bay Town Board and local civics are going to appeal this decision.

The developer viewed this last decision as a victory and sees it only as a matter of time before construction begins. They set up a toll-free number for local residents to call and leave a message voicing their opinions, concerns and thoughts. Call 1-866-872-0822 or visit www.mallatoysterbay.com.

In June, workers started clearing the land for the new headquarters located on route 106/107 across the street from the current fire house. In October, Michael Milner, chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Jericho Fire District, spoke at the Birchwood Civic Association meeting regarding the construction.

According to Milner, at that time, the grading of the land was almost complete, the retaining walls are 90 percent complete and the tilling work has started. He said the estimated completion is January 2005.

Many questioned Milner about the finances involved with the construction. The money and need have often been questioned by Jericho residents. Milner said that the construction was going to cost $4.5 million more than originally anticipated. Milner said that funds will have to be reallocated in order to pay the remaining costs.

In December, Miler ran unopposed and was re-elected to a five-year term as Jericho Fire Commissioner.

The department also kept busy this year, recognizing the need for more advanced chemical detection capabilities, and acquired two new multi-gas detector devices that have the ability to detect numerous toxic chemicals using photo-ionization detection (PID) technology.

In August, the Jericho Fire Department held a dedication ceremony for their new fleet - Engine and Ladder #1 dedicated a new Pierce 95 Mid Ship Power Ladder #941. Members of the Jericho Fire Department held a traditional christening for the truck called a "wet down ceremony" behind headquarters in Jericho.

In June, the Syosset Public Library held a vote for a bond referendum to complete a proposed expansion project and residents passed the referendum with 2,439 votes in favor and 1,972 against the expansion. This was the second vote on the referendum as it was turned down by residents in 2002.

The building expansion provides for a 50 percent increase in shelf space and triple the space for DVDs, CDs and videos. A new second floor is dedicated and designed to be a comprehensive reference and research center with books, computers, printers and photocopy machines.

The construction is not expected to upset the operation of the library and the library's collections will remain intact throughout the project.

Some staff changes were also made at Syosset library to improve the inner working of the library as the construction process beings to improve the outer structure.

In January, Kmart Corporation announced that it would be closing 326 under-performing stores as part of its Chapter 11 financial objectives review including the Big K store located on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset.

Home Depot, Kohl's and Wal-Mart joined together to take over many of the closed K-Mart store's leases. The Syosset location, at 111 Jericho Turnpike, will be a Home Depot store by spring of 2004.

Work on the 117,000-square-foot store has already commenced.

Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset started 2003 by hosting a meeting to discuss the proposed development of approximately 42 acres on Convent Road in Syosset by the Sisters of Mercy. The plans eventually fell threw a few months later.

In July, Laura Schultz, a resident of Syosset and member of Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset, was named the winner of the first-ever Big Mac Award. McDonald's was looking for someone who has demonstrated a long-standing dedication to their career or community. Schultz is very involved in the Syosset community. She is very involved with Residents for a More Beautiful Syosset, the Syosset Chamber of Commerce and is working on a Hamlet Plan for Syosset. She is often seen at various town meetings and events held in the community.

Throughout the year, the Residents group held many meetings keeping the residents informed of local issues and planning events to beautify and make Syosset a better place to live. The success of the group continues to grow.

The Syosset Chamber of Commerce has continued its success in the community and continues to grow. Jim Tinnelly started his post as president of the chamber replacing Jerry Siegel, who boasted a successful year as president in 2002.

Michael A. Biggiani, Esq., was named the Syosset Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Person of the Year for 2003.

This year would have marked the Syosset Chamber of Commerce's sixth annual holiday lighting festival, but the weather did not cooperate with the Holiday Lighting Committee's plans.

The event was originally scheduled for Dec. 7 and was rescheduled because of the large snowstorm that hit Long Island. It was rescheduled for Dec. 14, but again poor weather conditions and freezing rain forced the committee to cancel the event until next year for the safety of local residents.

Rather than the usual fanfare, a small group of festival committee members gathered at the Astoria Bank Plaza on Sunday morning, December 14 to officially light the 2003 Syosset Christmas tree. The town menorah was lighted on the first night of Chanukah. The chamber is looking forward to a successful holiday lighting ceremony next year as the event is usually a huge success within the community.

Through the year, the chamber held many meetings and networking events.

Former Town of Oyster Bay Councilwoman Bonnie Eisler held a meeting in June to discuss the possibility of a Retail Overlay District for the Town of Oyster Bay.

The ROD would require that all retail applications of 100,000 square feet or more would have to apply for a change of zone permit rather than a special use permit, which is currently allowed. The ROD would also allow for a six-month moratorium on all retail applications 100,000 square feet or more to give the town board time to study the application. This is still in a preliminary stage.

Syosset's Memorial Day parade is held each year and residents look forward to the festivities. This year, torrential downpours didn't deter marchers from participating in the parade and residents from watching.

The dedicated marchers followed a shortened parade route and after the parade, there was a ceremony at the monuments. After the festivities, residents went to the American Legion, this year's host, and enjoyed refreshments as they dried off.

During the summer of 2001, residents in the East Birchwood section of Jericho were hit with a string of burglaries that continued sporadically since then. The burglaries alarmed local residents as they were fearful to leave their homes empty and unattended.

According to Sergeant Colasonno from the second precinct, an arrest was made in August in the vicinity where the burglaries were taking place. Although the suspect didn't admit to the burglaries in East Birchwood, he fit the profile.

In January, government and community leaders celebrated the preservation of Jericho's Underhill property at a reception. In October 2002, an agreement was reached stating that New York State, Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay would acquire 50 acres of the environmentally-sensitive land in a state-designated Special Groundwater Protection Area above the county's sole source aquifer.

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. Added to the existing 25-acre Oyster Bay Town preserve, a 95-acre Underhill Preserve would be established.

According to the proposal, the Holiday Organization, a development company, will build 102 single-family homes on the remaining 31 acres. The developer agreed to sell 40 percent of the homes to people 55 and older to lessen the impact on the Jericho School District.

In July, approximately 100 local residents gathered to hear Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi's plan for economic development and to discuss the overall vision for the future of Syosset, Jericho and Woodbury.

According to Suozzi, Nassau County has drafted an Economic Development Plan that outlines broad goals for the future development of the county in order to combat the problems individual communities face as well as to further add to the benefits of living in each community.

The process started with a bus tour of the area. Suozzi boarded a bus, after he took a helicopter ride to get an aerial view of the area, with approximately 10 local residents and toured Syosset, Jericho and Woodbury last week. This tour afforded Suozzi the opportunity to acquaint himself with the area and allow residents to show Suozzi certain areas that they felt need attention.

Suozzi discussed problems he found specific to Syosset, Jericho and Woodbury, which he said are diminishing open space, major development proposals at Cerro Wire, traffic congestion and parking and retail activity in downtown Syosset.

Suozzi also held a tour and meeting for Brookville, Muttontown, Old Westbury and Upper Brookville in July.

During the tour and meeting, Suozzi discussed a number of local concerns with residents and community officials, including putting up more signage around the Muttontown Preserve and Bailey Arboretum, adding a traffic light at the entrance of the Muttontown Preserve for safer travel, encouraging more equestrian activity and preserving the area's open spaces.

Local residents returned incumbent Supervisor John Venditto to a fourth term in office and re-elected the two incumbent Republicans, Joseph Muscarella and Anthony Macagnone, and elected political newcomer Rose Walker to the Republican-dominated Oyster Bay Town Board.

Challenger Steve Labriola, former New York State, defeated Oyster Bay Town Clerk Martha Offerman and the Democratic incumbent and Receiver of Taxes James Stefanich held onto his seat after going neck and neck with Republican challenger John Canning.

In County elections, the Democrats held onto their 10-9 majority in the Nassau County Legislature with close victories in some key districts. In the 16th Legislative District, residents overwhelmingly supported Democratic incumbent Judy Jacobs, presiding officer of the legislature with 9,550 votes to Republican candidate Patricia Doyle's 4,464 votes.

In the 17th Legislative District, Edward P. Mangano, the Republican incumbent, defeated Democratic challenger Linda Burns-Gleason. Mangano received 8,348 votes to Burns-Gleason's 3,789.

In a close race in the 18th Legislative District, Democrat Diane Yatauro defeated Republican Paul Annunziato. Yatauro received 7,566 votes to Annunziato's 7,225. Also in a very tight race this year were the two candidates for county assessor - Democrat Harvey Levinson was elected over Republican incumbent Charles O'Shea.