Commack Man Arrested On Northern State Parkway Charged With DWI

On 3/14/12 at 11:06 PM, Trooper Grosso stopped a blue Volkwagon for moving from his lane unsafely eastbound on the Northern State Parkway near Wolf Hill Road(exit 41).  While interviewing the vehicle operator, Joseph Izaguirre, age 46, of Commack NY, Tpr. Grosso detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage.  Mr. Izaguirre was observed with slurred speech, poor motor coordination, and bloodshot, watery eyes.  Mr. Izaguirre failed sobriety tests and was subsequently arrested for DWI.

The defendant produced a positive breath sample of .18% BAC.  Mr. Izaguirre was charged with DWI and traffic violations.  All charges returnable in Suffolk County First District Court on 3/21/12.

Good Government Groups Believe LATFOR’s Rigged System Is Precisely Why Reform Is Needed

CITIZENS UNION AND THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS NEW YORK STATE COMMEND ACHIEVEMENT ON LASTING STRUCTURAL REDISTRICTING REFORM

With the State Legislature passing a constitutional amendment and accompanying statute, redistricting reform will finally be a reality as opposed to an aspiration. We commend Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, their staffs, and members of the State Legislature for reaching agreement on establishing lasting structural reform to the state’s redistricting process.

Given the long standing resistance to enacting redistricting reform and the high stakes involved, we applaud them in finding common ground on an issue that is at the core of political power in Albany and results in the legislature giving up power in the drawing of lines.

Though this is a substantive victory for reform, it is tarnished because the process that produced this welcomed outcome occurred during a night where in typical Albany fashion nothing was agreed to until everything was agreed to. Achieving reform through middle of the night voting and limited debate on such an important issue is not the way we would have wanted to see redistricting reform realized.

Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters New York State have produced a set of Frequently Asked Questions to educate the public about the proposed constitutional amendment.

The important reform elements include:

• The six-member, majority party-controlled LATFOR on which self-interested legislators sit is replaced by a ten-member commission on which no legislators will sit. The prohibitions on appointment will be similar to the recently formed Joint Commission on Public Ethics. For the first time, majorities and minorities from each house will be equally represented and there will be two members who belong to neither major party.

• New and better criteria that include: o an anti-gerrymandering provision prohibiting the favoring or disfavoring of

incumbents, challengers or political parties;o recognizing communities of interest; o requiring that any deviation from the mean population in districts will need to be

explained; and o minority voting rights protections mirroring the current federal law will be

enshrined in our constitution, providing needed protection should there be a

pullback on the federal level. • Commission approval of the plan will require a super majority vote of seven of the ten

members, ensuring minority party participation in securing the needed votes. • In order to protect against one-party dominance in the drawing of lines, if one party

controls both houses of the State Legislature, approval of a plan requires a 2/3 affirmative

vote in each house. • Required hearings across the state ensure public input into line-drawing. It also requires

the provision of maps and data to the public in a form that allows for independent

analysis and the development of alternate redistricting plans. • The State Legislature must vote twice up or down on the approved commission plan

before it can make any amendments. • Amendments made by the State Legislature if it fails twice to pass the commission plan

must adhere to the criteria in the constitutional amendment, including the anti- gerrymandering provision, and the statute will further rein in the State Legislature by preventing changes of more than two percent to the population of any district.

We support this reform because we have no confidence that a State Legislature left off the hook this year and angered over a gubernatorial veto would subsequently find religion and enact reform. To believe that ignores the reality of New York’s political history for the past forty years on this issue and the broken promises of many of the 184 legislators who pledged to create an independent redistricting commission for 2012.

Ample opportunities have been squandered over the past several years to achieve this reform. When the executive branch and both houses of the State Legislature were controlled by one party during the 2009 and 2010 sessions, redistricting reform bills passed committees for the first time, but ultimately were bottled up in each house’s Rules Committees and died. When a new 2011 split-controlled legislature convened after 184 members pledged to enact reform in time to draw 2012 lines, they did not keep their word.

We must finally break the cycle of inaction. We must seize this moment when public attention and advocacy have created the opportunity for reform, and secure the change that is achievable.

Nesconset's Jason Maloney To Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro - Raising Money For Breast Cancer Research

Climbing for a Cause

Local cousins to scale Kilimanjaro for Breast Cancer researchMount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

By Chad Kushins

March 15, 2012

It is an obstacle that would both terrify and invigorate the best of us – scaling Mount Kilimanjaro, the symbolic and literal global precipice that has sparked the imaginations and physical limits of adventurers for decades. 

Ernest Hemingway crafted his most telling and renowned short story around its spiritual and staggering grandeur and, after thirty years of failed attempts, its summit wouldn’t finally be reached by man until 1889.  At over 19,000 feet above sea-level, it is the highest peak in Africa. 

And this July, Long Island cousins Jason and Brian Maloney will climb it for a cause, raising money and awareness for breast cancer research.

“My mother-law-had breast cancer and recovered,” Nesconset native Jason Maloney, 36, told Smithtown Matters.  “It’s a cause that I was close to and a great charity to work with.”  Maloney, who works at a party tent rental company in Hauppauge, first teamed up with the driving force for the endeavor, the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 2008.   That year, Maloney scaled Washington’s Mount Rainier – at 14,411 feet, one of the highest peaks in the United States – and raised $5,000 for the cause.  This year, he and cousin Brian are looking to top that goal, aiming to raise a minimum of $20,000 between the both of them.

Team Maloney“This climb will be my first one,” said Brian Maloney, 35, a Health Teacher in the Levittown School District.  “Jay and I have always been very close and climbing was always an interest to both of us.  We always wanted to do something like this together and the charity, breast cancer research, is a very important topic – especially here on Long Island where the number of those affected is so high.”  Additionally, Jason and Brian’s uncle, Robert Maloney, is currently battling his own cancer – another factor in the cousins’ passion for the cause.

According to Brian, he was initially approached by Jason with the ambitious undertaking, yet quickly agreed to work the Kilimanjaro climb as a team.   In preparation for the eight-day high, which will lead the two to the highest summit of the mountain, both cousins have taken on a daily regimen of exercise and endurance training.  “We work out separately and together,” said Brian.  “There’s been a lot of running and jogging between us, and a lot of cardio work.  Jay spends a lot of time running for local charity events and that’s certainly gotten him into shape for this.”

“We train daily,” Jason concurred, adding that between him and Brian, the two were able to shape their training style to fit both.  Over the past year, Jason has participated in numerous runs for various charities and organizations, including The Tough Mothers and The Warrior Dash – one of the longest and strenuous such obstacle runs in the country.  As the cousins continue to physically prepare for the climb, they are also continuing to seek out donations for the trip, as all expenses for the charity are out-of-pocket – an additional challenge to their adventurous gesture for the cancer research center.

According to organizers, The Fred Hutchinson Center for Cancer research has been hosting and utilizing various incarnations of the “Climb to Fight Breast Cancer” for well over a decade, making the Maloney cousins’ endeavor part of its 15^th annual yearly event.  While Jason and Brian are registered to climb the Africa summit from July 21^st through August 4^th, other related cancer research “peaks” include Mount Adams and Mount Baker in Washington, Mount Elbrus in Russia, and Mount Hood in Oregon.  However, at nearly 20,000 feet, Kilimanjaro remains the greatest challenge.  Professional guides from Alpine Ascents International will be leading all “Climb to Fight Breast Cancer” expeditions.

Each climb will have a limited number of team members – generally nine or 10 – as established by the guide services. Participants commit to fundraising minimums of $3,000 to $12,500, depending on the mountain.  For their first climb as a team, Jason and Brian Maloney combined their goals to aim for the ambitious $20,000.

“We’ve always been types to challenge ourselves,” said Brian.  “This is going to be a life experience that neither of us will ever forget.”

To make a donation or for further information on both Jason and Brian, visit getinvolved.fhcrc.org/goto/Maloney The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s official “Climb to Fight Breast Cancer” website, www.fhcrc.org/climb. 

10 interesting facts about Mount Kilimanjaro 

Port Jefferson Man Arrested For Two Burglaries In Head Of The Harbor

Suffolk County Police, with assistance from the Head of the Harbor Police Department, have arrested a Port Jefferson man for two burglaries in Head of the Harbor.

An officer from the Head of the Harbor Police Department observed a man in possession of a plastic bag containing jewelry on Rhododendron Road in Head of the Harbor on March 14 at 12:20 p.m. As the officer was speaking to the man, he dropped the bag and fled. The officer requested assistance from the Suffolk County Police Canine Section and following a search, the man was located on Saddle Road at 1 p.m.

Arlindo DaCruz was transported to the Suffolk County Police Department’s Fourth Precinct where he admitted that he broke into a house on Rhododendron Road on two separate occasions.

DaCruz’s van was searched and a large quantity of stolen items were recovered. DaCruz claimed that he painted houses and did restoration work with companies called F&M Custom Painting Service Corp. and Long Island Finest Painting Service. Detectives are investigating a possible connection with these stolen items and the companies. DaCruz distributed flyers under the company name to solicit business but detectives have yet to determine if these companies exist.

Fourth Squad detectives charged DaCruz, 31, of Port Jefferson, with two counts of Burglary 2^nd Degree and one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the owner’s of Franklin Mint statues found in DaCruz’s van. They are also looking to speak to anyone who may have received flyers from companies DaCruz claimed to work for. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

St. James Woman Stabbed To Death In Murder-Suicide

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating a murder-suicide that occurred this morning.  

Second Precinct Police Officers received a 911 call at 8:59 a.m. and responded to 7 Loret Lane in East Northport where they found James Schultz, 31, of that address, dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound.    

Apparently, Schultz picked up his 13-month-old son from his ex-girlfriend’s home in St. James earlier this morning and brought him back to his East Northport home where he lives with his parents. Schultz then went into another part of the home and shot himself.

When Homicide detectives attempted to notify the child’s mother, Katherine Farrell, 23, they discovered that she had not shown up for work today. Police responded to Farrell’s home, located at 3 Hill Road in St. James, and found her stabbed to death.   Detectives believe Schultz killed Farrell earlier this morning when he went to her home to pick up their child.  

Child Protective Services was notified and the investigation is continuing.