Three Crashes in Two days on Main Street

By Erica Jackson

Despite recent efforts by the NY State Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve safety on Main Street in Smithtown, rescue workers, had to respond to three car accidents last week.

On October 15, police say a 911 call came in after two cars crashed on West Main Street near 25A around 11:00 p.m.  According to police, a car pulling out from a driveway was struck by a car heading eastbound.  One of the vehicles, a pick-up truck, overturned and the driver and passengers were rescued after workers from the Smithtown Fire Department pried opened the doors. In total, four people were taken to area hospitals.

Less than two hours passed before rescue workers were called to the corner of Main Street and Lawrence Avenue.  In the driving rain, a driver lost control of his car and struck a light pole at the pocket-park on the corner.  Extensive damage was done to the park and one of the passengers in the car was taken to St. Catherine’s of Siena Medical Center.

The following evening, around 1:06 a.m. police were called to 413 West Main Street where two cars collided.  According to police, a westbound car attempted to turn into a parking lot, but the driver lost control of the car on the wet road. The car skidded into the second car.  Three people were injured in the accident, one of which could not be removed from the car until rescue workers pried one of the car doors open with heavy rescue equipment.

“We have done everything we can to engineer our roadways for the safety of pedestrians and motorists,” said Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the DOT.  “We have made a number of improvements to Main Street.”

The improvements along the 30-mile an hour road, were made after Courtney Sipes, 11 was killed crossing Main Street near Napper Tandy’s last year. Additionally, on September 30 an 80-year-old Commack woman was killed in a three-car crash on Route 25 and in 1998, three teens were killed in a crash near Old Willets Path.

According to DOT statistics, there have been 359 crashes between 2003 and 2008 on Route 25 in Smithtown. “Unfortunately,” said Peters, “more than eighty-five percent of all motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver behavior,” said Peters.

However, in an effort to improve safety, Peters said, “We have made a number of improvements to address safety of the pedestrians and make motorist more aware of the presence of pedestrians sharing the road.” Among the improvements recently made to the roadway were highly visible crosswalks for pedestrians; increased parking restrictions; additional pavement markings; reduced traffic signal cycle lengths; and increased pedestrian crossing time. 

Additional improvements are in the works, including no turn on red signs, additional road signs, and the installation of a fence along the south side of Main Street between Lawrence Avenue and Landing Avenue.

Update on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 9:04PM by .

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Even beside the suffering caused by injuries and deaths, the money that the nation loses because of motor vehicle crashes is enormous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran the numbers for the latest year with complete data. The CDC’s Rebecca Naumann:

“In 2005, the total costs of crash-related injuries and deaths exceeded $99 billion. This included the cost of both medical care and productivity losses.’’

Men were more likely than women to die or be injured, and accounted for most of the costs. Teens and young adults had an outsized share of deaths, injuries and costs. 

Naumann says the study underscores the need for safety, such as seat belts.

The study was in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

SCPD - Be Cautious If A Stranger Rings Your Door Bell

By Erica Jackson

Fourth precinct police are asking Smithtown residents to be cautious when answering their front doors to strangers.  The reason, says Detective Sergeant Frank Catalino, is that a group of people have been “casing” Smithtown homes to burglarize by impersonating service workers.

“They knock on the door to see if anyone is home, if not they will go around the back of the house and break in a window or force in a door,” said Catalino.  If someone is at home the would-be burglars tell the homeowners that they are cleaning ladies, who are lost and looking for directions, said Catalino.

“If it’s a stranger, be leery,” said Catalino, “people don’t usually ring door bells to ask for directions.”

There is also a no solicitation law in Smithtown.  According to the town code, no one should be peddling without having first obtained a valid license through the town. Charitable organizations are exempt; however, they must register with the town.

Catalino said he doesn’t want to create a fear among homeowners so as not to open their doors to Girl Scouts selling cookies, but he said homeowners should be cautious of strangers knocking on their doors. He recommends that if you don’t know the person at the door, speak through it and if something seems suspicious, call the police.

Recently, a resident of Knob Hill in Smithtown reported that a man in a uniform rang her doorbell nearly 25 times before going around to the back of the house in an attempt to break in.  She called 911 and while on the phone, the man seemed to have given up.

“The police were great, but what can they really do?,” she wrote on SmithtownMomsTown.com.  “They (police) had a dog in the backyard for a while and they are doing fingerprints because the back door is bent in spots.”

Other neighbors have reported similar incidents and on September 10 at around 11:30 a.m. a home on Oakside Drive was burglarized.  No one was home at the time, however, residents reported that two black females were ringing doorbells asking for directions while a man went around back of the home to break-in.  

 

According to one local mom, Jeannie Weller,  a similar things happened on Pasture, Wildflower and Rumford Roads. “They were “carrying clipboards and looked somewhat official.”

Weller told fellow homeowners to “be vigilant.”  She said, “If you see something that doesn’t look right, call 911 and let the cops figure it out.”

Halloween Fun At Smithtown HSE - Spooky Hallways Grades K-5

Spooky Hallways
Smithtown High School East will be holding its annual Safe Halloween Program
titled Spooky Hallways on Friday, October 29th from 3:30 to 7:00 pm.
Elementary students grades K-5 are invited to participate in fun activities
including Halloween themed crafts, spooky storytelling, an obstacle course,
and our Art Honor Society famous Haunted House. Please come in costume. We
ask that you bring 3 non perishable food items (i.e.: corn, peas, gravy,
corn muffin mix, stuffing, cranberries, cake mix, or canned fruit) or a
monetary donation to support the Thanksgiving Food Drive. Hope to see you
there!

Smithtown Novelist Jeb Ladouceur At Book Revue On October 20th

 AUTHOR’S FIFTH NOVEL IS SET IN UPSTATE SPARROWBUSH

 Smithtown writer, Jeb Ladouceur, pens new Hudson Valley thriller

 Publish America of Baltimore has announced that they will release Smithtown novelist Jeb Ladouceur’s latest thriller Sparrowbush in early October. The book follows upon the heels of the Long Island writer’s acclaimed trilogy composed of the crime novels The Palindrome Plot, Calamity Hook, and Frisco. The three wordplay-driven stories feature the same key characters who come into conflict in a trio of vastly different locales. Ladouceur also penned The Banana Belt last winter. That book deals with the entwined lives of total strangers in modern-day Idaho.

Mr. Ladouceur’s publicist Debbie Lange Fifer of Kings Park says, “Jeb’s new tale of suspense is probably his most action-packed and compelling to date…but then again, I feel that way about each of his stories as they’re published.” However, Ms. Fifer adds that sales tend to support her evaluation, and she points out that each of the local writer’s works outsells the one before.

Julianne Wernersbach, publicist of Huntington’s renowned Book Revue (one of the ten largest independent bookstores in the country) seems to agree. “Jeb Ladouceur is our home grown success story,” she says. “We’re proud that all of his books have had their debut here, and we hope he’ll accept our invitation to introduce Sparrowbush at Book Revue on October 20^th.”

“You can bet on it,” said Ladouceur, noting that authors such as J. K. Rowling, Nelson DeMille, Barbara Walters, and James Patterson are among the hundreds of literary luminaries who have appeared at Book Revue. “I remember back in ‘07 telling Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper) that I’d been invited to speak at the prestigious venue. She was highly complimentary and in her typical supportive manner told me, ‘Good for you! I practically had to beg to get in there!’

“With some 17 million books in circulation,” Mr. Ladouceur observes, “it’s unlikely Ms. Picoult has to beg her way into any bookstore on the planet these days. We ought to be proud that Jodi’s a native of Nesconset,” he says.

Jeb Ladouceur is recognized throughout Long Island for his career in advertising, public relations, and publishing. A former New York Senate candidate and charter member of Gov. Mario Cuomo’s State Arson Task Force, he is the founder and Publisher Emeritus of The Fire News, circulated continuously among firefighters in the Northeast since 1973.

An honors graduate of St. John’s University in New York, where he majored in English Literature, the Smithtown novelist has made a number of reading and book signing appearances at commercial area book outlets. Ladouceur has been featured on multiple occasions at the Huntington Book Revue, Borders Book Stores in Stony Brook and Commack, and Baby Grand Books in upstate Warwick He will inaugurate a statewide book tour at the vast Borders store in Middletown, NY in October.

Ladouceur has recently discussed his books with Talk Radio personality Joe Bartlett on WOR, 710 in New York, appeared on the Larry Davidson Radio Show (WGBB in Freeport), visited Vic Latino’s Neighborhood (Party 105 Ronkonkoma), and discussed his career with the hosts of WRIV in Riverhead.

Mr. Ladouceur has lectured on writing at Hofstra University, was featured during Meet the Author appearances at the Smithtown Public Library, addressed The Suffolk County Ethical Culture Society, and has been a guest speaker at meetings of The Smithtown Book Club (founded in 1937), the Smithtown Township Arts Council, and several other diverse Long Island organizations.

The popular writer is a member of the Long Island Authors Group and the exclusive Smithtown Writers Workshop. He was chosen to deliver the Keynote Address at the annual Smithtown Library Foundation awards banquet in December of last year.

Mr. Ladouceur and his wife Elizabeth are 50-year residents of the historic ‘Landing’ area of Smithtown. As for his innermost personal objectives, Mr. Ladouceur has already discussed with administrators the spearheading of a weekly program wherein local authors would read their works for blind veterans at the Veterans’ Administration Hospital in Northport. Says Ladouceur, himself a veteran of the United States Air force having served both in this country and in North Africa, “It would be wonderful if such a volunteer effort caught on nationally, wouldn’t it?”

The author can be reached at 631-724-3717, or online at JebLadouceur@aol.com. His books are available through Amazon, local bookstores, PublishAmerica, and are stocked in the Smithtown Public Library’s four branches.

                                                                        Photos by Debbie Lange Fifer

Congratulations - Sir Knight John J. Gallagher

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Father Seyfreid Council #821

4th Degree - Assembly #729, Suffolk County East

Sir Knight John J. Gallagher