{ title: 'The beacon. (Babylon, N.Y.) 1972-current, January 21, 2010, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-01-21/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-01-21/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-01-21/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn84031349/2010-01-21/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
BABYLON PUBLIC LIBRARY SOUTH SHORE L.I'S LARGEST CIRCULATION WEEKLY NEWSPAPER S e r v i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y s i n c e 1966 P r i n t e d o n r e c y c l e d p a p e r W e b s i t e : wvyw . b a b y l o n b e a c o n . c o m E-MAIL ADDRESS: ACJNEWS@RCN.COM O F F IC IA L N E W S P A P E R Periodicals Postage Paid- Babylon Post Office, Babylon NY 11702 (USPS 03960-8000) FOR SUFFOLK COUNTY .TOWN OF BABYLON • VILLAGE OF BABYLON .BABYLON SCHOOLS . DEER PARK SCHOOLS .WESTISLIir“ ''’,I''~ T\' T\ m \ ......... \ •COPIAGUI .NORTH BABii f 1 1- A N ' N 0 1 A 8 V 8 ■ ■ ■ ■ 3AV T W O € VI publishedev ^ A a v a a n . o n a n d NOTAava EÖOOeslÖT iy - y v o Yff Y<f i y TU Pu i L Inside this week: • A r o u n d Town . . . Page 2 • Obituaries . . . Page 7C Notices: Your Right to Know: t . 5, 6, 7, 8C, & IOC The Babylon Beacon is the hometown newspaper o f Ray Accetella o f Bay Shore [ VOL. 44 NO. 3 THURSDAY, January 21,2010 50 CENTS » m In the News 17. S. Marine and Babylonian Colin Leitch presents flag to LL by Emily Mcllwaine Colin Leitch of Babylon, who is serving in the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, presented an American Flag that flew over the Captial Building in Washington to the Babylon Village Little League. It will be flown at the Locust South Field in Babylon. “Presenting the flag to the Little league was a way to honor all o f my brothers and sisters who have served and are still serving,” said Leitch. “The flag is a symbol of our country and our freedoms.” (Continued o n page 8) New website provides help to Long Island's uninsured Uninsured Long Islanders now have access to an improved, user-friendly bilingual website to help them enroll in Medicaid, Family Health Plus, and Child Health Plus, the public insurance programs offered by the state. The site - www.coverage4healthcare.com is sponsored by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC), the association that represents all Long Island hospitals. The Hospital Council, through a grant from the State Health Department, provides enrollment assistance to the uninsured in Nassau and Suffolk counties. The enhanced website provides one-click navigation to obtain a checklist of required documentation, a listing of upcoming enrollment sites, and contact information for further assistance. “We designed the site in a simple, step-by-step format that easily guides the browser and answers most of their basic questions about the enrollment process and their insurance options,” said Stacy Villagran, director o f the Hospital Council’s Facilitated Enrollment Program. The NSHC has offered its Facilitated Enrollment Program since 2001 and to date has helped 43,133 Long Islanders apply for health insurance. About 15 percent of Long Islands population remains uninsured, A u d it, safety, topics at Babylon School m eeting By Janine Logan Concerns about security and the State audit report dominated the discussion at the Jan. 11 school meeting of the Babylon Board o f Education. In December, the New York State Comptroller’s Office released the results o f its audit for the District. During the past several years, the State Comptroller’s Office has been auditing all school districts in the State through a random selection process. Babylon was one of the last districts to be audited. Although State auditors found no legal violations, the report made comments on the District’s bidding and cash receipt practices. Taxpayers who attended the board meeting sought clarification on these issues. Comptroller’s Audit The audit looked at the time period from July 1,2007 to Oct. 31, 2008. According to school board member Thomas Melito, the auditor who conducted the field work in the District relayed to Melito that this [audit] was the “best he had ever done.” Assistant Superintendent of Business, Peter Daly Ed. D., presented highlights of the audit report While predominately positive, Daly did note the offenses uncovered by the auditors. Several attendees, however, felt the District’s presentation o f the audit report did not adequately explain or reference the errors that the auditors found. Referring to a Jan. 1, article in Newsday that referenced Babylon’s audit report, resident Frank Curtin said, “I wouldn’t call this a high-rated report.” Resident George Barry agreed and conveyed his concern that the board and District minimized the “severity of the report.” Of concern to taxpayers was payment o f $432,904.00 to five professional service providers without a request for proposal (RFP) process. Daly explained that these payments were for services that required specialized skill, expertise, and professional judgm ent and, as such, are not subject by law to an RFP process. Melito added that, in this instance, the auditors were saying that Babylon was not in compliance with its own longstanding policy about contracting for highly specialized services. That self-imposed policy states that three bids are required for all services over $1,000. (Continued o n page 8) Beware o f phishing scams during busy tax season byMarissaCox If an operator calls claiming to be from the IRS and asks for your social security number, beware. Neither the IRS, nor any reputable credit or taxing agency makes requests for this information over the telephone or via the Internet John Fogarty and his wife residents of Babylon, received a voicemail message from an unknown caller one Monday night. It sounded like an IRS recording. “According to the message,” said Fogarty, “it was an urgent call from the IRS, saying that they needed us to call the number they provided in the message before the dose of business that night.” After dialing the 1-800 number, callers are asked for their sodal security number. “The first thing we did was call the IRS, and I had them go into my1040 to make sure this call wasn’t actually from the IRS,” Fogarty said. “The IRS told us that they were not trying to reach us, and that this was a phishing scheme,” Unfortunately, such scams do happen, according to “Scams are one of the topics we see come up during the filing season,” she said. Besunder cautioned that people should do what the Fogartys did in this situation. Iking up and call the IRS directly. She said that asking for sodal security numbers and other personal information over the phone is not standard procedure for the IRS. “Most of [our] interaction with the taxpaying public is via snail mail,” she said. “Sometimes it will go to a phone call, but usually by then the taxpayer knows that the IRS is interested in speaking to them.” In the case of e-mails, Besunder says that the IRS will never send an e-mail about a tax account “We absolutely do not do that” she said. “IF you receive a phone call from the IRS, or someone daiming to be from the IRS, and you have any doubt that it is legitimate, call 1-800-829-1040 and they will be able to verify it for you.” On Tuesday, the Fogartys, determined to get the word out visited the office of Senator Owen Johnson (R-Babylon) (Continued on page 8) A B O V E B O A R D R e a l E s tate 1 70 M e r r ick R d ., A m ity v ille NY 1 B r o o k s id e V illa s C o n d o m in iu m s • GRAND OPENING starting at $399,000. Low Taxes, CONVENIENT TO ALL. Beautiful Townhomes with approximately 1475 Sq. Ft. o f living space on two levels. First floor consisting o f a custom kitchen and breakfast area, 1/2 bath, combination LR/DRyvith gas fireplace and sliding glass doors to private brick patio. Open staircase with handcrafted oak railing to second floor bedrooms and a main bath. A b o v e B o a r d R eal Estate • 6 3 1 -264-7700 “The c o m p lete offering term s are in an offering p lan available fro m the sponsor, f ile #C D 0 8 0 6 1 6 ”
