Week in Review: Academic Calendar, Alleged DWI Crash, Conservation Center Repairs

Three Village BOE Adopts 2013-2014 Academic Calendar

Next year's school calendar in Three Village will feature one of the longest summer recesses in recent memory and a two-week winter break, the school district announced Tuesday. The Board of Education voted 6-0 to adopt the 2013-2014 school calendar at Tuesday night's school board meeting. School in the 2013-2014 academic year will start Sept. 9 and end June 27 – also a rather late ending date for a school year.

Man Charged with DWI After Crash with Bus Carrying Three Village Kids

Police say a Commack man was drunk when he crashed his pickup truck into a school bus carrying Three Village students Tuesday morning in Smithtown. No injuries were reported among the three adults and 23 children on board the bus, which was headed to the DNA Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for a field trip. Suffolk County police arrested the man, 44-year-old Robert Slavonik, who is now charged with Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting and Driving While Intoxicated. According to police, the man was exiting a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot in Smithtown when he struck the school bus, which was traveling west on Route 25A, at approximately 9:45 a.m.

University Pres: Sequester Would Kill $7.6M for Research, Study

Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley sent this letter to faculty Thursday night laying out exactly what those cuts could mean for Long Island's largest state university.

Gyrodyne Co. to Match Marine Conservation Center Repair Donations

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization announced Wednesday that Gyrodyne Co. of America will match donations made to help it repair the damages caused by Hurricane Sandy at the Ernst Marine Conservation Center. Gyrodyne COO Peter Pitsiokos is a former student of Dr. Erwin J. Ernst, for whom the WMHO's waterside classroom is named. On Wednesday, he said the company will match donations up to $5,000 made through the WMHO's campaign on Indiegogo. The deadline is March 31.

Local Wedding Minister Organizing Charity Wedding Dress Drive

Today, Maripat Quinn is an ordained minister specializing in non-traditional services – she calls herself "Everyone's Minister." She's kept her own experiences in mind as she performs weddings between couples of different religions or nationalities as well as same-sex couples who can now enjoy a wedding day in New York State thanks to the Marriage Equality Act. Quinn, who has a Master's degree in comparative religions, said she enjoys researching various religious and cultural traditions to create a service unique to each couple she works with. Now, Quinn, an 18-year resident of Setauket who said she has lived in 10 other countries, is launching a charitable effort through the Setauket-based Carol M. Baldwin Foundation to help raise money for breast cancer research. A former volunteer with that organization, Quinn is collecting donations of wedding dresses to rent out or auction off to raise money.