Friday, January 15, 2016
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The PULse oF The PeNiNsULA
vol. 91, no. 3
IDE TO
2016 GUide To shoP deLiGhT ToWN oFFiciALs WiNTer diNiNG oWNer Tries AGAiN sWorN iN PAGES S1-S24
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january 15, 2016 special section • / litmor publications a blank slate media
Woman, 22, found dead
F iRE DEStRoYS CAR on n. CloVER DRiVE
Stella Lee found in park after search By J oe N i k i c The body of a 22-year-old Great Neck woman who was reported missing last Friday was discovered Monday in Caumsett State Park in Huntington, Nassau County police said Tuesday. Police said Stella Lee was found dead in a wooded area of the park at 2:30 p.m. by a state Department of Environmental Conservation officer. An investigation of Lee’s death is continuing, police said, but detectives have determined no criminality was involved. An alert was issued on Friday in which police said Lee was possibly suicidal. Lee was last seen leaving her home at 3:27 a.m. Thursday morning in her white 2012 Honda Accord. New York State Park police said Caumsett staff members informed them Saturday that Lee’s vehicle had been in the parking lot for more than 24 hours. Caumsett State Park had been closed since Saturday while Continued on Page 54
PHOTO BY JOSH FORST
An Audi erupted in flames at a village of Great Neck Estates home at 13 North Clover Drive. See story on Page 12.
Mad scramble for Israel’s seat Martins to forego state Senate for possible bid; Kaplan joins race B y N o A h M A N s k A r replace him. Just days after U.S. Rep. Steve Israel said the non-stop fundraising cycle of federal politics was the basis for his decision not to seek re-election, some Long Island politicians started working to fund campaigns to
Coupled with state Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel’s separate decision not to pursue re-election, Israel’s surprise Jan. 5 announcement set off a flurry of political activity eyeing the Melville Democrat’s seat from which 17 potential candidates have emerged. State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) was the first to create a congressional campaign committee and will leave the state Senate at the
end of his term, an aide said. And North Hempstead town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan became the first Democrat to officially enter the race this week. As the jockeying continues, questions remain as to who will represent the North Shore in both Albany and Washington, and how the three races might shift the balance of power in New York. The candidates Few potential candidates have emerged for the state of-
fices. Adam Haber, a Democrat who opposed Republican Edward Mangano for county executive in 2011 and ran a selffunded state Senate campaign against Martins in the 2014, told Blank Slate Media he’s strongly considering running for Martins’ seat again. And Democrat Jim Gounaris, a trustee and former president of the Herricks school board, said he is considering a campaign to Continued on Page 55
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