WEEKLY RECAP: Teacher Passes Away, New Levittown Starbucks and House Fire

Busy week? No worries. Patch highlighted the top stories of the week so you can catch up on all of the local news.

This week, the top stories are:

#5 Zwanger Pesiri Construction to Begin in Spring -  Long-awaited construction on a Zwanger Pesiri Radiology center in Levittown could soon begin. The permitting process for Zwanger's new location in Levittown should be completed in about a month with construction expected right after then, Hempstead Town Councilman Gary Hudes recently announced.

#4 Expanded CVS to Open on Sunday - The new expanded CVS on Hempstead Tpke. in Levittown will open on Sunday, March 10, according to signs posted outside the store. The old store across the street will close at the same time.

#3 Starbucks Looks to Build New Levittown Location - Hudes surprised the crowd at February's property owners meeting when he announced that Starbucks has applied to build a drive-through store at the former Rayco4 building.

#2 Fire Badly Damages Levittown Home - A house on Carnation Road in Levittown was badly damaged on Wednesday, with one person escaping the home unharmed. 

#1 Island Trees Teacher Passes Away - The Island Trees and Levittown community was shocked and saddened by the death of Yu-Chuan Chen Leary, 33, a fourth grade teacher in the district.

"She was a wonderful and inspirational teacher to the hundreds of students who were fortunate to be taught by her. Equally important, she was a great friend to her colleagues in our district. They are heartbroken," said Superintendent of Schools, Charles Murphy.

Residents reacted to the news on Facebook with a heavy heart:

"A truly gifted teacher and wonderful person!... the children of Island Trees were blessed to have had her as a teacher. The prayers and thoughts of our family are with her husband and her entire family. Heaven has truly gained a new angel- rest in peace," said Brenda Kelly-Hinshaw.

"She was an angel put on earth for a very short time," said Cheri Conte.