Lindy Blogs of the Week Mar. 31: Relay for Life, Real Estate & Tax Tips

What are your neighbors thinking about? Is a national-news story piquing the interest of the neighborhood or is someone simply sharing their insight on every day life?

No worries if you missed the past week, since we've collected the top blog posts across our local Patch sites in one convienent place.

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Relay for Life!
C.J. Thomson, class of 2012 graduate of Lindenhurst High School, wrote about running in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life at Adelphi University, where he currently attends.

"I'm running in this year's Relay for Life event at Adelphi University in honor of my professor, Dr. Thornburg, and in honor of all of the participants' loved ones," Thomson wrote.

Thomson went on to explain how Dr. Thornburg's cancer had returned, and how he and fellow students of the professor are running in the campus event on April 5 at 7 p.m. to raise money to help fight the disease that's sadly touched so many lives.

He urged people to help the cause and shared the link to his fundraising page, http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=48191&pg=personal&px=31407978.

Having No COs Can Hurt the Sale of Your Home
Jackie Connelly-Fornuff recently posted about how having no certificates of occupancy could hurt the sale of your home. She offered why that's the case, and what to do about it.

"When buyers are buying a home and they find out some improvements don't have a CO, they may not buy the house at all because those improvements will raise the property taxes, and no one knows by how much until the CO is issued and the home is reassessed," wrote Connelly-Fornuff, who's an agent with Century 21 AA Realty.

My Thousand-Dollar Face Makeover
Lindenhurst resident and blogger Jan Hickman offered an amusing and eye-opening look at "the cost, variety and sanity of beauty products now being marketed as essential - plus thoughts about the relevance of the Big Beauty industry in the scheme of things."

Time to Fix Lindy
One Lindenhurst resident also shared feelings in this short opinion piece about how a "a real repair" is needed "here in Lindy to make us feel proud of our town."

Blogger Eileen Nolan posted about how for the second year in a row NEFCU credit union is sponsoring the Games, which are set for Sunday, April 21, at Commack High School

"NEFCU is honored to be a corporate partner of the 2013 Spring Games, and proud to support the athletes and coaches who've worked so diligently to prepare and train for this competition," she wrote.

Free Income Tax Prep Available by IRS-Certified Volunteers
IRS blogger Dianne Besunder recently posted about how the Bethpage Federal Credit Union (BFCU) operates several free income tax assistance sites on Long Island.

"The Bethpage Federal Credit Union (BFCU) operates several free income tax assistance sites on Long Island with locations in Bayshore, Farmingdale, Freeport, Patchogue, Riverhead, West Babylon, Central Islip, Elmont, Hempstead, Massapequa, Roosevelt and Westbury," Besunder wrote.  

For more information and days of operation for BFCE sites call 800-628-7070, she said.

"The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program offers free tax help generally to people who earn $51,000 or less, and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Program offers free tax help to taxpayers with priority assistance to people who are 60 and older," she added.

Besunder also posted about how to protect yourself from the Dirty Dozen tax scams. The IRS’ annual Dirty Dozen list included common tax scams that often peak during the tax filing season. Read the full post here.

Easter Car Shows & Upcoming LI Automotive Events
Patch blogger and Town Historian of North Hempstead Howard Kroplick blogged about upcoming events for autmotive and racing history buffs. He posted a flier about the upcoming shows in this latest blog post.

Seven Signs That Your Relationship Is in Trouble
Local writer Cindi Sansone-Braff gave her thoughts about how to tell if your relationship is falling apart. She discussed several signs that could give you a hint if you, or your partner, are no longer "into" it.

"You and your mate talk to each other in a way you wouldn't talk to anyone else in the world," she wrote. "For instance, when you speak there's a nasty edge in your voice.  Or one or both of you frequently nags, whines, has little or no patience for the other, yells, sulks or gives the silent treatment on a day-to-day basis."

Declining Enrollment: Is It Time for School District Consolidation?
Education expert Dr. Meryl Ain pondered in her weekly post whether it's time for Long Island school districts to condense, rather than expand, as budgets get tighter and tighter.

"In the last decade school districts have been reluctant to sell their closed buildings," she wrote "This is because districts that sold their buildings in the past often needed them just a few years later when enrollment picked up. District officials faced criticism and remorse when the buildings couldn't be reclaimed."

Blogger Hilary JM Topper, MPA, wrote about being a part of the Sony Store in Roosevelt Field's recent showcase about the recovery of Long Beach.

"Recently Sony reached out to me. I'm not quite sure how they found me, but I'm glad they did. They offered me a Sony NEX-5R camera in exchange for 50 photos of my hometown, Long Beach, New York," she wrote.

Exercising during Pregnancy: Is It Safe?
Dr. Michael Polcino explored the ideas behind exercisingwhile pregnant and whether or not it's safe for the mother to do so - or for the baby.

"It's generally agreed exercise can reduce the common discomforts of pregnancy," he posted. "Exercise might even help decrease the risks of gestational diabetes and even preeclampsia."

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• Blogging on Lindenhurst Patch

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