Week in Review: Downtown Designation, LI Hoops Title, and More

This week in Riverhead: 

: Between 60 and 75 individuals met at the Jamesport Meeting House on Saturday morning to discuss opposition to a 40,000-square-foot YMCA suggested for Route 25 in Aquebogue, though the conversation drifted to preserving a "rapidly vanishing way of life here on the North Fork."

: Wednesday, a stretch of downtown ranging from Griffing Avenue to just east of Maple Avenue was approved for listing on the New York State Register of Historic Places.

With state approval behind it, the application for Riverhead Main Street Historic District will be forwarded for consideration on the National Register of Historic Places in late May to early June, which one state official said "shouldn't be a problem" following the state approval.

: Nationwide, the New York City area fared rather poorly in a Consumer Reports survey on hospital safety across the nation, with 75 of 81 area hospitals scoring below the nationwide average in the survey.

But on Friday morning,  celebrated its status as second among those 81 hospitals in patient safety - overall, 12 percent above the national average - a status President and CEO Andrew Mitchell said is a testament to the staff's day-to-day devotion to patient care and an institutional commitment to improving facilities and operations to enable that care.

: A  sold out Saturday night, with 300 plates and filled tables packing the  to honor nearly 50 Riverhead residents.

: The Riverhead girls basketball team knocked off the defending Long Island Class AA champions, outlasting Baldwin, 56-50, before a crowd of 2,000 to claim the first title in program history. Riverhead (23-1) advances to the state Public Schools Final Four in Troy March 16 at 6:15 p.m.  

While a preliminary budget from Gov. Andrew Cuomo - announced in mid-January -  in the coming budget year, that bump in funding may not even be enough to cover increases in coverage the district would be required to provide based on changes in state law, according to numbers released by Superintendent Nancy Carney.

 Last year, it was a pie in the face. This year, Roanoke Avenue Elementary School Principal Tom Payton will be seeing the effects of his "reading challenge" a little longer than in previous years.

: After a public hearing just over a month ago that determined there was much work to be done on the legislation, Town Board members agreed on Thursday morning that it will be holding another public hearing on legislation allowing for the creation of assisted living facilities in town.

: During a 30-minute speech at the Sea Star Ballroom during a tri-club meeting between the Riverhead Rotary Club, Riverhead Lions Club, and Riverhead Kiwanis Club, Walter touched on the same top three priorities as he has during most of his tenure at town hall - Enterprise Park at Calverton, downtown Riverhead, and the town's finances - and touched upon a fourth topic which has occupied the halls of Howell Avenue as of late.

: A Roslyn Heights man was arrested early Saturday morning after Riverhead Police said he shocked a Jamesport Valero gas station attendant with a stun gun in an attempt to rob him of money.

: Riverhead Police arrested a high school student on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree after a principal said he was in possession of crack cocaine.