Week in Review: Bus Referendum Passed, Unemployment Drops

The week's top story is four months in the making, .

The new bus referendum was approved Monday by a tally of 4,629 votes to 1,114, a margin of 3,515 votes. The original bus referendum on May 17 was passed 3,915 votes to 3,055.

Changes to the distances and who will receive busing are set to go into effect Oct. 11.

Also in school news, , a local representation of the highest scoring students from the roughly 1.5 million students that were screened for the program. A younger student also had a great accomplishment as Patch reported on in the intermediate grades category of the Long Island Presidents’ Council of New York State United Teachers essay contest.

Following the school news is news on local government – , and both to kick-off the company's "Partners In Caring" program to fight hunger locally.

Unemployment numbers were released Tuesday and .

The rate fell to 6.3 percent in August 2011, compared to 6.4 percent in July of 2011, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

Finally, , which wraps up Sunday. Throughout the week the participating restaurants offered a menu of items to make a three-course meal at a fixed-price of $25.