http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/ Serving Riverhead Since 1857 en-us http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_Plum_TB Opposition to Plum Island as the site for a new Biosafety Level 4 foreign animal disease research facility was unanimous at Tuesday night's public hearing on a draft environmental impact statement examining six sites, including Plum Island, as possible locations. The Department of Homeland Security hearing at Greenport School drew a crowd of more than 100 people. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_storm_den Residents across the North Fork have been talking tornado this week, since the National Weather Service last Thursday night issued what would be the first of three tornado warnings for Suffolk County in four days. Two more tornado warnings were issued Monday afternoon. Until last Thursday, the weather service had issued only five tornado warnings for Suffolk County in the past 23 years. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_tornado_den The word tornado conjures up images of Kansas and Texas, far-away, land-locked places where twisters howl, lifting homes from their foundations and cars from the road. But tornadoes on Long Island? Well, yes, actually. Tornadoes do happen here, though with much less frequency and intensity than they do in the South and Midwest. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_Southold_Library_ES Southold resident Mary Jane Purcell worked at Southold Free Library on Main Road back in 1982, before its first expansion in 1991. It was cramped, but she said she made the best of it by putting on some soft music and brewing a pot of coffee. Patrons liked the coffee -- and eventually got used to the music. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_affordable_ES In Southold, for every 20 units built in a full development, five must now be affordable for lower-income families. This solid 20 percent rule is among several amendments the Southold Town Board passed Tuesday night, modifying the muddled requirements of the town's widely unappealing inclusionary housing law. (See "Town Hall Notes," page 4.) http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_THN_worksession_ES The subject of Halloween slipped in between the expected Town Board subjects of budget balancing, beach restoration and farm stand codes during Tuesday's work session at Town Hall. Mike Liegey asked the Town Board for permission to open a "haunted attraction" at Route 48 and Youngs Avenue in Southold starting next month. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_FishersIsland_ES "It's usually the ultimate field trip," said Southold Town Councilman Vincent Orlando. "We'll get the sunblock out." There was no need for sunblock last Wednesday on the way to the annual town meeting at Fishers Island, closer to Connecticut but still part of New York State -- the easternmost hamlet in Southold Town. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_wine_symposium_jstar In 1988, a conference titled "Maritime Climate Wine Growing: Bringing Bordeaux to Long Island" drew winemakers from famed French chateaux and helped put Long Island on the world wine map. Last week, 20 years later, another conference proved that Long Island wines are now more than a dot on a chart, but represent an international wine region unto its own. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_fire_training_mm If all you Orient residents who saw smoke pouring out of an Oysterponds Lane house last week wondered how the fire department got there so quickly, wonder no more. The whole thing was a firefighting exercise designed to give the department some hands-on training in a situation as close to a real emergency as possible. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_CFD_den Plans for a new fire house in Cutchogue won't even be discussed for a year, fire department and district officials announced Monday night. "The members don't even want to talk about it," Capt. Antone Berkoski told the board of fire commissioners at their monthly meeting in the upstairs room of the firehouse on New Suffolk Road. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_Arcade_jal The "For Sale" sign on the Arcade Department Store in Greenport is for real, but it's not a sign of the times, according to owner Bob Paquette. A few years ago, he'd speculated that waning business would force him to give up the store, but instead, he turned it around with a different merchandising plan. Now he says it's "a viable business." http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_PB_jal Planning Board members gave the go-ahead to Greenport Gateway last Thursday, while advising the Zoning Board of Appeals that they still have strong reservations about the building's mass. In a unanimous resolution, the Planning Board "generally supports the project," but has concerns about the architectural style and overall scale of the mixed-used building projected for the southeast corner of Front and Third streets. In addition to the issue of the mass of the building, the Planning Board indicated it would look at parking, placement of transformers and dumpsters, truck loading space and landscaping. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_Eagle_Scouts_jal While only 3 percent of Boy Scouts nationwide achieve Eagle Scout ranking, Greenport's Troop 51 can boast of five within the last month, two more whose paperwork is pending and another who has just started on the trail. Calling it a "real bumper crop," Scoutmaster Robert Walden Jr. honored his own son, Christopher Walden, and William Robins, Matthew Santacroce and Carl Weiskott at a Court of Honor Sunday at Peconic Landing. Anthony Breese was named an Eagle Scout last month, and Jordan Bogden and Daniel Franke have completed their requirements and paperwork is pending for them to receive their honors. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_VillageBoard_jal The agenda for last Thursday's special Village Board meeting listed just a few routine items, but most were dictated by a single factor: Greenport hasn't yet closed out its 2007-08 fiscal year that ended May 31. That riled Trustee Bill Swiskey, who objected to the hiring of part-time personnel when he said he thinks more full-time workers are needed to keep abreast of the work. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T072408_San_Simeon_jal Drive past San Simeon by the Sound Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation and it might appear nothing's new. But inside, there's a scurry of activity already under way that by September 2009 will not only reveal a new adult day-care program but expanded space and services for both full-time residents and those there for short-term rehabilitation. http://www2.timesreview.com/ST/stories/T081408_Russell_ES Echoes of concerns filled historic Poquatuck Hall in Orient last Thursday, Aug. 7, during an informal question and answer session with Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell and about 20 Orient residents. The conversation touched on cell towers, scheduling for patrolmen, Plum Island and the contentment of a town supervisor.