Former Hempstead Public Safety officer Robert Core was found not guilty of manslaughter after his car struck and killed a pedestrian in July of 2011, according to Newsday [paid link].
Core, 43, was found not guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter, but Judge Jerald Carter rendered a guilty verdict on aggravated drunken driving, which is a misdemeanor. He faces up to a year in prison at his Sept. 27 sentencing.
According to detectives, Core, of Hempstead, was responding to an emergency call in Levittown when he struck Eddie Albert Cotto, 50, of Lindenhurst, who was crossing southbound on Hempstead Turnpike in the vicinity of Franklin Avenue. Core was driving a Town of Hempstead Public Safety Vehicle.
Cotto was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) upon arrival, police said.
Cops later revealed that Core drove an additional 150 feet after impact with Cotto on the hood of his vehicle.
Proposed Sanitation District Dissolution Gets Boost
A local effort to dissolve a special taxing district got a big boost late Thursday, as the Town of Hempstead certified more than 5,000 petitions calling for the first in a series of votes to decide the fate of Sanitary District No. 2. These votes, which the district will hold over the next three months, will represent the largest dissolution effort in recent state history, according to a release from the Long Island Progressive Coalition (LIPC).
Sanitary District No. 2 provides trash and recycling collection services to more than 30,000 residents in the unincorporated areas of Hempstead. A number of reports written by former Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman showed that local special districts, including Sanitary District No. 2, consistently charge higher taxes than towns like Hempstead, while providing the same service, the LIPC's release stated.
This certification is one of the first steps under 2009's Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act. If voters approve the first resolution, it will be followed by a vote on a referendum deciding the fate of Sanitary District No. 2. If the referendum successfully passes, the district would have to then create a plan for dissolution, which the voters would have to approve.
Date Set for Hearing on Costco Gas Station in Lawrence
A Sept. 19 hearing on Costco's request to add a 22-pump gas station to its warehouse store in North Lawrence has been scheduled after Wednesday's hearing was postponed.
Costco brought its plan to convert 163 of the Lawrence store's 822 parking spaces into a gas station in March. To do this, the company needs a parking variance from the BZA because the amount of spaces would not meet the required town minimum. It also needs a permit from the Town of Hempstead Board to install three 30,000-gallon storage tanks at the southwest corner of Rockaway Turnpike and Nassau Expressway.
The plan has seen plenty of opposition from residents who claim that the gas station would cause added traffic in the area.
