Twenty-six-year East Rockaway resident and Army veteran Richard Gogarty, 54, has been appointed by the village board as the trustee to fill Irene Villacci’s seat. Villacci resigned from the position last week. “Because I’ve served 20 years on active duty in the Army, I’ve had an opportunity to see cities and towns over the United States and the world,” Gogarty said. “After seeing all that, I moved to East Rockaway. This is my dream place — a small village in the middle of millions of people. … East Rockaway maintains the independent spirit and closeness found only in a small village.” more

It has been a major transitional period for the village board in the last couple of months – former Deputy Mayor Bill Hendrick was appointed to the mayorship following the departure of newly-elected assemblyman Brian Curran, trustee Alan Beach was appointed as the new Deputy Mayor and Tom Atkinson was appointed to fill the last vacant trustee position. more

As an attorney, Tom Atkinson is no stranger to having to make tough decisions. And as a new village board trustee, he plans to focus his energy on issues that are close to his heart and to be a voice for Lynbrook residents. Atkinson, 40, grew up in the village and attended Our Lady Of Peace School, where he met his wife of 12 years, Jennifer. The couple have two young sons, Tommy and Sean. more

Longtime East Rockaway resident and Village Pride Party President Stanley Lombardo announced that he would join his party’s ticket seeking the second village trustee seat that is up for election in March 2011. Lombardo joins running mates Fran Lenahan and Ed Corrado on the Pride Party ticket next year. more

The question of how involved Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick has been in talks with the Chinese Zhondge Group to build a waste-to-energy incinerator in south Freeport has been a point of concern among local residents since news of the proposal broke last month. more

More than 100 residents of Freeport and neighboring communities like Merrick, Bellmore and Rockville Centre converged on Freeport Village Hall on Monday to protest Mayor Andrew Hardwick's reported proposal to build a $550 million waste-to-energy trash incinerator in south Freeport, near the Merrick border. more