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Kids & Family

Syosset Week in Review: May 13-19

Student wins BOE seat in landslide, updates on Rusty Torres scandal, and more headlines from this week in Syosset.

Headline of the week:

In a dramatic and historic statement by voters, an 18-year-old high school senior was elected to the  Board of Education Tuesday night.

Though school board elections rarely gain regional attention, being elected before you've finished your AP exams causes quite a stir. Syosset made headlines across New York when residents overwhelmingly  to their Board of Education Tuesday.

Find out what's happening in Syossetwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

New and returning Syosset Board of Education members say they are looking forward to the post-election period. After the  all are ready to finally get down to business.

The father of a  student and  is being accused by the school district of stealing absentee ballot information. Jeffrey Lafazan, father of , went to the district's central offices and took a list of names and addresses of absentee voters -- a list he said he believed to be a copy for his own use.

Find out what's happening in Syossetwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Torres Updates:

Among the lingering questions in the Torres scandal is whether the town did a background check on Torres before hiring him in 2002 as the town's baseball coach.  who served five years probation for a cocaine-related conviction dating to 1985. The town has also not clarified its hiring practices regarding other potential convicted felons.

Oyster Bay Supervisor  expressed "shock" at the arrest of , saying he found the sexual abuse charges "deeply disturbing," and vowed to address town hiring policies as the case goes forward.

This week in police and fire news:

The fire department responded to scene on Church Street at about 11:30 p.m. Friday to find a red sedan fully engulfed in flames in the driveway.

"It's suspicious because the car didn't have any plates, the tires were flat and it looked like it hadn't moved in a long time," which is why the arson squad and fire marshal were called to investigate, according to Syosset Fire Chief Robert Kaplan.

Two teens were injured in a Friday morning crash on South Oyster Bay Road near the Long Island Expressway, according to police.

A black Honda Civic and a black GMC Denali collided at about 7:05 p.m. on South Oyster Bay Road and the North Service Road near the LIE. Syosset Fire Department and Nassau County Police responded to the call and two lanes were closed on South Oyster Bay Road.

A 15-year-old former Jericho High Schoolstudent is charged with making a terrorist threat after texting other students about a bomb at the school, according to police.

This week's Viewfinder:

A lone bagpiper marched around the track Saturday night, whining the tune of "Amazing Grace." As the last notes echoed across the field, the only sound to be heard was quiet footsteps of hundreds of people behind him. Though they were from very different backgrounds, residents of all ages came together as one ever-growing family touched by cancer.

Residents of all ages came out by the dozens Saturday to spruce up the Memorial Day parade route and cermony sites. coincided with the 's planting flowers in the memorial garden on Underhill Boulevard.

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