News Nearby: 284-Year-Old Setauket Church Gets a Facelift

From Smithtown: Map: Complete Guide to Main Street Vacancies

As Smithtown voters prepare to go to the polls next Tuesday to cast the first of many votes in the 2013 elections, the future of Main Street hangs in the balance.  

Smithtown's Main Street is not only the geographic center where Town Hall stands, but also serves as its primary downtown area that – ideally – draws in shoppers from Commack, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Nesconset and other nearby towns.  

But, what stores are left to bring shoppers into the downtown area?

From Commack: Man Critically Injured in Commack LIE Crash

A crash closed the Long Island Expressway eastbound between Exits 52 (Commack Road) and 53 (Sagtikos Parkway) Friday morning.  

According to police, Leon Parks, 23, of Coram, was driving a 2013 Nissan Altima eastbound on the Long Island Expressway at Exit 53 when his vehicle struck a guardrail and overturned at 4:46 a.m.

Parks was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was listed in critical condition.

Witnesses told police that Parks was driving at a high rate of speed.

From Kings Park: Cocaine Found At Scene of Car Crash

Louis Lanasa, 23, of Kings Park was arrested Aug. 28 and faces one charge of operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs, a misdemeanor;  one misdemeanor count of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance - prescription drugs; and one felony count of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled controlled substance - cocaine.

Police said Lanasa was driving a 2003 Lincoln Navigator on Redwood Lane in Smithtown when he crashed into another vehicle at 8:20 p.m. Officers said Lanasa was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident and found cocaine in his car, according to police reports.

From Sachem: Sachem Back To School Photos Galleries Part One and Part Two

Students in the Sachem Central School District returned to school on Tuesday, and Sachem area families sent into Patch so many Back to School photos that we have made two photo galleries packed with student photos.

From Three Village: 284-Year-Old Setauket Church Gets a Facelift

With a setup that looked like it could have come straight off a movie screen, workers from Valley Restoration, based in Torrington, Conn., recently completed exterior resurfacing at the Caroline Church of Brookhaven. Church officials announced last week that "steeplejacks" scaled the walls of the church to complete "a much needed exterior resurfacing" 75 feet above the ground.