Nearby: Oyster Bay Resident Dies of West Nile

Some of the news from Long Island communities this week.

 A Town of Oyster Bay resident's death has been attributed to the West Nile Virus, the first death tied to the virus this year in Nassau County, health officials said Friday.

The former home of the on Fulton Avenue had been vacant for nearly four years, much to the dismay of a newly-elected mayor and local officials. But, that all changed last month when the former Jewish community center reopened as a place of worship, now a mosque.

Long Beach property owners may no longer plant invasive or “running” bamboo but may maintain it and grow other species, after the City Council on Tuesday approved a rewritten ordinance regarding the nonnative plant. The ordinance was reworded from the original outright ban on planting or maintaining all bamboo anywhere in the city to include a provision that permits residents to plant non-invasive bamboo and maintain any species of bamboo provided it “doesn’t encroach or grow onto any adjoining or neighboring property," reads the new law. The council voted 3-1 to adopt it.

It was as if an entire community went back to English Lit for a summer, reading an American masterpiece and then discussing it in-depth with an expert. It all came to fruition Wednesday night with the finale of Oyster Bay's project, spearheaded by town Councilwoman Rebecca Alesia.

's annual gala is scheduled for Dec. 6 at Oheka Castle, with a goal of raising funds for a mammography system.

Meantime, an auto raffle is underway, raising money for a cardiac monitoring station for the hospital's emergency department.