News Nearby: Olympian's Home Struck by Lightning Days Before Games

Sure, Port Jefferson Patch covers all things local. But if you're wondering what went on in surrounding areas, take a look at some top headlines from around the area:

Since his death in November, the name Joseph DiBernardo Jr. – "Joey D" – is one that lives in the minds and hearts of his family and friends in the Setauket and Miller Place communities. Now, it's a name that will also be memorialized on the FDNY's "Wall of Honor," a place of honor for New York City firefighters who have died in the line of duty.
The FDNY announced Monday that Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano made the decision to add DiBernardo's name to the Wall of Honor based on an in-depth review of DiBernardo's medical history.
Joey D, a Setauket Fire Department volunteer who joined the FDNY in 1995, sustained critical injuries from the Black Sunday fire in January of 2005, a fire which killed two firefighters and critically injured him and three more.

Firefighters responded to a Nesconset house and car fire Wednesday evening after lightning struck the home, sending power lines into the vehicles at the home of Olympian Maria Michta.

According to Assistant Chief Doug Sneider, the initial call for the fire at 7 4th Street came in at roughly 5:30 p.m. Sneider said lightning struck the outside of the home on Lillian Road while a mother and two children were inside. No damage was done to the interior of the home and no one in the home was injured.

Sneider said power lines also came down and set two cars on fire. Firefighters could not do anything to extinguish the flames until LIPA arrived at the scene to shut down power, which Sneider said took approximately two hours to have completed.

Bella Cucina will be the latest edition to the Kings Park dining scene and is slated to open late this week at the 95 Pulaski Road location, according to owners Anthony Barucci and Tom Lowder.

A car careened off of the Long Island Expressway North Service Road Thursday night, smashing into a Brentwood 7-Eleven and injuring three people, including a pregnant woman and an infant, police said.