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The 10 most read Suffolk Times stories of summer 2014

most read stories suffolk times

The following are the 10 most read Suffolk Times stories since Memorial Day, according to clicky.com, which tracks our website traffic: 

1. Family: Crash victim was sweet man, crazed about planes

When Zubair Khan first set out in February 2012 to convert a twin-engine CoZy aircraft into one with a larger single engine, he was met with skepticism from like-minded individuals on an online aviation message board.

“Zubair, my friend, there is going to be a lot there that is harder than you think,” one man wrote the day after Mr. Khan purchased his plane from a pilot in Oregon who had abandoned a similar project.

Mr. Khan responded with the same enthusiasm he often displayed on the message board while documenting his 25-month journey from purchasing the plane — and converting it into an amateur-built fixed-wing Raven powered by a Lycoming engine — to taking it on its first test flight in March.

“I am glad you brought this up,” the West Village resident wrote. “I did ask a lot of canard builders and experts before jumping into this, and pretty much everyone told me to stay away from it. But I couldn’t.”

He concluded his response by writing: “I am so new to all of this that I am pretty much depending on these comments to save my life.”

Mr. Khan, 41, was identified by police as the pilot who was killed July 6 when he crashed his experimental aircraft into Long Island Sound off the Mattituck shoreline during a test flight from Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley.

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2. Man killed in Mattituck fire that destroyed four businesses

A fast-moving fire swept through a Mattituck building complex June 20, killing a 51-year-old man in his studio apartment despite the quick response of the building’s owner, Southold Police and the Mattituck Fire Department.

The fire destroyed four storefronts near Love Lane, including the anchor store, Liberty Data Systems, on Main Road, police said. The fire originated in the man’s apartment, police said. The owner identified the man as Paul Mittleman, who had lived in the apartment for about 18 months.

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3. Tragic crash breaks hearts on both sides of L.I. Sound

One mile up the road from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., across the street from the Kappa Delta sorority house, rests a small memorial paying tribute to Kaitlyn Doorhy.

With its collection of candles and assorted flowers, it’s similar to another display that has taken shape across the Long Island Sound at Mattituck High School, from which Ms. Doorhy, an aspiring attorney, graduated in 2012.

The photographs and handwritten notes on display at both memorials recall a life cut tragically short last week.

Ms. Doorhy was struck by a car while crossing the street near her sorority house shortly after noon Aug. 22. A junior at Sacred Heart, she was 20 years old.

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4. Southold Town Supervisor’s wife arrested

A New Suffolk woman was arrested following an incident at a Cutchogue house owned by Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell, according to a press release issued by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Nuria Russell, 50, the supervisor’s estranged wife, was charged following a July 9 incident in which she allegedly broke a front window to gain entry into the supervisor’s house on Oak Street.

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5. Winery owners both die tragically, 15 years after making a life here

The story of how Marco and Ann Marie Borghese discovered the North Fork and quickly purchased Long Island’s first vineyard from its original owners is told often, and it’s worth repeating.

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6. Connecticut man arrested following boating accident

The captain of a 24-foot power boat that collided into the Greenport breakwater Aug. 22 was arrested for boating while intoxicated, Southold Town police said.

Robert Skinner, 46, of Shelton, Conn. struck the jetty just after 9:30 p.m. bringing the boat to a sudden stop as it began to take on water, police said. Mr. Skinner and a passenger boarded a second boat that was following them and were transported to Eastern Long Island Hospital. Police determined Mr. Skinner was intoxicated at the time of the accident and arrested him.

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7. He lost $800 in Mattituck, found new friends

What would you do if you found $800 underneath a pickup truck parked at a shopping center?

That’s the dilemma 15-year-old Matti Gibson faced on Aug. 10 outside the Rite Aid store in the Mattituck Plaza.

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8. Circus protestor: I wanted to swipe even more signs

Marilyn Flynn has no regrets.

Less than 24 hours after her arrest and subsequent interrogation, the 84-year-old was calm while recounting the ordeal as she sat at her dining room table.

“I feel fine. There is no other reason to feel otherwise,” Ms. Flynn said. “They are calling it petit larceny but it is an act of civil disobedience.”

As Ms. Flynn was eating dinner July 17, two police officers knocked on her door. The officers cuffed her and escorted her down to the station on a petit larceny charge for stealing two signs that were promoting Cole Bros. Circus coming to Greenport.

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9. Disorderly conduct, pot arrests in Greenport

A pair of Southold men were arrested in separate incidents in Greenport Village June 28.

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1o. Three arrested in underage alcohol operation

Three local store clerks were arrested July 3 after New York State Police conducted an “underage drinker enforcement operation” in Southold Town and Greenport Village.

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