Week In Review: Tesla Fundraiser Reaches Goal, Man Sentenced for Fraud

It took just about a week and a half to raise enough to preserve Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe lab in Shoreham thanks to a viral fundraiser on indiegogo.com.

The fundraiser surpassed the goal of $850,000 Tuesday evening after a $33,333 donation by the indie filmmakers of “Fragments From Olympus-The Vision of Nikola Tesla."

Indie filmmaker Joseph Sikorski used money from his filmʼs budget and raised some additional last minute funds to make the contribution to the cause. With the $850,000 goal reached, matching funds for the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe will be released, allowing the non-profit group led by Jane Alcorn to purchase the property for a new museum.

A Miller Place man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 51 months in prison for mortgage fraud.

Frederick Warren, 38, was involved in a $9 million scheme in which he defrauded various lending institutions by using fake “straw identities” to apply for mortgage loans, which were then quickly defaulted on, according to a release from Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York

A condemned home on Hillside Avenue in Rocky Point , and Legis. Sarah Anker has uploaded a video of her speech and the demolition to YouTube.

Anker is working on legislation to expedite the return of blighted properties to the tax roll and productive use after sighting issues with the length of the process.

After months of fundraising, Miller Place High School student Kara Patrovic has finally met with her sponsored child Mijael in Bolivia

Patrovic raised over $6,000 in order to meet the child she sponsored through Childfund, and distributed toys more than 50 children in the community. She met Mijael on Aug. 16 and had a planned 10 days in the country. According to Patrovic, there are 10 Childfund projects in Tarija, Bolivia helping 445 families and more than 644 kids.

Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe nonprofit, has been working for years to spread the word on the importance of preserving the history of Nikola Tesla and his Wardenclyffe lab in Shoreham. Even she couldn't imagine how quickly things would take off after finding the right people to help support the cause.