Leading off today: Lay teachers at 10 downstate Roman Catholic high schools are about to go out on strike after their latest round of contract negotiations with the Archdiocese of New York stalled, a union official said.
It's unclear for the moment if the schools will have enough staff available to remain open and to continue their spring sports schedules.
"We didn't want this to happen, but it looks like this is going to happen," Lay Faculty Association spokesman Henry Kielkucki told The Journal News, saying talks with the Archdiocese of New York had stalled over health care and other issues. Teachers could walk out on Monday or Tuesday, and the action would likely extend into the New York visit by Pope Benedict XVI set for April 18-20.
The union represents about 450 teachers at 10 schools from Poughkeepsie to Staten Island, including Archbishop Stepinac, Maria Regina, Somers JFK, Burke Catholic and Poughkeepsie Lourdes.
The teachers' contract expired Aug. 31, 2007.
Milestones: Shannon Smith scored eight times to break the state record for career goals in West Babylon's 19-16 girls lacrosse win Thursday over North Babylon. Smith, who'll attend Northwestern in the fall, has 447 goals. The previous mark of 443 was set by Shari Maslin of Clarkstown North in 2002.
Also on Thursday, Bob Hartranft picked up his 600th boys lacrosse victory with Farmingdale's 10-3 win over La Costa Canyon (Calif.).
On the move: Hauppauge sophomore 
