Long Island’s 2008: Highlights and lowlights (Newsday)

Oh, what a year it was. The nation made history, electing its first African-American president. And Long Islanders were a big part of it. The world economy veered south, and the local economy, long immune to such threats, began to head south, too, pulling the dreams of foreclosed-upon homeowners and laid-off workers with it. Consumers paid at the gas pump, and outraged taxpayers saw private …