PSEG Long Island Reminds You To Call 811 Before You Start A Project

PSEG Long Island reminds customers, contractors and excavators that the law requires them to call 811 before digging to ensure underground pipelines, conduits, wires and cables are properly marked out.

Every digging project, even a small project like planting a tree or building a deck, requires a call to 811. It’s the law. The call is free and the mark-out service is free. The call must be made whether the job is being performed by a professional or a do-it-yourselfer. Striking an underground electrical line can cause serious injury and outages, and result in repair costs and fines.

“It’s spring once again, and people on Long Island and in the Rockaways are starting outdoor improvements to their homes and businesses. Calling 811 ahead of time helps protect underground utility lines and, more importantly, the safety of anyone digging,” said Michael Sullivan, PSEG Long Island’s vice president of Transmission and Distribution Operations. “Customers are getting the message. Last year there were more than 215,000 mark-out requests in our service area, and so far this year, there have been more than 44,000 requests to 811.”

According to Common Ground Alliance, a member-driven association of nearly 1,800 individuals and 250 member companies in every facet of the underground utility industry, 40% of active diggers in North America do not call 811 because they think their project is too shallow to require it. All digging projects require a call to 811.

A free call to 811 in the service area automatically connects the caller to the local New York one-call center, which collects information about digging projects. The onecall center then provides the information to the utility companies, which send representatives to mark the locations of nearby underground lines with flags, paint or both. Once lines have been properly marked and confirmation from all of the utility owners is received, projects may proceed as long as caution is used around the marked areas.

Here’s important information to consider:

• Underground gas and electric lines are everywhere, even on private properties. These facilities can be easily damaged if dug into, with the potential to cause serious injuries. Digging into these lines can also disrupt vital utility services, resulting in costly delays, expensive repairs and environmental or property damage.

• Whether the job is a major home improvement project or something as simple as a fence or mailbox post, a call to 811 must be placed beforehand to determine where it’s safe to dig.

• Call 811 at least two business days before the commencement of each job to have underground pipes, wires and equipment located. Each facility owner must respond by providing the excavator with a positive confirmation indicating that marks are in place where utility lines are buried or that there are no existing facilities in the area of the proposed work. This service is free of charge.

• Be sure to wait until all of the utilities have responded. Don’t dig until lines have been marked or you have received confirmation that the area is clear of facilities.

• Property owners must maintain and respect the marks. Always hand dig within 2 feet of marked lines to find the existing facilities before using mechanized equipment.

• If gas lines are damaged or there is a gas smell when excavating, call 911 immediately from a safe area.

Calling before you dig is more than a good idea − it’s the law. Additional information, including a booklet on safe excavating practices and the protection of underground facilities, can be found on the PSEG Long Island website.

—Submitted by PSEGLI

PSEG Long Island Partners With Google For Energy Savings

PSEG Long Island has partnered with Google to provide customers the gift of energy savings. Customers can get a Google Nest Thermostat at a price 93% below retail value. The promotion runs from now into July.

With a smart thermostat, customers can create a heating and cooling schedule from their smart device that can help them remain comfortable and save money.

OFFER DETAILS: Now through July 10, 2023, customers can visit PSEG Long

Island’s Energy Efficiency Marketplace at www.psegliny.com/marketplace to get a Google Nest Thermostat ($129.99 retail value) for $9.99. The customer whose name is associated with the account must place the order. Please check your most recent electric bill. Each qualifying residential customer account is limited to one smart thermostat. The customer is responsible for all applicable sales tax and shipping charges.

—Submitted by PSEGLI

Word Find

HOROSCOPES By Holiday Mathis

Horoscopes

Horoscopes

By Holiday Mathis

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have pleted the puzzle, there will be 19 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

By Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’re aware that people are constantly sending signals to the world about who they are, what they aspire to and where they’d like to t in. You’ll note how much of this comes through what a person chooses to wear and say, and you’ll make tweaks to your own style this week, too.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). ere’s a time and place for sharing your feelings. In some friend groups, family cultures and societies, it seems like there’s a ban on feelings. Finding the appropriate time and place to share will be key, though with the right people you’ll feel so unconditionally accepted that it will be unnecessary to manage emotions with such strictness.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You want to be around people you admire today. Tune into how you feel around them. In the early stages, it’s enough to think someone is wonderful, but it’s not worth continuing unless you also feel wonderful around them. It’s good to remind yourself that how you feel around someone is as important as how you feel about them.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). From bud to husk, every stage has its own kind of loveliness. You like the sort of things that don’t need much maintenance -- things that grow on their own and are beautiful in their natural state without a lot of interference from you. Usually, it’s a function of being well matched to the environment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It would be silly to blame yourself for the negativity bias that’s physiological. Emphasizing the negative has kept humans alive for thousands of years. is week, you’ll counteract the tendency by building positive and lovely things up to a memorable level. If you make it a little weird, on purpose or on accident, it will be all the more unforgettable.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your needs are important. If you dare to pursue them, this week provides you with what’s required for their ful llment, so there’s no need to put it o any longer. Furthermore, the help available is worth paying for. e learning curve is steep. Experts can do it in a fraction of the time it would take you, and for a small price.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). e more you take on, the more you can do. No one becomes strong, fast or capable by pacing themselves perfectly. ings are too easy, you learn. ings are too hard, you learn. No one can control the ow of life, but you’ll become impressively adept at managing it well.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). In matters of self-esteem, one size does not t all. Two people could enact the very same behavior with drastically di erent takeaways. Esteem is a matter of evaluation, and each person’s rating system is highly personal. is week, your self-esteem is on the rise, not necessarily because of what you do but because of how you view and value these actions.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’re well aware of the precariousness of identifying too strongly with possessions. Anything that can be owned is likely to change hands, change value, require maintenance and deteriorate over time. It is possible to derive pleasure and joy from possessions as long as you accept their ephemeral nature as a given.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). People aren’t trying to get in the way of your work, and yet their very presence can di use or shift your focus and cause you to be far less productive. e best way to deal with distractions is to take measures to prevent them from happening in the rst place.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Because you are too close to your talent, routine and manner to see what it looks like from the outside, you tend to undervalue your contributions. Don’t be so hard on yourself. What you think of as mistakes, others embrace as part of your o beat style. You’re more e ective than you think.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). e natural world does not run according to justice, righteousness or deservedness. Rights are a human construct. And while it seems that certain dignities should be a birthright, there is no point in history that this has been the case for all. is you’ll take as a calling. You’ll work for equality.

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAYS

is solar year brings surges of pride and pleasure in achievements of all kinds. Even as you go for the ones that come with certi cates and remuneration, the wonder of intangible triumphs isn’t lost on you. In retrospect, your favorite accomplishments will be feats of the heart. You will often nd it easy to focus in on what you want, as it will often be in full bloom before you. More highlights: an inspired trade, a stellar connection pays o in an unusual way, and rich rewards for embodying the virtues of compassion, modesty and frugality.

International Word Find International Word Find

International Word Find

A day at the zoo

Solution: 19 Letters

Word Find

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction but always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have completed the puzzle, there will be 19 letters left over. They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

A day at the zoo

FROM KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, 300 W. 57th STREET, 41st FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY 10019

CUSTOMER SERVICE: (800) 708-7311 EXT. 236

CONTRACT BRIDGE — BY STEVE BECKER

FOR RELEASE THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2023

Contract Bridge

It’s all very logical

Solution:

By Steve Becker

you win with the nine. It is here that you make your bid for fame and glory. You lead the jack of diamonds, and when West covers with the queen, you let him hold the trick!

This unusual maneuver is not an act of charity on your part; rather, it is an avoidance play designed to prevent East from gaining the lead later with a club and playing a spade through your king. Nothing can be lost by allowing West to win the diamond jack with the queen, as you are merely exchanging your club loser for a diamond loser.

The great advantage of ducking West’s queen is that you can now try for a 3-3 club division without running the risk of East gaining the lead with a club.

king diamonds. Your potential losers are two spades, a diamond and a club, but there’s a chance of escaping a spade loser if the clubs are divided 3-3 or, failing that, if East has the ace of spades.

Your best move at trick one is to duck the king of diamonds. You hope West will shift to a spade or a lead a low diamond, which you’d let run to your jack. Either of these plays would solve your problem immediately.

But West shifts to a trump, which

Regardless of what West does next, you are home. Let’s say he plays another diamond. You discard a club on the ace, cash the ace of trump and A-K of clubs and ruff a club. When the suit divides 3-3, you cross to dummy with a trump and discard a spade on the seven of clubs to make the contract.

Observe that if you fail to make the avoidance play, you go down one against correct defense. Observe also that even if the clubs fail to divide evenly, you can still get back to dummy with a trump to try leading a spade to the king as your last resort.

Weekly Sudoku Puzzle

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.

Answer to last issue’s Sudoku Puzzle

Answer to last issue’s Crossword Puzzle

AUTO / MOTORCYCLE

***AAA*** AUTO BUYERS $Highest$ Ca$h Paid$. All Years/ Conditions! WE VISIT

YOU! Or Donate, Tax Deduct + Ca$h. DMV ID#1303199. Call LUKE 516-VAN-CARS. 516-297-2277

Drive Out Breast Cancer: Donate a car today! The benefits of donating your car or boat: Fast Free Pickup - 24hr Response

Tax Deduction - Easy To Do! Call 24/7: 855-905-4755

Wheels For Wishes benefiting MakeA-Wish® Northeast New York. Your Car Donations Matter NOW More Than Ever!

Free Vehicle Pick Up ANYWHERE. We Accept Most Vehicles Running or Not. 100%

Tax Deductible. Minimal To No Human Contact. Call: (877) 798-9474. Car Donation Foundation d/b/a Wheels For Wishes. www. wheelsforwishes.org.

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM!

Train ONLINE to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details! 844-947-0192 (M-F 8am-6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL BILLING!

Become a Medical Office Professional online at CTI! Get Trained, Certified & ready to work in months! Call 855-543-6440. (M-F 8am6pm ET). Computer with internet is required.

HERE CALL 516-403-5170

ARE YOU BEHIND $10k OR MORE ON YOUR TAXES? Stop wage & bank levies, liens & audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, & resolve tax debt FAST. Call 888-869-5361

(Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm PST)

HEALTH / WELLNESS

VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Pills SPECIAL $99.00 FREE Shipping! 100% guaranteed.

CALL NOW! 855-413-9574

Arborvitae 6-foot Reduced to $125/ each Free Installation, Free Delivery. Fast growing, High-quality Beautiful & Bushy!

Order now to reserve for spring delivery. Lowcosttreefarm.com 518-536-1367

BEST

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 866-393-3636 Don’t Pay For Covered Home Repairs Again! American Residential Warranty covers ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE/ $100 OFF POPULAR PLANS. 833-398-0526

DIRECTV. New 2-Year Price Guarantee. The most live MLB games this season, 200+ channels and over 45,000 on-demand titles. $84.99/mo for 24 months with CHOICE Package. Some restrictions apply. Call DIRECTV 1-888-534-6918

Pro Piano Man

Tuning, repairs, restorations, moving and storage.

Selling pianos starting at $399.

Buying Yamaha® and glossy black/white pianos.