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HALF HOLLOW HILLS LONG ISLANDER NEWSPAPERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
N E W S P A P E R
Copyright © 2010 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC.
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com VOLUME THIRTEEN, ISSUE 17
2 SECTIONS, 76 PAGES
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010
DIX HILLS
Neighbors Respond To Cry For Help Local uses donations from residents to purchase tents for victims of Haiti earthquake By Alessandra Malito amalito@longislandernews.com
By going door to door and sending letters to neighbors, a Dix Hills man was able to raise enough money to buy 60 tents for those affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Frank Altenord, 53, who was born and raised in Haiti, raised $1,500 to support families abroad after visiting the country destroyed by the natural disaster. “My wife and I went to Haiti to give the little amount of help that we could right after the earthquake in January. We returned to New York with heavy hearts knowing the catastrophe that we left behind. It was indescribable,” he wrote in a letter to his neighbors in February. After leaving Haiti, he began raising money that would support those who lost their homes. “It was very difficult to handle when I went the first time,” Altenord said. “I wish I could do more but I was limited in terms of resources.” For one week in March, he returned to
Frank Altenord, left, used the donations he received from his neighbors in Dix Hills to purchase tents for families in Haiti still devastated by the earthquake nearly six months later. Haiti to supply people and their families with tents. Because of the terrible weather conditions Haiti faces, including a
hurricane season ahead, Altenord felt that tents would protect families from inclement weather.
Before receiving the tents, Haitian families’ only shelter came from towels and sheets hanging from wood, makeshift protection that does not fare well in storms. Not only did he provide families with the tents, but he helped build them as well. To have tents that can functionally save families from poor weather conditions was something of a blessing for them. After one woman’s tent was built, Altenord recalls turning back to look at her while he was walking away and seeing her pray. She had her arms open wide and was praising God for the shelter. Altenord’s good will doesn’t end with the tents. He plans on going for a third time in August to start another project, which will also protect against terrible weather. “I have a plan to plant trees in Haiti,” he said, concerned about the hurricane season. “Especially with the hurricane season and the fact that there’s no trees to sustain the lands, it’s easy to have a disaster again.” (Continued on page A18)
TOWN OF HUNTINGTON
Inside
Disputed Highway Workers Paid Seven men dividing more than $20K for work performed By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com
The Annual Guide To Huntington Business 2010
Months after being caught in a messy feud over whether the Huntington highway superintendent has the right to hire staff without town board approval, the town allocated more than $20,000 to pay seven men for the work they did earlier this year while they thought they were on staff. The town confirmed the accuracy of a U.S Department of Labor form quantifying the services provided by the seven men at $20,359.54, and checks were cut prior to the June 15 town board meeting, Highway Superintendent William Naughton said. “Did [the town] really save money? I don’t know, but I’m happy the people will get the money they were owed in the last six months,” Local 342 Long Island Public Service Employees President Bill Hennessey said. The union represents blue-collar workers employed by the Town of Huntington. The men worked as nonpermanent employees last summer as well, but after the highway department moved to make them full-time staff at the end of 2009, the town board sued Naughton on Feb. 3, arguing he ignored a townwide hiring freeze. The town moved to withdraw its suit on March 3, but Naughton sued five days later, demanding a judgment that
his actions to hire the men involved in the case were lawful and within his rights as an elected highway superintendent. Each of the eight men Naughton allegedly tried to hire were notified by letter from Jan. 15 to Jan. 19 and again from Jan. 26 to 27 that they were not employed by the town, were not placed on the payroll because there were no vacancies and that they were performing services at their own risk. Local 342 filed a complaint with the federal Department of Labor, beginning the process leading up to the June 15 resolution. “When you put people to work for you and you don’t pay them, you have protections. That’s what they have the Department of Labor for,” Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said. “We’re not happy about the fact that this happened in the first place, but we have to pay people who work.” Five of the seven men now work as part-time nonpermanent workers and can have those positions for six months at most, Naughton said. Their pay is coming out of a separate account for seasonal workers, Huntington spokesman A.J. Carter said. Naughton’s suit against the town is still pending, as the courts decide whether his case can proceed, attorney A. Thomas Levin, of Garden City-based Meyer Suozzi, English & Klein P.C., said. Councilman Mark Mayoka introduced the resolution to (Continued on page A18)
LONG ISLANDER NEWSPAPERS: WINNERS OF FIVE N.Y. PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARDS IN 2008
Hills’ Top Four Ready For Graduation A10
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