The Times of Middle Country - January 19, 2023

File photo by Raymond Janis

Kevin LaValle elected as Brookhaven town clerk

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

In a special election held Tuesday, Jan. 17, Town of Brookhaven Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) was elected as Brookhaven town clerk.

Former Town Clerk Donna Lent (I) retired in November, prompting a special election to complete her unexpired term ending in 2025. An unofficial tally from the Suffolk County Board of Elections indicates LaValle secured victory handily, defeating the Democratic candidate, Lisa Di Santo of East Patchogue. So far, he has received 6,396 votes to Di Santo’s 4,940.

In an exclusive phone interview, LaValle reacted to the election outcome.

“I’m really excited that the residents of the Town of Brookhaven put their faith in me to run a very critical department,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunity ahead of me. Once I get sworn in, I look forward to taking on that challenge.” To his opponent, he added, “It was a great race. I wish her the best.”

Upon assuming this townwide position, LaValle will oversee a more than 25-person staff. In the meantime, he said he intends to speak with staff members, get an idea of the day-to-day operations and “start to see the office as a whole and see what we can improve.”

“I think that that’s going to be a little bit of a process to get that all together, but I’m excited to sit down with everybody,” the town clerkelect said, adding, “It’s going to be a bit of a challenge, but I’m excited for it.”

New state election laws require at least a week for the election results to be certified.

LaValle will vacate his seat on the Town Board when he is sworn in as clerk, triggering another special election — this time for his Brookhaven 3rd Council District.

The outgoing councilman pledged to remain active in the eventual transition process. “I think there are some people out there,” he said, referring to prospective candidates. “The leadership of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, they’re going to have to make the decisions on that.”

He added, “The 3rd District has been my home my whole life. It’s been a great honor to be able to represent it over the last nine years, so I’m certainly going to take a keen interest in who’s going to take over after me and certainly be a helping hand in that transition.”

LaValle could be sworn into office as Brookhaven town clerk as early as Wednesday, Jan. 25. Under town code, the board must set a special election between 60 and 90 days from the opening of the vacancy.

Brookhaven Town Clerk-elect Kevin LaValle. File photo by Raymond Janis

County picks groups to receive $25M for first round in opioid settlement

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced the names of 34 organizations who will receive $25 million to combat the opioid crisis in the first round of funding secured by the county’s settlement against manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the crisis.

The grant recipients, who were among the 111 that applied for funding, include community groups, nonprofits, for-profit groups and county agencies and will receive the funds over a threeyear period.

The county hopes to provide funds in the next couple of weeks to combat a crisis that COVID-19 exacerbated in the last few years.

“We had begun to make real progress in the battle and in 2019, deaths declined for the first time in many years,” Bellone said at a press conference Jan. 12 announcing the recipients chosen by a bipartisan five-member committee. The pandemic “reversed that progress and, once again, we saw opioid-related deaths rising.”

Funds from the settlement against manufacturers and distributors of opioids total over $200 million, which the county will distribute over the next 20 years. The second round of funding will begin later this year. The county encouraged some of the groups that didn’t receive funding in the first round to reapply, while opening up the opportunity to other organizations that are similarly dedicated to prevention, education, treatment and recovery.

Urgency

County Legislature Minority Leader Jason Richberg (D-West Babylon), who helped select award recipients, said the committee received over $170 million worth of requests.

“The goal is not only to have an immediate impact, but to have a long-standing impact,” he said in an interview. The committee wanted to take a “multifaceted approach when funding these organizations.”

Richberg said the group took a considerable number of hours to put together the list of recipients for the first round.

“We understood the urgency to make sure this came out in the best way possible,” he said.

The minority leader appreciated the perspective of fellow committee member Sharon Richmond, president of the Northport-East Northport Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force and a victim-advocate whose son Vincent died from opioids in 2017.

Richberg described Richmond as a “beacon of strength” who helped guide the group in the right direction.

At the press conference, Richmond said her son would have been “honored to know that so many people are going to get so much help” with these funds.

Reaching out

The leaders of the groups that will receive this money have numerous approaches to combat an epidemic that has robbed the community of family

members, friends and neighbors.

“We want to reach individuals in the community and not necessarily have to wait for someone to come to our emergency departments,” said Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, assistant vice president of addiction services for Northwell Health.

Northwell’s Project Connect Plus will receive about $3.5 million, which is the largest single award in the first round of funding.

Project Connect Plus would like to expand its reach and is partnering with domestic violence organizations and with Island Harvest food bank to create a pathway for people to access support.

“The goal of this initiative is to make sure we can navigate people [to services], build partnerships and ensure that people trust the process,” Kapoor said.

Project Connect Plus is emphasizing the importance of ongoing contact between health care providers and people who need support to defeat drug addiction.

He contrasted the attention most patients get after an operation with the lack of ongoing attention in the health care system for those people who come to an emergency room for drug-related problems.

Hospitals typically reach out to patients numerous times after knee operations, to check on how people are feeling, to make sure they are taking their medicine, to check for infection and to remind them of future appointments.

Someone with a substance use disorder

typically receives no phone calls after an emergency room visit.

“If [the health care community] is doing right by people with knee surgery, why not take the same approach” for people who are battling addiction, Kapoor said. “We continually engage people to make sure they are not alone.”

Project Connect Plus is also partnering with other organizations, including Community Action for Social Justice, which is working toward increasing safety around drug use.

CASJ’s executive director and co-founder, Tina Wolf, provides direct services to reduce the risk for people who use drugs, such as syringe exchange and risk reduction counseling, overdose prevention training and harm reduction training.

CASJ is receiving $1.5 million from the opioid settlement.

“It’s a significant amount of money that will have a significant impact,” Wolf said. “It means a lot to us to have the support of the county around harm reduction efforts.”

Wolf said the funds will enable CASJ to double its existing harm reduction efforts in Suffolk County, which is important not only amid an increase in substance abuse in the aftermath of the pandemic, but also as people develop wounds amid a change in the drug supply.

In the last few years, amid volatility in drugs used in the county, some fentanyl has included xylazine, a pet pain reliever and muscle

relaxant. In Philadelphia, Puerto Rico and Long Island, among other places, xylazine has caused significant nonhealing wounds.

“Some of this money is for wound care issues,” Wolf said.

Other grant recipients include Hope House Ministries of Port Jefferson ($600,000), Town of Brookhaven Youth Prevention Program ($75,000) and Town of Smithtown Horizons Counseling and Education Center ($111,000).

A comprehensive list

The award recipients will update the committee on their efforts to ensure that the funds are providing the anticipated benefits and to help guide future financial decisions.

Groups have to report on their progress, Richberg said, which is a part of their contract.

County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) was pleased with the work of the recipients.

“It’s a fantastic list” that is “really comprehensive and varied in the type of services and the location geographically,” she said. “We do need so much out there.”

She believes the funds will “do some real good.”

Wolf said she hopes “we don’t all just do well in our individual projects, but we can link those projects together. I’m hoping there’s enough overlap that we can create this net together to really make sure people aren’t falling through the cracks.”

Suffolk County Legislature Minority Leader Jason Richberg, at podium, was on hand to announce the first round of recipients of opioid settlement funds at a Jan. 12 press conference. Photo from Steve Bellone’s Flickr page

Peace Pole erected at Mount Sinai Congregational Church

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Congregants, community members and peace advocates gathered Sunday, Jan. 15, outside the Mount Sinai Congregational Church to erect a Peace Pole.

The ceremony was part of the international Peace Pole Project, a program that has spread to every country with the universal message of global peace.

Kevin Mann, president of the Rocky Point Rotary Club, attended the service. Though not a member of the Congregational Church, he traced the church’s long history championing various social causes throughout American history.

“Before the term ‘social activism’ was invented, this congregation was doing it,” he said. “This congregation’s history goes all the way back to being a part of the Underground Railroad. They also had the first free men of color as members,” adding, “They were always ahead of the curve and involved in every single social activism movement.”

Sunday’s peace ceremony carried symbolic significance as well, marking the 94th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tom Lyon is a congregation member and co-founder of Building Bridges in Brookhaven. “Martin Luther King did get the Nobel Prize for Peace,” Lyon said. “That wasn’t just about the United States. That wasn’t just about segregation. He talked about universal love, unrequited love. … That’s kind of the concept: the universality of peace.”

He added that King “spoke out against the Vietnam War, which became very controversial. That was in 1967, exactly a year before he was killed.”

To Lyon, peace is often caricatured in popular culture as passive, even pacifistic. The example of MLK, he said, awakens one to the possibilities of peace, something he viewed as highly active and courageous.

“Martin Luther King was always talking about how being a person of peace takes much more courage, much more strength, than a person who just gives into their anger or acts out violently,” Lyon said. “To seek peaceful solutions often is more difficult, more challenging, but in the long run, that’s what we feel we’re called to do.”

Corridor of Peace

The Peace Pole planted at the congregation is part of a major local effort tied to the Peace Pole Project, the proposed Corridor of Peace, coordinated by the Rotary.

“We are attempting to declare a Corridor of Peace, which is [routes] 25 and 25A and four school districts at the moment — Rocky Point, Miller Place, Shoreham-Wading River and Longwood — that will designate how

they want to make their communities a more peaceful environment,” Mann said.

Through this initiative, Mann hopes community members can better understand the problems unique to their area and work toward positive change. “You have very common themes and issues — food insecurity, inequality, housing, opioid addiction — many things,” Mann said.

Through the project, he sees an opportunity “to continue to increase the quality of life for people in the corridor.”

Lyon added to this sentiment and vision. He said members of the corridor could find unity through shared values and a mutual desire for peace. “Hopefully, people in the communities of peace will be reminded that’s the connection

with the Peace Pole Project,” he said. “You see one in front of a couple of stores or another in the neighborhood where you are walking. It’s just a reminder.”

Conflict abroad

Mann and Lyon defined the Peace Pole Project as apolitical, a program committed to the mantra, “May peace prevail on Earth.” However, both acknowledged the ongoing human conflicts around the globe, namely the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Lyon said the Peace Pole Project reminds Americans of the need to promote peace, especially when the United States is not at war. “It’s sometimes easy to be a little complacent when things are going good for us as Americans,” he said. However, the project is “a universal thing,” and the cause for universal peace applies equally to Americans as it does to Ukrainians and Russians.

Outlining the Rotary’s response to Russian belligerence, Mann said the club has sponsored training for trauma nurses and has even brought a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl to Long Island for heart surgery.

“There’s no political stand involved, but there are people in need,” he said. “We’ve been very, very active in the Ukrainian concept … and bringing focus to the Ukraine issue.”

Finding peace

Despite the war and violence dominating the headlines and news cycles, Mann maintains that humans are naturally peaceful. Drawing

from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, he said peace usually endures for long periods of human history, with brief interruptions of war.

“For long periods of history, peace has prevailed,” Mann said. “For short periods of history, war has broken out.”

Finding a silver lining in those interruptions of war, Mann added that technological advancements had accelerated during wartime. “One of the byproducts of war breaking out, as bad as it has been, is that it has led to technological and medical advancements that have helped humanity.”

Defining some of the problems inherent to these times, Mann said high-speed communication and mass media culture now spread news and images of war quickly and widely. At the same time, war remains a lucrative international business.

“The military is a business that drives economies, unfortunately,” he said. “Peace hasn’t gotten that kind of focus internationally.”

As warmongers in the press continue to drive nations into battle, and as arms dealers continue to profit from the blood spilled on the fields of human strife, Mann maintains that there is still room for hope.

“Polio is almost being totally eliminated, and malaria is well on its way to being controlled,” he said. “Over the last hundred years, people have worked to make those things happen,” adding, “They’ve happened despite diverting resources to other causes, so I think there’s great room for optimism.”

Above, Tom Lyon (left) and Kevin Mann pose with the newly planted Peace Pole outside Mount Sinai Congregational Church. Photo by Raymond Janis

‘Martin Luther King was always talking about how being a person of peace takes much more courage, much more strength, than a person who just gives into their anger or acts out violently.’

— TOM LYON

State awards grants to help the arts recover from pandemic shutdowns

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The New York State Council on the Arts recently dispersed grants to nonprofit arts and culture organizations with the intention of helping them recover from the aftermath of COVID-19 shutdowns.

In a press statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said, “As a cultural capital of the world, New York state is strengthened by our expansive coverage of the arts across all 62 counties. This year’s historic commitment to the arts sector will spur our continuing recovery from the pandemic and set the course for a stronger future.”

Local organizations — including The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook, Preservation Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington Arts Council — have announced that they are among the NYSCA grantees.

The Jazz Loft

The Jazz Loft has received two grants totaling $50,000 from NYSCA: the Regrowth and Capacity grant for $10,000 and the Support for Organizations grant for $40,000.

The grants will be used to support the venue’s performance schedule, which includes more than 160 shows each year. Tom Manuel, president and founder of The Jazz Loft, said in an email the funding would make additions to the programming possible during the 2023-24 season. It will also help with the Loft School of Jazz program for high school students.

Manuel said learning about grant funding “is always a feeling of both excitement and relief.” “The arts has just been one of those mediums that has existed due to patron and government support since the time of Bach and Beethoven and even earlier,” he said. “The vast majority of our artistic masterpieces and institutions were birthed from philanthropy of some kind.”

The venue employs musicians at a cost of a quarter million dollars annually, according to Manuel, and in December The Jazz Loft welcomed 2,000 visitors.

“We’re honored to be a part of a wonderful community and that we can generate traffic and tourism throughout the village,” he said. “Our plan for the NYSCA grant funding is to present a series of world-class performers and educational events that will continue to support our artistic community and draw visitors from near and far.”

Huntington Arts Council

The nonprofit Huntington Arts Council has received a Statewide Community Regrant totaling $1 million over two years.

Kieran Johnson, executive director of the Huntington Arts Council, said HAC was grateful and humbled. He added the HAC

grants are different from others as it’s not entirely for the council but to help other organizations recover. The organization has been part of the regranting program since it was a pilot in the 1970s.

“It’s all about supporting local artists and local arts organizations across Nassau and Suffolk counties,” Johnson said.

He said he remembers a statistic he once read that stated every dollar put into the local creative sector generates $5.25 of regional gross domestic product.

“That’s the idea behind the SCR program, taking the money, keeping it local and really growing local economies, also,” he said. “It’s a huge economic impact.”

Recently, the HAC granted $351,000 to organizations in Nassau and Suffolk counties due to the New York grant and are in the process of sending the funds, Johnson said. Previous years the total amount of grants HAC dispersed has been around $120,000.

The state funds will help HAC award minigrants every month for $1,000 for one person and one organization for a total of $2,000 a month for the next two years. Each month a new person and organization will be chosen. HAC also is running a professional development series for artists and organizations that includes brand identity, social media, legal courses and more.

“That’s our primary role of the HAC, we are an artist support organization,” he said.

Preservation Long Island

NYSCA also presented grants to

Harbor. The nearly $70,000 in grant money will support “regionally focused historic preservation advocacy and public education programs,” according to the organization.

The funds were awarded in two grants to PLI: $20,000 in Recovery Funding and nearly $50,000 through the renewal of the Support for Organizations grant.

PLI will be able to help fund the rehiring of seasonal museum educators on Long Island and reopen historic houses which were closed to the public during the pandemic. Funding will also be used to enhance digital programming strategies introduced during the pandemic.

Alexandra Parsons Wolfe, executive director, said fortunately, many arts and cultural organizations received Paycheck Protection Program loans.

“We were not abandoned during the pandemic,” Wolfe said. However, she added more relief is needed.

The regional organization is able to help smaller organizations on Long Island that may not have the means to hire a paid staff in their pursuits to implement preservation projects for endangered historic places.

“I can’t emphasize how important the New York State Council on the Arts is to the cultural institutions of Long Island and New York, and it’s so worth tax money to be able to support organizations like ours,” she said.

Preservation Long Island based in Cold Spring

New York State Council on the Arts grants will help arts and cultural organizations across the state, including ones locally such as The Jazz Loft, above, recover from lingering issues due to the pandemic shutdowns. Photo from The Jazz Loft

The following incidents have been reported by

Farmingville woman injured in crash

Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are investigating a single-vehicle crash that critically injured a woman on Jan. 16. Susan Denise was driving a 2002 Jeep Liberty on the Long Island Expressway approximately 1⁄2 mile west of exit 62 when the vehicle struck the center median, flipped on its side, and caught fire at approximately 12:05 p.m.

Multiple good Samaritans flipped the car right side up and extracted Denise, who was getting burned, from the vehicle and over to the right shoulder. Denise, 56, of Farmingville, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital via Suffolk County Police helicopter in critical condition. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

Holbrook man arrested for killing dog

Suffolk County SPCA with the assistance of Suffolk County Police arrested a man on Jan. 11 for allegedly fatally injuring a dog and threatening the dog’s owner in Holbrook last month. An animal hospital reported a suspicious death of a dog to the Suffolk County SPCA on Dec. 20.

Following an investigation by SCSPCA detectives that included a forensic necropsy, Scott A. Walker was arrested at Valero, located at 1080 Main St., Holbrook at 8:54 p.m. It was determined that Walker had allegedly kicked the dog, an 11-year-old mixed breed male named Jager, at his residence, located on Dolphin Lane, causing the injuries that resulted in the dog’s death, and for threatening the dog’s owner, another resident of the house.

Walker, 44, was charged with Aggravated Cruelty to Animals, Animal Cruelty, Criminal Mischief, Aggravated Harassment 2nd Degree, and Coercion 3rd Degree.

Ronkonkoma man arrested for making threat of mass harm at a school

Suffolk County Police arrested a man for allegedly making a threat of mass harm at a school in Ronkonkoma on Jan. 13. John Carroll drove into the parking lot of Cherokee Street Elementary School, located at 130 Cherokee St., and allegedly yelled threatening statements at school staff, at approximately 3 p.m. Following an investigation by Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers, Carroll was located and taken into custody at his residence at 12:14 a.m. Carroll, 63, of Ronkonkoma, was charged with Making a Threat of Mass Harm.

— COMPILED BY HEIDI SUTTON

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Do you recognize this woman?

Wanted for Selden Petit Larceny

Just released! Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the woman who allegedly switched a price tag from an item in a Selden store in November. A woman allegedly switched the price tag on an Amazon Echo with a less expensive item at Target, located at 307 Independence Plaza, on Nov. 23. At the register she paid for the less expensive item before leaving with the Echo.

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Wanted for Medford Grand Larceny

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man pictured and another man for allegedly stealing approximately $4,000 worth of electronics from Lowe’s, located at 2796 Route 112, on Dec. 26 at approximately 7:10 p.m.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS.

Suffolk County Police:

Photo from SCPD

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Gov. Hochul proposes additional funds for SBU research

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

provide $200 million in digital transformation and IT infrastructure across the State University of New York system, including SBU.

moving into the top 25-ranked public research universities nationally.”

UNIVERSITY

As a part of her State of the State address last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) proposed providing additional financial support to Stony Brook University’s research effort.

The governor proposed adding $200 million in capital funding for research labs at SBU and the University of Buffalo to invest in new and renovated research buildings, labs, and stateof-the art instrumentation.

In the proposal, the state would also match up to $500 million in state funds for SBU and three other university centers.

In the technical arena, the state would also

In a statement, Stony Brook President Maurie McInnis said “Governor Hochul’s announcement providing support for an endowment match, research labs, and innovative programs will help to propel Stony Brook to even greater heights.”

The SBU president added that the match would inspire “our philanthropic supporters to secure our long-term future while supporting current research and student scholarships. We are grateful to Governor Hochul for her visionary leadership and for providing the flexibility and mission-specific resources needed to advance our transformational goals of doubling research expenditures and

SBU officials added that the additional research funding will allow the university to grow its technology-transfer and business-incubation programs, which foster New York’s entrepreneurs.

“More robust research and entrepreneurship infrastructure will allow us to accelerate the commercialization of medical, engineering and other technologies generated from our faculty to start and grow companies across the state,” SBU officials explained in an email.

The university appreciates the governor’s support and officials look forward to seeing the final executive budget proposal with related details and working with the legislature to enact these proposals.

Previous recognition

The proposed funds come a year after the governor designated SBU and The University of Buffalo as New York State’s flagship universities as part of her plan for “A New Era for New York.”

The governor proposed additional funding

for several efforts. The funds would help construct a multidisciplinary engineering building on campus. She also supported a partnership between SBU and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for NeuroAI, an initiative that combines neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

She suggested expanding the Stony Brook Center for Clean Water Technology research to include wastewater treatment technology and creation of the Suffolk County Wastewater Management District, both with the goal of protecting Long Island’s aquifer system.

The state could also support the modernization and repair of scientific labs and could fund “Grand Challenges” that will encourage cross-disciplinary research.

With additional funds, these universities would also have the ability to continue to hire top-rated faculty and researchers.

SBU and Buffalo are members of the Association of American Universities.

Annual research expenditures at the two universities are also a combined $663 million, including affiliated institutions.

Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis, pictured above, during her State of the University address on Oct. 12. In a statement, she said the state’s support ‘will help to propel Stony Brook to even greater heights.’ Photo from Stony Brook University The TIMES OF MIDDLE COUNTRY (USPS 004-808) is published Thursdays by TBR News Media, 185 Route 25A, Setauket, NY 11733. Periodicals postage paid at Setauket, NY and additional mailing offices. Subscription price $59 annually. Leah S. Dunaief, Publisher.

One-on-one with SBU retiree Dickinson as she embarks on new challenges

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

For Joan Dickinson, the new year will be a little less hectic after her retirement — which officially began on Jan. 6 — from Stony Brook University.

Dickinson retired after 25 years with SBU. For the past year and a half, she was assistant vice president of university and hospital community relations. Before her most recent position, she was community relations director in government and community relations for a decade after first working in the university’s communications department for 15 years.

Dickinson entered the world of academia in 1997 with a background in the corporate sector. While she found it to be different initially from her prior work experience, she tackled various roles, grew professionally and faced and met several challenges successfully.

Among the lessons she has learned during her tenure was the importance of listening.

“Every person has a story, and I became fascinated with hearing them,” she said. “That helped me become better at mediation and negotiation.”

She also discovered her leadership skills when “putting ideas and people together to solve a problem or create a program.”

Through the years, she interacted with people at SBU, local businesses and the university’s neighbors and worked to connect them with the right department at the college.

“I had the benefit of working with every corner of the campus community, and relationships with so many departments,” Dickinson said. “They are the ones who helped me get the job done.”

Relations with the community

One of the biggest challenges SBU encountered during her tenure was issues with off-campus housing in the Three Village area. University officials became involved with improving rental conditions for students and helping to make them better neighbors by working with former Town of Brookhaven Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), the town’s Law Department, Suffolk County Police Department and the grassroots organization Stony Brook Concerned Homeowners. Dickinson said it was a good opportunity for the campus to work with the community.

“We all got together and came up with a plan, and I think that’s why that worked,” she said. “It was a very good town-gown solution.”

Tackling the issue led to better guidelines for rentals in Brookhaven, SBU programs to educate students on how to be good neighbors and what a legal rental as well as a rental agreement looks like. She said it was vital to teach students that tenants have rights, too. The program is still offered each semester.

“Some of the landlords were just in it for

the money, and some of the students were put in unsafe conditions,” she said.

Dickinson is proud of the K-12 program she ran while at SBU, which brings thousands of students from primarily underserved communities to the university for campus tours, hands-on learning activities, also empowerment and inspirational talks. The activities include a wide range of programs, including about health and STEM careers as well as art crawls. Dickinson worked with the Long Island Latino Teachers Association and several local school districts.

“The opportunity to bring students who never thought college was within their reach, bring them to campus and show them what’s possible, that was a lot of fun,” Dickinson said.

Besides interacting with the SBU community, Dickinson has been connected with local chambers of commerce and other organizations in surrounding communities such as Three Village, Smithtown, Middle Country, Port Jeff and Ronkonkoma.

“It was important to see how the communities live, because every community is different,” she said. “So, you find the best solutions to problems when you understand where the people are coming from.”

She said residents from various areas would call her when they had a problem with students or the university at large.

“I think that’s why having the community relations office is such an important part of the conversation between the campus and the community, because they did know they could call me at any time,” Dickinson said.

She added she always tried to relay to residents the value the university brings to the region as everyone is welcome to the campus to walk through the paths, look at art in some of the art galleries and more.

Overcoming the pandemic

She also created CommUniversity Day at SBU, which she called one of the highlights of her career, despite the event being stalled due to COVID-19. Before the pandemic, she said the university was able to organize three of the annual events, the last one being held in 2019, that invited local residents to campus.

Dickinson said she was disappointed when COVID brought it to a halt as each year she was building on the event to make it bigger and better, with more departments participating. By the third year, she described it as “a well-oiled machine” with a wide variety of activities.

As for the pandemic, during the earlier months, Dickinson pulled together a team and headed up a PPE drive for hospital workers that not only included personal protection equipment for employees but also donations of iPads, comfort care items, chewing gum and tissues from the community.

The first few months of the pandemic were an unpredictable and intense time at Stony

Brook University Hospital, she said. “We didn’t know from minute to minute what was happening, and I credit the leadership of the institution for getting us through that.”

The retiree said she will never forget the 2020 Easter season when store owners called to say they wanted to donate items because no one was buying anything. They donated flowers, chocolates, eggs that wouldn’t be used for holiday egg hunts and other seasonal items. Dickinson and a team organized the donations for hospital workers to take whatever they needed if they celebrated Easter.

“I will never forget this woman who stood there and looked at me and was crying, and she said, ‘I haven’t had a chance to go shopping for my son for Easter. Now he’s going to get something.’”

She added the hospital workers were working around the clock.

“I credit the hospital with saving our community,” Dickinson said.

Looking ahead

The SBU alum, who lives in Lake Grove with her husband, isn’t saying goodbye to the university altogether. She will teach two classes this semester in the honors college, after teaching at the university for 10 years. But with more free time, Dickinson, who said she is a writer at heart, plans to spend time on various personal projects.

Her former position, which she described as a “dynamic job” is still open as a replacement has not been found.

“Part of the reason why I liked it is I always said I never walked into the same office twice,” Dickinson said. “I never knew from one day to the next what was going to be on fire or put on my plate. It was always changing, and I found that that was just fun to me. That was just captivating. You never

knew, and it kept you on

I was never ever bored.”

Dickinson had some advice for whoever takes her place.

“I would recommend that the person, whoever takes over this position, that they have a clear understanding of where we’ve come from,” she said. “How has the university changed? How has the campus culture changed? And, understanding where we are now at this point in history.”

your toes.

The Three Village Chamber of Commerce awarded Joan Dickinson, second from left front row, with its Harold Pryor Award for her community service earlier this year. Below, Dickinson, left, and Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn. Photo above from Three Village Chamber of Commerce; photo below by Leah Dunaief

Eye on the Street: Reflections on 2022

BY CAROLYN SACKSTEIN DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

When visitors to the Village of Port Jefferson were approached Saturday, Jan. 7, they thoughtfully and very personally responded to the question: “What was your favorite, most significant or memorable event of 2022?” The themes of health, pets and travel ruled the day.

Paul and Gerri

Havran, St. James

“We were on the ferry returning from Connecticut after picking up a truck,” Paul said. “Shortly after leaving Bridgeport, I had a heart attack and died for several minutes. Fortunately, there was a [physician’s assistant] sitting by us. There was an EMT and they went to work on me. They weren’t bringing me back, but the captain saw from the bridge what was going on and sent the crew down with an [automated external defibrillator]. A fireman and the PA administered the AED and brought me back.”

Corinne Minor, Selden

Ashley Smith, St. James

Keith spoke for the family. “Our island vacation in St. John, the U. S. Virgin Islands, was very nice. We are beach bums, so what’s nice about

Brooklyn

St. John is you can go to all the public beaches. It’s open to everybody. You don’t have to pay to get on the beaches. You get tired of one, you

get in your car and drive to another. You go around the corner and it’s like a whole new world. The island is that beautiful to explore.”

Chuck Sullivan, Manorville

“I would have to say my health. I went through a whirlwind of surgeries. I am happy and healthy right now. I cannot wait for 2023.”

“Definitely adopting my second dog from Last Chance Animal Rescue. She’s a Redbone Coonhound named Caroline.”

“Getting on the ferry and going to Vermont. It was the greatest bike trip I ever took. It was with a bunch of good guys.”

“We got two cats from my grandmother this past year, when she passed away. Bringing them here and getting them acclimated to our little home has been significant.”

Keith, Lauren and Christine Kmiotek,

Sara Jackson, Selden

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EditorialArt is an antidote for a COVID-shaken world

The New York State Council on the Arts recently awarded its Regrowth and Capacity recovery grants to local nonprofits. The grants will help arts and cultural organizations continue to return to pre-pandemic capacity and creation levels by providing monetary relief.

The art community, along with other nonprofits and businesses, was severely impaired by COVID-19 guidelines that had prevented large gatherings of any kind in the early months of the pandemic in 2020. The effects of the lockdown have continued to linger as many people remain hesitant to participate in public events. NYSCA recovery funding efforts are commendable.

Arts organizations that had to furlough staff, cancel programs and cut back their usual offerings may now have a better chance of fully opening their doors again. Canceling programs led to less audience outreach and community support. Grants, such as the ones received from NYSCA, will give organizations the boost they need and, hopefully, remind people that these institutions are essential for community health.

The arts play a vital role in our society. Dance, music, galleries, public works of art and others help us relax; they remind us to take a break from our hectic lifestyles.

News cycles can be disheartening, painting a bleak picture of societies and the future of humanity. Creative works can help us liberate ourselves from these distortions, making sense of the world, improving our quality of lives and elevating moods.

The local economy tends to improve, too, with arts and cultural organizations due to increased consumer purchases and tourism.

Studies have shown that public works of art are beneficial to cities. An illuminated art installation is not only aesthetically pleasing but also can provide needed light along a dark street or path. Public works of art also help community members connect, and people within those municipalities may feel more represented. Art can be used to raise general awareness about various issues, encouraging civic engagement and opening minds.

A building’s mural or art installation in a town may even help to foster pride in one’s neighborhood. Most of all, public art in our local neighborhoods, free cultural programs — whether at an art exhibit or concert at a local park — make these forms of expression accessible to anyone, no matter age or income.

For too long, our communities were isolated as elected officials and medical professionals worked to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, methods of managing the disease left many divided. For a nation and world scarred by isolation and angst, art offers us a path forward and a means to heal.

Many cultural institutions are ready to revitalize themselves. With NYSCA’s Regrowth and Capacity recovery grants, now they can. Let’s take this opportunity to reunite and reconnect through the arts, even if just for a few hours on a weekend day.

WRITE TO US … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number and address for confirmation. Email letters to: editor1@tbrnewsmedia.com or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

Letters to the Editor

Not only Santos economical with the truth

In the recently elected 118th United States Congress, the House of Representatives currently consists of 222 Republican members and 212 Democrats [with one open seat]. One of the more noteworthy congressmen is a young man named George Santos, who represents New York’s 3rd Congressional District, here on Long Island, and was elected as a Republican.

During his campaign, Santos found it helpful to “identify” himself with a number of desirable attributes, none of which seem to be based on factual objective reality. For example, he claimed to be a graduate of Baruch College, while his highest level of academic achievement is a GED high school diploma. He claimed to have been employed by Goldman Sachs, although the investment bank has no record of this. He claimed to be of Jewish heritage, although this has turned out to be untrue.

Why would any rational person believe that identifying himself, or herself, as something other than what he, or she, actually is, can lead to a successful political career?

Might he have been thinking about Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA], who identified as having Indian ancestry, when she took a DNA test that proved otherwise? Or Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT], who identified as a Vietnam veteran, while he actually never set foot there?

Or perhaps Santos took the time to familiarize himself with the career of our president, Joe Biden [D], who is the master of embellishments. Biden claimed that, when he was young, he drove an 18-wheeler tractor trailer, which is a complete fabrication. He claimed that, in law school, he finished in the top of his class, when he was actually 76th out of 85. He claimed that, after he became vice president, he gave his Uncle Frank a Purple Heart medal that Uncle Frank had earned in World War II. Actually, his uncle had died nine years earlier, and he had never earned a Purple Heart. Biden claimed that he had been arrested in his youth while protesting for civil rights — this never happened. The list goes on and on.

Some individuals, including Republicans, Democrats and voters in New York’s 3rd District, have suggested that it might be a good idea to remove Santos from his congressional seat, and even to prosecute him for financial irregularities.

It is interesting to note that many of these people display their righteous indignation for offenses committed prior to one’s election, and yet show virtually

unlimited forbearance for harmful, and even criminal, acts committed by persons actually “serving” in office.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [D] was caught with classified emails on her private server, in clear violation of federal law. Rep. Adam Schiff [D-CA-28] repeatedly lied about having “smoking gun” evidence proving that President Donald Trump [R] had colluded with Russian operatives to throw the 2016 election. Neither of these has been prosecuted, and both continue on their journeys, hopping down the bunny trail to fame and fortune.

If we are going to prosecute people and throw them out of office, let us start with the ones who have done the most harm to our great country.

George Altemose Setauket

Port Jefferson LIRR electrification has no juice

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s [D] 2023 State of the State speech and accompanying 275-page book omitted any reference to the proposed $3.6 billion LIRR Port Jefferson electrification project. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Feb. 7 public hearing for potential Federal Transit Administration funding of their 2023 Program of Projects also omits funding to advance this project. The FTA will be providing close to $1.8 billion under various formula and competitive discretionary grant programs in 2023.

Here is the link to the MTA Feb. 7 public hearing for their upcoming 2023 Program of Projects: new.mta.info/ document/103001.

By not including this project in the Feb. 7 public hearing, is it the MTA’s intent to continue delaying consideration for electrification? What ever happened to the MTA planning feasibility study funded under the prior $32 billion 2015-2019 Capital Plan to look into the feasibility of electrification?

Additional funding to advance the project beyond the planning study is not included in the MTA current $51 billion 2020-2024 Five-Year Capital Plan. The next step would be finding several million to pay for a federal National Environmental Protection Act review. This is necessary to preserve future eligibility for FTA funding.

The most obvious source of funding from Washington would be requesting permission from the FTA to enter its national competitive discretionary Capital Investment Grants Program relating to New Starts and Core Capacity Process. Had the MTA asked this of the FTA?

Will this project be included in the next FTA CIG Program report submitted to Congress by March 2023 for federal fiscal year 2024? We will not know if the project is included in the proposed MTA 20252044 20-Year Needs Assessment plan until it is released in October 2023.

Riders, transit advocates, taxpayers and elected officials are still waiting for the release of this plan to see if significant improvements to the Port Jefferson Branch project are included. Without completing these tasks, electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch will never become a reality for the foreseeable future.

Larry Penner Great Neck

No electric car for me

Cut greenhouse gasses! Save the planet! A better vehicle! Really?

I didn’t know electric vehicles are about 1,000 pounds heavier than their petroleum equivalents and therefore have higher brake wear (increased particulates), tire wear (increased nanoparticles) and require more energy.

I didn’t know EV batteries lose power in the cold and reduce their range, and the batteries need replacing after several years approaching half the cost of the vehicle.

I didn’t know the rare elements needed in EVs like lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel are mined in Third World countries where child slave labor is used to mine the metals. And the metals obtained are refined resulting in mass poisoning of the land and water, and massive greenhouse gas emissions are emitted in the refining.

I didn’t know the grid doesn’t have the capacity to charge EVs on a massive scale which will lead to rolling blackouts like California and Texas when many families are charging at the same time.

I didn’t know that electricity providers will boost rates significantly higher to charge EVs at home resulting in a cost of operation higher than a gasoline car.

I didn’t know that if EVs were really viable they wouldn’t need thousands of dollars of taxpayer subsidies.

I didn’t know EV batteries can suddenly explode in an unstoppable fire that emits toxic gasses. This results in ordinances requiring EVs to not park in garages.

I didn’t know the EV components are not easily recyclable and end-oflife disposition is a major problem for landfills, recyclers and incinerators.

I’ll stay with my gasoline-powered car.

Mark Sertoff East Northport

The opinions of columnists and letter writers are their own. They do not speak for the newspaper.

Snapshots of life through the decades

Even as we study evolution, we ourselves evolve over time. No, we don’t learn to fly or to breathe underwater.

We change over the decades, in part because of social pressure and in part because, well, our cells, organs and experiences align to make us different decadal versions of ourselves. With that in mind, I’d like to share some snapshots from my life.

First decade:

Biggest worry: finding parents.

Second decade:

Likes: time with friends, the freedom to drive somewhere on my own (later in the decade, of course).

Dislikes: tough teachers eager to teach me too many lessons, rejections from friends, and too many questions from parents. Waiting for parents to pick me up (until I could drive). Developing an intolerance to dairy, which removed pizza, ice cream and mac and cheese from food options.

Favorite food: Good Steer burger supremes with a root beer and ballpark hot dogs.

Favorite sport to play: baseball

those unsuccessful dates still bring a smile to my face.

Favorite food: Thai food at a restaurant on the Upper East Side.

Favorite sport to play: volleyball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Biggest worry: Finding enough time to exercise. Fourth decade:

Likes: enjoying the miraculous connection that comes from meeting girlfriend/wife. Listening to my wife laugh and seeing her smile. Holding my son and daughter and feeling them relax enough to go to sleep.

Dislikes: trying to figure out how to handle when children got sick, needing something we didn’t have, and packing enough stuff in the diaper bag and the car for needy children.

water. Hooray for independent swimming.

Dislikes: Driving everywhere with kids and their friends who made the car stink so badly at times that I opened windows in freezing temperatures. Watching kids disappear into their cell phones.

Favorite food: fresh fish on vacations.

Favorite sport to play: I barely played anything. I coached kids and bobbed and weaved between the entitled requests from parents.

Favorite sport to watch: daughter’s volleyball and son’s baseball.

Biggest worry: helping steer kids in the right direction.

Sixth decade:

Likes: time with family and friends, days when pain in my hip stays the same or, rarely, is less than the day before.

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

Likes: I adored my parents (most of the time). I also appreciated the opportunity to make new friends and to play any game that involved chasing a ball.

Dislikes: long distances running, homework, dark nights, losing electricity, sitting in the middle of a station wagon with my legs cramped under me.

Favorite food: pizza and grilled cheese with ketchup. It’s not for everyone, but I loved it.

Favorite sport to play: basketball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Biggest worry: Losing parents. Getting into college.

Third decade

Likes: getting a job where someone not only paid me to do something I wasn’t sure I was qualified to do, but also sent me on planes to do it. Spending time with friends. Going on vacations with friends and family.

Dislikes: working on weekends and holidays. Going on horrible dates with people who were a little too eager to see fights where teeth got knocked out during hockey games. Then again, some of

Favorite food: Who tastes food at this point? We inhaled it in between picking up the food the kids spilled on the floor or in the car.

Favorite sport to play: softball in Central Park.

Favorite sport to watch: my daughter’s active and exciting volleyball matches and my son’s soccer games. I knew nothing about soccer, so I could just be a supportive father and fan without offering unwelcome and unhelpful advice.

Biggest worry: How to keep kids healthy. Fifth decade:

Likes: holidays, vacations and not needing to stand over the kids when they got too close to the

Dislikes: not knowing how to handle important technology, an awareness that I’m older than my friend’s parents were when I was growing up, and I thought they were old.

Favorite food: Anything that doesn’t keep me up at night.

Favorite sport to play: baseball or anything that doesn’t cause pain the next day.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Biggest worry: The speed at which each day, month and year passes. The prevalence of anger for its own sake and the health of the planet our children are inheriting.

“Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, For the hardy Captain of” … no not the Pinafore but publisher of the North Shore Leader. With an appreciative nod to Gilbert & Sullivan, that line well applies to Grant Lally, who warned us of George Santos and his preposterous resume that rivals any tall tale. But unlike HMS Pinafore of 19th century fame for innocent entertainment, Santos may be a peril for our nation.

stole checkbooks from the elderly patients of his late mother, who was a home health care nurse, and forged checks to steal merchandise. And although he claimed to have graduated from prestigious schools, he is a high school dropout who earned a high school equivalency diploma. He portrayed himself as having worked for top line financial institutions. As to being Jewish with grandparents who escaped from the Holocaust, his mother was in fact devoutly Catholic and his grandparents were born in Brazil shortly after WWII began.

two campaigns have received large sums of money from Russian oligarchs close to Putin is cause for real alarm in the U.S. intelligence community.” They are afraid of a potential espionage threat, that he might be a foreign agent. Jim Geraghty, writing in the National Review and quoted by the Leader, offered, “For all we know, some foreign power may have bought itself a congressman. This isn’t outlandish speculation.”

like the thrust of this column to be a celebration of the prowess of what The NYT called, “a small weekly paper on Long Island.” Run by Grant Lally, a Republican lawyer and former House candidate, it did its job of functioning as a people’s watchdog, especially on affairs of government, and reporting courageously on its findings.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

According to the Leader, a weekly community newspaper, and also The New York Times, PBS News Hour and other first line news outlets, newly elected U.S. Congressman George Santos (NY-3) is a deeply concerning fake who has totally falsified his background, assets and contacts, and who is a wanted petty criminal in Brazil. According to that country’s prosecutors, he

Most serious are his financial claims. He said he loaned $700,000 to his campaign from personal wealth that it turns out he doesn’t have. Lying on a resume is not a crime, but lying on federal financial disclosures is, with each violation bringing a possible five years in federal prison. So where, exactly, did that large money helping him get elected come from?

A recent report in The Daily Beast, according to the Leader, showed that Santos took $56,000 from a Russian money man, a cousin of a Vladimir Putin crony, who is under international sanctions. According to the Leader, “the fact that [Santos’s]

At this point, you, the reader, are probably asking yourself how it could happen that Santos wasn’t discovered far sooner by both Republicans and Democrats. According to an extensive lead article in this past Sunday’s The New York Times, he was. Republicans at several levels knew about the problem but did nothing to unmask the candidate for various reasons: inattention, underappreciated the risks, otherwise distracted by the issues rather than the biographies, the promise of another GOP vote in the House, and other speculations. And some Dems knew, too, but were distracted or underestimated the threat Santos’s campaign posed.

Rather than go deeper into this issue, I would

“The paper published a pair of articles casting doubt on Mr. Santos’s claims that he owned extravagant cars and homes, and labeling him a ‘fabulist—a fake’, though it did not have other specifics that would later come out about his falsified resume or his past,” wrote The NYT on Sunday. “None of the bigger outlets, including The Times, followed up with extensive stories examining his real address or his campaign’s questionable spending, focusing their coverage instead on Mr. Santos’s extreme policy views and the historic nature of a race between two openly gay candidates,” The NYT continued.

Never underestimate a weekly hometown newspaper. Indeed, four cheers.

{Santos represents the 3rd Congressional District, which includes the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead and a small portion of northeast Queens.}

D. None of the above

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