The Times of Huntington-Northport - January 19, 2023

PHOTO BY STEVEN ZAITZ

Town clerk Andrew Raia to perform 2023 Valentine’s Day marriage ceremonies

Huntington Town Clerk Andrew Raia will be performing his annual marriage ceremonies as the town’s Marriage Officer on Valentine’s Day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 14, by appointment in the Town Board Room at Huntington Town Hall, 100 Main Street, Huntington. There is no charge for the couple for the ceremony and their guests are welcome to attend the reception.

“Love is in the air once again at Huntington Town Hall this Valentine’s Day,” Raia said in a press release. “It is an honor and a privilege to join two people in a lifetime of love and commitment and it’s the part of my job that is the most heartwarming.”

To make an appointment, call the Town Clerk’s Office at 631-351-3216 or email araia@ huntingtonny.gov.

According to the town, a marriage ceremony may only take place after 24 hours issuance of a marriage license. Vow renewals do not require a waiting period. More information can be found on the town’s website: huntingtonny.gov/ marriage-licenses.

Information on the town’s Domestic Partnership Registry requirements can be viewed at huntingtonny.gov/domestic-partnership.

Gov. Hochul proposes additional funds for SBU research

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

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.

UNIVERSITY

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

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

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 crossdisciplinary 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.

Town Clerk Andrew Raia, Town of Huntington Marriage Officer, at the February 2022 Valentine’s Day Marriage Ceremony Marathon. Photo from Town of Huntington

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

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.

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.”

COUNTY

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

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 Preservation Long Island based in Cold Spring 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

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

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.

Happy New Year!

Suffolk County makes an offer to Owl Hill owners offer to Owl Hill owners

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A county legislator continues his commitment to saving a historic property in Fort Salonga from developers.

Legislature passed a resolution to authorize an appraisal of the land under the county’s Drinking Water Protection Program.

COUNTY

Suffolk Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) said the county earlier this month made an offer to the owners of Owl Hill Estates & Preserve to acquire its Fort Salonga property for $6.3 million. The owners have yet to accept the offer.

Trotta said the goal is to keep the property as open space for walking and hiking trails and “making Long Island stay Long Island and not making it look like Queens.”

“We really don’t need to tear down every forest and build,” he added.

Owl Hill is located at 99 Sunken Meadow Road, bordering Sunken Meadow Park and wetlands. The property spans nearly 27.7 acres. In 2017, the property was up for sale for the first time in more than six decades at a price tag of $6.45 million. The current owners bought the property with plans to subdivide and build up to 17 homes.

According to Trotta, the property is a critical watershed and conservation area with mature woodlands and wildlife habitat. One of the largest continuous tracts of open space in the Town of Smithtown, it may have significant archaeological resources.

Trotta said that a nonprofit or possibly the state would maintain the 6,500-squarefoot mansion that sits on the property if the county acquires the land. The developers have also presented a plan to the Town of Smithtown where the home would remain untouched.

Earlier this year, Suffolk County

Keith Macartney, president of the Fort Salonga Association, said civic members are concerned about the possibility of development on the property and hope the owners will accept the county’s offer.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property, and it’s among properties that have been left alone that people can enjoy and the wildlife can enjoy,” Macartney said.

Among the civic members’ concerns is increased traffic in the area, especially with the future development of the Preserves at Indian Hills, which falls in the Huntington portion of Fort Salonga. Macartney said building more homes would be “a travesty.”

In a 2020 The Times of Smithtown article, Corey Geske, Smithtown resident and scholar, said the property’s historical importance is on par with Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. The first patent lawyer in the U.S., Edmund Wetmore, commissioned architect Henry Killam Murphy to design the estate home. One of Murphy’s notable works includes designing the campus of the University of Shanghai.

Attorney Vincent Trimarco Sr., who represents Owl Hill Estates & Preserve, confirmed the owners received the county offer but he said he didn’t have knowledge as far as whether they were considering it. The owners still need to appear before the Town of Smithtown Town Board regarding final approval of the subdivision. The attorney said that if the owners are approved, the houses will be part of a clustered development and several acres of the property would be left as open space.

Owl Hill estate, above, will remain on nearly 27.7 acres of land in Fort Salonga whether developers build on the property or the county acquires the land for open space. Photo from Douglas Elliman Real Estate

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

Email: legals@tbrnewsmedia.com

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Wanted for Kings Park auto stripping

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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, it was determined that Scott A. Walker had allegedly kicked the dog, an 11-year-old mixed breed male dog 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.

Do you recognize this woman? Photo from SCPD

Wanted for Commack Petit Larceny

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To Place Legal Notice legals@tbrnewsmedia.com Email us your LEGAL NOTICES at legals@tbrnewsmedia.com

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Wanted for Commack Identity Theft

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly used another person’s identity to withdraw money in Commack in December. A man allegedly used a debit card at an ATM at 7-Eleven, located at 2045 Jericho Turnpike, on Dec. 16, and withdrew money from another person’s account whose identity was stolen.

Ronkonkoma man arrested for making threat of mass harm at

a school

— COMPILED BY HEIDI SUTTON

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.

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Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the person who allegedly stole catalytic converters from vehicles in Kings Park last month. A person in a white BMW SUV allegedly stole catalytic converters from two vehicles on Whittier Drive and one on Old Commack Road in Kings Park on Dec. 28 between approximately 12:30 a.m. and 4 a.m.

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

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate a woman who allegedly stole assorted merchandise from Target, located at 98 Veterans Memorial Highway Commack, at 10 a.m. on Dec.1.

Cougars claw Tigers

BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The first three quarters of the Northport Tiger Boys basketball game, Commack had three completely distinct personalities.

The first quarter was essentially a standoff, as the Cougars won it by two. Commack dominated the second quarter, winning it by nine to take a commanding 32-21 lead into halftime.

But Northport made a huge third quarter charge, outscoring Commack 23-11 to take a skinny one-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the final quarter was all too similar to the second, as Commack — propelled by a strong finish that was led by junior guard Nick Waga — improves to 9-1 in the conference by beating Northport 6255. They have won nine straight conference games and move into second place behind the undefeated Smithtown West Bulls.

Northport drops to 7-3 in the conference which is good for fourth place in League I.

Coupled with last Thursday’s loss to Bay Shore, it was the first time the Tigers have lost back-toback league games since February of 2019.

Waga led the Cougars 28 points including a huge three pointer with two and half minutes remaining in the game which broke a 52-52 tie. Senior guard Chris McHugh had 14 points and was two rebounds short of a double-double.

Senior swingman Brendan Carr led the Tigers with 22 points, hitting four shots from long range. Junior forward Owen Boylan had all 12 of his points on three pointers.

The Tigers had a non-league game on Sunday against Nassau County’s Sewanhaka, which they won 42-38 and resumed their league schedule against Lindenhurst on Tuesday, Jan 17, and won, 70-25.

See page 8 for Commack vs. Smithtown West on Jan. 17.

Pictured clockwise from upper right, Northport’s Will Meyer drives on Ethan Meisel; Tigers Brendan Carr goes high for rebound; Commack’s Mike Gitz drives to the hoop; Northport’s JoJo Cipollino; and Tiger Andrew Miller.

— Photos by Steven Zaitz

Gitz gets West

BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The mighty have officially fallen.

Sports

The Commack Boys Basketball team did something nobody had been able to do so far this season –beat the Bulls of Smithtown High School West.

Led by senior guard Mike Gitz, the Cougars dominated the 4th quarter outscoring the Bulls 24-15, in what had been a tight game through three. The final was 68-57.

Gitz had 12 points in that final period, and it was the second time in two games that Commack dominated a 4th quarter to prevail against a quality league opponent. The Cougars beat the Northport Tigers 62-55 last Saturday in what was also a tight game until late.

With the win, Commack pulls into a tie for first place with Smithtown West, widely regarded as one of the top teams on Long Island, both with records of 10-1 in Conference I play. After dropping their opener to Bay Shore six weeks ago, the Cats have now won 10 in a row.

“The kids really executed the game plan tonight and hit some big shots,” said Commack Head Coach Peter Smith. “This was the first of four road games for us in what will be a tough stretch and I’m glad we started it with a huge win.”

Huge was the theme of the night, and herculean the task of containing Smithtown West Center Patrick Burke, who is 6 feet, 8 inches tall. Burke averages 20 points a game. Commack played a defense by committee against Burke with Cougar power forward Ethan Meisel in the role of committee chair.

“I went out there expecting a battle,” Meisel said. “I just kept focusing on keeping him (Burke) out of the paint. I watched a lot of film leading up to this game to learn what moves he would be looking to make and that helped me in stopping him.”

Burke had 19 points but only three in the 4th quarter.

“Ethan did a great job on Patrick,” Smith said. “But I think we played great help defense tonight, bringing over an off guard to try and keep him bottled up.”

Also bottled up, at least in the 1st half, was Cougar junior guard Nick Waga. Not because of great defense by the Bulls, but because he picked up two early fouls and

Commack guard catches fire in 4th, deals West Bulls first loss of the year

Smitthown West’s Patrick Burke. Photo by Steve Zaitz

West’s Landon Schnieder, right, fights for loose ball with Chris McHugh. Photo by Steve Zaitz

Commack’s Luke Cecere looks for a passing lane as Lorenzo Rappa defends.

Photo by Steve Zaitz

Commack’s Mike Gitz shoots over Ben Rappa. Photo by Steve Zaitz

Obituaries

Dr. Robert C. Cassidy

Robert C. Cassidy, Ph.D. passed away peacefully on Jan. 15 surrounded by family.

Robert was born to Irwin B. and Joyce Cassidy on Jan. 22, 1938, in Plainfield, New Jersey. Growing up in Westfield, New Jersey, he attended Westfield High School and excelled academically. While a student at Williams College, he spent his junior year studying abroad in Spain, and it was there that he met Carolyn Miller the love of his life and future wife of almost 64 years.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Honors from Williams College, he and Carolyn were wed on June 15, 1959. He spent a year as a traveling fellow at Oxford University’s Oriel College and completed his studies at Princeton University where he earned his Doctorate in Philosophy of Religion, awarded with Distinction.

Robert was a gifted orator and educator and taught philosophy, religion and ethics over a 20-year span at Connecticut College in New London, the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1979, he made a career shift and became the first director of Clinical Ethics at Rutgers Medical School (now Robert Wood Johnson Medical School) at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.

When he and Carolyn relocated to Centerport in 1989, Robert began a 20-plusyear career as the director of Bioethics and Social Policy at Schneider Children’s Hospital of Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) and of LIJ.

Gitz Gets West

Continued from A8

Smith decided to let him sit.

But the fiery Waga started the 2nd half with a bang. With West leading 26-23, he came off a backdoor curl to hit a corner three and tie the game just 10 seconds into the 3rd quarter. That hoop was his first points of the game.

Waga would finish with 12 points in the quarter, the last three of which coming on a buzzer-beating three pointer to give Commack a 44-42 lead heading into the deciding fourth. He started and ended the period the same way — with long range bombs.

“I had fresh legs and wanted to bring a bunch of energy,” said the 6 foot, 1 inch tall Waga, whose black and blonde wavy coif make him easy to spot on the court. “My teammates motivated me not to put my head down when I was sitting in the first half and we all kept pushing each other to get this win.”

As it was Waga who had fresh legs in the third, it was Gitz who caught fire in the fourth. He hit a runner in the lane to start the period and on the next possession faked out his defender Lorenzo Rappa so badly that Rappa flew in the

He is survived by his loving wife, Carolyn, three children Chris, Geoff and Lauren (Curt), and three grandchildren Kyle, Jackson and Kevin. Robert was devoted to his family and always put them first. He also enjoyed a long-time passion for gardening.

Robert’s family held a private funeral service Jan. 18, 2023, at the Nolan Funeral Home followed by interment at Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (jdrf. org) in Robert’s name.

Barbara Ann McGovern

Barbara Ann McGovern, of Huntington, died on Jan. 8. She was 84.

She was the beloved wife of over 63 years to the late Edwin C. McGovern, and the dear sister of Joanne Allegretti. She was also the cherished aunt to 12 nieces and nephews and loved by many grand nieces and nephews.

Services were entrusted to Nolan Funeral Home. Visitation was held Jan. 13, and the funeral Mass was held the next day at St. Patrick’s Church in Huntington. Interment followed in St. Patrick’s Cemetery.

Regina E. Schwarz

Regina E. Schwarz, of East Northport, died on Dec. 30, 2022.

Regina was the beloved wife of the late Robert and loving mother of John (E.J.), Paul (Eileen), Elizabeth (Jack) Sammis, Robert, Theresa, the late Susan and the late Thomas. She was also the cherished grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 12.

A funeral Mass was held Jan. 2 at St. Philip Neri Church in Northport. Interment

opposite direction and was absorbed by picksetting Cougar Chris McHugh, as Gitz casually hit a wide-open three.

It gave the Cougars a seven-point lead and this move, that drew “oohs” and “aahs” from both Cougar and Bull fans alike, might have been the death blow to Smithtown West’s dreams of an undefeated season. With six and a half minutes remaining, the Bulls called a timeout as the buzz of the crowd was still loud enough to drown out West’s pep band.

“I work on that move a lot,” said Gitz, who led all scorers with 21. “I try to use jabs and pump fakes to get the defenders off balance. It was great to hear the crowd after making that play and both the basket and the crowd was a big swing of momentum for us.”

The momentum would stay with Commack, as West would never recover. The Cougar lead ballooned to 14 with three minutes remaining in the game when Gitz drove past Rappa in the lane for a layup.

The rest of the game rendered a formality, Commack gladly went to the free throw line to seal it, and for the second straight game, they closed out a quality conference foe and arch enemy.

“We stay true to our game plan and

followed at St. Philip Neri Cemetery.

Donations to AHRC, 2900 Veterans Memorial Highway, Bohemia, NY 11716 (www.ahrcsuffolk.org), in her memory, would be appreciated.

Charles G. Murphy

Charles G. Murphy, of the Pittsfield/New Berlin, New York area, formerly of Northport, died on Dec. 25, 2022. He was 76 years old.

Charles was the beloved father of Michael, Daniel (Lara), and Brian (Michelle) Murphy He was also the grandfather of Audra, Ainsley, Thomas, Liam and Logan Murphy, and the dear brother of Rosemary, Maureen, Eileen, Daniel and the late Edward. He was dearly loved by many nieces and nephews, especially Shannon and her fiancé Joe. He will also be sorely missed by his dear horse Slick and dog Whiskey.

Visitation was held at Nolan Funeral Hom on Jan. 2, and a funeral Mass followed the next day at St. Antony of Padua Church in East Northport. Private cremation followed.

In lieu of flowers donations in Charlie’s memory may be made to Tunnels to Towers (t2t. org/donate/) or New York Horse Rescue (nyhr. org/donate).

Arthur McNamara

Arthur M. McNamara died peacefully on Nov. 27 in his Northport Home with his wife Vivienne Lacey McNamara by his side. He was 94. The cause of death was a long, full, and good life.

He was born Oct. 29, 1928, in Brooklyn.

In addition to Vivienne, Artie is survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased in 1981 by his wife, Maryann McTighe

execute down the stretch,” said Gitz on his team’s ability finish off opponents. “Plus, I think we want it more.”

Now the Cougars truly have what they wanted – a victory over the number one ranked team in Suffolk County and first place in the league with six games to go. Is he thinking about meeting the Bulls in playoffs next month?

“We are going to enjoy this win tonight and focus on West Islip on Thursday,” Smith said. “The ship keeps on going forward and you hope for the best.”

On this night, Smith and his Cougars not only beat the best,

McNamara.

Artie earned the “Sunshine Kid” moniker from local sportswriters in Brooklyn, where he excelled at baseball and basketball in high school. Recruited by St. John’s University’s legendary coach, Frank McGuire, in 1948 to play basketball, he went on instead to a “Hall of Fame” basketball career at SUNY Cobleskill. His high scoring helped to win games and championships, but his reputation was built on his personality. As one writer put it, “The ‘Sunshine Kid’ does it again: Aggies’ victory leaves adversaries laughing and shaking their heads.”

Following college graduation, Artie set about finding the right place to raise a family beyond the confines of the city, finally settling in his dream locale, Northport, in 1960. He believed Northport to be the perfect place to instill in his children a love of education, sports and the water.

Artie embedded himself in the Northport community professionally through a career in sales and commercial real estate, and athletically by taking up tennis at the Northport Tennis Club. Like his basketball exploits, his tennis game generated lasting friendships with partners and opponents alike. Artie, along with his soulmate and tennis partner, Vivienne, ruled the courts — benevolently — for more than 40 years

A celebration of Artie’s life is being planned for the spring — when the tennis courts have been made ready and the fish are running.

Donations can be made in Arthur’s name to: Ecumenical Lay Council Pantry, 330 Main Street, Northport, NY 11768.

but now find themselves in a position to merit consideration as the best.

Matt Bannell shoots over Commack’s Nick Waga. Photo by Steve Zaitz

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

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. I

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

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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.

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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.

Between you and me

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 Ledger, 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]

TIMES BEACON RECORD NEWS MEDIA

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 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