The Times of Huntington-Northport - February 23, 2023

Request for Transportation to Non-Public Schools

This application must be filed with Northport-East Northport Board of Education by April 1, 2023

Requests for transportation to non-public schools must be filed online with the Northport-East Northport Board of Education by April 1, 2023 for the 2023-2024 school year. The online google form can be found on the transportation website. Parents are advised to file even if admission to the non-public school is still in question. You must complete a separate form for every school you are considering sending your child to. After completion of the form, you will receive a confirmation. To qualify for transportation, the school must be no further than 15 miles from the student’s home. In-district private schools follow the same distance guidelines as in-district public schools. Please call the Transportation Office with any questions, (631) 262-6865.

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Bellone announces Suffolk County restores main website

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and county officials announced Friday, Feb. 17, that Suffolk has made progress restoring cybersecurity.

The announcement comes after county websites, servers and networks have been offline since September last year — the results of cyberattacks that first struck at the end of 2021. The county’s main website was restored online Friday, with more services coming online this week.

Bellone thanked everyone involved, including county IT professionals and County Clerk Vincent Puleo (R), who entered office earlier this year.

“His leadership and his partnership in the brief time that he’s been on the job has allowed us to make incredible progress, and he’s responsible for the announcement that we have today,” Bellone said.

The county executive reviewed key findings from a forensic investigation of the cyberattack that began in the County Clerk’s Office in December of 2021. According to Bellone, hackers were able to enter the clerk office’s system, and for eight months were able to operate before securing additional credentials to migrate into the general county system.

Bellone added that an IT director in the clerk’s office had been placed on administrative leave after, the county executive said, the director obstructed efforts, resulting in countless delays to restore security.

Bellone said every county office was deemed clean by Oct. 17, except for the County Clerk’s Office, and the expense of

the security breach has been “extremely costly to taxpayers of this county.”

Despite hackers demanding $2.5 million from the county, Suffolk refused to pay the ransom.

Bellone said the county had replaced the County Clerk Office’s firewall with the most updated protection.

“The clerk’s office has been deemed clean, and we are able to start to restore

online services beginning with the county website,” he said.

The county executive said he knows now the segregated IT environment within the various county offices was a mistake. He added it was fair to criticize him.

“I should have more quickly implemented the recommendations in the 2019 cybersecurity assessment, which I commissioned, to hire an

additional executive level leader focused on cybersecurity,” Bellone said.

Puleo said the county’s IT department’s dedication has been unwavering during the process.

“Going forward, we will do everything we can in the clerk’s office to cooperate and get things where they belong and keep the protection so that the whole county IT is protected from future attacks,” the county clerk said.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, County Clerk Vincent Puleo and Chief Deputy County Executive Lisa Black were on hand Feb. 17 to announce the county’s progress in restoring cybersecurity. Suffolk County photo

Eye on the Street: Armed guards in schools

BY CAROLYN SACKSTEIN DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Given the nationwide proliferation of violence in schools, the Smithtown Central School District Board of Education recently voted to vet and hire a private security firm to patrol the exterior perimeter of all schools with armed guards. Long Island schools from Greenport to Copiague have experienced threats of violence made by students. Following the Parkland, Florida, school shootings in 2018, some districts opted to provide armed security personnel, including Hauppauge, Miller Place and Mount Sinai. With an ongoing public debate over the most effective way to protect children in schools and public spaces, TBR News Media took to the streets of Port Jefferson village Saturday, Feb. 18, asking people for their opinions on armed guards in and around schools.

Nicole Carhart, West Islip

When asked about armed guards on school campuses Carhart said, “It depends. It is good for people to keep safe. You want to make sure they are not using it against others.”

Gannon Lawley, Anchorage, Alaska

“I am against armed guards in almost all places, especially schools. It doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing that would be good for a school or a learning environment. It arises from an aversion to armed guards in general. It’s a hippy peace thing for me.”

Joseph Vergopia, Manhattan

When asked to comment on Smithtown’s decision to put armed guards on campus, he responded, “That’s the stupidest idea I ever heard, because more guns on the street are just a ridiculous way to curb gun [violence].”

Monell thought Smithtown’s decision was “a positive outcome.”

Louis Antoniello, Terryville

Jeremy Torres and Xiao Han Wu, Stony Brook

Jeremy Torres from Stony Brook village was with his wife, Xiao Han Wu, originally from Beijing, China, and young daughter. Torres said, “With today’s crazy environment, I would prefer police on the campus. As long as [private security] has proper training and qualifications and gun safety, I would trust that.

You can’t just have anybody.”

Han Wu said, “Because I see a lot of news like shootings in the schools and all that and having a kid, that definitely makes me more concerned about the safety in schools. I feel comfortable, they put armed guards [on campus]. I also prefer police.”

“There are better ways to protect the school systems. [Examples would be] electronic locks on the schools, where you have to use a pass key to get in, electronic locks on the classroom doors and gymnasiums. If there is an issue in the school, where somebody does get in, the entire school can be locked down with kids and teachers in the classroom through the main office. They can just lock it down electronically. Nobody can get into the classrooms. Would you rather have more guns where now you’re getting into a gun fight on the street? Doesn’t matter if it is someone who has been trained to use a gun or not. If you look at the statistics and the percentages of how many times you hit with your first or second shot, those percentages are very low. Where are these bullets going? They could be going into the windows of the school. They could be going into neighbors’ houses. The best thing to do is spend your money on securing the building, and electronic locks are the way to go. You can also have security cameras all around with people watching the security videos. They can see who is coming on campus. You’re stopped at the door, they ask what you’re doing there, you’re on camera, you show your ID. You sit and wait to pick up your son or daughter. You can drop something off for them at security. That’s how you secure a building. Leaving the building open without electronic locks and just having people walking the perimeter with guns is not the way to go.”

Hector Monell, West Islip

Amid positive trends, doctors address long COVID, vaccines, newborns

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The number of people battling significant symptoms from the flu and respiratory syncytial virus has been coming down since its peak in January, as these infections have run their course.

“This year, we experienced the most severe flu and RSV waves in decades, and our COVID wave wasn’t small either,” said Sean Clouston, associate professor of Public Health at Stony Brook University.

The number of these illnesses was high as people no longer wore masks in places like schools and after people experienced lowerthan-usual illnesses in the months before the mask mandate was lifted, creating fertile ground for viruses to spread.

“The most likely reason that the current flu and RSV seasons have improved is that we have had such a bad season earlier on that we have hit a natural ceiling on the ability for these diseases to successfully infect more people,” Clouston said in an email.

As for COVID-19, the numbers of people who have developed significant illnesses has continued to decline as well, through a combination of the natural immunity people have after their bodies successfully fought off the infection and from the protection offered by the vaccine and boosters.

Doctors added that the vaccine and natural

immunity hasn’t prevented people from getting infected, but they have helped people avoid severe and potentially life-threatening symptoms.

“All these people who run around saying, ‘My vaccine isn’t working because I got reinfected,’ are missing the point,” said Dr. Bettina Fries, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine. “It is working. It doesn’t protect you from infection, but [it does prevent] a bad outcome.”

Indeed, during the most recent COVID surge during the winter, Fries said the hospital continued to care for patients, most of whom recovered.

Vaccine timing

Amid discussions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and health organizations throughout the state and country about the timing of future booster shots, local health care providers indicated the increasing likelihood of an annual COVID booster.

Fries said we will get to an annual vaccination for COVID, adding, “It’s the same as we see with the flu.”

In general, people aren’t rushing off to get an updated COVID booster.

“To maximize the protective value of the vaccine while minimizing the number of vaccines you use, people should likely get the vaccine two weeks before they anticipate heavy exposure,” Clouston said.

For most people, that would mean getting the shot in early November to prepare for larger indoor gatherings, like Thanksgiving

Senator Mattera welcomes session volunteer

Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James) recently welcomed Anthony Tarquinio to his Albany office as a session volunteer. A 2020 graduate of Smithtown High School East, Anthony is currently in his senior year of study at the University of Albany where he is majoring in homeland security and cybersecurity.

During his tenure with Mattera, Anthony will assist staff with legislative matters and constituent assistance to enhance the lives of the residents of the 2nd Senate District.

A member of the University of Albany’s ice hockey team, Anthony is on course to graduate this coming spring.

“I am very pleased to welcome Anthony to our staff and know that he will be a tremendous resource for the residents of our area,” Mattera said. “I thank him for taking the time to join our team for the Legislative Session and look forward to working with him over the next few months.”

and the December holidays.

In a recent article in the journal Lancet, researchers conducted an extensive analysis of COVID reinfection rates.

The study dealt only with those people who had not had any vaccinations and addressed the effectiveness of natural immunity from preventing infections and from the worst symptoms of the disease.

Prior infections in general didn’t prevent people from getting reinfected, but it does “protect you from getting a really bad disease and dying,” Fries said.

Long COVID

Even with the number of people contracting COVID declining, the overall population of people battling symptoms of long COVID, which can still include anything from loss of smell and taste to chronic fatigue, continues to increase.

“There’s a plethora of symptoms of long COVID,” Fries said. “We’ll have to figure out how to classify this and hopefully come up with better therapy. Right now, we can only symptomatically treat these patients.”

Dr. Sritha Rajupet, director of the Stony Brook Medicine Post-COVID Clinic, explained in an email that some patients who have lost their sense of smell or have a distorted sense of taste have tried a process called a stellate ganglion block “after several case reports and early research have shown that it could be helpful.”

In such a procedure, doctors inject a local

anesthetic on either side of the voice box into the neck. Rajupet said that “additional research and clinical trials still have to be performed.”

Newborns and COVID

As for children infected with COVID soon after birth, doctors suggested that the impact has been manageable.

“The great majority of young children who contract COVID do quite well and recover fully,” Dr. Susan Walker, pediatrician with Stony Brook Children’s Services, explained in an email. “The impact on their development from having actually experienced COVID illness is minimal.”

Children hospitalized with more significant illness from COVID might experience temporary developmental regression which is common in children hospitalized for any reason. The developmental impact seems more tied to social isolation.

“Children born during the pandemic spent their first years of life rarely seeing adults or children other than those in their immediate family,” Walker said. “The result is that many of these kids became excessively stranger anxious and timid around others.”

The lost social opportunities, the pediatrician said, resulted in delays in the personal/social domain of development. She added, “The good news is that kids are resilient and, in time, with appropriate social stimulation, [these children] should be able to regroup and catch up developmentally.”

Asharoken secures federal funds for damaged seawall

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Village of Asharoken is taking steps to repair a damaged seawall to lessen the chances of extreme flooding on Asharoken Avenue.

Recently, the village secured $1 million in federal funds to repair its seawall. In his Feb. 7 report posted to the village’s website, Mayor Gregory Letica said he and Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce met with Town of Huntington officials to discuss the next steps. In the letter he said, the town supplied several templates to the village “to produce a Request For Proposal from engineering firms for design, permitting and construction supervision.”

In December 2022, former Congressman

Tom Suozzi’s (D-NY3) office in a press release announced that the federal funds were “needed to rehabilitate the Asharoken seawall in order to eliminate the threat of dangerous injuries and possible fatalities from extreme flooding on Asharoken Avenue.”

In the press release, Letica said Suozzi worked for six years to help the village acquire the funding.

“On behalf of the residents of Asharoken and Eaton’s Neck, I extend my heartfelt appreciation for his efforts to secure $1 million for seawall repair in the recent House and Senate appropriations bill,” Letica said. “It took a lot of hard work to get to this point, but it was worth it. This funding will allow the village to start restoring the seawall and assure that it will be there for years to come.”

From left, state Sen. Mario Mattera and Anthony Tarquinio Photo from Sen. Mattera’s office

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police:

Two people injured Huntington crash

Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that injured two people in Huntington Station on Feb. 21. Luis Reyes was driving a 2013 Honda Civic westbound on Columbia Street when his vehicle left the road and struck a tree on McKay Road at approximately 2:15 a.m. Reyes, 19, of Huntington Station, was transported to Huntington Hospital for treatment of serious injuries. His passenger, Carlos Garcia Mendoza, 18, also of Huntington Station, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. Anyone with information on the crash is asked to contact the Second Squad at 631-854-8252.

Dix Hills man arrested for DWI

Suffolk County Police arrested a Dix Hills man on Feb. 19 for allegedly driving while intoxicated following a motor vehicle crash in West Babylon. Madison Cedeno, 41, was driving a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer eastbound on Sunrise Highway, at Hubbards Path, when the vehicle struck a 2019 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck at approximately 8:40 p.m. The Chevrolet overturned and came to rest on top of the guardrail. The Mercury struck the guardrail and the center median. Highway Patrol officers arrived at the scene and determined Cedeno was allegedly intoxicated. He was taken into custody and transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The driver of the Chevrolet, an adult male, was transported to the same hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Huntington man charged with murder

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond

A. Tierney on Feb. 17 announced the arrest of Candelario Cordova, 53, of Huntington Station, who allegedly stabbed his friend to death, and then slashed and stabbed his friend’s wife when she tried to intervene. According to the investigation, on Feb. 16, the wife of Roque Cisneros, 58, looked out of the front window of her Huntington Station home and saw her husband sitting in the front passenger seat of an SUV. Cordova, a family friend of nearly 20 years, and who was seated in the driver’s seat of the SUV, appeared to be trying to get Cisneros out of the vehicle. When Cisneros’ wife saw Cordova suddenly pull away with her husband still in the SUV, she jumped in her car and followed them.

Wanted for Commack petit larceny

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the people who allegedly stole sterling silver jewelry from Hobby Lobby, located at 124 Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack, on Jan. 10. The man is also a suspect from multiple other larcenies at the same Hobby Lobby that occurred on different dates.

Cordova stopped his SUV around the corner on Oakwood Road, jumped out, opened the trunk, and retrieved a long knife. Cordova then opened the passenger side of the SUV and began stabbing Cisneros repeatedly in the neck and body. Cisnero’s wife attempted to stop the attack by grabbing Cordova, who then began slashing and stabbing her. Several passing motorists stopped and intervened, ultimately subduing Cordova until members of the Suffolk County Police Department arrived. The knife used during the attack was recovered at the scene.

Cisneros was pronounced dead at the scene. Cisnero’s wife was transported to Huntington Hospital where she was treated for her stab wounds. It is unknown at this time what the motive was.

— 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.

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Do you recognize this couple? Photo from SCPD

BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Commack Cougars boys basketball team continued their march to the Suffolk County AA championship by beating the top-seeded Smithtown West Bulls in the semi-final round on Tuesday night at neutral site Longwood High School. The final score was 48-43.

Commack senior center Ethan Meisel led the Cougars with 12 points and 10 rebounds,

and he tied the score with a layup with two minutes left in the game after Smithtown West had been up by as many as 10.

But Commack, the fourth seed, outscored West 22-7 over the final 13 minutes of the game, and key free throws down the stretch by senior guard Mike Gitz after a gigantic offensive rebound by senior power forward Chris McHugh, with 10 seconds remaining in the game, sealed the win for Commack. Junior guard Nick Waga, who appeared to be seriously injured with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in

the fourth quarter, reentered the game to help close out the contest. Waga scored 10 points and handled the crunch-time pressure that West applied in their desperate attempts to create late-game turnovers.

Down by 10 in second half, Cougars roar back to beat Bulls, 48-43 SPORTS

The Bulls were again without superstar center Patrick Burke who dislocated his knee against Northport earlier this month and this gave Meisel, McHugh and forward Matt Rosenoff to freely operate in and around both their offensive and defensive baskets.

West senior guard Jack Melore scored 15 for

the Bulls but missed on all four of his three-point shots in the second half. Brothers Lorenzo and Ben Rappa combined for 20 points in the losing effort.

Commack will attempt to win the county crown in the program’s history when they take on seventh-seeded Brentwood, who knocked off third-seeded Bellport, 63-59, earlier in the day.

The AA Championship game will be held at Stony Brook University’s Island Federal Credit Union Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. The winner will take on the Small School Champion, who is yet to be determined.

Commack’s Matthew Rosenoff, above, drives the baseline. Chris McHugh, right, skies for a rebound for Commack.

Photos by Steven Zaitz

Lady Tigers beat Pat-Med; advance to Suffolk semis

BY STEVEN ZAITZ DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Rich Castellano, the legendary Northport Lady Tiger Basketball coach, had many reasons to celebrate on Saturday.

He notched his 736th victory, padding his mind-blowing total as Long Island’s all-time winningest coach. By doing so, his team’s record improved to 20-1 on the year and they advanced to the semi-final round of the Suffolk County Playoffs with their breezy 71-28 victory over Patchogue-Medford.

It was also Castellano’s birthday — and his players showered their hard-driving skipper with gifts of championship-caliber play pretty much from the opening tap in what was the Tigers final home game of the year.

“It was a great birthday present,” Castellano said. “But we still have a lot of work to do.”

Northport was far from overworked on Saturday against the Lady Raiders as the 43-point margin of victory would suggest, but

the Lady Tigers never take a day off.

Tough-as-nails senior point guard and captain Payson Hedges scored on a driving layup in the opening moments of the game and had seven points in the first quarter, as Northport took a 15-9 lead after one. Hedges also made several nifty passes to junior Kennedy Radziul, who led all scorers with 18 points and sophomore Claire Fitzpatrick, to highlight the first quarter.

“Payson is such a complete player,” Castellano said. “She makes the correct pass every time and she sees angles on the court that only a good point guard is able to see. She also gets rebounds when she needs to and plays great defense. I think she gets the number one star in this game.”

Hedges had five assists and seven rebounds to go along with her 13 points. As she typically does with the sharing of the basketball, she shared the credit with her tight-knit Lady Tiger teammates.

“Our whole team had a great game today,” said the cross-over lacrosse star Hedges. “We stayed focused and played hard all the way through.”

Coming in as heavy underdogs, the Lady Raiders were dealt a harsher blow to their chances when their best player Diamond Pertillar suffered an ankle injury early in the second quarter that sidelined her for the rest of the contest. Pertillar is Pat-Med’s leading scorer, averaging 16 points a game.

After Pertillar’s injury, Northport built a 3515 lead. But the Tigers didn’t escape the first half without a painful scare of their own.

Oft-injured senior guard Emma Kezys, who has been with the varsity program since the Lady Tigers won the Suffolk County crown in 2020, hobbled off with a knee injury with only 15 seconds remaining in the half. Kezys, who missed 11 games earlier in the year with a concussion and has also missed time with various knee injuries over the past two seasons, was expected to be available on Wednesday — results

not available at press time — when Northport took on William Floyd in the Suffolk semifinals which was played at Longwood High School in Middle Island.

“Emma is the heart and soul of the team, and she gives 110% all the time,” said Castellano. “She goes out there and in the first five seconds she’s on the floor, she takes a charge. That’s just the way she plays.”

Despite her latest injury, Kezys is confident that she will be cleared to play on Wednesday.

“This game is a big deal and I’ll be ready,” said the four-year letterman. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

With the Kezys injury and a lead that ballooned to 40 points with two minutes left in the third quarter, Castellano removed his starters and gifted every one of his active bench players with some playoff experience.

The younger kids didn’t miss a beat.

Sophomore Isabella Bica, whose sister Sohpia was also a 10th grader on the 2020 championship team, played 14 minutes and hit a three pointer in the third quarter. Freshmen Jillian Ryan ran the point and had a couple of buckets, and sophomore guard Lily Beamer also got a chance to run the offense. Eighthgrader Ava DeMarco also logged some time and

earned a rousing ovation from her teammates simply for making a free throw as time wound down. The Tiger celebration had begun.

Castellano then got a chance to insert players who have been brought up from Junior Varsity for the playoffs. Eighth-grader Riley Cash, freshmen Ella Johnson and Grace Gilmartin and sophomore Sophia Lang, who made a three pointer on her only attempt, all got the pleasure of finishing the ballgame.

Starter Fitzpatrick, who is still only a sophomore but is a three-year starter, finished with 12 points despite sitting for most of the second half. She was giddy to gift Castellano yet another win, but she wants to shower him with more.

“I would love to give him a Long Island Championship for his birthday and for everything he does for us,” said the precocious 10th grader. “He absolutely loves us with his whole heart and would do anything for us, and to get him ‘The Chip’ this year would be amazing.”

And that would be a very happy belated birthday present for Northport’s coaching Grand Poobah Castellano. The man with most famous yet ever-graying mustache in Suffolk agreed.

“That would be a great gift.”

Kennedy Radziul, above right, scores two of her game-high 18. Below, Jillian Ryan. Photos by Steven Zaitz

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PJ Chamber of Commerce Administrative Aid

15 hours a week

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Qualifications: Computer literate; Word, Excel, Quickbook , Word Press. Can work UNSUPERVISED, Detail-oriented. Understand the operations of a non-profit organization or similar operation. Good communication skills and multi-tasker.

Contact by email: info@portjeffchamber.com or call 631-473-1414

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Letters to the Editor Editorial

Media responsibility in covering mass violence

Whether or not school districts should hire armed guards is complex, requiring thoughtful consideration from parents, students, community members, educators, school administrators and elected officials.

But as we work through the intricacies of this sensitive and often contentious issue, a related matter is worthy of our attention: How can we appropriately cover mass shootings when these tragic events arise?

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. Unfortunately, mass shootings are commonplace in this country. Already in 2023, there have been more mass shootings than days in the year. As a nation, we have failed to address this critical policy concern.

When one of these all-too-familiar violent events occurs, the press often too hastily reports on it. Helicopters circle above the crime scene as field reporters rush to the periphery, searching for immediate information.

A tragedy soon becomes a spectacle. Within days — sometimes just hours — the suspect’s name is revealed to the public. Then the shooter’s image is flashed incessantly on every newsreel and in every major newspaper in America. As the media goes to work uncovering the personal details of the shooter’s life, a depraved human being is made into a national celebrity.

And this phenomenon is not unique to the press. Hollywood capitalizes on violence; the more graphic a film’s depictions, the more revenue it will generate. Violence sells in this country, whether in motion pictures, music, video games, digital media or newsprint. And the ubiquity of these images within American popular culture has the natural effect of normalizing violent behavior nationwide.

Here at TBR News Media, we reject this dynamic entirely. Mass violence in America should not be accepted as mainstream nor should it be sensationalized or embellished. With a medium that enables us to disperse information widely both in print and on the web, we are responsible for using our platform appropriately.

Research on mass shooters indicates they are often motivated by perceived isolation or social rejection. Some commit an atrocity to achieve a mark on the world, since even playing the villain can be preferable to obscurity.

As journalists, we must deny violent offenders precisely the attention and fame they so crave. We legitimize acts of violence when we publish names or run headshots of mass shooters. By lending our platform to the least deserving, we encourage copycat offenders.

It is time that we, the members of the press and the distributors of information, end the dramatization and glorification of mass violence in America. It is time to substitute sensationalism with rigid, objective reporting when violence inevitably ensues.

This same standard applies to digital media. In this century, so much of the information available to us is circulated online. For this reason, Big Tech has a similar obligation to monitor its content and halt the spread of personal details regarding mass shooters.

While restraining our coverage is necessary, mass violence deserves our close attention. Still, we must focus on the issues: Should we hire armed guards in and around schools? How do we keep guns out of the hands of potentially violent offenders? How can we expand access to mental health services, so fewer people resort to mass violence? And more.

The focus should be policy driven and victim centric. We should create awareness of the problem while working to identify solutions. But we must not say their names or run their headshots.

By covering shootings appropriately, we can do our part to curb the spread of mass violence. By applying these methods consistently, journalists can work to change the culture, save lives and make a positive difference for the nation and humanity.

Equality under the law should be bipartisan

Every person deserves equality under the law. The laws of our nation must ensure that basic human rights are protected and enshrined. These views should not be partisan, as they impact all of us, regardless of political affiliation.

Given what should be a nonpartisan recognition of human dignity and equality, it is striking that every Republican legislator in the New York State Legislature from Suffolk County, including Assembly freshman Ed Flood [R-Port Jefferson] and Sen. Anthony Palumbo [R-New Suffolk] voted against the Equal Rights Amendment that will appear on our ballots in November 2024. Our current New York State constitution does not protect historically targeted groups, and this amendment would change that by prohibiting government discrimination based on ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and sex.

Thankfully, the Republican Party is irrelevant in Albany, given the Democratic supermajority in both chambers. But it is disgraceful that our state representatives would deny so many of their constituents’ basic protections. Voters across New York state will have the opportunity to vote on the Equal Rights Amendment and should vote out every legislator who voted against it. We deserve leaders who represent all of us, and we deserve the chance to vote on measures such as the ERA.

At the federal level, our freshman representative Nick LaLota [R-NY1] has also been disenfranchising his constituents. His votes have largely flown under the radar as the media feasts on the spectacle that is U.S. Rep. George Santos [R-NY3]. One of the votes ignored by the media is H.R. 26, the socalled “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” that all of Long Island’s Republican representatives voted in favor of. This piece of legislation that sought to criminalize late-term abortion ignores the basic facts that 93% of abortions occur in the first trimester of pregnancy, and 99% occur before 20 weeks of gestation.

A better use of taxpayer dollars would be to focus on issues like maternal mortality rates, given that Long Island’s maternal mortality rate is higher than the national average, with Black women disproportionately impacted. If our Republican legislators were truly “prolife,” they would be investing in prenatal, neonatal and maternal health. Thankfully, this bill will not go to a vote on the Senate floor, but we deserve better representation for ourselves and our families.

As our members of Congress and the

state Legislature spend this week at home on recess, this is the perfect opportunity to ask them why they have chosen to deny so many of us our basic rights. It is an opportunity to remind them who they serve, and for each of us to remember that if our representatives refuse to listen to us, it’s time for new representation.

Shoshana Hershkowitz South Setauket

How to tackle carbon dioxide emissions

Virtually every rational person agrees that it would be a good idea to reduce our emissions of carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the contribution of civilization to the phenomenon of global warming.

Perhaps the most obvious way to achieve this goal would be to convert some, or most, or all of our motor vehicles using internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. To accomplish this monumental task, the vast amount of energy currently provided by hydrocarbon fuels must be replaced by an approximately equal amount of electrical energy.

But what is the best way to produce this energy, using technology that is available today? On the one hand, we have our renewable energy, consisting primarily of solar arrays, windmills and hydroelectric generators. But these have serious limitations, primarily due to the intermittent availability of sun and wind, and also the mind-boggling cost and technical problems associated with batteries or other technologies to fill in the gaps.

The obvious solution to this problem would appear to be nuclear power, which provides clean energy all day and all night, in good weather and bad, with zero emission of carbon dioxide.

Nuclear power has been used to generate electrical power in France for 60 years, and now provides approximately 72% of their requirements. The worldwide leader is the United States, which generates more than 30% of the world’s nuclear power, but only about 19% of our own domestic usage. We have some 70,000 wind turbines, which provide about 7% of our power, when the wind is blowing. We also have a lot of solar panels, which supply some 2% of our power, when the sun is shining.

We now have a government that claims to believe in “science,” as only they can define it. At the same time, they tell us the following:

1. We must get rid of our ICE vehicles.

2. We must replace them with EVs.

3. To ensure conformance, gasoline will become increasingly less plentiful

and more expensive.

4. We will build as many windmills and solar arrays as we can.

5. We will deal with the battery problem at some time in the future.

6. We will shut down nuclear plants, e.g., Diablo Canyon in California and Indian Point, as soon as we can.

7. We will make it as difficult as possible to obtain a license to build a new nuclear plant.

8. We will redefine or reinterpret inflation to prove that we had no part in causing it to increase.

Thank goodness that we have a government to understand science and regulate technology. What would we do without them?

George Altemose Setauket

Sun safety Is not just for summertime

The winter season brings cold winds and snowy weather, but it also can bring damage to your skin. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun damages your skin year-round, not just during the summer months.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S., yet most cases can be prevented. UV radiation from the sun and indoor tanning lamps are the primary cause of skin cancer and reducing your exposure can significantly reduce your cancer risk. Even on cold, winter days, UV radiation from the sun can cause damage to your skin, especially at high altitudes and on reflective surfaces such as snow or ice. Snow reflects up to 80% of the sun’s UV radiation, increasing the damage caused to your skin.

Sun protection is necessary every day, regardless of the weather or time of year. Sun safe practices such as applying sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, UV protective sunglasses and long-sleeved clothing, and seeking shade whenever possible, can help prevent skin cancer.

The Cancer Prevention in Action at Stony Brook Cancer Center works to build awareness about the dangers of UV radiation and promote the benefits of sun safety through education, awareness and policy support to reduce skin cancer rates on Long Island.

To learn more about Cancer Prevention in Action, visit takeactionagainstcancer.com or contact us at 631-4444263/COE@stonybrookmedicine.edu.

CPiA is supported with funds from Health Research Inc. and New York State.

Annalea Trask Program Coordinator Cancer Prevention In Action Stony Brook Cancer Center

Opinion

Riding in cars with our kids after their games

ong ago, back when my son was shorter than I, and when he listened to more of what I said, I was driving him and his teammate back from a baseball game that was more than an hour away from our house.blurs into a collection of highs, lows and everything in between.

Halfway home, we were the first car to stop at a red light. When another car pulled up next to us, we recognized the father of one of my son’s teammates.

in a close game.

After our next game, my son and I got in the car, and I had a chance to look at us more closely in the metaphorical mirror.

Looking straight ahead, the father was screaming at the top of his lungs. My son and his teammate, who usually filled the car with nonstop commentary about the game, school, weekend plans and anything else that came to mind, were stunned into silence.

D. None of the above

Those were the days when such long rides were part of our weekend routine, as we packed athletic gear, food, paper towels and flip-flops into the car to enable our children to compete against other children from distant towns or neighboring states, while also taking off their cleats and running into a deli to use the bathroom.

I don’t recall the details of the game because, even then, my son played in so many of them that the entire montage of memories

The three of us shifted our heads and saw his son sitting in the front seat with his head down, absorbing the ongoing verbal blows from his father, who had started gesticulating and was so frustrated that he spit on the windshield as he shouted.

During the entire red light, the father excoriated his son. As we drove away, my son’s teammate shared his memories of the game, pointing out that the boy in the other car had made a key error and struck out late

No, I wasn’t screaming at him. No, I didn’t spit on the window. The pattern I noticed, however, was one in which my son — when he was alone with me — focused only on the things that went wrong. He lamented everything he did wrong or didn’t do right. Sometimes, I recalled, I piled on, telling him how he could or should have done something differently.

As I tried to get a few words in after that game, he cut me off. He continued to criticize his performance until he was too exhausted to speak, at which point he urged me to talk.

I didn’t want to review the game. I wanted to discuss our interactions.

After considerable back and forth, I set new ground rules not for coach/player interactions, but for father/son discussions, particularly as they pertained to sports.

Two presidential hands, one rough the other smooth

This President’s Day saw two presidents much in the news, Joe Biden for his clandestine trip to Kyiv, and our 39th president, Jimmy Carter, for entering hospice care. Carter, who at 98 years old is the oldest former chief executive of the United States, signaled the end of his repeated hospital stays.

I never wanted to discuss whatever he thought went wrong in a game first. I wanted to begin with everything he did well. That could include positioning, fouling off a tough pitch, supporting his teammates, calling for a ball — even one that he dropped — and having a long at bat.

Then, we discussed what could have gone better. He threw the ball to the right base, but the throw was too low. He was fooled on a high pitch at the end of an at bat.

The first game after our discussion, he started off by criticizing himself. But then, something remarkable happened: he remembered our last discussion, and we started with everything he did well. Those first few moments built a positive foundation around which to start making improvements.

In future games, he started to focus on ways to perform well, even after he had struck out or had made a mistake. Instead of focusing on the ways he might have let himself or the team down, he wanted the opportunity to help.

photographer stood to the side, snapping away, as I drew closer to the most powerful man in the world.

I tried hard to come up with something more to say than my name and where I was from. Then I remembered. His sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton, had recently visited Stony Brook to speak about her Baptist evangelism, and rather than telling him my name, I mentioned covering that.

Between

I had the honor of being invited to an outof-town press conference at the White House during President Carter’s one term, and of course, the memory will always remain with me. It was my first of several such invitations, and I smile when I compare my Carter and subsequent Ronald Reagan visits. The year was 1978, the country was recovering slowly from severe stagflation,

and everyone was watching their expenditures. Hence, it was not surprising that when lunch came in the middle of the event, it consisted of a boxed meal that we balanced on our laps in the Oval Office. In the box were two half sandwiches, one of cheese, the other of tuna salad. There was also a hard-boiled egg, accompanied by a small salt packet, an apple and a cookie. I confess to such high excitement that I don’t remember how the food tasted, just that I held the egg in one hand and sprinkled salt on it with the other. I do recall thinking then that I was experiencing one of the most amazing moments of my life at the same time that I was doing this most mundane action of salting my egg.

Carter talked about the economy, suggesting an optimistic view for the coming year, among other issues, and then we got up, formed a single line and moved toward him to shake hands for perhaps a three-second intro and photograph we could all carry back

TBR News Media publisher Leah Dunaief meeting the 39th U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, at the White House in 1978.

with us for the front page of our newspapers. I was toward the back of the line, and the

TIMES BEACON RECORD NEWS MEDIA We welcome letters, photographs, comments and story ideas. Send your items to P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733 or email rita@tbrnewsmedia.com. Times Beacon Record Newspapers are published every Thursday. Subscription $59/year • 631-751-7744 www.tbrnewsmedia.com • Contents copyright 2023 EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Leah S. Dunaief GENERAL MANAGER Johness Kuisel MANAGING EDITOR Rita J. Egan EDITOR Rita J. Egan LEISURE EDITOR Heidi Sutton COPY EDITOR John Broven ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Kathleen Gobos ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Elizabeth Bongiorno Robin Lemkin Larry Stahl Katherine Yamaguchi Minnie Yancey ART AND PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Beth Heller Mason PRODUCTION Janet Fortuna Sharon Nicholson CLASSIFIEDS DIRECTOR & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Sheila

“Isn’t Ruth wonderful!” Carter exclaimed in his soft drawl as his Caribbean blue eyes widened with pleasure. He then proceeded to talk about her for at least two full minutes, how proud of her he was, as I noted that he was not much taller than I and that his hands were rough.

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

Photo from Leah Dunaief