The Times of Huntington-Northport - March 9, 2023

Also: Brother’s Bread Bakery continues Franciscan tradition, SBU Sports

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Legislator Bontempi’s nominee chosen as 2023 countywide Woman of Distinction

On March 7, at the general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, Legislator Stephanie Bontempi (R-Centerport) formally recognized Sharon Richmond as this year’s Woman of Distinction for Suffolk County.

Bontempi selected Richmond, a Northport resident and fifth-grade educator, as her 2023 nominee due to her unwavering commitment to tackling the scourges of substance abuse and mental health issues, according to a press release from Bontempi’s office.

Richmond was inspired to take a proactive role in the community after losing her son and only child, Vincent.

“Sharon turned a horrendous tragedy into something beautiful that can save lives,” said Bontempi. “Substance abuse and mental health matters are difficult to talk about, especially when they are responsible for a family member’s passing. Because of Sharon, formerly taboo topics are becoming a part of mainstream conversations; that’s how real progress will be made.”

Some of the work in which Richmond has been engaged over the years include, but are not limited to, advocating for mental health and addiction awareness in Albany, serving on the Town of Huntington Opioid and Addiction Task Force, advising the legislature on the opioid settlement

fund distribution, and volunteering on the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force. Additionally, she has successfully published numerous articles on related matters.

The Suffolk County Woman of Distinction program was created by the legislature in 2002 in order to recognize exceptional woman across Suffolk County. Each of Suffolk County’s 18 legislators selects a nominee and then the Suffolk County Women’s Advisory Commission chooses the countywide honoree from those nominations. The month of March was chosen for the program, as it is Women’s History Month.

Above Suffolk County Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, at podium, with countywide Woman of Distinction, Sharon Richmond, right, and Grace Ioannidis, director of the Suffolk County Department of Women’s Services. Photo from Bontempi’s office

Huntington financial consultant ready to lead town’s parade

BY RITA J. EGAN RITA@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A former Huntington resident for many years and local financial consultant has been chosen as this year’s grand marshal in the town’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The parade’s organizers, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 4, named Greg Kennedy to lead the 89th annual parade through Huntington Sunday, March 12.

Kennedy has been a financial consultant in the town for more than 25 years, and while

he has lived in St. James since 2010, he was a Huntington resident for decades before his move.

A St. John’s University graduate, Kennedy is the founder of the financial services business Atlantic Financial Group, which has been located on New Street in Huntington village since 2008. Before opening his own business, he was an adviser with MetLife and then joined A.G. Edwards.

Tom Dougherty, a Hibernian member, said Kennedy is more than a local businessman. This year’s grand marshal, who was president of the Hibernians division during 2015-17, is the president of The Townwide Fund of Huntington, and a member of the foundation board of directors of the Visiting Nurse Service and Hospice of Suffolk in Northport. He also is involved with the food bank at St. Patrick’s Church and other local charities.

“Our motto is friendship, unity and Christian charity, a model that we live by, and we try to pick somebody that lives by that motto, and those are all the things that he’s lived up to,” Dougherty said.

The Hibernian added that in addition to Kennedy’s contributions to Huntington he does a good deal for the division, including helping members who may need a ride to a doctor’s office or grocery store.

“He’s a put-other-people-first kind of guy,” Dougherty said.

Kennedy said being named parade grand marshal is a tremendous honor for him.

“I was just humbled and honored to be chosen among such great past grand marshals,” he said.

Past Huntington grand marshals include former state Supreme Court justice Jerry

Asher and Northwell Health president and CEO Michael Dowling.

Kennedy added because he’s adopted, he’s not sure of the exact percentage of Irish heritage he is.

The businessman attends the parade every year with his wife Cathleen and children Sara, a college junior, and Ryan, a high school senior. His daughter was a parade Colleen in 2020, according to Kennedy, and this year his son will march with him as one of the parade aides.

“My family has been with me since the beginning, since I started with Hibernians,” he said.

The parade

While the Huntington parade was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions, a virtual event was held that year, and in 2022 the event returned once again to Huntington’s streets. Dougherty said this year there has been an increase in participants in the parade and ad journal, which helps the Hibernians raise money for the event.

Kennedy had advice for those planning to attend the parade, including taking the time to visit a few stores and having lunch.

“Get there early, and long johns aren’t a bad idea because it can be cold,” he said. “Be prepared to enjoy a great day because the parade starts at 2 but it goes for a good few hours.”

Huntington St. Patrick’s Day Parade kicks off at 2 p.m. on March 12 on Route 110 and Church Street. It then continues to Main Street and ends at St. Patrick’s R.C. Church.

Above, Greg Kennedy at this year’s Grand Marshal’s Ball. Left, Kennedy with his children Ryan and Sara in a 2007 photo. Photos from Kennedy

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School district investigates inactive rifle round found at high school

In a March 7 letter to the NorthportEast Northport school district community, Superintendent Robert Banzer informed families of the reason why a “hold-in-place” was needed at the high school earlier that day.

According to Banzer, the “hold-in-place” occurred “after a piece of an inactive rifle round was found on the floor of the high school in the commons. The round was not capable of being fired as it did not have the casing.”

Banzer added all students and staff members were safe and there was no evidence of a physical weapon on the high school grounds. The superintendent said the school received no threats.

“Immediately upon finding the round, we contacted the Suffolk County Police Department who worked alongside us and our security team to conduct an investigation and search the building,” Banzer wrote. “This included searching common areas, each classroom and lockers. Students remained

in the hold-in-place during this time to ensure that police and administration were able to conduct an investigation without interruption.”

Banzer continued that after students were dismissed police officers and school administration continued searching the building.

“Thus far, nothing suspicious or concerning has been found,” he said. “No other schools were impacted, and while we will have increased police presence at the high school tomorrow as a precaution, the day will move forward as usual.”

Banzer asked anyone with information about the source of the inactive rifle round to contact school administration. He also reminded families that the district has a Safe School Helpline which can be accessed from the district website home page to report any safety and well-being concerns regarding any member of the school community.

The TIMES OF HUNTINGTON & NORTHPORT (USPS 004-808) is published Thursdays by TBR News Media, 185 Route 25A, Setauket, NY 11733. Periodicals postage paid at Setauket, NY and additional mailing offices. Subscription price $59 annually. Leah S. Dunaief, Publisher. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733.

A Suffolk-forward vision to increase housing options

County in particular.

PERSPECTIVE

The cost of housing is among the most crucial issues facing Long Island’s future, and it is an issue I have personally worked to address. As chair of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, I eliminated red tape and helped to get shovels in the ground for housing developments. Now, I have serious concerns about an Albany-centric, one-size-fits-all plan to increase housing options, but I am confident that we can address our housing needs if we employ a Suffolkcentric approach.

We need more housing options to allow working families to thrive, young people to stay and seniors to comfortably retire in Suffolk County. However, the existing piecemeal approval processes have left us with too little housing which, due to simple supply and demand, costs too much. With a median home price of $545,000 and few rental units available in Suffolk County, our young people are compelled to move away. This exodus imperils our future and places Long Island businesses at a competitive disadvantage when needed workers cannot afford to live here.

The housing crisis has grown over decades and needs to be addressed with urgency. However, the proposed solutions from Albany don’t make sense for Long Island, and Suffolk

One-size-fits-all mandates that ignore local realities and discretion would be both ineffective and counterproductive on Long Island. Suffolk County is home to 1.5 million people spread across more than 40 municipalities. Requiring each municipality to increase housing by 3% over a three-year period cannot be done without seriously undermining other regional goals like water-quality protection and traffic mitigation. A state commission overriding home rule — Albany usurping zoning power from localities — due to a failure to satisfy this often unreachable mandate is a nonstarter.

First, we organize and plan locally. Through the Suffolk County Planning Commission — a representative body made up of members from each of Suffolk’s 10 towns and two from its villages — we should create a regional housing plan designed to maximize the needs, capacity and desires of each part of the county. In such a plan, we will identify areas for future housing development and encourage the redevelopment of underutilized properties.

By Dave Calone

Instead, we can set and achieve regional goals that meet the moment and maintain local governance, with the state serving as a crucial partner providing incentives and resources to help us reach those goals. Here’s how.

To execute such a plan, we need New York State to partner and deliver the incentives needed to facilitate development. For instance, the state can offer funds to municipalities that contribute most toward the countywide goal, that most quickly approve housing and that create housing for a variety of income levels. Moreover, it can provide necessary infrastructure investments that will allow future growth in municipalities that want to develop.

In addition to organizing a regional effort, the county must play its part by seeking innovative solutions to address our housing needs. For example, Suffolk County, our largest landowner, should audit all of its properties and determine which could be repurposed to develop housing at a reduced rate for our taxpayers. Moreover we must seek avenues to eliminate red tape, and specifically for homes that are consistent with the regional housing plan, the county Department of Health Services must streamline and prioritize the review and approval process. The county should also increase regional capacity for housing creation by helping to form other development tools, like land trusts, as well as providing planning resources and guidance to municipalities.

With major investments and opportunities coming to Long Island, this is an exciting time for our region, but we must act to capitalize on our opportunity. To support working families, provide local businesses with employees, and secure countywide safety and prosperity, it’s imperative that we address the housing needs across our region — and the best solutions will start here in Suffolk.

Dave Calone, a former prosecutor, business leader and previous chair of the Suffolk County Planning Commission, is a candidate for Suffolk county executive.

SBU’s Pikitch, others ‘optimistic’ about the U.N.’s High Seas Treaty

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

“This provides me with a lot of encouragement.”

WORLD

Determined, passionate and committed representatives to the United Nations, including the United States, spent over 20 years trying to hammer out an agreement to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

This past Saturday, after extending a deadline, representatives of 193 countries in New York verbally agreed to terms of a High Seas Treaty designed to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources.

While individual countries still have to ratify the treaty, scientists like Ellen Pikitch, endowed professor of Ocean Conservation Science and executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, praised the agreement.

“It’s fantastic,” Pikitch said. “It’s been needed for so long.”

Lisa Speer, a marine scientist and the director of the International Oceans Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, has been working to educate and encourage government leaders to understand what’s at stake and how to protect the oceans.

“This is a big step forward for biodiversity conservation on a global level,” said Speer.

In addition to the educational and advocacy work she did over the years, Speer spent much of the last 36 hours at the U.N. surrounded by others who had slept on the floor or in various rooms and hallways amid the effort to get this treaty across the finish line.

“Everybody was really emotional,” she said, with spontaneous applause and cheers continuing for a long period of time. “A lot of us have been here since the beginning. There were celebratory hugs and thanks and tears of joy for the efforts of so many people” including some who were not in the room but had worked for decades on this treaty.

The view of the importance of biodiversity in the oceans has changed considerably over the last few decades.

“For most of human history, the high seas have been viewed as an empty wasteland,” Speer said. Now, however, people recognize that it’s “probably the largest reserve of biodiversity left on the planet.”

This treaty, Pikitch and Speer added, can and should help ensure that humans can explore and discover some of that biodiversity before it might otherwise disappear.

Speer is hopeful that United States senators, who will have a chance to vote on the treaty, recognize that the country has “a very strong interest in making sure it has a voice in

decisions affecting half the planet. It’s in our interest to be full participants in that process.”

Pikitch, who is an expert in the field of Marine Protected Areas, suggested that the process of coming up with a framework to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by the end of the decade involved considerable back and forth with various interest groups within each country.

“It’s not that easy to determine how this area would be managed,” Pikitch said. Various groups have “concerns that differ among different parts of the global community.”

Pikitch pointed out that a Convention on Biological Diversity late last year agreed that the world would protect 30% of the lands and waters by 2030.

Pikitch said such a goal was unattainable without this High Seas Treaty, which addressed the parts of the ocean that had previously been off limits to such protections.

The treaty and the establishment of marine protected areas will be “huge for biodiversity,” Pikitch said.

Piktich suggested that the commitment over two decades and the increasing public awareness of the importance of ocean resources offers her hope that this treaty, for which numerous details are still in the works, will offer effective protection.

“There’s a huge amount of passion and commitment by countries of the world to work this out,” she said. “They did not give up.”

The U.N.’s High Seas Treaty aims to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources. Stock photo

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police: Commack woman guilty of embezzlement

Melanie I. Bergstedt, 47, of Commack pleaded guilty on March 1 to Grand Larceny in the Second Degree for allegedly embezzling approximately $250,000 from a local summer camp during the course of her employment there.

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during her guilty plea allocution, between 2016 and 2020, Bergstedt admitted she knowingly and intentionally stole money by diverting payments made by customers into other bank accounts during the course of her employment at the local summer camp, headquartered in Commack. The bank accounts were opened under similar names as the camp without the owner’s knowledge or permission in an effort to conceal the theft and to use those funds for her own personal benefit.

Bergstedt is required to pay restitution to the victim and if she does not, she faces up to three to 15 years in prison.

Lake Ronkonkoma chiropractor arrested

Suffolk County Police arrested a chiropractor on March 3 for allegedly forcibly touching three female patients at his Lake Ronkonkoma business in 2021 and 2022. Three women contacted detectives to report Ronald Bernardini, a chiropractor at Lake Chiropractic, located at 201 Portion Road, allegedly forcibly touched them during their appointments between February 2021 and October 2022. The victims came forward after Bernardini was arrested in October 2022 for sexually abusing a teen at his practice.

Fourth Squad detectives charged Bernardini, 65, of Smithtown, with four counts of Forcible Touching. Detectives are asking anyone who believes they could be a victim of Bernardini to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

Pedestrian

killed in Huntington Station

Suffolk County Police Major Case Unit detectives are investigating a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian in Huntington Station in the early morning of March 4. Bernarda Fernandez was crossing Jericho Turnpike at Oakwood Road when she was struck by

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Wanted for Commack petit larceny

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 household items from Walmart, located at 85 Crooked Hill Road in Commack, on February 5.

a vehicle traveling westbound on Jericho Turnpike at approximately 3:55 a.m. Fernandez, 49, of Huntington Station, was transported to Huntington Hospital where she was pronounced dead. The vehicle fled the scene northbound on Oakwood Road. Detectives believe the vehicle is a small to mid-size SUV.

Merchandise stolen from Dick’s in Melville Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Second Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man and woman who allegedly stole two baseball gloves from Dick’s Sporting Goods, located at 870 Walt Whitman Road in Melville, on Feb. 15 at approximately 5:30 p.m. The merchandise was valued at approximately $600. The suspects fled in a gray Kia Soul.

— 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.

Do you recognize this couple? Photo from SCPD

Melanie Bergstedt

Do you recognize this woman? Photo from SCPD

Ronald Bernardini

THE FACTS ABOUT THE TOWNLINE RAIL TERMINAL

CarlsonCorp, Inc. is a family-owned business that employs more than 75 area residents and has proudly called Kings Park home since the 1880s. We currently have an application before the Surface Transportation Board (STB), a federal agency, to construct a 5,000-foot rail line into our Kings Park recycling property. The proposed project is called the Townline Rail Terminal.

While the STB will be conducting public information sessions in the community this spring to solicit public comment on the project, we have heard misinformation and a number of misconceptions in the community. We thought you would want to learn the facts:

The proposed Townline Rail Terminal only involves one train in and one train out per day (up to 27 cars maximum). That’s it. There will be no trains arriving or departing on weekends.

The proposed rail line and sidetracks are for rail car storage and maneuverability — NOT the anticipation of additional arrivals or departures.

The rail cars themselves will not have engines so they will not idle or make continual noise when sitting in the yard. The rail cars will be moved by a small vehicle the size of a mini school bus.

The work site will be below the grade of the surrounding property to minimize disruption. We are also proposing natural berms and buffers.

The Townline Rail Terminal will load and unload materials into the rail cars during our regular hours, Monday through Saturday. This will not be a 24-hour operation.

Loading and unloading of incinerated ash will occur in a state-of-the-art transfer station which will reduce dust, noise, and odors. The rail cars hauling ash will have secure steel lids. The material being loaded and removed from the proposed Townline Rail Terminal is NOT classified as a hazardous material. These materials are highly regulated and tested continually by New York State. Any materials containing asbestos, by law, may NOT be disposed of at the facility. At present, there are six active or proposed train transport facilities on Long Island, all of which will provide local solutions to managing ash and debris. Townline Rail Terminal is a solution for the Towns of Smithtown and Huntington.

The proposed project is expected to save taxpayers HALF of what the cost will be to truck materials off Long Island in the future and result in a REDUCTION in the amount of materials turned into compost on-site.

The best option for the future

The Townline Rail Terminal is an environmentally preferred alternative to trucking materials off Long Island. It will result in reduced emissions and traffic congestion. The Town of Smithtown recognizes that rail is a better option to trucking once the Brookhaven Landfill closes in 2024. We are very early in the planning process and look forward to meeting with the community in the coming months.

The Townline Rail Terminal will save taxpayers money, create jobs, and benefit the environment. To learn more and find out how you can get involved, visit CarlsonCorp.com.

Proposed Townline Rail Terminal

Online scammers swindle North Shore residents

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Internet fraud, a worsening cybercrime phenomenon, has reached the North Shore of Long Island.

Through various tactics, online scam artists have successfully targeted storefronts and events throughout Port Jefferson, scoring hundreds of dollars in profits.

During the 4th annual ice festival in late January, scammers sold eight fake tickets for a mac ‘n’ cheese crawl organized by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce. On the day of the event, victims presented their fraudulent tickets.

The tickets “looked very official,” said Barbara Ransome, the chamber’s director of operations. However, when chamber staff asked those presenting these scam tickets when they had purchased them, their response revealed that something was out of place.

“They said, ‘We got them two days ago,’ and that’s when I realized this was a scam because we had been sold out … for at least a week and a half,” Ransome said, adding that the popularity of the event created an opening for scam artists. “My speculation is that this person saw that these tickets were sold out, saw that people were looking for them and created this whole fraud situation.”

At Theatre Three on Main, a similar practice has gained traction. Although the theater sells tickets at $35 per seat, online ticket scammers have capitalized by selling back-row seats at enormous markups.

Douglas Quattrock, the theater’s director of development and artistic associate, reported one such incident where a couple spent nearly 10 times the going rate. “We had a couple that paid $672 for a pair of tickets,” he said.

Although only “a handful” of theatergoers have fallen prey to these ticket scams at Theatre Three, Quattrock considered the practice disruptive to operations.

“Being a smaller not-for-profit, we try to keep our prices very family oriented,” he said. However, he added that “scammers see this market as very attractive.”

But online scams are not limited to ticket sales. Jena Turner owns the Port Jeff-based gift shop Breathe, which offers nontraditional healing remedies and psychic readings.

In an interview, Turner reported that multiple phony social media accounts have emerged, using her photos and business name to solicit payments from unsuspecting patrons.

“Right now, I know that there are five accounts that stole my photos and are pretending to be me,” she said.

Social engineering

Nick Nikiforakis, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, said internet fraud is

SOCIAL ENGINEERING

becoming a growing concern for small business sectors, which are increasingly vulnerable to malicious cyber activities.

He contends that online criminals have shifted their sights on smaller boutique organizations because large corporations are investing more resources into cybersecurity systems.

“Effectively, you have cybercriminals who are customizing their attacks toward small businesses,” he said.

Turner’s case, according to Nikiforakis, represents a common social engineering scenario.

A social engineer “makes an online account for a company with a brick-and-mortar presence and then tries to take the recognizable name and the good faith that the business has built,” the associate professor said.

He added, “They are targeting online users, pretending to be the person running this business,” tricking their victims “to send them money, divulge information or in some way get people to participate in a scam.”

A downtown dilemma

Turner said she has reported her digital imposters but has received no relief in removing these scam accounts from the Instagram platform.

“I had reported it to Instagram several times — and by several, I can say probably more than 20,” she said. “Instagram hasn’t done anything about it.”

Nikiforakis noted that there are considerable technical limitations for social media companies

in policing social engineering activities. While they could theoretically verify with storefront owners whenever a platform is created in their name, online scammers often find creative ways to circumvent such safeguards.

“Things can be done, but this is inherently a cat-and-mouse game,” he said. Social engineers “are not attacking a security vulnerability. … They are abusing people’s faith and trust in institutions and recognizable brands.”

Lacking assistance from Big Tech, Turner said she took matters into her own hands, creating a video in which she wrote out her authentic social media handle by hand.

“I made that video, and I just keep reposting

it on my story and on my Facebook so that people aren’t falling for it,” she said. “That’s been really helpful.”

But, she added, “We have over 8,000 followers, so not everyone has seen the video. Unfortunately, the scam is still ongoing.”

To respond to the number of ticket scam incidents, Theatre Three similarly released a statement on its website condemning thirdparty ticket vendors. “The only place to buy tickets from us should be www.theatrethree. com,” Quattrock said.

Still, he encouraged patrons to remain on guard for potentially inflated ticket prices and to approach online transactions cautiously. For those who may suspect a ticketing scam, he implored them to call the theater directly before completing the transaction.

“If it looks suspicious to you, just call the theater and verify that they’re on the right website,” he said.

As online fraud persists throughout the local area, businesses and customers are not without recourse. Nikiforakis indicates that awareness of the typical social engineering strategies can help users protect themselves from participating in online scams.

“There are standard social engineering tactics, such as giving the victim a sense of urgency or taking advantage of their appeal to authority,” he said. “For both patrons and companies, by actively resisting this, you can slow down and potentially defend yourself against an attack.”

“There are standard social engineering tactics, such as giving the victim a sense of urgency or taking advantage of their appeal to authority.”

— NICK NIKIFORAKIS

Pixabay photo

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Senior Data Analyst, Sales & Marketing (Hauppauge, NY)

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WE’REHIRING! TECHNICALMANAGER

Thesuccessfulcandidatewillbe avitalmemberoftheProduction DepartmentattheStallerCenter fortheArts,reportingtothe ProductionManager.TheTechnicalManagerwilldirectlyoperateandoverseetheatrical equipment,events,andproductionrequirementsintheMain Stage(1000+seatconcerthall/ prosceniumtheater),Recital Hall(375+seatconcertvenue), andthePaulW.ZuccaireGallery.

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WE’RE HIRING! TECHNICAL MANAGER

The successful candidate will be a vital member of the Production Department at the Staller Center for the Arts, reporting to the Production Manager. The Technical Manager will directly operate and oversee theatrical equipment, events, and production requirements in the Main Stage (1000+ seat concert hall/proscenium theater), Recital Hall (375+ seat concert venue), and the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery.

Bachelor’s Degree (foreign equivalent or higher). In lieu of a Bachelor’s degree, an Associate’s Degree (foreign equivalent or higher) and two (2) years of work experience in performing arts may be considered. Two (2)

in Theater. Three or more years of work experience in performing arts. Experience managing student and professional stagehands. Comprehensive understanding and performance operation of current theatrical systems and programs.

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Choose community choice: It’s sound economics

Community choice aggregation is a nationwide revolution in energy procurement with transformational implications for Long Island.

The benefits of CCA are threefold. It offers ratepayers an avenue for lower energy costs. It introduces competition into the energy marketplace, incentivizing public utilities to deliver a better product. And it places entire communities down a path toward 100% renewable energy.

The popular fiction is that fossil fuels are cheaper and more efficient than their expensive and immature renewable counterparts. CCA proponents challenge this thinking, stipulating that renewables can outperform fossil fuels with the proper economic structure, a structure supporting energy consumers instead of suppliers.

Classical economics indicates that one company controlling the entire supply of a given commodity constitutes a monopoly. Since the Industrial Revolution, vertically integrated utilities have exercised exclusive control over the supply of energy, setting prices arbitrarily and controlling the market at will.

CCA seeks to flip this dynamic on its head, introducing competition into the energy market using the bulk-buying power of a community of people. Though they are opted in automatically, ratepayers can opt out at any time at no expense. More importantly, CCA gives municipalities a choice over the energy source, with the option to select renewables over fossil fuels.

Competitors’ cheaper, greener power may incentivize utility companies to deliver a better product. If consumers want affordable and renewable energy, the utility’s rational choice would be to invest heavily in renewables and reduce rates. Competition spurs innovation and growth, benefiting all parties.

Here at TBR News Media, we hold that local governments must be highly active and potent and challenge the centralized bureaucracies in Albany and Washington when those fail to deliver meaningful results for our communities. For too long, state-regulated utilities have not done enough to counteract the effects of climate change.

A U.S. Energy Information Administration report notes, “In 2021, renewable sources and nuclear power, together, supplied 54% of New York’s total in-state generation from utility-scale and small-scale facilities.” For New York state to reach its energy goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the report indicates that figure must climb to 70% by 2030.

To meet this task, local governments must do their part, negotiating on behalf of their residents for 100% renewable energy. CCA offers our local officials the means to fulfill this end.

The Town of Brookhaven recently instituted a CCA program for a two-year fixed rate on natural gas prices. Given the volatility of today’s international gas markets, Brookhaven’s program has potential cost benefits.

However, the town has only dipped its toe into the greater CCA dialogue. A gas-exclusive program offers merely the financial rewards of the CCA model without the reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We encourage Brookhaven leaders to study the Town of Southampton’s model, where electricity may soon be procured from 100% renewable sources.

In the meantime, other municipalities should take a close look at CCA. The portside Village of Port Jefferson — already grappling with the hazardous effects of coastal erosion and worsening flooding — could send a strong message by joining this effort. Other municipalities, such as the towns of Smithtown and Huntington, could do so as well.

CCA is a cost-effective, market-friendly and environmentally sustainable policy. For residents and the natural environment, it is time for all our local leaders to take it seriously.

Letters to the Editor

Democratic policies and pols bleeding NYS dry

Right after the personal political interests of New York state’s most powerful elected Democrats, the rest of us come “first.” Too harsh? Ask yourself if any of today’s top Dem “leaders,” along with their downballot groupies, have publicly argued against the failed policies largely responsible for NY’s last three major crises.

New Yorkers have suffered through a catastrophically mismanaged pandemic, a huge spike in violent crime and now a flood of illegal migrants. The first two came while the state was under single-party Dem rule, while the border “surge” came right after President Joe Biden [D] was sworn in.

No worries if you’re having trouble recalling Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] forcefully addressing any of these calamities as lieutenant governor or governor. She did nothing memorable or consequential. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer [D], who holed up in D.C. while senior living facilities were recording hundreds of COVID-19 deaths and NYPD officers were being attacked within blocks of his Brooklyn office, has remained MIA. Newly installed Brooklynite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY8] has mirrored Chuck’s 0 for 3 on the crises. Former NRA favorite Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D], who notably bragged about sleeping with a gun under her bed, has remained typically invisible and thus consistently inconsequential.

But what would you expect from a political crew whose party’s programs have been widely responsible for the Empire State’s dramatic downturn. Albany’s deadly push to fill nursing homes with COVID patients along with criminal-friendly cashless bail “reforms” have proved disastrous. And now a wide-open southern border is taking its toll on New Yorkers.

After Dem politicians proudly declared the Empire State a sanctuary, New York City alone has been flooded with almost 50,000 illegal immigrants,

creating problems we’re not prepared to solve. Those would include infrastructure overload, violent cartels peddling deadly fentanyl, a further decline in our quality of life and a financial burden amounting to billions of dollars we do not have.

A clear symptom of the contempt our state’s “ruling class” has for its tax-paying citizens was highlighted when we learned that border crashers wound up in 4-star Manhattan hotels on the public dime, while hardworking New York families struggle to make ends meet.

This upside down, backward and failed governing approach taken by NY’s Democratic politicians has not gone unnoticed by hundreds of thousands of now-former residents. Numbers released by the Census Bureau, using data representing the two years since the beginning of the pandemic, shows our state has lost over a half-million people.

In spite of discredited political schemes, our shrinking population and even the surprising 2022 GOP gains flipping the House, there’s no indication Hochul, Schumer, Jeffries and Gillibrand, along with their party sycophants, have any plans to stop bleeding New York state dry.

That’s because, right after these woke, elitist, political masterminds, the rest of us come “first.”

Jim Soviero East Setauket

Open letter from Councilman Cook

I want to take this time to thank you for the privilege of serving the Town of Huntington and to inform you that I will not be running for reelection, after completing my three four-year terms in office.

As you may recall, in January 2018, I sponsored a resolution for term limits. This resolution passed, 4-1, and limits the supervisor, council members, town clerk, highway superintendent and receiver of taxes to three four-year terms. I am a firm

believer that our forefathers wanted us to serve our community and then return to our life’s work.

I have been approached by the residents of Huntington to reconsider running, since I legally can, as term limits were enacted after I was in office. Unfortunately, I will not be running. Just because legally I can, it does not make it right. I believe it would be hypocritical if I were not to stand by my beliefs of the advantages of term limits. In this day, where we are all tired of hearing of the hypocrisy in politics, I hold myself accountable to do what is right.

My time serving the Town of Huntington has been the highlight of my life. I have had a great fortune to meet and work with so many wonderful people that make Huntington the vibrant, caring community that it is. I have learned so much from the diverse culture that the town hosts, and am grateful for all the community members who have allowed me the honor of sharing those moments with them. I will also cherish every town employee who has worked hard and has shown the passion they have for their community.

Many people believe the Town Board members are the leaders of Huntington, but I know the true leaders and heroes are the first responders, community organizations, nonprofits and the volunteers who work tirelessly for the underprivileged and children of the community.

Once again, I want to thank you for allowing me to serve as your councilman. Although I am leaving the town government at the end of my term, I am not closing the door. Please know that I am an active member of the community, and will always have your best interests at heart.

Thank you.

Eugene Cook Huntington Town Councilman

Chores I’d like an artificial intelligence to tackle for me

I’m really writing this. Or am I?

Now that I’ve seen artificial intelligence in action, I know that the system, such as it is, can write impressive pieces in much shorter time than it takes me to write a column or even this sentence.

Grocery shopping: I’m sure I get similar foods each week. Maybe my AI system could not only buy the necessary and desired food items, but perhaps it could reduce the ones that are unhealthy or offer new recipes that satisfy my food preferences.

Dishes: I’m not looking for a robot akin to “The Jetsons,” but would love to have a system that removed the dirt and food from my dishes, put them in the dishwasher, washed them and then put them away. An enhanced system also might notice when a dish wasn’t clean and would give that dish another wash.

over-the-counter supplies, such as band-aids. Perhaps it could also pick out new birthday and greeting cards that expressed particular sentiments in funny yet tasteful ways for friends and family who are celebrating milestone birthdays or are living through other joyful or challenging times.

Still, it’d be helpful to have an AI system that recognizes these regular needs and coordinates an optimal time (given my schedule and the time it’ll take to travel to and from these events) to ensure I don’t miss an appointment and to minimize the effort necessary.

For the inconveniences, an AI system would help by:

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

And yet, I don’t want a machine to write for me or to reach out to you. I prefer the letter by letter, word by word approach I take and would like to think I earn the smile, frown or anything in between I put on your face as a result of the thinking and living I’ve done. However, I do see opportunities for AI to become the equivalent of a personal assistant, taking care of needed conveniences and reducing inconveniences. For conveniences, how about if AI did the following:

Laundry: Okay, I’ll admit it. I enjoy folding warm laundry, particularly in the winter, when my cold hands are starting to crack from being dry. Still, it would save time and energy to have a laundry system that washed my clothes, folded them and put them away, preferably so that I could see and access my preferred clothing.

Pharmacy: I know this is kind of dangerous when it comes to prescriptions, but it’d be helpful to have a system that replenished basic,

Staying on hold: At some point, we’ve all waited endlessly on hold for some company to pick up the phone to speak to us about changing our flights, scheduling a special dinner reservation or speaking with someone about the unusual noise our car makes. Those “on hold” calls, with their incessant chatter or their nonstop hold music, can be exasperating. An AI system that waited patiently, without complaint or frustration and that handed me the phone the moment a person picked up the call, would be a huge plus.

Optimize necessary updates: Car inspections, annual physicals, oil changes, and trips to the vet can and do go on a calendar.

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Send reminders to our children: Life is full of balances, right? Too much or too little of something is unhealthy. These days, we sometimes have to write or text our kids several times before we get to speak with them live. An AI system might send them a casual, but loving, reminder that their not-so-casual but loving parents would like to speak with them live.

Provide a test audience: In our heads, we have the impulse to share something funny, daring or challenging, like, “hey, did you get dressed in the dark” or “wow, it must be laundry day.” Sure, that might be funny, but an AI system designed to appreciate humor in the moment — and to have an awareness of our audience — might protect us from ourselves. Funny can be good and endearing, but can also annoy.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

There is something new, and I hope you will find exciting, in this issue of the newspaper. If you will look at the advertisement for Elegant Eating on page 9 for those of you that get The Times of Smithtown or the back cover for The Village Times Herald, you will see a QR code within the border of the ad. Run your mobile phone camera over the code, and it will open up to a 30-second video.

The new addition, in effect, turns the flat, two-dimensional print ad into a talking motion picture, however briefly. This gives significantly extra punch

to the ad. It’s also fun for the reader.

We will repeat this for the other four newspapers, The Times of Huntington & Northport, The Village Beacon Record, The Times of Middle Country and The Port Times Record next week.

We can, of course, offer the same process for news stories. An article about someone newsworthy can carry a QR code that then permits a live viewing of that person speaking to the viewer.

For now, we will concentrate on providing this service to advertisers, refining the process as we go along. And we have priced this offering accordingly to allow many business people to afford coming aboard.

In addition to viewing the short on a mobile phone, the video will also run on the home page of our TBRnewsmedia website under the banner, “Video spotlight on

business.” Our website has approximately 150,000 viewers per month. Further, the advertisers can add the video to their own web page if they would like. Advertisers should check with their sales reps for more information and to get started.

In adding this new feature, we hope to have a meaningful interaction between print and the web. Print, of course, is being challenged as digital news and advertising have lessened to some extent the dominance of print. With this new service, it is our intention to bring the best of both worlds to the advertising side and also the news side of our media output.

The value of print, with its responsibility for vetting and fact checking both stories and ads, cannot be overstated in this present climate of enormous misinformation on the web. In bringing print to the web, and the benefits of the web to print, we hope to

engage our readers further and serve our local communities. We also hope, by being innovative, to help our bottom line.

We know communities need local news outlets to inform and protect them, as well as to hold a mirror up to record their daily lives and achievements. Towns where newspapers have failed in the last decade are now referred to as news deserts and have suffered for their loss. Ill-considered developments, poorly sited landfills and unfortunate actions by unworthy local government officials have been only some of the consequences, with no strong voice to give outcry on behalf of the people. Many energetic journalists have been thrown out of work. We believe the key to survival in this age is to embrace change and join with its best aspects.

Hence our latest enhancement for you.

Sandi Gross

We

Beth Heller Mason

PRODUCTION

Janet Fortuna

Sharon Nicholson

Sheila Murray

MANAGER

Courtney Biondo INTERNET STRATEGY DIRECTOR

D. None of the above

Here’s

SUNDAY 04/09/23

SEATINGS EVERY HALF HOUR

10:30AM TO 2:30PM

Adults $79.95 plus tax

Children (ages 3 to 10) $39.95 plus tax

Menu includes breakfast display, kid’s corner, carving board, shrimp bar, entrée selections, dessert & more!

SCAN CODE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS