The Village Beacon Record - January 19, 2023

Photo by Raymond Janis

Kevin LaValle elected as Brookhaven town clerk

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace Pole erected at Mount Sinai Congregational Church

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Corridor of Peace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conflict abroad

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

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

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

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

Finding peace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— TOM LYON

Eye on the Street: Reflections on 2022

BY CAROLYN SACKSTEIN DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

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

Paul and Gerri

Havran, St. James

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

Corinne Minor, Selden

Ashley Smith, St. James

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

Brooklyn

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

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

Chuck

Manorville

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

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

Sullivan,

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

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

Keith, Lauren and Christine Kmiotek,

Sara Jackson, Selden

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

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

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

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

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

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

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

Urgency

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reaching out

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

members, friends and neighbors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Someone with a substance use disorder

typically receives no phone calls after an emergency room visit.

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

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

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

CASJ is receiving $1.5 million from the opioid settlement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A comprehensive list

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police:

Mount Sinai massage parlor raided Suffolk County Police arrested a Flushing woman on Jan 17 for alleged unlawful practice of a profession during a massage parlor raid in Mount Sinai. In response to community and quality of life complaints, Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers and the Town of Brookhaven Fire Marshal and Building Inspector conducted an investigation into New Blue Sea Relaxing Spa, located at 331 Route 25A, at approximately 4 p.m. Following an investigation, Lan Li, 35, was charged with Unauthorized Practice of a Profession. She was released on a Desk Appearance Ticket and is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip on a later date.

Wanted for Selden Petit Larceny

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

Wanted for Centereach Grand Larceny

Just released! Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the woman who allegedly used stolen credit cards in Setauket and Centereach last month. A wallet was allegedly stolen from Walmart, located at 161 Centereach Mall in Centereach, on Nov. 27 at approximately 6 p.m. A short time later, a woman allegedly used credit cards stolen from the wallet at Walmart, located at 3990 Nesconset Highway in East Setauket and Target, located at 235 Pond Path in South Setauket.

Farmingville woman injured in crash

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

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

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 woman? Photo from SCPD

Do you recognize this woman? Photo from SCPD

— COMPILED BY HEIDI SUTTON

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Wildcats trounce Warriors, 86-21

BY BILL LANDON DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

The Comsewogue Warriors had their hands full when the undefeated Wildcats of Shoreham-Wading River came knocking Friday, Jan. 13, in a Div. IV matchup.

did what she’s done all season. A long-range scoring threat, she drained three triples and two free throws for 11 points, and Hannah Ellis banked eight.

SPORTS

Looking to keep their perfect record intact, the Wildcats did just that. Their success hinged upon the senior quartet of Sophie Costello, GraceAnn Leonard, Colleen Ohrtman and Annie Sheehan, who put on a scoring fest to win the game, 86-21.

Comsewogue’s Jalynn Kirschenheuter

The win lifts SWR to 6-0 in league and 13-0 overall. The Wildcats now look to overtake Westhampton for the top spot in the division.

The Warriors — at 5-2 in league, 6-4 overall — were back in action Wednesday, Jan. 18, with a road game against Mount Sinai. The Wildcats retook the court Monday, Jan. 16, when they hosted Miller Place.

— Photos by Bill Landon

Pictured clockwise from above: Shoreham-Wading River senior Sophie Costello scores for the Wildcats; jump ball; senior Annie Sheehan drives to the basket for the Wildcats; and junior Juliana Mahan scores for the Wildcats.

Clockwise from top-left: Shoreham-Wading River senior Annie Sheehan drives to the basket; senior Sophie Costello drives the lane for the Wildcats; Shoreham-Wading River senior Colleen Ohrtman nails a triple; and senior GraceAnn Leonard lays up for two in a road game against Comsewogue.

Harry Randall: farmer, firefighter and lifelong community servant

PREPARED BY KAREN ABRAMOWSKI DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A lifetime resident of Mount Sinai, Harry W. Randall passed away on Nov. 13. He was 86 years old.

OBITUARY

He is survived by his wife, Florence, of 65 years of marriage; his three children, John (Liz) Randall, Karen (David) Abramowski and Anne (Joseph) Tacopina; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Harry’s family had operated Randall Farms on North Country Road in Mount Sinai since the 1800s. His grandfather, Forrest B. Randall, built the farms. Many family members worked there. They learned important skills, played and loved the animals. Bailing hay, milking cows and cleaning stalls were rewarded with ice skating, chocolate milk and horseback riding, to name a few.

Harry joined the Mount Sinai Fire Department

as a young man. He was an exchief and ex-commissioner of the department with 70 years of service. When the siren would ring, he and other members would run. Being there for your community was critical, and a fire meant somebody was in trouble. It was a time when everybody looked out for each other with a sense of pride to be able to help. He could be seen cooking pancakes at the breakfasts and fundraising through different events held each

year to unite community members. He was a lifelong member of the Mount Sinai Congregational Church, where he sang in the choir. You could find him there volunteering for the annual chicken barbecue, working with youth groups, driving a tractor pulling a hay wagon full of carolers at Christmas time through all the local communities.

He was head of many committees and president of Seaview Cemetery, Mount Sinai.

After the farm was sold,

he worked as superintendent of grounds and maintenance at the Mount Sinai School District until retirement. In honor of his dedication to the schools, the Mount Sinai High School football field was named Randall Field.

Harry was also a member of the Miller PlaceMount Sinai Historical Society. You could find him at the William Miller House in Miller Place, in the barn, teaching kids on field trips about farming in the past. He loved history and telling stories of how things used to be.

He also served on the board of the Long Island Farm Bureau and was a member of the Moose Lodge in Mount Sinai.

Harry also had a great love of water. When he could find time, mainly on Sunday afternoons, you could find him splashing and laughing at the beach. His community involvement, love of people, stories and laughter revealed a full and wonderful life.

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Harry H. Randall

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EditorialArt is an antidote for a COVID-shaken world

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letters to the Editor

Not only Santos economical with the truth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

George Altemose Setauket

Port Jefferson LIRR electrification has no juice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Larry Penner Great Neck

No electric car for me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I’ll stay with my gasoline-powered car.

Mark Sertoff East Northport

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

Snapshots of life through the decades

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

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

First decade:

Biggest worry: finding parents.

Second decade:

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

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

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

Favorite sport to play: baseball

those unsuccessful dates still bring a smile to my face.

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

Favorite sport to play: volleyball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

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

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

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

water. Hooray for independent swimming.

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

Favorite food: fresh fish on vacations.

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

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

Biggest worry: helping steer kids in the right direction.

Sixth decade:

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

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

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

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

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

Favorite sport to play: basketball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

Biggest worry: Losing parents. Getting into college.

Third decade

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

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

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

Favorite sport to play: softball in Central Park.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Favorite sport to watch: baseball.

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

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

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

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

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

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

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

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

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

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

Rather than go deeper into this issue, I would

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

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

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

D. None of the above

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