TIMES HERALD The Village
Stony Brook • old Field • Strong’S neck • Setauket • eaSt Setauket • South Setauket • Poquot t July 23, 2015
Volume 40, No. 21
$1.00
Town board asks DEC for horseshoe crab ban By Erika karp
Going for the ultimate crown
also: Kittens galore at Save-a-Pet; ‘Reasons to Be Pretty’ in Northport; amber Ferrari at Theatre Three
Page B1
Night at the races
Patriots track and field hosts young locals to raise money for girls’ team
Page a9
The Brookhaven Town Board has officially backed Supervisor Ed Romaine’s push for a horseshoe crab harvesting ban at town parks and properties. At a meeting on July 16, councilmembers unanimously supported a resolution that requests the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation close North and South Shore parks and underwater lands to horseshoe crab harvesting and recommends strategies to reduce the harvesting. State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) also spoke at the meeting and threw in his support for the effort, as it would help protect the crab population — which, according to some reports, has decreased. “I support this resolution and encourage its passage and compliment the very fact that it has been initiated,” said Englebright, who chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation.
Photo by erika Karp
State assemblyman Steve englebright, right, and a local fisherman speak at a town Board meeting on thursday.
In May, Romaine (R) announced he would seek a horseshoe crab harvesting ban for areas within 500 feet of town-owned waterfront properties. Fishermen often use horseshoe crabs for bait, but the crabs are also used for medicinal purposes, as their
blue blood, which is worth an estimated $15,000 a quart, is used in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries to detect bacterial contamination in drugs and supplies. Advocates for the ban have said the crabs, whose species is about 450 million years old,
play a vital role in the ecosystem, as birds like the red knot eat the crabs’ eggs. Local parks covered within the town’s request include Port Jefferson Harbor; the western boundary of the Mount Sinai inlet; underwater lands CRaBS continued on page a6
Vineyard visit ends with tragedy By Phil corSo
A risky U-turn in Cutchogue has left the greater North Shore community directionless. A limousine filled with friends doing the right thing fell victim to a driver who was doing the wrong thing when Steven Romeo, 55, was driving his red pickup truck in Cutchogue allegedly under the influence of alcohol and collided with the limousine as it attempted to make a U-turn near the intersection of Depot Lane and County Route 48, killing four and injuring six, including Romeo, Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota said. Emergency responders reported four victims dead on arrival, including Smithtown’s CRaSH continued on page a2
From left, amy grabina, Brittney Schulman, lauren Baruch and Stephanie Belli.
Photos from Facebook