Home Village Times Herald

Editorial: Congrats and concerns

by TBR Staff - November 5, 2021

0 143

Errol-Toulon_Rick-Schaffer_110221_ritajegan — Rich Schaffer, head of the Suffolk County Democratic Committee, congratulates Errol Toulon Jr. on his win. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Tuesday was a busy night where candidates across Long Island came together to wait for the 2021 election results.

TBR News Media spent the last month interviewing local officials and their opponents on the ballots, listening and reporting on what they can bring to the table if reelected or elected.

We congratulate the winners of this year’s races, and we are looking forward to working alongside them.

But there is one thing that concerned us as our reporters waited to hear the announcements of both parties late Tuesday night.

Several candidates did not actively campaign this time around, including for example William Amato who ran on the Republican ticket against Errol Toulon Jr. (D) for his seat as the Suffolk County sheriff.

Toulon, who has been county sheriff since 2017, was declared winner with 141,931 votes (54.30%). Amato somehow came close with 119,357 (45.67%).

Interesting for someone who never showed his face at any debate or public outing.

It seems as though voters just went down the row for whatever party they chose. Did anyone take the time out to research which candidate would actually be there for their constituents?

We know that this speaks more of what’s going on in the nation than about the candidates themselves. We understand the political divide and we don’t blame anyone for their beliefs.

But it’s disappointing to think that someone who had no intention of actively being there throughout the campaign could have won such an important position.

Would Amato have been ready to serve if he had won those extra few thousand votes?

We encourage voters to do their part — submitting a ballot is just part of it. Read your local news, listen to debates and educate yourselves on what is going on in your community. Instead of voting for someone who may not actually be qualified, it’s important to understand who’s behind the name and what they can bring to the table.

Remember, if you don’t like your choices in a race, you don’t have to vote for anyone in that column on your ballot. Send a message to local political committees that asks for strong candidates who are ready to serve, instead of rubber stamping someone who just happens to belong to the same party as you.

Elected officials have difficult work to do, and if someone isn’t showing up when it comes time to campaign, that’s not a good sign.

The Reboli Center ‘Celebrates the Season’ with new holiday exhibit

by Press Release - November 5, 2021

0 169

1 of 8

The Reboli Center for Art and History in Stony Brook presents its winter holiday exhibit, “Celebrate the Season,” from Nov. 4 through Jan. 23, 2022.

The show will feature the artwork of a variety of artists, including paintings by the late artist, Joseph Reboli, the Setauket-based artist for whom the Center is named.

Participating artists include Mireille Bellajonas, Lucille Betti-Nash, Grainne de Buitlear, Al Candia, Donna Crinnian, Julie Doczi, David Ebner, Pamela Herbst, Tyler Hughes, Melissa Imossi, Joanne Liff, John Mansueto, Esther Marie, Jim Molloy, Dan O’Sullivan, Vicki Sawyer, Gia Schifano, Carl Siege, Jodi Stills, Angela Stratton, Mike Stanko, Ty Stroudsberg, Joseph Reboli, Doug Reina, Corinne Tousey, Hal Usher, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Marlene Weinstein, Charles Wildbank, and Patricia Yantz.

“We are thrilled to have so many Long Island artists in the show,” said Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center.

In addition, the Reboli Center’s Design Shop will once again be the envy of Santa’s workshop as it is decorated for the holidays and filled with beautiful and handcrafted gifts for people of all ages. In the seasonally-festive shop, you will find jewelry, felted ornaments, artisan crafts, art books, children’s toys, scarves, mittens, hats, prints and more. Reboli gift certificates are also available in any denomination. Free gift wrapping is available while you enjoy the holiday spirit at the Center.

The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook, and is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 to 5pm. Admission is free. For more information, please call 631-751-7707.

Be sure to visit the Center’s website at www.ReboliCenter.org for holiday hours, pop-up shops and special events.

Winners of Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s scarecrow contest announced

by Heidi Sutton - November 5, 2021

0 149

1 of 10

The winners of Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s annual Scarecrow Competition were announced at its 31st annual Halloween Festival on Oct. 29. Over 35 scarecrows were displayed throughout the Stony Brook Village Center during the month of October as visitors voted for their favorites. First place winners won a gift certificate for $250, second place winners received a gift certificate for $150 and third place winners received a gift certificate for $50.

Congratulations to the following winners:

Category A- Professional

1st Place – ‘The Groomery’ by The Groomery in Lake Grove

2nd Place – ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Emma S. Clark Memorial Library

Category B – Adult and Family

1st Place – ‘Oscar the Grouch’ by SCO Family of Services

2nd Place – ‘Nurse Sunny Brook’ by the Ferber Family

3rd Place – ‘Oogie Boogie’ by Sandra Skinner

Category C – Children

1st Place – ‘Spooktacular’ by Brownie Troop 1525

2nd Place – ‘Zombie Lacrosse Player’ by 3 Village Lacrosse

3rd Place – ‘Princess Penny’ by Laurel Hill School

Photos by Heidi Sutton

Mirabelle Restaurant extends outdoor dining with heated igloos

by Press Release - November 5, 2021

0 399

1 of 6

Mirabelle Restaurant and Tavern at the Three Village Inn, 150 Main Street, Stony Brook has launched two exclusive igloos for private outdoor experiences for the fall/winter season. The heated igloos, Guy-Gloo and Noir, each feature their own theme and are decorated with twinkling lights, cozy seating and seasonal décor.

Igloos maybe be reserved for 2 hours for 6 people maximum for $150. The cost includes a chilled bottle of prosecco and an exclusive server for the 2 hour duration. The full Mirabelle menu is available for purchase in the igloo which are are sanitized every two hours after each party exits.

Igloos are available Wednesday to Sunday starting Nov. 10 and reservations may be made now by calling 631-751-0555.

Bethel AME Church in E. Setauket offers Harvest Home Dinners

by TBR Staff - November 4, 2021

0 122

Bethel AME Church, 33 Christian Ave., E. Setauket presents its world famous Harvest Home Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. PICK UP ONLY. Menu includes fried turkey, roast beef, collard greens, string beans, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn bread, roll and dessert.

Donation of $20 adult, $10 child. Pre-orders only by visiting https://bit.ly/HarvestHomeDinner by Nov. 8. For more information, call 631-751-4140.

D. None of the Above: Nine years later, New York isn’t ready for another Sandy

by Daniel Dunaief - November 4, 2021

0 102

downtown-PJ-flooding-hurricane-sandy — Downtown Port Jefferson flooded during Superstorm Sandy. File photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Nine years ago, Superstorm Sandy came roaring through the area, causing flooding, knocking out power and disrupting work and school.

All these years later, New York is not prepared for other significant storms, despite studies suggesting that future, slow moving hurricanes with heavy rain could overwhelm infrastructure in and around Long Island.

“While we have dithered, New Orleans, Houston and other U.S. cities have gained federal support for regional protection strategies — which will be funded with our tax dollars,” according to an information packet created by the New York New Jersey Storm Surge Working Group. “We can’t waste another decade pursuing local responses to regional threats.”

In a ninth anniversary boat tour designed to address the challenges from a future Sandy or even a Hurricane Ida, the working group, which is chaired by School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University Malcolm Bowman, outlined four messages.

First, the group suggested that coastal flooding presented a significant danger. Storm surge, sea level rise and storm water from extreme rain present an “existential threat” to the area.

Second, the group concluded that coastal flooding is a regional challenge that requires a regional solution. These scientists urge the two middle Atlantic states to consider creating a layered defense system, which they argue would be cost effective to protect property and the environment.

Third, and perhaps most damaging, the group concludes that the area is as vulnerable now as it was nine years ago in the days before Hurricane Sandy arrived. The group wrote that “no regional costal resilience plan” is in place to protect over 1,000 miles of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan coastline.

Fourth, the changing political climate presents an opportunity to do something. The group highlighted how a new governor of New York, the start of a new term or releected governor in New Jersey, a new mayor of New York City and the restarting of the $20 million New York and New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Focus Area Feasibility Study, or HATS, presents a “once in a lifetime opportunity to act now to address the existential threat of costal flooding with a regional coastline resilience system that meets our social justice, environmental justice, quality of life and economic development goals.”

Bowman urged New York and New Jersey residents to consider the progress other states and countries have made.

“Houston is going ahead,” Bowman said, even while New York hasn’t taken any significant steps.

Bowman said part of the challenge in creating any change that protects the area comes from the lack of any enduring focus on a vulnerability that isn’t evident to residents on a daily basis.

“People have short memories,” Bowman said. “It’s not on their minds” even if they endured the disruption and devastation from storms like Sandy and Ida.

Necessity and the lack of deep pockets in other countries is the mother of invention.

“A lot of countries can’t afford” to rebuild the way New York and New Jersey did after Hurricane Sandy,” Bowman said. “They are forced to be more careful.”

Bowman said any major project to protect the area needs a hero who can tackle the details, navigate through the politics and execute on viable ideas.

The late Daniel Patrick Moynihan had “that kind of charisma,” Bowman said. “We need somebody who everybody sees as the hero. I don’t see that person” at this point.

For New York and New Jersey, the longer time passes without any protective measures, “the more the danger will increase,” Bowman cautioned.

Between You and Me: Connecting the dots from shots in Dallas, Vietnam and into our arms

by Leah Dunaief - November 4, 2021

0 98

john-f-kennedy-63162_1920 — Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Elections have ended and the newly elected and reelected officials are going to have to cope with a disturbing fact: people don’t trust government. This change in attitude has been a long time coming. It didn’t just happen suddenly. I know, I have lived through the change.

Trust started to fall apart with the Vietnam War. Maybe it even started earlier than that, with the assassination of President Kennedy. I was in my early 20s then, just graduated from college, newly married, in my dream job, looking forward to an unbounded future filled with joyful events. The nation was at peace, there was a young and vigorous president talking about making life better with civil rights legislation, women were speaking up for themselves, it was a hopeful time.

Friday afternoon, a sunny day, business lunch in a midtown Manhattan restaurant with a television on over the bar in the distance, a movie playing about a president who had been shot in the head. But wait. Wait! It wasn’t a movie, it was a news broadcast from Dallas interrupting the regular programming, it was our president, everyone standing up, crying, paying their checks, rushing back to their offices, trying to deal with the unthinkable.

How could this happen? How could Secret Service let this happen? In our country! A president, the President of the United States, could not be protected! Our bubble of safety was bursting, slowly, excruciatingly. Lee Harvey Oswald shot on television while under arrest. In what could you trust?

Who killed Kennedy? All kinds of conspiracy theories, the Warren Commission, an end but never a certainty. Was the government lying to us? Was there a cover-up?

Next came the Vietnam War. First only “advisors,” then military, then body counts, always more Viet Cong than Americans lay on the battlefields. Promises of progress and victory by the government, as casualties and numbers drafted rose. This even as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara privately expressed doubts of victory as early as 1966. But President Johnson was afraid of losing the 1968 election should the United States withdraw. Instead we lost thousands of young men, all of which eventually was revealed to the public. Protests were the order of the day, and more violence, including the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy and the chaos at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. What’s happening to the nation’s authority figures?

We rolled right into Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. Our President accused of being a liar and a crook. What’s left to believe in? President Jimmy Carter held hostage by the Iranians, the Iran-Contra deception of Ronald Reagan’s second term, Bill Clinton making Monica Lewinsky a household name around the globe. Then the Weapons of Mass Destruction lies by the senior administration officials manipulating us into the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Whom to believe?

Whom to trust? Each lie, each governmental deception blew away more trust, leading to the climax: the disbelief in the COVID-19 vaccine. Even when ex-President Donald Trump urged his audience to get vaccinated on Aug. 21, in Cullman, Alabama, one of the areas struggling to cope with COVID cases and hospitalization, he was booed. “But I recommend take the vaccines,” Trump said. “I did it. It’s good. Take the vaccines.” After that experience, he hasn’t again mentioned vaccination at a rally. But the reaction wasn’t partisan. They were, like Trump, all Republicans who had come to hear him, It was symptomatic of the larger distrust in government.

I was in my early teens when I received the polio vaccination. Polio was a dreaded disease by parents the world over, more so as I remember, than COVID-19. Like today, we were discouraged from assembling in groups or joining crowds. The virus attacks the brain and spinal cord, leaving paralysis and even causing death. When Jonas Salk and his colleagues created the vaccine, we all lined up to take the shot. It was the Eisenhower years. We believed our president.

Those vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world. That’s what approved vaccinations can do.

WMHO’s Halloween Festival draws hundreds to Stony Brook Village Center

by Heidi Sutton - November 4, 2021

0 98

1 of 41

By Heidi Sutton

Parking spaces were a hot commodity at the Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s 31st annual Halloween Festival on Oct. 29. The spooktacular event, which took place at the picturesque Stony Brook Village Center, attracted hundreds of families who spent the afternoon trick-or-treating at the many shops and restaurants, playing games, and dancing to the Monster Mash, courtesy of WALK 97.5.

One of the highlights of the festival was a Halloween parade throughout the center led by the 12-foot-tall Monster Merlin who took photos with visitors throughout the day. The winners of the annual Scarecrow Competition were also announced. (Visit www.tbrnewsmedia.com for winners)

“It’s so wonderful to see everybody together again,” said Gloria Rocchio, WMHO president.

The fun event was sponsored by Suffolk Center for Speech and Myofunctional Therapy, the RJG Consulting Group, Dr. Robert Quilty and Gold Fish Swim School.

Up next for the WMHO is its 42nd annual Holiday Festival on Dec. 5 and the annual Holiday Tree Competition from Dec. 5 to 20. For more information, visit www.wmho.org.

Suozzi has big decision to make

by Rita J. Egan - November 4, 2021

0 106

During a virtual press conference Nov. 4, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY3) said he has a lot to think about before the end of the month.

Suozzi said he has been seriously considering running for New York governor in 2022, but he said he will not make a decision until the end of November.

“I’d love to be the governor of New York State, and I think I’ve got a great record of accomplishment,” he said. “I think I’d be great at the job. I have a vision for the state of New York. I know what needs to be done.”

Over the next few weeks he will meet with political consultants to determine if he has a good chance of winning. He added he believes he could win a general election but he wasn’t sure about a Democratic primary.

To date, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Attorney General Leticia James and New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams have stated their intentions to run in the Democratic primary in June of 2022.

Local doctors welcome imminent COVID-19 vaccination for younger children

by Daniel Dunaief - November 3, 2021

0 69

Local health care providers were eager to start administering doses of COVID-19 vaccines to children who are 5 to 11 years old, which they can now do after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the shots for children late Tuesday night.

“We definitely saw more cases [of COVID-19] in children after school started this year,” said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “We’d like to prevent that.”

Health care providers would also like to stop household transmission, in which a member of a home spreads the virus to everyone else with whom that person lives.

“Children usually get milder forms of COVID, but they can transmit disease to people around them,” Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital, explained in an email. “It is not unusual for children to bring COVID in the home and then household members to be exposed and get COVID, especially if they are unvaccinated and immunocompromised.”

In considering whether parents should get shots for their children, doctors urged parents to speak with their family pediatricians.

“They are the experts in your child’s care,” Nachman said. “They’ll have the most insight into who your kid is.”

Pfizer BioNTech said the vaccines, which were a third of the dose of an adult shot, were over 90% effective against symptomatic COVID-19.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for vaccines for this age group.

“Authorization of the vaccine for younger children is an important step in keeping them healthy and providing their families with peace of mind,” Dr. Lee Savio Beers, president of the group, said in a statement. “The vaccine will make it safe for children to visit friends and family members, celebrate holiday gatherings, and to resume the normal childhood activities that they’ve missed during the pandemic.”

Doctors urged parents with children who have underlying cardiac or respiratory issues to give serious consideration to vaccinations that could prevent the spread of a virus that could be especially problematic for their children.

“Someone with underlying cardiac issues, if they were to get COVID-19, would have increased risk of poor outcomes,” Nachman said. “They should be prioritized. Waiting to get COVID is not a good idea.”

The same holds true for children with asthma, who could develop more problematic symptoms from contracting the virus, Nachman said.

While the doses for children will be lower, the immune system of younger people is more reactive than that for adults, which is why pharmaceutical companies tested a lower dose in their clinical trials.

Even with the smaller volume of the vaccine, “children will still not have waning immunity,” Nachman said. “It will be just as effective” as the higher dose for adults.

Besides having more reactive and resilient immune systems, healthy children also will likely have milder side effects from the vaccine because of the lower dosage.

To be sure, every child who is in this age range and becomes eligible for the shot shouldn’t immediately receive the vaccination.

The clinical trials didn’t include children with cancer or with other immunological difficulties.

“We did not enroll [children with those conditions] in clinical trials,” so it would be difficult to know how effective the vaccine would be for them, Nachman said.

Down the road, vaccinating a classroom of children in this age category could lead to a reduction in the current restrictions designed to protect the health of students and their educators.

“It’s too soon to say the next steps,” Nachman said, which could include learning without masks. Further information about the spread of the virus after vaccinations would inform future guidelines.

Popp added that booster needs for children in the future is also unknown.

“Data will be gathered and [officials] will see if this will become necessary,” Popp said.

Prev 1...206207208...619 Next

Page 207 of 619