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Monthly Archives: April 2016

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Nicole Abbondandelo rounds the track in a previous meet. File photo from Huntington Athletics

It was a tough day for a meet, but the Huntington girls’ track and field team overcame last Saturday’s weather to turn in some solid performances at the Lindenhurst Relays.

Anna Gulizio leaps into the sand. File photo from Huntington Athletics
Anna Gulizio leaps into the sand. File photo from Huntington Athletics

“For the first time since 2013, we decided to open up the invite season at the Lindy Relays,” Huntington head coach Shawn Anderson said. “It was raining, windy and a tad cold. To be honest, the girls were a little apprehensive about competing, and performances were not exactly looking to be bests, primarily [due] to the weather. But, they competed very strongly, had some fun and took third overall, not far behind Bay Shore and Connetquot.”

Huntington’s highlights included Alexandra Koumas and Hadley Clayton combining for a time of two minutes, 25.9 seconds in the 2×400-meter hurdles. Koumas took second overall in 68.3 seconds. Clayton notched a personal-best time of 77.6 seconds.

The team of Anna Gulizio, Latoya Shand, Lexi Mills, and Nicole Abbondandelo took second overall in the sprint medley relay, with a time of 4:26.34. Rebecca Caballero, Mackenzie Joseph, Marina Ruzic, and Christie Reinersten ran a tough 4×200 race, fighting all the way to the line for third place in 1:58.47. Taking fifth in a time of 10:55.20 were Alexis Pastorelli, Alexandra McKenzie, Sophie Dellecave, and Niamh Condon in the 4×800.

Gulizio, Ruzic, Mills, Katie Seccafico, and Gulizio won the 4×400 relay in a time of 4:20.00.

Following the 4×400 win, a stacked distance medley relay team of Pastorelli, Shand, Koumas and Abbondandelo finished with a time of 13:12 to win by 22 seconds. Huntington’s “B” team of Condon, McKenzie, Dellecave and Clayton captured sixth place in 14:56.

Latoya Shand springs to the finish line. File photo from Huntington Athletics
Latoya Shand springs to the finish line. File photo from Huntington Athletics

The team of Erika Varady and Nicole Arenth took fifth overall in the race walk in 17:55.

Reinersten and Nicole Muzynski both cleared four feet and together combined for fifth overall in the high jump.

Blue Devils triple jumpers also performed. Caballero and Gulizio took first place with leaps measuring 63’8,’’ while Mills and Joseph were third with a combined effort of 58 feet.

“While some of our athletes had some individual bests, the weather really played havoc on the quality of performances,” Anderson said. “The meet just became one of competition and toughness, and our team proved to be able to rise to the occasion.”

Huntington is currently 2-0 in dual meet competition as the Blue Devils head into Thursday’s contest against West Islip. The meet at home is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

The team will also be competing in the Suffolk Coaches Meet on April 9 at Sachem North.

— Huntington Athletics

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The Lloyd Harbor house still stands after the fire. Photo from Steve Silverman

Five Huntington area fire departments worked together on Wednesday night to fight a fire that caused extensive damage to a home in Lloyd Harbor.

Fire fighters work to put out the flames of a Lloyd Harbor house fire. Photo from Steve Silverman
Fire fighters work to put out the flames of a Lloyd Harbor house fire. Photo from Steve Silverman

The Huntington Fire Department responded to a call at 8 p.m. for a residential structure fire on Seacrest Drive in the Lloyd Neck neighborhood of Lloyd Harbor that involved the house’s attached garage and second floor. The Halesite, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington Manor, Centerport and Greenlawn fire departments assisted the Huntington department About 85 firefighters used ten trucks to get the fire under control in two hours, under the command of Chief Jesse Cukro, supported by Assistant Chiefs Rob Conroy, Brian Keane and Scott Dodge.

Firefighters were able to stop the blaze and contain the damage to the center portion of the home. No residents were home at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Lloyd Harbor Police Department and Suffolk Police Arson Squad.

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A service dog presentation at MetLife Stadium this past year. Photo from Don McKay

The Northport Cow Harbor Warriors will be presenting a service dog to a 2005 Northport High School graduate and veteran this Saturday, April 9, at 7 p.m.

Hosted in partnership with the Cpl. Christopher G. Scherer Semper Fi Fund, the veteran, who served as a U.S. Marine during Operation Iraqi Freedom, will receive the dog at Napper Tandy’s Irish Pub in Northport as part of a fundraiser for the Cow Harbor Warriors Weekend.

The warriors weekend is an event hosted on Sept. 9 and 10, where wounded warriors and veterans in need, along their families, are invited to Northport for a weekend of recreation, celebration and appreciation.

“Service dogs are invaluable in helping our veterans adjust and adapt to life after war,” Don McKay, president of Cow Harbor Warriors said in a statement. “It’s simply incredible to witness the life-changing impact these dogs can have for our warriors.”

Live music will be provided by Common Ground, and raffle prizes include an inflatable stand-up paddle board, private charter sunset cruise, half-day bass fishing trip, a fun day on the water and more. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at www.cowharborwarriors.com for $40, with buffet, beer and wine.

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Guitarist Steve Salerno will make a special guest appearance at the concert. Photo from Peter Winkler

By Ellen Barcel

Guitarist Steve Salerno will make a special guest appearance at the concert. Photo from Peter Winkler
Guitarist Steve Salerno will make a special guest appearance at the concert. Photo from Peter Winkler

Le Petit Salon de Musique will present a concert titled Silken Rags with husband and wife duo, pianist Peter Winkler and violinist Dorothea Cook, on Sunday, April 10, at 2 p.m. Ed Mikell, of the salon, noted that Winkler, a Setauket resident, is “a well-known and respected music professor,” who recently retired from Stony Brook University.

Although Setauket residents now, both Winkler and his wife come from the West Coast. “I grew up in California,” he noted having attended UC Berkley for undergraduate work, Princeton for graduate school and Harvard as a postgraduate. “Then I came to Stony Brook and have been here ever since,” having joined the faculty in 1971.

“I taught at Stony Brook for 42 years. I was there when the music department was just getting going. Now it’s turned into a world class music department.”

Winkler and Cook met while teaching at a music camp, continuing a long-distance romance before marrying in the 1980s. “Dorothea was a native of Seattle, when there was a big bloom in music. Her father taught in high school. One of his students was Quincy Jones . . . she grew up around these famous musicians.” Winkler and Cook’s musical collaboration began in 1987 and continues to this day.

In demand as a professional violinist, Cook continues to teach violin — she maintains a private violin studio and conducts classes in Dalcroze Eurhythmics at Stony Brook.

Winkler is not only a performer but a music composer, having written a symphony in 1979. It was performed that year at the university and “just this past year the Stony Brook Symphony performed it again. I feel so lucky. I wrote for faculty and students … it’s a lovely situation for a composer to be in.” Winkler also wrote an opera, “Fox Fables,” which was also performed at Stony Brook. The piece was the 2011 Contemporary Americana Festival competition winner.

Peter Winkler and Dorothea Cook. Photo by Susan Dooley
Peter Winkler and Dorothea Cook. Photo by Susan Dooley

Winkler and Cook perform together as Silken Rags. Where does the name come from? “I was always interested in ragtime,” Winkler noted. “I was classically trained and in the ‘70s [when there was a resurgence in ragtime, especially with the film “The Sting”] started composing my own ragtime. We wanted a name that combined the earthiness of ragtime with the elegance of classical or salon music.”

Winkler added, “This might be the last time we do a whole concert by ourselves,” noting the amount of work needed to put together such a performance.  “We have performed at SBU a few times and (Cook) is active as a performer with the Stony Brook Baroque Ensemble. We’re members of the church [the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship] so we have also played for services there,” as well as special events such as the 1890s Fair.

The concert on Sunday will include “for the most part,” said Winkler, “my own compositions plus a few jazz standards.” How does Winkler describe his style? “Classical chamber music,” but, he added, “heavily influenced by folk and popular music. One reviewer called it ‘genre bending’ compositions.” Winker said, “Most of my music is inspired by my wife. In the jazz pieces [we perform] she does some improvisation, but the compositions are mostly mine.”

Another reviewer noted, “the music, for violin and piano, features the pair in rhythmically complex, harmonically rich music with influences extending from gospel and Caribbean to samba and tango — all performed here with remarkable flair and dash” (Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times).

Special guest performer at the upcoming concert will be guitarist Steve Salerno. “Steve is an amazingly versatile performer. He’s active in New York City and here [on Long Island] … He’s a world class performer, one of the top jazz performers, an extraordinary human being,” said Winkler adding, “I met him when he was a graduate student at Stony Brook University … a fine jazz guitarist, [he plays] classical, bluegrass, avant-garde — you name it and Steve will play it.”

Le Petit Salon de Musique, now in its sixth season bringing classical music to the community, is located at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 380 Nicolls Road, E. Setauket. The creator of Le Petit, Mikell, noted that “I enjoy bringing quality classical music to the area. People don’t have to travel to New York City.”

Tickets for Sunday’s performance are available at www.lepetitsalon.org for $15, online (adults). Adult tickets at the door are $20. Seniors 65 and over are $10 online and $15 at the door; students $5. In addition, Winkler and Cook will have copies of their album, “Silken Rags,” at the performance for purchase.

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The Port Jefferson power plant sits along the edge of Port Jefferson Harbor. Photo by Elana Glowatz

A provision in the new state budget sets aside $30 million that could support communities where a power plant has closed and stopped paying property taxes.

According to the budget bill that state lawmakers agreed upon last week, that sum would be available for a local government, school district or special district — such as a library or fire district — where an electric generating facility has stopped operating, causing a reduction of at least 20 percent of the money it owed through property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes, commonly known as PILOTs.

There are limits to the provision, however: The bill says the New York State Urban Development Corporation will distribute the relief funds on a first-come, first-served basis and will not offer the support to a specific group for more than five years. Additionally, in the first of the five years, the corporation will not award funding equal to more than 80 percent of the local entity’s lost revenue.

Port Jefferson Village could possibly be on the receiving end of some of the $30 million in the pot, dubbed the “electric generation facility cessation mitigation fund.” That community’s power plant — which company National Grid owns and operates, and sells the power generated to utility PSEG Long Island for distribution — is old and runs on antiquated technology. For the past several years, village residents have waited to learn the fate of the plant, whether it will be reconstructed to keep serving Long Island or dismantled.

A lot hangs in the balance for the plant’s neighbors: Property taxes from the site fund more than 40 percent of the local school district’s budget and a significant portion of the Port Jefferson Village budget.

“We’d soak up a lot of it,” village Trustee Larry LaPointe said about the relief fund, noting that his government’s budget gets about $1 million in property taxes from the local power plant in addition to the school district’s hefty share. “But we certainly appreciate any efforts” to help mitigate the impact on the community.

The state budget provision specifies that local entities seeking assistance, once a power plant’s owner serves official notice it plans to retire the facility, will be helped in the order they apply for relief, but only after the facilities go offline. The urban development corporation will decide the amount of the annual assistance payments based upon how much revenue is lost.

Port Jefferson schools currently get more than $18 million from the plant, between taxes and PILOTs. Superintendent Ken Bossert said, “We are hoping that a resolution can be found that will not place an unfair burden on the home and business owners … in order to maintain the excellence of the school district.”

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By Nancy Burner, Esq.

The typical Medicaid trust is a grantor trust for income and estate tax purposes. The grantor trust rules came about after high earners tried to lower their income tax consequence by scattering their income to various trusts over which they maintained control. By spreading their income out, the earners were subject to the lower tax brackets since each trust was considered a separate entity, rather than all the income being taxed to one individual.

Eventually, the IRS caught on to this technique and the grantor trust rules were born. The grantor rules state that if the grantor, that is, the creator of the trust, maintains certain “strings” of control over the trust, such as the right to principal or the right to change the beneficiaries, then all the income from said trusts must be reported on the grantor’s individual tax return.

In addition, the IRS imposed compressed tax rates for trusts. For instance, in 2016 once the income of a trust exceeds $12,500.00, the trust is taxed at the highest tax bracket of 39.6 percent. An individual would have to earn $415,050 to reach that rate. Similarly, a trust can be a grantor trust for estate tax purposes. This would mean that despite the fact that the grantor transferred assets to an irrevocable trust during their life, if they retain certain rights under the terms of the trust, the assets are still includible in their estate for estate tax purposes.

While this combination of new rules from the IRS does not help to lower income or estate tax, it provided for the perfect vehicle for Medicaid planning. Nursing Home Medicaid imposes a penalty for any transfers made within the 5 years prior to the date of the application. If assets are transferred to a trust, the trust must be irrevocable and must provide that the grantor has no right to principal in order for Medicaid to consider the asset unavailable for eligibility purposes. Individuals interested in Medicaid planning were anxious to protect assets but did not want to give up complete control of their assets, nor did they want to incur any negative tax treatment. The grantor trust rules solved those concerns.

While Medicaid does prevent the trust from returning principal to the grantor, the grantor can still receive any income earned in the trust, can retain the right to reside in any real property in the trust and can change the trustee or beneficiaries at any time.

Moreover, because the grantor retains the right to reside in any real property in the trust, the grantor is still entitled to any real property tax exemptions and still receive their $250,000 capital gains exemption if the property is sold.

As mentioned above, if properly drafted, a grantor trust will provide that any income generated within the trust will be reported on the creator’s individual tax return, thus eliminating the possibility of a compressed tax rate.

Additionally, since the assets are still includible in the grantor’s estate when they pass away, there will be a 100 percent step-up in cost basis equal to the fair market value as of the date of their death. This means that if a grantor purchased her home for $30,000.00 in 1980, the property will be re-assessed upon her death to the fair market value. Therefore, when the beneficiaries sell the property there will be no capital gains tax incurred.

Not all trusts are created equal. If you are considering a Medicaid trust, consult with an elder law attorney in your area to learn more.

Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.

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Cocaine sellers stopped

A 26-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman both from Huntington were arrested at about 6:30 a.m. on April 1 on Depew Street in Huntington for possessing cocaine, police said. They were each charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell.

Unlicensed Lincoln

On March 31 at about 11 a.m., police pulled over a 32-year-old man from Huntington Station driving a 2000 Lincoln on Park Avenue in Huntington. He did not have a license, according to police. He was charged with second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Driving on drugs

On Spring Road in Huntington at about 7:30 p.m. on March 30, a 21-year-old man from Brooklyn driving a 2012 BMW was speeding and ran a stop sign, according to police. When pulled over by police they said drugs impaired the driver. He was arrested and charged with first-degree operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs.

Not quite international waters

A 19-year-old woman from Huntington Station was in possession of marijuana at the Soundview boat ramp in Northport at about 5:30 p.m. on March 30, according to police. She was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

He was thirsty

On April 1 at 7-Eleven on East Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station, a 24-year-old man stole a beverage, police said. He was arrested and charged with petit larceny.

Trees

At about 6:30 p.m. on April 2, a 24-year-old woman from Melville had marijuana at Arboretum Park in Dix Hills, police said. She was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. A 25-year-old woman from Dix Hills was arrested at the same time and place for possessing marijuana and a medication without a prescription, according to police. She was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Cocaine, marijuana, Xanax and cash

Police said a 22-year-old man from Huntington Station was driving a 2011 Lexus on Homecrest Avenue near East 23rd Street at about 11 a.m. on April 1 without a license. When he was pulled over, police said he had cocaine, marijuana and Xanex without a prescription, along with money stolen from 7-Eleven on East Jericho Turnpike on March 22. He was arrested and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana, fifth-degree criminal possession of cocaine, petit larceny and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Stabbing suspect caught

On Aug. 18, 2015, in front of a home on West 10th Street in Huntington Station, a 20-year-old man from Huntington Station stabbed another man with a knife, police said. The victim was taken to Huntington Hospital. The suspect was arrested on East 2nd Street near New York Avenue on March 31 and charged with assault with the intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

Saks Seventh-Degree Avenue

On March 30 at about 8 p.m. a 20-year-old man from Commack stole clothing from Saks Fifth Avenue on Walt Whitman Road in South Huntington, police said. When he was arrested police said he had heroin on him as well. He was charged with petit larceny and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

No license, with pot

A 30-year-old man from Huntington Station was driving a 2004 Mazda on Mckay Road near Railroad Street at about 10 p.m. on March 30 when he was pulled over by police, who said they discovered he was driving with a suspended license and had marijuana. He was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Manor Field Park attack

Police said three unknown men attacked a man who was seated in a parked car at Manor Field Park in Huntington Station at about 5:30 p.m. on April 3. The driver drove away and the suspects fled on foot. The passenger was treated for minor injuries at Huntington Hospital, police said.

Retro Fitness mischief

The window of a 2014 Nissan was broken and credit cards were stolen from the car while it was parked at Retro Fitness on East Jericho Turnpike in Elwood at about 1:30 p.m. on April 1, according to police.

Woman revived by police

Police responded to a call at a home on Oak Street in Central Islip at about 7 a.m. on April 2. When they arrived they found an unresponsive 65-year-old woman being administered CPR by a family member. Members of the Suffolk County Medical Crisis Action Team gave the woman multiple shocks from an automatic external defibrillator and an injection of cardiac medication, which restored the woman’s breathing and pulse, police said. She was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.

Pants walk out of Macy’s

On April 2 at about 4 p.m., a 38-year-old woman from Islandia stole two pairs of pants from Macy’s at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, police said. When she was arrested at 5:30 p.m. she was found to be in possession of heroin. She was charged with petit larceny and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Serial stealer stopped

A 27-year-old man from Dix Hills was arrested on March 31 and charged with three counts of petit larceny. On March 7, he stole earbuds from Kohl’s in Commack, and on March 4 and 5 he stole two pairs of metal shear tools from Home Depot in Commack, police said.

Police crack down

At about 10 a.m. on April 1, a 34-year-old man from South Setauket driving a 2006 Hyundai on Moriches Road in Lake Grove was pulled over by police, who said they discovered cocaine in the car. He was arrested and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

License and registration, please

On March 31, a 31-year-old man from Kings Park was pulled over by police on Old Dock Road in Kings Park while driving a 2011 Chevy. During the traffic stop, police said they discovered that he didn’t have a license. He was arrested and charged with second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Split Cedar sale

On March 31 at about 6 a.m., a 23-year-old man from Riverhead was arrested on Split Cedar Drive in Islandia when police said they found crack cocaine on him. He was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with the intention to sell.

Crack/cocaine possession

On March 31, police said a 46-year-old man from Selden in the driver’s seat of a parked 1997 Nissan near the intersection of Pine Avenue and Expressway Drive North in Ronkonkoma was in possession of crack cocaine. He was arrested and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

ATV drives off

An all-terrain vehicle was stolen from the driveway of a home on Rose Street in Smithtown at about 10:30 p.m. on April 4, police said.

Guns go missing

Police said an unknown person stole a safe containing guns and jewelry from a home on Lawrence Avenue in Smithtown at about 6 p.m. on March 27.

Bait and switch

A Kings Park resident transferred money to a person on Craigslist in exchange for a boat with a trailer at about 3 p.m. on April 1, police said. After the money was transferred, the Kings Park resident could not get in touch with the seller.

Slashed tires

The tires of a 2011 Mazda were slashed while the car was parked at a home on Old Commack Road in Kings Park at about 9 p.m. on March 29, police said.

Three minutes

A 24-year-old man from Coram was arrested for criminal possession of stolen property, fleeing from an officer in a car, criminal trespassing and resisting arrest on April 1. According to police, the man was driving a stolen 2013 BMW and when police tried to pull him over, he fled in the car from Walnut Street to Mead Avenue in Mount Sinai. The man abandoned the car and jumped the fence of a nearby residence, then took a fighting stance and charged at the officers before he was arrested on Osborne Avenue. The entire incident happened in a period of about three minutes, police said.

Tank it

On March 29 at 1:15 p.m., police arrested a man from Centereach for criminal mischief, seven counts of criminal possession of stolen property and three counts of unlicensed operation of a car. Police said the 31-year-old man stole assorted tools and a propane tank from a residence on Richmond Boulevard in Ronkonkoma, then damaged the lawn when he drove across the grass with a 2002 Dodge Ram with a suspended license. While fleeing the scene, the propane tank fell out of the back of the truck and hit a parked car. Police later arrested the man at his home.

Operation denied

A 25-year-old Sound Beach man was arrested on March 30 for unlicensed operation of a car. He had been driving a 2006 Honda Accord on Rocky Point Landing Road when police caught him.

Munchies mishap

On April 3, police arrested an 18-year-old man for criminal possession of marijuana. According to police, the Shirley resident was in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the ShopRite parking lot at College Plaza in Selden when police discovered the teen had the drug.

Bad drivers

On March 31 at 10 p.m., police arrested a 47-year-old woman for driving while ability impaired in a 2002 Honda Pilot. Police said she was going north on Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station when she failed to maintain her lane.

Police arrested a man from Setauket on March 27 for driving while ability impaired after the 21-year-old was speeding on Route 112 in Port Jefferson in a 2007 BMW. According to police, he also failed to maintain his lane.

Police arrested a 21-year-old Sound Beach woman on April 2 for driving while ability impaired after she got into a car crash while going south on Halesite Drive in a 2012 Subaru. Police didn’t specify what she hit.

Police arrested a 21-year-old man from Mount Sinai for driving while ability impaired after he drove a 1987 Toyota on Strathmore Village Drive and crashed into a parked 2015 Jeep. Police said the man fled the scene but was caught and arrested around 9 a.m. on March 27.

Call me

On March 29 around 2:10 p.m., someone stole two phones from a display case in the Verizon store on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station.

Door needs a bandage

Police said someone damaged the door of Fresenius Medical Care on Nesconset Highway in Port Jefferson Station. The incident happened between 2:30 a.m. on April 2 and 8 a.m. the following day.

Lynbroken

Someone damaged the door of a residence on Lynbrook Drive in Sound Beach around 3 a.m. on April 2.

Ring the alarm

On March 31 around 1 p.m., a woman said someone stole her diamond engagement ring after she left it in a tanning room of Sky Tan on Middle Country Road in Selden.

Broadway bandit

On March 27, someone stole a jacket off a chair in the Rocky Point Ale House on Broadway around 10:17 p.m. Police said a wallet was in the jacket pocket.

Open for business

Between 11 p.m. on March 31 and 4 a.m. the following day, an unknown person stole a 2015 Ford Explorer from the Hope House Ministries property on North Country Road in Port Jefferson. Police said the car was unlocked and the keys were inside.

Someone stole multiple sunglasses and money from an unlocked 2015 Mercedes and an unlocked 2014 Jeep. The cars were parked near a residence on Locust Drive in Miller Place. Police said the incidents happened on March 30 around 3:50 a.m.

Making moves

According to police, on April 3 around 2 p.m. someone stole a GPS and its charger, cables, an agility ladder and assorted fitness equipment from a 2013 Mazda. Police said the car was parked in the Marshalls parking lot in Stony Brook.

Cemented steal

On March 29 around 6:30 p.m., someone stole a cement mixer from a 2015 Dodge Ram that was parked on Valley Drive in Sound Beach.

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Port Jefferson High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz

Port Jefferson students lost a young classmate on Wednesday night, according to a message from the school district superintendent.

In a letter to parents and community members on Thursday, Ken Bossert wrote that ninth-grader Dylan Berger had died, and asked people to respect the privacy of Dylan’s family as they grieved his loss.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time,” the superintendent wrote.

It was not immediately clear how the student died.

Dylan was on the Royals wrestling team, competing at the Suffolk County championship this year.

According to Bossert, the school district held a meeting for the students in Dylan’s grade on Thursday morning and is making counselors available to students to help them “cope with this tragedy.”

“Each student is a value member of our educational community and the death of a young person can have a profound effect on the entire school community,” Bossert wrote. “When such loss occurs, students and staff will react in different ways. Any reaction is normal in the grief process and can range from withdrawal to anger. I encourage you to speak with your children about how they are feeling and how to cope with the loss of a classmate. The most important thing we can do is to be supportive and encourage an open expression of feelings.”

The district also plans to provide resources to parents to help support grieving students, he said.

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File photo

A pedestrian was killed on Nesconset Highway on Wednesday night while trying to cross the busy roadway.

The Suffolk County Police Department said the man was crossing from the median to the north side of Route 347 at the intersection with Browns Road in Nesconset at the time of the crash. A 2000 Jeep Cherokee, which had been going west on the road, crashed into the pedestrian shortly after 9 p.m.

Police did not identify the man, who was pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Hospital, pending notification of his family.

The Jeep’s driver, a 23-year-old Bay Shore man, was not hurt, police said. That vehicle was impounded for a safety check.

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The state has finally rescinded a cut to education funding that has been costing our schools billions of dollars — now it’s time to rebuild.

But we can only rebuild if we move up from here. We cannot afford any more setbacks.

Ending the Gap Elimination Adjustment will allow our school districts to collect more financial aid than they have been able to for several years now. The total deduction statewide started as high as $3 billion and was eventually reduced to $434 million before being cut altogether. This was great news for education advocates across the state.

However, this new balance needs to be preserved in order for education to truly recover, because of the timing in which the cuts were installed. Around the same time the state started slashing education dollars, school districts were forced to adhere to tax levy cap regulations imposed under New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

The Gap Elimination Adjustment was already an enormous deficit for our schools, but adding the cap on top of it made it much more difficult for districts to find their footing. Because of this terrible timing, the true damage done to our districts cannot be measured in just dollars and cents — they’re going to need some time to reposition themselves in the coming years.

Kids are our most important assets and we’re already falling behind other countries when it comes to educational performance. We need our legislators to stay true to their current position when it comes to education spending and invest in higher standards for our students.

We’re gratified that our legislators finally got on board with slashing the Gap Elimination Adjustment cuts. They should have never enacted it in the first place.

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