Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the individuals who allegedly used stolen credit cards at stores in Deer Park and Commack in June.
A woman attempted to purchase items with a stolen credit card at Walmart, located at 85 Crooked Hill Road, in Commack on June 5. A short time later, two men attempted to purchase items with the same credit card at Walgreens, located at 1770 Deer Park Ave., Deer Park. The suspects fled with no proceeds.
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, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Fourth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the people who allegedly stole merchandise from a Commack store in June.
A man and woman allegedly stole multiple items including sports trading cards from Target, located at 98 Veterans Memorial Highway on June 14. The items were valued at approximately $530. They fled in a dark Ford SUV.
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, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate a man who allegedly stole from a South Setauket store in August.
A man allegedly stole approximately $610 worth of merchandise from Target, located at 265 Pond Path at 7:11 p.m. on August 4.
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, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPDPhoto from SCPD
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate a man who allegedly stole from a Medford store in August.
A man allegedly stole assorted power tools from Lowe’s, located at 2796 Route 112, at 10:58 a.m. on August 8. The merchandise was valued at $718.
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, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential. Power
From the shore, they can look like odd-shaped shadows with tails, moving in and out of the surf or approaching the shoreline.
Up close, they can have a collection of barnacles attached to their shells, particularly as they age.
Horseshoe crabs, who have been roaming the oceans for over 450 million years, have attracted the admiration of researchers and the dedication of volunteers around Long Island, who not only want to ensure they continue to survive, but also would like to know more about creatures that are more related to spiders and scorpions than to the crabs their names suggest.
“One of the things we’re trying to do is look at spawning in a more comprehensive way,” said Robert Cerrato, a professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. “We’re trying to figure out if there are specific things that [horseshoe crabs] are responding to” when they come up on the beach to lay their eggs.
A closeup of two horseshoe crabs. Photo courtesy Matthew Sclafani
Horseshoe crabs have had a steady decline in their population over the last 20 years overall. In the last three to five years, however, not much has changed in the Long Island area, scientists explained.
The population is “still very similar to where it was,” said Matthew Sclafani, senior resource educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and assistant adjunct faculty member at SBU.
Scalafani and Cerrato have worked together for well over a decade and are hoping to address a wide range of questions related to these unusual creatures that have nine eyes and blue blood.
Apart from the fascination of scientists and volunteers, the horseshoe crab provides a critical food source for shore birds like the Red Knot, which depends on these eggs during their migration.
At the same time, horseshoe crabs and their blue blood provide a key ingredient in tests of pharmaceuticals. When exposed to endotoxins, horseshoe crab blood forms clots.
The use of horseshoe crab blood to test drugs does not occur in New York, however, as companies don’t catch these creatures in the Empire State for this specific test.
Cerrato and Scalafani explained that numerous towns have also limited or banned the harvesting of horseshoe crabs to maintain their local populations.
Areas around West Meadow Beach in Old Field, for example, are closed to hand harvesting, as is Jamaica Bay and Gateway National Recreation Area.
Such policies “theoretically will allow for more eggs on the beach to hatch and for shore birds dependent on them” to find food, Sclafani said. Such closures, including some during the last two weeks in May and the first two weeks in June during the peak spawn were “significant steps for conservation,” Sclafani added.
An aerial photograph taken by a drone during a horseshoe crab survey at Pike’s Beach, Westhampton. Photo by Rory MacNish/Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
Ongoing questions
By labeling and tracking horseshoe crabs, these researchers and a team of volunteers hope to understand whether crabs, which are capable of reproducing when they are between 8 and 10 years old, return to the same sites each year to lay their eggs.
Cerrato and Scalafani are hoping to get satellite tags they can attach to adults, so that when they come out of the water to spawn, researchers know their location.
The researchers submitted a proposal to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to do a pilot study with these satellite tags.
Juvenile horseshoe crabs also present unknowns, as they have a different diet and migrate at a much lower rate.
“We started to look at” crabs that are 3 to 10 years old, said Cerrato. Moriches Bay is an “important habitat” for them.
Volunteer passion
Volunteers who help count the horseshoe crabs count these creatures often until well after midnight.
Frank Chin has been wandering beaches, counting crabs for 15 years. When he was young, Chin wanted to be a forest ranger.
“I realized that forest rangers don’t make that much money, so I went to school for engineering, got a degree and worked as an engineer,” he said.
Chin found himself at a Friends of Flax Pond meeting, where Scalafani asked for help from the community.
“I foolishly raised my hand and they made me a coordinator,” joked Chin, who counts horseshoe crabs with his wife Phyllis.
Every year presents something new to Chin.
This year, he has run into people who fish late at night. Chin said the fishermen, who have permits, are cordial, but that he’s concerned they might be scaring crabs away from their usual spawning spots.
In addition to counting the crabs, Chin, who is the director of the lab in the Physics Department at SBU, also tags them. He once caught a crab seven years after he initially tagged it.
Chin, who will count crabs in the rain but not in thunderstorms, appreciates the dedication of his fellow volunteers, who not only count the crabs but will pick up garbage and bottles along the beach.
Chin plans to continue to “do it as long as I can walk down the beach.” Some day, he “hopes someone else will take over.”
As children return to school this fall, doctors in Suffolk County expect COVID-19 cases to rise. Photo by Ronny Sefria from Pixabay
People may think COVID-19 is out of sight and out of mind, but the virus, which is still around and is making people sick, doesn’t care.
The new variant of COVID, EG.5, or “Eris,” is making people sick in the area, with hospital admissions and visits creeping up over the last few weeks.
Left, Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. Right, Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. Left file photo; right file photo from Stony Brook Medicine
As of Aug. 9, 105 patients were hospitalized with COVID across the entire Northwell system, including 82 people on Long Island. That compares with 63 hospitalized patients on July 9, with 46 on Long Island exactly a month earlier.
That’s also the case for other area hospitals, doctors said.
“The numbers are definitely going up,” said Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. “That’s probably a snapshot of what we expect in the fall and the winter.”
Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, explained that COVID-19 is “no longer an emergency” but is “still with us and we continue to see new variants.”
In an email, Pigott explained that the county has seen a “slight uptick in hospitalizations” that is still low in comparison to the earlier days of the pandemic.
He urged those at high risk to take precautions that could include avoiding crowded places, wearing a mask and meeting people at outdoor venues rather than indoors.
While the numbers of people sick with COVID are substantially lower than they were during the worst of the pandemic in 2020, health care professionals suggested that the fall and winter could be challenging for families, particularly as children return to school.
“The first two weeks of school, every kid is sick,” said Nachman. “Come November-ish, that’s when we see” that increase.
Dr. Bruce Hirsch, attending physician in Infectious Disease at Northwell Health, also anticipates a rise in COVID-19 cases coming this fall and early winter.
“I think there’s a very good chance that a lot of people will be having COVID,” he said.
Hirsch added that the symptoms for those people who don’t have underlying medical conditions, such as cardiac or lung-related problems, are likely to be considerably milder than they had been in the early stages of the disease, when no one had resistance.
“The sickness will not have the severity and mortality except in those of us who are unfortunate to have weak immune systems, other health problems or who are elderly or frail,” Hirsch said.
Pigott added that Eris, which is a subvariant of omicron, is not a variant of interest or concern, according to the World Health Organization.
Vaccine options
Doctors urged people to consider getting vaccines for COVID, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus for this coming fall.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are expected to approve the latest booster for COVID in late September or early October.
The newest booster, which should be available from Pfizer, Novavax and Moderna, should include protection against the latest COVID strain.
“The new booster formulation is much more similar and much more protective [against] the current strains,” Hirsch said. “The booster available now is protective against a couple of strains ago.”
Pigott urged people to get the new vaccines in the fall when they become available and before the holidays.
The vaccination may not prevent infection or all symptoms, but doctors suggested it would make illnesses shorter and less severe and could make the virus less infectious.
That could be particularly helpful for those who might otherwise develop more significant symptoms as their bodies attempt to fight off the virus.
Health care professionals suggested residents could receive several vaccines at the same time, enabling their immune systems to build resistance to a host of potential health threats.
“Our immune systems can chew gum and walk at the same time,” said Hirsch. “They are miraculous at reacting to all kinds of things every day anyway. The immune system is more than up to the challenge of handling two [shots] at the same time.”
Receiving several shots at once could give people a sore arm and a short-term fever that will likely respond to Tylenol, Nachman said.
“The science has shown that if you give a bunch of vaccines, you get a great response to everything,” Nachman added.
People who would prefer to get the vaccines in separate doses should space them out over several weeks, rather than getting one after another on consecutive days, she said.
Warning to pregnant women
Apart from viral infections, doctors warned pregnant women and those who might get pregnant this winter about the ongoing shortage of a form of penicillin to treat syphilis.
Penicillin G benzathine, or Bicillin, is expected to be in short supply through the start of the summer of 2024.
The medicine is not only the only treatment recommended for pregnant people with syphilis, but is also the only one recommended for infants.
“We are prioritizing that medicine specifically only for that vulnerable population,” said Nachman.
The dangers of syphilis in pregnant women are significant, with the CDC estimating that about 40% of babies born to women with untreated syphilis can be stillborn or die from the infection.
Other dangers from syphilis include bone damage, anemia, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, nerve problems causing blindness or deafness, meningitis and skin rashes.
With cases of congenital syphilis more than tripling in recent years, the demand for Bicillin has exceeded the supply.
“It has been a concern for those in our Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” Pigott explained. “They have been in consultation with the state. We defer to the state regarding supply.”
Locally, hospitals have been exploring other options without much success.
“We are looking for alternatives” to Bicillin, said Nachman, but “we are not necessarily finding them.”
Doctors urged pregnant women who think they might have syphilis to get tested to protect themselves and their unborn children.
The Timothy House property on North Country Road. File photo by Rita J. Egan
Residents in the Village of Head of the Harbor and the surrounding area will again be able to express their opinions Aug. 16 regarding a proposed church at 481 North Country Road.
The Russian Orthodox Monastery of the Glorious Ascension, also known as the Monastery of Saint Dionysios the Areopagite, has owned the historic Timothy House since 2018 and is proposing a plan to construct a house of worship on the property and 36-space parking lot. A special use permit is needed to proceed with any construction.
At the June 21 village meeting, Joseph Buzzell, the monastery’s Melville-based attorney, explained that the proposed church building, with a planned maximum occupancy of 282 people, would not be a parish church but a monastery church. He said while people outside of the monastery at times decided to worship with the monks, the monastery is not looking to expand its congregation.
Currently, the monks hold services inside Timothy House. According to village code, land, buildings and major landscaping on either side of 25A, also known as North Country Road, are declared a historic area if they extend to a depth of 500 feet within the village. In addition to the village code, covenants and restrictions were placed on the deed by historian and previous owner Barbara Van Liew in 1973 and 1997.
At previous village meetings, while some residents said they had no concerns, others were worried that the construction of a church and the addition of a parking lot may degrade the historical integrity of the property and the landscape.
In a phone interview, Buzzell said the monastery is not modifying the Timothy House. He said the monks have already paid more than $340,000 in maintenance and repairs on the structure.
Buzzell said the plans for the church had been changed twice to move it from the front of the property toward the back. He said there would be no widening of the driveway and no new lighting; however, he said the entrance posts would have to be moved farther apart.
He said the monks respect the historical integrity of the home and property, but he feels those who are against construction “don’t seem to want to take into consideration what’s been done,” he said.
The lawyer said the monastery being awarded the special exception permit is important.
“This action ensures the preservation of the house,” he said, adding Van Liew wouldn’t want to see the house put at risk.
Inspections
In a July 20, 2023, letter to Mayor Douglas Dahgard from Robert O’Shea, village building inspector, posted on the village’s website, the letter writer said he met with Father Vasileios Willard, deputy abbott, at the Timothy House for a tour.
He said Willard pointed out some trees he would like to be removed, which O’Shea wrote an arborist will be submitting a report on the condition of the trees. In the letter, the building inspector stated that the grounds were properly maintained according to village and state codes.
Inside the house, new water heaters, waterproofing of basement walls, and structural repairs in the basement, first and second floors were among the new work done, according to O’Shea.
He wrote the structure was in “good overall condition and is well-maintained.”
The State Historic Preservation Office also reviewed the monastery’s plans and found there would be no adverse effects on the property, but many, including village historian Leighton Coleman III, said they are concerned because a representative from SHPO didn’t visit and survey the property.
Covenants and restrictions
Among those who have criticized the proposed construction to the property has been St. James-based attorney Joseph Bollhofer, chair of the village’s zoning board of appeals. In an email to TBR News Media, he said, in addition to violating the covenants and restrictions placed by Van Liew, it “would violate various provisions of the village code, having to do with a special exception permit.”
At the June 21 meeting, Buzzell said his clients were not aware of the 1973 covenants, something that Bollhofer said would be part of a title search.
When asked by TBR about the comment, Buzzell said that the 1973 covenants did not turn up in the monastery’s title search in 2018 when the property was purchased. The attorney feels that the 1997 document amended and replaced the 1973 document.
But Bollhofer said the 1997 conventants wouldn’t replace or supersede the 1973 document.
“In every case, where one document supersedes or amends another, it must specifically state that,” Bollhofer said, adding, “Both documents state that they ‘run with the land’ and are binding upon all future owners.”
Traffic analysis
In a letter dated Aug. 2, Aaron Machtay, transportation project manager with Hauppauge-based civil engineering firm VHB, presented traffic and parking recommendations to Village Counsel Philip Butler after reviewing a traffic statement by Atlantic Traffic and Design prepared for the monastery earlier this year, and a site plan from architect Mark Wittenberg that was dated Aug. 30, 2022.
According to the letter, despite prior testimony that the driveway will remain at its 18-foot width, VHB suggested that the driveway be evaluated to see if it can accommodate two-way traffic.
The business also suggested that the previous traffic statement was a conservative estimate and “projections for the future activity should be prepared based on the observed demand and compared against thresholds established for a significant impact.”
Among other suggestions, the letter stated that parking observations need to be reconciled “to present the actual peak parking demand expected for the site,” and due to the site driveway being located across and offset from the Route 25A and Northern Boulevard intersection, an analysis for the three-year crash experience should be provided, focusing on the three-year period before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The Village of Head of the Harbor will hold its next meeting and the public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 16, at 7 p.m. Village Hall is located at 500 N. Country Rd, St. James.
Up in the northern region of Trentino-Alto Adige lies an area known for making some of Italy’s highest quality sparkling wines. It is the only “traditional method” sparkling wine region located high in the mountains, with vineyards planted at up to 3,000 feet above sea level.
The sparkling wines from the province of Trento in Trentino-Alto Adige are known as “Trentodoc,” a trademark name created in 2007. Their sparkling wines were already being made in the early 1900s by Giulio Ferrari, a student at the Imperial Royal Agricultural School of San Michele. He first started the “traditional method” production in Trento, after many study tours to France. Trentodoc sparkling wines officially received their DOC designation in 1993.
Trentodoc wines can be white or rosé and are made from any combination of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes, and must be made by the classic metodo classico method.
Aging in the bottle varies from a minimum of 15 months for a nonvintage; 24 months for a millesimato (vintage); and a minimum of 36 months for a riserva (aged).
Currently, there are 67 Trentodoc sparkling wine producers. Below are some of my tasting notes.
NV Ferrari “Brut” (100% Chardonnay): Bright straw-yellow. A clean and refreshing aroma of crusty bread, white flowers, green apple, and pears. Medium-bodied and crispy with flavors of citrus, peach, and slightly honeyed. Clean finish and very long and pleasing aftertaste. Serve it with slightly melted Brie.
2016 Rotari “Brut Rosé” (75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay): Aged 24 months. Salmon-colored with tiny, pin-point bubbles. A fresh aroma of cream and raspberries, with complex flavors of spicy cherry and peach. Refreshing acidity with a lingering aftertaste. A simple dish of prosciutto and melon.
NV Cesarini Sforza “Brut” (100% Chardonnay): Subtle bouquet of yellow fruit, tarragon, and freshly made biscuits. Complex flavors of golden Delicious apples, lemon sorbet, and spices. Subtle finish with an aftertaste of nuts and ginger. Fried calamari would be perfect.
NV Monfort “Brut Rosé” (Blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir): Lovely rose colored with a fragrant aroma of strawberries and brioche. Light and delicate in the mouth with hints of red apple, citrus, herbs, and spices. Very easy to drink. Serve with a medley of sautéed wild mushrooms.
NV Moser 51,151 “Brut” (100% Chardonnay): Pale-yellow with a subtle bouquet of blueberry, cherry, and lemon tart. Medium-bodied, and dry, with hints of apples and pears. Pair with chilled smoked salmon.
Bob Lipinski is the author of 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need To Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He consults and conducts training seminars on Wine, Spirits, and Food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com OR [email protected].
Laura Gumbus was driving along West Broadway in Port Jefferson on Friday afternoon, August 11 when 12 Canadian geese decided to cross the street to the lush grass in front of Village Hall. The event caused a traffic delay as everyone patiently waited for them to cross and Gumbos pulled out her phone to record the parade.
Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the women who allegedly stole merchandise from a Medford store in June.
A woman allegedly stole approximately $220 worth of Pokémon cards from Target, located at 2975 Horseblock Road, on June 26 at 1:11 p.m. She fled in a gray SUV.
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, utilizing a mobile app which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.
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