Boy Scouts of America Troop 161 assist in creating the new memorial garden in honor of Andrew McMorris. Photo by Jane Sherman
The field in front of the Robert S. Reid Recreation Center in Shoreham was marked by red, the red shirts of Boys Scouts’ uniforms and red ribbons, which residents know has become a symbol for remembrance and an icon for bringing the community together.
Boy Scouts of America Troop 161 is continuing their honoring of Andrew McMorris, a young troop member who was killed by a drunk driver in October of last year, by creating a new garden in front of the community center where they have hosted their meetings for years.
Red dogwood tree planted in honor of McMorris. Photo by Jane Sherman
In October, after the horrific event, the Girl Scouts of America donated a red dogwood tree to the McMorris family, which troop 161 planted in front of the center, adorning it with tiny ribbons. In an effort to remember young Andrew, the troop promised it would build a memorial garden around that tree.
Boy Scout Joseph Pozgay made it his Eagle Scout project to lay memorial bricks in front of the garden, while other troop members laid plantings in the ground, all of which were donated by the community.
Jane Sherman, the committee chair of Troop 161, said they plan to host a dedication for the garden sometime in the near future.
The Boy Scouts Suffolk County Council is still fundraising to create a new Adirondack Cabin at Baiting Hollow Scout Camp. People can donate to Troop 161 at www.troop161shoreham.org/ and support Andrew McMorris Foundation at www.andrewmcmorrisfoundation.org/.
Rocky Point freshman Sean Hamilton throws heat from the rubber against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
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Rocky Point senior Trey Miller slides home for the score in a league VI matchup against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Trey Miller with a blast to deep left field in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point freshman Sean Hamilton tosses to second for the start of a double play that ends the inning against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point freshman pitcher Sean Hamilton fields the bunt and throws the runner out at first against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point freshman Sean Hamilton throws heat from the rubber against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point third baseman Rob Milopsky throws the runner out with a rifle shot to first against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Rob Milopsky slides safely into third base in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Michael Gunning with plenty of gas against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Michael Gunning rips a grounder against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Senior Michael Gunning in for relief at the mound for Rocky Point fires at the plate in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point junior Kyle Callahan slides safely into third against visiting Sayville May 2nd. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior shortstop Michael Gunning fields the ball in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point junior Kyle Callahan rips a shot through the gap to left field in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Eric Maier with the pickoff attempt at first against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Connor Hamilton rips the cover off the ball against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point senior Connor Hamilton rips one deep straight away against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point freshman Cody Miller tosses the runner out at first against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Rocky Point freshman Cody Miller fields the popup for the Eagles against visiting Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
The freshman Cody Miller attempts to put the tag on the Sayville runner stealing second for the Eagles in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
The freshman Cody Miller grabs an infield grounder for the Eagles in a 5-2 victory at home against Sayville May 2. Photo by Bill Landon
Miller brothers’ bats did the talking
Rocky Point’s baseball team took care of business against Sayville with a 5-2 victory at home May 2. With both teams at 6-2, the Eagles bettered Sayville two games to one in a three-game series to take over sole possession atop the league VI leaderboard.
Trailing by one, Sayville threatened in the top of the fifth, loading the bases when Rocky Point senior Michael Gunning took over at the mound. Gunning got the first out and then relied on his teammates behind him who turned a double play stranding all three Sayville runners to escape the inning. Rocky Point senior Trey Miller hit a two-run single in the bottom of the first to take the early lead and freshman Cody Miller, Trey’s younger brother, returned the favor in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Eagles lead.
Miller Place High School. File photo by Kevin Redding
The Miller Place School District has closed its high school gym after mercury vapors were detected within the recreation space.
A letter sent home to parents dated April 28 stated the district was made aware of a possible situation regarding the original synthetic flooring used in the gym when the school was built back in the 1970s, which had also been covered over with wood flooring in the late 1990s. The synthetic flooring, made several decades ago, contained a mercury catalyst that breaks down over time.
The district conducted the testing April 25 in the gymnasium and adjacent rooms, including under the stage in the auditorium, in the girls and boys locker rooms, the weight room, the corridor from the boys locker room to the cafeteria and ambient levels outside the school. That testing revealed recordable levels of mercury vapor in the gym, girls locker room and under the stage in the auditorium. Since there are no federal or New York State standards for mercury vapor levels, the district said it used Minnesota State guidelines instead.
The district, along with environmental consultants, sectioned off the gym interior and retested the areas Friday, April 26 into the following evening. The letter stated all other areas except the gym were cleared of air monitoring and testing for mercury vapor.
It is unsure how long the mercury vapors have been present within the high school.
“The health and safety of our students, faculty and all who visit our schools remains our top priority,” Superintendent Marianne Cartisano said in the letter. “As we move forward with this process, we will keep the community informed accordingly.”
A representative of the school district was not available to comment on how long the vapor could have been in the gym, how the district was initially alerted to the vapor, or how much it is expected to cost to remove the flooring from the gym.
This issue with this particular type of synthetic flooring has been seen in schools across the nation. Other school districts have reported spending several million to remove the floors.
“The health and safety of our students, faculty and all who visit our schools remains our top priority.”
— Marianne Cartisano
The State of New Jersey has recently had to deal with this mercury vapor situation in several of its schools. The New Jersey Education Association has released information on its website specifically about this type of flooring, and said such floors had to be removed as hazardous waste.
The New Jersey organization said the polyurethane floors use 1,000 to 2,000 parts per million of phenylmercuric acetate catalyst, which breaks down over time into a colorless, odorless mercury vapor. The floor could release this vapor indefinitely.
This vapor may do damage to lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes, though it depends on how much and how frequently people are exposed to the gas. It’s expected that physical education teachers, coaches, certain sports teams and maintenance staff would be the most frequently exposed.
Minnesota Department of Health guidelines regarding mercury flooring testing and mitigation state that a floor containing 20 parts per million of mercury may lead to health concerns. The guidelines also state that the public should not be exposed to air concentrations above 1,800 milligrams per cubic meter. For longer exposures, gym teachers should not be exposed to more than 750 milligrams per cubic meter in a 40-hour workweek. The guidelines instruct that good ventilation is an effective way to reduce mercury vapor concentrations inside the location, though of course the only way to reduce the vapor entirely is to remove the flooring.
The letter sent to parents states all activities that normally happen in the gym will be relocated to other areas. Activities that normally happen in the auditorium will continue to take place within that room, and events, such as concerts or drama productions, will not need to be rescheduled.
Dr. Thomas Michael Darrigan of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and formerly of Port Jefferson died April 26. He was 83.
Darrigan was born April 30, 1935. He was the loving husband of Elsa, and was a respected oral surgeon in Port Jefferson Station for 33 years.
He is survived by his children Thomas, Timothy, Terri Maillard, Gina Ingham and Lisa Stern; his siblings Maureen (Robert) Murphy, Diane Webb, Judith Murphy and Gerard (Patricia) Darrigan; beloved six grandchildren; and six nieces and nephews.
Services will be held in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and his final resting place will be at the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico.
Rose DeRicco
Rose DeRicco
Rose DeRicco of Rocky Point died April 4. She was 79.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Dominick DeRicco.
She is survived by her cherished children Joseph DeRicco, Michael DeRicco and Rich De Ricco; her grandchildren Gina, Mia, Sophia and Thomas; sisters Anna and Phyllis; and her many other family members and friends.
Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua R.C. Church in Rocky Point, and interment followed at Washington Memorial Park Cemetery in Mount Sinai.
James Marion Wilson
James (Jim) Marion Wilson, 65, died in his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 27 with his immediate family surrounding him.
Jim was born Feb. 1, 1954, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Tom and Patty Wilson. Spending his formative years in Warren, Ohio, Jim was the third of eight children. He was a former resident ofEast Setauket and worked at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown.
He enjoyed many passions in life, among those being golf, Notre Dame football, fine Irish whiskeys, the family’s late yellow lab Molly and coaching his children in various sports. Above all though, Jim’s greatest passion was his family.
During his time in the Philadelphia area, Jim met his loving wife, Randi, formerly Randi Gaydos. In addition to Randi, Jim is survived by his five children, Jimmy, Erin, Ryan, Kelly and Meghan; his two sons-in-law Chris Koontz and Capt. Michael Falvey; his grandchildren Wilson and Nolan Koontz and Frances Falvey; his seven siblings Thomas, Michael, Mary Pat, Terry, Katherine, Patrick and Kevin; and his mother- and father-in-law Aggie and Don Gaydos.
Visitation was held May 2 at O’Brien-Egeebeen-Gerst Chapel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A Mass of Christian burial will be held May 3 at St. Roberts of Newminster.
Jeans placed in the Safe Center LI Bethpage headquarters in recognition of National Denim Day which looks to support survivors of sexual violence. Photo by Kyle Barr
This post is in regards to a story published on April 25 about Raymond Radio III, who allegedly ran a sex trafficking ring in his parents’ house located in Sound Beach.
The house on Lower Rocky Point Road that allegedly was used by Raymond Rodio III for sex trafficking is well known in the community for its multitudes of colorful lawn ornaments. For residents of the small North Shore hamlet, with a population barely over 7,500, reactions on social media ranged from disbelief to outrage.
But sex trafficking has become a growing front for those linked to the illicit drug trade, and according to those who try and work with those who have been victims of sex trafficking, the trade is well-linked to the middle-class suburban areas of Long Island.
The house where Raymond Rodio III allegedly committed acts of sex trafficking. Photo by Kyle Barr
Emily Waters is the director of Human Trafficking Programs at The Safe Center LI, a Bethpage nonprofit that assists the survivors of drug addiction, domestic abuse, child abuse and other issues. She said the issue of sex trafficking has only escalated in recent years, due in part to the opioid crisis that has killed millions across the nation. The center is currently involved with more than 130 human trafficking cases on Long Island, including minors and adults involved in sex and labor, but cases like the one in Sound Beach, she said, are extremely common.
Waters said these human traffickers, often called pimps, use drug addiction as a means of control of these people, mostly women. She said the average age for these young women is 14 or 15 years old, though she has personally been involved, in the United States, with cases of one as young as 9 years old.
“A victim can look like anyone,” Waters said. “Could be anyone from a high socioeconomic background to somebody who’s living in poverty.”
Worse, sex trafficking has become, in many cases, a more profitable business for criminals. Keith Scott, the director of education at the Safe Center, said a pimp could make upwards of $280,000 a year, and that the practice is often harder to prosecute on the polices’ end.
In 2017, the Suffolk County Police Department, at the time headed by Sini, launched a pilot program to go after human traffickers, according to the DA’s office. In 2018, Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart adopted the Human Trafficking Investigations Unit while the DA launched its own team to track human traffickers.
For years, human trafficking has been growing as an issue. Data from the New York National Human Trafficking Hotline show there have been more than 6,400 calls and more than 2,000 cases of sex trafficking for New York since 2007. The vast majority of these are sex trafficking, and the vast majority are with women.
A 2017 report by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health said the top sex trafficking venues are commercial-front brothels (with legitimate businesses up front and illegal sex work in the back), online advertising venues such as craigslist and hotel- or motel-based venues.
Those who have worked to get people treatment understand the issue has grown on Long Island, people like Joe Czulada, a graduate of the Riverhead school district and Riverhead resident until recently who moved with his wife to Brooklyn, where she operates a funeral home. Czulada worked as an interventionist, helping to put people into recovery for about five years. He saw the way the opioid epidemic was tied to the illicit sex trafficking industry. What he saw was mostly young women from small hamlets, those who were often addicted to drugs, and whose pimps used that addiction as leverage against them.
“It’s prevalent, it’s become ever more prevalent, the whole industry,” Czulada said. “It’s everywhere, in every small town here on Long Island.”
The work was emotionally draining, especially in seeing people go in and out of recovery, often ending up back on the street or back with the people who abused.
Cases of sex trafficking with prostitutes over the age of consent require proving a form of cohesion. Many cases, like the alleged one of Rodio, come in the form of what Waters called the “chemical tether,” or the trauma bonding between a trafficker and victim. The pimps often come in two forms, ones who expressly use violence to maintain control, and the others who first get the trust of girls, often abusing their need for affection if they come from affectionless backgrounds, and then hooking them on drugs in the process. Scott said opioids are often used, especially in modern cases of sex trafficking, because it makes those victims more docile. Stimulants, like cocaine, are also used often. Those sex traffickers use the threat of withholding drugs as cohesion. In many cases, the pimps will effectively brand women with tattoos, which can range from the pimp’s name to words like “whore,” effectively reducing their chance of being able to get employment if they wished to escape the life.
A patchwork quilt hung up in the Safe Center LI’s headquarters in Bethpage. Photo by Kyle Barr
The biggest misconception when it comes to sex trafficking is that it only happens to those in poverty. Cases like the one alleged in Sound Beach show just how tangible the reality is for middle-class areas. And in the age of the Internet, pimps also find these victims through social media, luring in these young women through the promise of affection and drugs. Waters said recruitment also often occurs at schools. Often sex work is sold through online websites, such as craigslist, but she said it also occurs at more than 20 other websites, and even on mobile dating apps such as Tinder.
Beyond that, it takes a campaign of education, starting with local schools, to keep the community informed. It takes people knowledgeable about the warning signs, and a need for people to call the police if they suspect someone is engaged in sex trafficking.
“People may not know what they’ve seen, but they’ve seen something,” said Scott, who grew up in Smithtown and currently lives in Kings Park. He knows the North Shore and said despite its prototypical sense of suburbia and pockets of wealth, residents need to understand what issues creep into the smallest of residential neighborhoods.
“People often don’t want to realize it’s going on in their own backyard,” he said.
Mayor Margot Garant shows plans for new stage in Harborfront Park. Photo by Kyle Barr
Village to honor Jill Nees-Russell on anniversary of her death
As the weather changes, and the Island shifts itself from the cold of winter to the warm rains of spring, East Setauket resident and singer Carolyn Benson and village-based landscape engineer Michael Opisso walked along Harborfront Park, trying to find a permanent space that could add musicality to the park in honor of Jill Nees-Russell, who passed away in 2018.
Seeing the green grass starting to come in, the two had an epiphany.
Plans for new stage in Harborfront Park. Photo by Kyle Barr
“The spot revealed itself to me, and on the spot — call this being connected to the spirit of Jill — the energy of the whole idea, the concept came out of my pen and onto a piece of paper,” Opisso said.
The village is now on its way toward building a new performance stage in Harborfront Park, likely located on the eastern end closest to the Port Jefferson Yacht Club near a tangle of trees.
Designs for the new stage show a 15 by 25 foot half-circle wood stage surrounded by decorative plantings in front and two small staircases to get to the slightly raised stage. Opisso said the wood of the stage will include subtle etching to evoke the nautical theme of the village’s past. The rear will include decorative panels to focus the acoustics into the park itself.
Above the stage, Opisso said there are plans for a multicolored canvas sail canopy above performers, using material that evokes the sailcloth of the old days when sailing ships dominated Port Jeff harbor. The landscape engineer said those sailcloths above the stage will be designed to be taken down during the winter months or storms.
“You’re looking at this space at the same time you’ll be seeing sailboats in the harbor,” Opisso said.
June will be the anniversary of the death of Jill Nees-Russell, a beloved Port Jeff resident, village public relations representative and lover of all things music. Benson said she had been good friends with Nees-Russell, and they would often talk about bringing something like these designs into Port Jeff.
“I met Jill a few years back during the [Charles] Dickens Festival, and so we used to walk around and say, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be great if there could be a permanent place where people could do Shakespeare in the park or dance recitals,” Benson said. “This was a way of combining Jill’s love of Port Jefferson, her love of music, love of being by the water, and that stage down in Harborfront Park is the epitome of her spirit.”
She added she had approached Mayor Margot Garant about the project, and she had quickly gotten on board.
The music stage has already been approved by the village board as of the village’s April 15 meeting. Garant said the idea has been kicked around since last year, especially with the current stage that bands and members of the Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council have been performing on has not aged well.
“Unfortunately, the arts council is performing on a ridiculous piece of plywood that caves in on it for too long,” Garant said.
The mayor added this is the near-perfect kind of thing to remember Nees-Russell, who moved to Port Jeff from Los Angeles, where she had worked with a record label. On Long Island, she had involved herself with the Port Jeff arts council, had created a youth program with the School of Rock in Port Jefferson Station and worked in tandem with the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
The new stage is expected to be on the eastern end of Harborfront Park. Photo by David Luces
On Aug. 10, Garant said plans are in place to host a Port Jeff band day that will give particular attention to local bands and performers. On that day Nees-Russell’s family is expected to come down to Long Island where the stage will be dedicated in Jill’s name.
“Performing arts was always something very important to her,” Garant said. “We think it’s a home run, we see it as something that’s affordable, something that we can pull together the not-for-profits to make that happen.”
Current projections of costs by Opisso show a projected $12,500 for the construction of the stage and steps, $2,500 for the planters and flower boxes, $5,000 for landscaping and another $5,000 for the canvas backdrops and overhead sails. Designs for the project still need to determine the costs of lighting, sound and irrigation.
When presented to the village board at its April 15 meeting, trustees voiced their support for the idea.
“It’s about time we had something like this,” Trustee Larry LaPointe said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini (D) announced April 30 the arrest of a Town of Brookhaven employee for allegedly stealing more than 500 gallons of diesel fuel from Town fuel facilities since August 2015.
Daniel Curtin, 50, of Wading River, was arrested April 29 and charged with multiple counts of grand larceny for stealing the fuel.
“We will not tolerate the theft of public funds or government property for someone’s own personal use,” Sini said. “I thank the Town of Brookhaven for bringing this matter to my Office’s attention and continuing to partner with us to protect taxpayers.”
Curtin, who is employed as a foreman for the Town of Brookhaven’s Highway Department, was issued a 2012 Ford pick-up truck by the town to be used for official business and to transport him to and from work. Curtin was permitted to obtain unleaded gasoline for the truck at various town fuel facilities. Curtin’s duties and responsibilities did not require any use of diesel fuel, the DA said.
Curtin is alleged to have stolen a total of 510.40 gallons of diesel fuel from town facilities on 75 separate occasions between Aug. 8, 2015, and Jan. 2, 2019. The fuel had a total value of $1,023.50.
The investigation revealed that Curtin was allegedly using the fuel for a heater in the garage of his house.
The case was referred to the District Attorney’s Office by Town of Brookhaven officials. Curtin has been an employee of the town for approximately 29 years.
If convicted of the top count, Curtin faces a maximum sentence of two and one-third to seven years in prison.
Curtin was arraigned on the charges April 29 by Suffolk County District Court Judge Gaetan B. Lozito and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court June 18.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Kevin Ward of the Public Integrity Bureau.
The vehicle Bruce Brant allegedly drove into the Rose Caracappa Senior Center April 30. Photo from Town of Brookhaven
Guess he didn’t try knocking first.
Senior citizens who attend activities at Mount Sinai’s Rose Caracappa Senior Center were in for a surprise when they arrived for morning activities. The whole front door was pasted over with plywood after a man allegedly crashed his vehicle into the senior center in the early morning April 30, police said.
Bruce Brant was allegedly driving a 2012 Mazda3 northbound on North Ocean Avenue when he failed to stop at the end of the roadway and crashed the vehicle into the Rose Caracappa Senior Center, located at 739 Route 25A, at around 12:25 a.m. The vehicle came to a stop inside the building, according to Suffolk County Police.
Mount Sinai Fire Department Heavy Rescue extricated Brant from the Mazda. He was transported to John T. Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. There were no other injuries.
Town of Brookhaven workers were there at around 1 a.m. after the car had been extricated to make repairs on the front door, which were completed without interruption to center activities. A Brookhaven spokesperson said the town had not yet completed a cost estimate on repairs.
Brant, 25, of Pennsylvania, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He will be arraigned at a later date.
Street sign for the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Main Street. Photo by Kyle Barr
Fire department says light is unnecessary
Red means stop.
Motorists traveling down Main Street in the Village of Port Jefferson may soon come face to face with a new traffic light at the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Main Street. That corner is notorious for traffic especially around 2 p.m. when the high school and middle school lets out.
The new light is planned to be installed with a 3M Opticom system, which allows emergency vehicles to automatically change a light while they are moving through. While these could mean a more orderly road, the Port Jefferson Fire Department has said it would need to add costly upgrades to their emergency vehicles to be usable by the department.
“We’re going to have to work with the fire department because they need those mechanisms in their trucks, whether they’re installed in the lights or not,” village Mayor Margot Garant said. “We need to mitigate the way that traffic is flying down the hill.”
“They should already have them — these are not the first traffic lights we’re installing in Port Jeff.”
— Margot Garant
The New York State Department of Transportation confirmed it will make those changes to the intersection and pay the costs of installation, as well as change the island at the corner of Barnum Avenue and Main Street to make it a single crosswalk instead of two crosswalks separated by the current island.
Plans have changed since they were initially introduced to the community. Originally those plans called for an island on Main Street just after the Liberty intersection. However, that island has since been changed to double yellow lines after concerns came up about getting snowplows through.
The most contentious part of the new plans comes from the fire department, which worries about the expensive cost of getting the Opticom system installed on all 17 of the department’s first-responding vehicles.
Garant said she is willing to have the village partner with the fire department in seeking grant funding. This would be especially important with more stop lights planned for different parts of the village, including at the top of Belle Terre Road, Sheep Pasture Road and Myrtle Avenue, the latter light will have an Opticom box donated from Suffolk County, according to the village mayor.
“They should already have them — these are not the first traffic lights we’re installing in Port Jeff,” Garant said. “All of our lights should have that capability to have the fire department change the lights anyway.”
The department sent a letter to the engineering firm L.K. McLean Associates, of Brookhaven, that drew up the original plans, while giving a copy to the mayor, reading, “Each time that discussion has come up our department has opposed it.”
In the letter, Port Jefferson Fire Chief Brennan Holmes questioned the purpose of the traffic light on Liberty, saying they have reviewed the traffic collisions in that area, and over the past five years, the vehicle-pedestrian accidents responded to occurred at the intersection of Barnum Avenue and Main Street, mainly caused by visibility issues and not speeding.
“For the fire department it presents a great difficulty getting down Main Street,” Holmes said. “It’s not solving the issue they described as the problem.”
“The light is now going to delay some of our volunteers going to the firehouses getting caught at that light.”
— Brennan Holmes
Though Holmes said he would accept the help of the village finding funding for the Opticom system, he added that a light could still cause huge backup for his fleet of vehicles, especially if multiples need to get through the intersection at once.
“The light is now going to delay some of our volunteers going to the firehouses getting caught at that light,” he said. “In addition, it will change the light and give you the green, but during our response you might have multiple vehicles … we might have total congestion there.”
Garant said the decision for the light was made not just by her, but by the DOT in trying to mitigate pedestrian accidents on that road. Stephen Canzoneri, a spokesman for the state DOT said the new light was part of the state’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, a $110 million program which started in 2016 aiming to improve pedestrian safety through infrastructure development. He added the light should be installed by 2020.
Currently, none of the stoplights in the village have the Opticom technology. Village Department of Public Works Superintendent Steve Gallagher said there are three lights owned by the village and the rest owned by New York State. The village is in charge of the lights at Myrtle and Belle Terre Road, at North Country Road and Belle Terre Road, and North Country and North Columbia Street.
The Town of Brookhaven has already equipped many of the stoplights on major town roads with the Opticom system and provided grants to assist fire departments in equipping their vehicles with the light-changing devices, except Port Jefferson Fire Department.
Suffolk County Police have arrested a Medford man for allegedly committing four armed robberies this month.
A man allegedly entered four businesses between April 5 and April 21, displayed what appeared to be a handgun, demanded cash and fled with proceeds. Following an investigation, police determined the robberies were committed by Eric Wright, 31.
Major Case Section detectives charged Wright with four counts of robbery in the first degree for the following robberies:
• Subway, located at 18 Woods Corner Road in Setauket, April 15 at approximately 7:15 p.m.
• 7-Eleven, located at 811 Waverly Ave. in Holtsville, April 21 at approximately 7:30 a.m.
• Aura Vape Store, located at 1110 Middle Country Road in Selden, April 11 at 9:07 p.m.
• Conoco Gas Station, located at 626 Old Medford Ave. in Patchogue, April 5 at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Additionally, 6th Squad detectives charged Wright with grand larceny third degree and criminal possession of stolen property third degree for pawning jewelry he allegedly stole from a Setauket home.
James Marion Wilson
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