Suffolk County Acting Police Commissioner Robert Waring, Commack Fire District Chairman of the Board Pat Fazio joined Susan Ciano, widow of Suffolk County Police Officer Glen Ciano during a press conference at the Commack Fire Department on Jan. 30 to announce the 15th annual blood drive named in memory of Officer Glen Ciano.
The annual event, which will be held on Feb. 1 this year, is held in honor of Officer Ciano, who was responding to a call when he was killed by a drunk driver in Commack on February 22, 2009.
“It’s Glen’s dedication to public service that brings us back to this blood drive each year to save the lives of as many strangers as possible. Most of us assume that if we need blood it will be available, but the reality is that the only way blood will be readily accessible is if people give up just a little bit of their time to donate,” said Commissioner Waring.
“Blood levels are dangerously low and with the cold weather it’s even worse,” added Chairman Fazio.
“This is a celebration for Glen,” said Ciano’s widow. “And that’s why having my fire department family and the police family here, everyone coming in donating blood, this means the world to our family.”
The New York Blood Center has declared a blood emergency due to a significant drop in blood donations following the holiday season. The blood center has seen a 30% drop in donations, which has resulted in 6,500 fewer donations and crippled the region’s blood supply. Donations of all blood types are urgently needed—especially Types O- and B-, which are both down to just a one- to three-day supply.
The blood drive will be held at the Commack Fire Department, located at 6309 Jericho Turnpike in Commack, on February 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is not necessary to make an appointment.
Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) believes that constituents can be controlled and silenced by offering candy as if they were 5 year olds. It’s insulting and degrading that grown adults who speak out against injustices and understand how to use their First Amendment rights to free speech are being silenced.
No, Steve, a Life Saver isn’t going to make me stop speaking out against the draconian rules that [Suffolk] County passes that harm the public’s general welfare by turning the county police department against the Latino population. The presiding officer infringed and trampled on my First Amendment rights because he didn’t like what I said.
Let’s face it, the appearance of senior women speaking at public meetings exercising a constitutional protection of free speech surrounded by fully armed sheriff’s officers is bad public relations for the legislative body in a democracy.
Lisa Sevimli, Patchogue
We do not need another freight station
I wholeheartedly agree with Frank Konop [Smithtown freight yard is a threat to our community,[TBR News Media, Jan. 23] that the proposed Townline Rail Terminal will do more harm than good to residents of Smithtown township.However, his attempt to link it to the wildfires in southern California is way off base.
This has nothing to do with “social justice policies.”Regarding the California fires, it’s false that they were related in any way to redirecting reservoir water to save fish.State reservoirs storing water for southern California are at or near record highs.
The elephant in the room is global warming.Although it’s impossible to narrowly tie it directly to a particular disaster, it’s foolish to deny its role in the increasing prevalence of wildfires, droughts, floods and freak weather.In March 2024 the Smokehouse Creek fire burned over one million acres in the Texas Panhandle, compared with more than 40,000 acres burned in California thru January 2025.In October 2024 in Valencia, Spain, 232 people were killed by a year’s worth of rain falling in a few hours.Right here in Smithtown we were hit by a “rain bomb” last August that destroyed Stony Brook Pond and Stump Pond and flooded town hall.The Main Branch of Smithtown Library is still closed.
Getting back to the TRT, there are lots of questions.This facility will be used not only to ship incinerator ash as well as construction and demolition debris off Long Island, but also to transport construction materials, vehicles and other undefined goods and commodities onto Long Island.What limitations are there?Will propane, heating oil or hazardous materials be among these commodities?We don’t know.What need is there for two transfer buildings, track to accommodate 161 freight cars and a fleet of 50 trucks if this facility will run only one 27-car train in and out per day as its sponsor claims?Will the tracks become a magnet for illegal dumping, attracting rats and mosquitos?TRT will undoubtedly have impacts beyond wrecking the Kings Park residential community it’s adjacent to, including the pollution emitted by the 1970s era diesel locomotives pulling all those freight cars.
The culprit behind this misbegotten proposal is not “social justice policies” or the “Green New Deal,” but our own Smithtown Town Board, which unanimously railroaded it through (pun intended) every step of the way.It’s now proposing to change town zoning code to add a new use called “rail freight terminal” to districts zoned Light Industrial, of which there are many, including Flowerfield, around town.Flowerfield was once a Long Island Rail Road station with its own siding track. Could this rezoning affect the disposition of Flowerfield?The Smithtown Town Board is supposed to protect the interests of Smithtown residents.But apparently, they’re so sure of being reelected due to their party affiliation that they presume it’s safe to ignore overwhelming opposition to TRT from the community.And who’s to say they’re wrong?
David Friedman, St. James
Presidency of Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny and Dr. Jack Marburger
As the former president of the Three Village/Stony Brook Soccer Club from 1990 to 2002 and 2010 to 2017, I read with great interest your article on the presidency of Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny and her impact upon the Three Village community. While Dr. Kenny’s support for the local community and especially our local soccer club was second to none, I do not want the article to give the impression, as I think it does, that her predecessor, Dr. Jack Marburger, was not interested in the local community and was only interested in the science aspect of the university. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially as it related to the development of the soccer complex next to the P lot at [Stony Brook] University.
Prior to our request to be able to develop the unused land for a variety of soccer fields, our local soccer club played all of their games at our local schools, forcing our children and families to go from one site to another, or be forced to miss their games. Upon our request to Dr. Marburger to be able to develop the fields, he played a major role in giving us permission to develop the property and ensuring our success even in the face of considerable opposition from the local neighbors and others. Knowing that such a complex would be of great benefit to the larger community, Dr. Marburger made sure that we received a permit from his office and in fact only charged the soccer club $1 a year for the use of the property. I think it is fair to say that without his support and understanding of what such a use would mean to the thousands of children and families in our community there would have been no soccer fields for our community to use on the university campus.
Upon her acceptance of her position, Dr. Kenny continued her support for the decision of Dr. Marburger with regard to the soccer fields, allowing the permit to continue for $1 a year and allowing the soccer club to build a multi-use building which contained both “real bathrooms” for our families as well as a concession stand. In addition she allowed for the soccer club to hold various outdoor and indoor tournaments on the campus, at no charge, including the major tournament on Long Island at that time, the Long Island Junior Soccer League championships. She was a frequent visitor to the fields on Sundays when over two thousand of our children played during the day. She made sure her staff was always supportive of our efforts to improve the complex and supported our efforts to gain a state grant which we did with the support of former State Senator Jim Lack and former State Assemblyman Steve Englebright.
Both Dr. Marburger and Dr. Kenny understood that Stony Brook University is more than just buildings and research. It is a community asset of the Three Villages and as such must be engaged with the local community in more ways that just selling tickets to various events. Unfortunately, neither of their two successors understood how a state university and a larger community must be engaged with each other, to the point where the soccer complex was taken over by the recreation department and charged the local soccer club over $100,000 each year for the ability of our local children to play soccer on land which had been developed by the local soccer club. Unfortunately they looked at the soccer fields solely as a money maker and not as a community benefit, to the point where they now charge for almost everything, significantly reduced the amount of time allotted for games and practices and have closed the building which was built for the benefit of our families.
While one may think that this is all history, it is not, especially as Stony Brook University engages once again in the selection of a new president. The selection committee and the SUNY Board of Trustees must understand that Stony Brook University must be part of the community, as promoted by both Dr. Kenny and Dr. Marburger, and not merely located in our community as made clear by their successors who gratefully have gone on to other places far from here. One would hope that the new president will understand and promote a concept of togetherness and mutual commitment to each other and not just what is good for the university. We hope that the history of what Dr. Kenny and Dr. Marburger accomplished will be the type of history which the new president will provide and not the type of history which their successors failed to provide. Our community is a better place to live when the university understands that it is part of the community and not just located here.
Dr. John Charles Pomeroy, a pioneering child psychiatrist, husband, father and grandfather, died with family at his bedside on Jan. 12 following complications from Parkinson’s Disease. He was 74.
Born in London on March 24, 1950, Pomeroy was raised in the suburbs of England and the United Kingdom’s capital city, where his mother’s emphasis on education shaped his future. He graduated from St. Mary’s Medical School at the University of London in 1973 and began his medical career as a junior doctor in Gibraltar and London. His early work sparked an interest in psychiatry, particularly child psychiatry, which was still an emerging field at the time. This led him to the University of Iowa and later Cornell University, before he moved to Stony Brook University in the 1980s, as the first child psychiatrist for the hospital.
As one of the founding members of Stony Brook’s Child Psychiatry Department, Pomeroy made groundbreaking contributions to autism research, notably including seminal studies on Asperger’s Syndrome and became Director of Outpatient Clinic in the Division of Child and Adolescent psychiatry. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, which opened in 2001 with a donation by Matt and Debra Cody. Under his leadership, the center became a resource for families and children on the autism spectrum and has since become a part of the Department of Pediatrics at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital.
Pomeroy authored more than 70 articles, abstracts, and book chapters on autism and was an associate professor in his field. He received numerous awards and recognitions for his contributions to the field. His career was marked by dedication to improving the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions as well as helping their families.
Outside of his professional work, Pomeroy was a lover of music, travel, sports and the arts. He enjoyed everything from opera and ballet to scuba diving to playing tennis and hiking. An avid reader, especially of non-fiction, he was also a fan of soccer, particularly Chelsea FC in England. He loved to travel and immerse himself in other cultures. Pomeroy was known to friends and associates for his dry wit, intelligence and disarmingly humble presence.
Pomeroy is survived by his wife, Julia; children, Zara and Jonathan; son-in-law, John; and grandchildren, Sienna and Isla. He is also survived by his sister, Jackie.
A memorial service will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Bryant Funeral Home in Setauket. Friends and colleagues are invited to speak at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Developmental Disabilities Institute (DDI) or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
On Jan. 19, the popular social media platform, TikTok, displayed an error screen, halting many of the app’s 150 million American users’ mid-scroll. “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the screen read. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.”
TikTok is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance and gained prominence on an international scale in 2017. Its Chinese ownership caused former President Joe Biden to sign a law dictating that if TIkTok weren’t sold to an American company, then it would be banned from American devices, leading to the error message.
This isn’t the first time TikTok was under threat of a ban, but it is the first time it has gotten this far. TikTok users across the country closed their apps for what they thought was the last time, reflecting on how the app fits into their lives, and how it will change their future habits.
TikTok was out of commission for 12 hours, giving many Americans a chance to contemplate its absence. Were we glad that the icon was no longer on our phone screens, tempting us to click on it? Or, did we regret that we didn’t have the breadth of advice, entertainment and information it avails?
The app offers endless opportunities, giving platforms to anyone who creates an account. Many small-business owners, artists, song-writers, comedians, food-bloggers, musicians and book-reviewers gained a foothold in their industry by joining the expanding ranks of “Tiktok influencers.” Numerous current professionals, especially creatives, used the short-form videos to their advantage. Lil Nas X, the recipient of two Grammy Awards, is one of the most notable artists who gained popularity by advertising his song on the app.
However, the very draw of the app–representation of a wide range of communities, allowing anyone to have a platform–can be contorted to manipulate the user’s perspective on reality. Besides the constant risk of spreading inaccurate information, the sheer amount of content can be anxiety-inducing. Literally swiping away anything distressing can condense a person’s world, the specialized “For You Page,” an echo-chamber. The casual, friendly videos can become a crutch, with scrolling from video to video becoming less of a conscious action and more of a comforting, self-soothing habit.
During those hours without TikTok as an active factor shaping our view, we were given the distance needed to evaluate its place retrospectively in our lives. Did we use it when we were bored? Stressed? Angry? Why and when will we miss it? Taking healthy breaks provides the unaffected clarity to make these determinations.
TikTok is back for now–President Trump issued a 90-day extension for ByteDance to sell–but let’s use the temporary ban as an opportunity to examine our social media usage.
A scene of destruction in Western North Carolina after Tropical Storm Helene. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/NCDOTcommunications
By Kurt Johnsen
On August 19, 2024, a “thousand-year” rain event breached Harbor Road and drained the Stony Brook Mill Pond.TBR News Media published my memoir of my personal relationship with the pond and my deep sorrow of its loss on Aug. 29.
I live in Asheville, North Carolina and on September 28, I awoke to a Natural Disaster that was beyond my comprehension. Tropical storm Helene had scourged our beloved Western North Carolina.I’ll first note that my wife and I were fine, and our home only suffered minor damage. I stepped outside and began to witness what was soon to be apparent destruction of “biblical” proportion.
Overnight, 40 to 100 miles-per-hour winds had ravaged our region. Asheville received 14 inches of rain, much of Western North Carolina received two feet of rain and even up to 30 inches, all in the previous two days. Trees were downed everywhere and with them thousands of power lines cutting off electricity and making even simple travel down the road impossible. Soon, the magnitude of the destruction started to become evident.
Close to 900,000 acres of forest were downed or damaged, thousands of homes were destroyed and 150,000 people were displaced. If you haven’t yet, you can go on YouTube and watch the hundreds of videos showing events that, before this, we only witnessed from afar often in third world countries. Two miles from our houseBiltmore Village was flooded and EVERY business was gutted or ripped down. Eighty percent of our beloved River Arts District was destroyed. The torrents caused massive mudslides. Across the region, houses were torn apart and floatedlike balsa wood along powerful rivers that, two days prior, were small streams and brooks.
There are 104 verified storm-related deaths. It is Incredulous this number isn’t higher. Vehicles, homes, businesses were piled like matchsticks. People’s lives were upended and, for many, will never be the same. Even now, as you drive out to smaller towns that were virtually destroyed,you proceed through a “tunnel” of the hulks of demolished cars, trucks, houses and other flotsam.
The main Pipeline from the reservoir that supplies most of Asheville with water was shattered and under 28 feet of thick muck! Water immediately ceased flowing out of the tap for, in most cases, months and even longer to become potable. Asheville’s unemployment rate jumped from three to 9 percent overnight. The lack of affordable housing, already a crisis for service industry employees in our tourist-based economy, was extraordinarily exacerbated overnight.
Stop reading for a minute and imagine the all-too-real picture I have painted above. Now, let me put this in perspective. The Mill Pond is approximately 11 acres in size. That is 0.001 percent of the area that was impacted in WNC from Helene. And now, much of Los Angeles looks like Dresden after the firebombing. I will not go far out on a limb to say we have reached the “tipping point”; climate change is now ravaging our planet. James Taylor sang “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.” He had no idea how prophetic his prose would become.
Author Kurt Johnsen, who grew up in idyllic Stony Brook,now resides inAsheville, North Carolina.
Smithtown freight yard is a threat to our community
As a 75-year resident of our beautiful community, it saddens me to see Smithtown is moving ahead on the freight yard proposal by Toby Carlson.Like California, you are adopting the law of unintended consequences. In the effort to pursue the “Green New Deal” they ignored the well-being and safety of their citizens. Reservoir water was redirected to save fish, fire budgets were cut and brush in county parks was left to grow contrary to state laws. All of this was to improve social justice policies. If a freight yard is the answer to our garbage needs, this is not the place for it, adjacent to a residential and historic area.
While the tragedy California is dealing with was never anticipated by the politicians, the dangers were all too apparent. So too, the terrible record of freight train derailments and toxic spills have put adjacent communities at risk and caused many tragedies throughout the country. While this is a real possibility, what is a certainty is that our home values, quality of life and water aquifer will all be negatively impacted. Just as California turned a blind eye to brush removal laws for many years, Smithtown has ignored the many code violations on Old Northport Road. Clearly, California has subordinated their community safety in pursuit of an alternative agenda. This should not happen here.Elected officials should protect and preserve our communities.
For 30 years I served with the Fort Salonga Association as director and president. We workedto protect our zoning, establishBread and Cheese as an historic Road and identify many homes dating back to the American Revolution. To undermine our efforts, damage our quality of life and impact our property values is a betrayal of our trust. There are better places for a freight yard than 150 feet away from residential homes. Please protect our community!
Frank Konop
Smithtown
Sergeant-at-arms can protect without weapons
At the Suffolk County Legislature’s Organizational Meeting on Jan. 2, I suggested appointing a sergeant-at-arms for future meetings. As an employee of the Legislature that individual would be responsible for ensuring that all in attendance follow protocols. Helping to escort guest dignitaries such as the Suffolk County executive into the auditorium to address the legislators when they are in session would also be a job requirement. Despite the words “sergeant” and “arms” in the title, that person would not be a law enforcement officer and would not carry any weapons.
My request was prompted by events at two General Meetings last year when a member of the public who was speaking was asked by the presiding officer to not provocatively say “your base is racist.” These uncomfortable moments quickly overheated when the presiding officer determined it appropriate to request deputy sheriff officers who are present at the General Meetings to escort the speaker out of the hearing room. Witnessing law enforcement officers with loaded guns on their person being instructed to remove constituents is concerning as such circumstances have the potential to quickly and unpredictably escalate.
During my tenure as a New York State assemblyman, I observed that Legislature’s sergeant-at-arms routinely offering potential disruptors a piece of candy from a bowl he kept at his desk. This literally sweet gesture would provide an opportunity for de-escalation and, in turn, maintain the required decorum to continue with a safe and effective legislative meeting. It also demonstrates that the individual who is the sergeant-at-arms can function as an antidote to disharmony and an instrument of civility. The Suffolk County Legislature should make use of this tool to add both a buffer against immoderate moments and add to the procedural dignity of the chamber.
Steve Englebright
Suffolk County Legislator
Fifth District
Keep the town code, keep out freight terminals
We are writing to express the opposition of our members to the proposed changes to the
[Smithtown] Town Code – as written – that would permit rail freight terminals, rail transfer stations and wood chipping and mulch processing in Smithtown. The proposals as written make no sense and should not be enacted.
Although increased capacity for the transportation of ash from waste-to-energy plants and construction and demolition debris (“C&D”) off Long Island likely will become a necessity, we believe that as drafted, the proposed code changes are misguided, overbroad and frankly, unrealistic.
The most surprising aspect of the proposal is that a special exception could be granted for any ofthese uses on parcels as little as two acres. Likewise, we are surprised that the proposal includes the possibility that a rail freight terminal could be permitted in a light industry zone anywhere in Town. Since the proposed amendments would affect the entire Town, they could have negative impacts in any community where in ustrially zoned properties exist, including the Mills Pond National Historic District and the Flowerfield property.
For the past four years, the community has been working with the State Department of Environmental Conservation and Suffolk County to preserve the undeveloped 48-acre portion of the Gyrodyne/Flowerfield property, which is the last remaining open space in St. James. The State and County are closer than ever to a purchase that would compensate Gyrodyne fairly for its land. Supervisor Wehrheim, you have expressed to the DEC that the Town has no objection to the State’s proposal to acquire the property using Environmental Protection Funds. However, the proposed code changes, as written, could jeopardize the goal of preserving Flowerfield Fairgrounds as open space.
While the current Town Board might not allow a rail terminal on the Gyrodyne/Flowerfield property, future Town Boards could do so if the code changes before you are approved. The proposed code amendments would be antithetical to the broad explicit goal established in the Town’s new Comprehensive Plan to protect the character of residential communities like St. James. Even if the minimum required parcel size was increased to 100 acres, the proposals should not be enacted, for the following reasons.
Permission to create a rail freight terminal “used for the temporary staging and/or storage of commodities, consumer products or equipment” transported via rail at the Gyrodyne/Flowerfield site would require the addition not only of railroad tracks and storage facilities, but would also of necessity generate daily heavy truck traffic on Mills Pond Road, North Country Road and Stony Brook Road, all of which are narrow, two-lane country roads.
In sworn testimony at the 2010 eminent domain trial Gyrodyne’s own planning and zoning expert testified that getting traffic in and out of the Gyrodyne site is problematic because it is remote from major roadways, and that the property therefore could not accommodate the additional traffic that would accompany more industrial development. The level of traffic on nearby roadways under current conditions is rated as failing, which was a major impetus for the legal challenge against approval of the Gyrodyne subdivision, still pending. The proposed code amendments would allow this property to potentially be developed for uses that would be even more objectionable than those proposed by Gyrodyne in its subdivision proposal.
Another significant issue to be considered is the limited capacity of rail infrastructure in the Town of Smithtown. The Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road is served by a busy single commuter track and is ill-suited to the addition of rail freight.
There are numerous other locations in Suffolk County which are more suitable for use as rail freight terminals to facilitate the expansion of transportation of ash and construction and demolition materials (C&D) off Long Island.
Head of the Harbor Neighborhood Preservation Coalition
The Long Island Sound has attracted many residents to the area. While walking across the beach and appreciating waters that change with the tides and weather, the beauty of a landscape we share with seagulls calling to each other and fiddler crabs racing in and out of the surf provides a comforting setting for our busy lives.
While the Long Island Sound seems resilient and constant, it faces an ongoing threat. After decades of existing adjacent to population-dense Long Island, its chemical makeup has suffered.
About 9 million people live in the Long Island Sound watershed, which extends almost to Canada, with 1.5 million of those people residing in Suffolk County. The large population puts pressure on the sewer systems, which if ineffective, affect water quality.
Ineffective wastewater management not only impacts drinking water, but also has profound and noticeable impacts on the Long Island Sound where the toxic runoff often ends up. Wastewater is adding nitrogen to the water, contributing to the growth of harmful algae blooms that overwhelm the surrounding ecosystem and cause beach closures.
Since we live on a watershed, how we use our water has the potential to erode the quality of the beaches we adore. To maintain the natural havens like Cedar Beach, Long Beach, and Sunken Meadow State Park we need a capable sewer system and modern septic tanks.
Our area poses a unique threat to the Sound: Long Island is highly developed, containing paved roads and concrete essentially leading straight to the beach. The lack of undeveloped land to absorb the excess water causes it to flow into the Sound, with all the contaminants it picks up on the way.
Our communities, too, will inevitably be impacted, unless we can make the proper preparations and implement mitigation techniques. Without improved sewage systems our community will not be able to cope with the escalating effects of climate change. Rising temperatures lead to more rainfall and more treacherous storm surges. We need to make sure our infrastructure can handle the strain to avoid flooding our towns.
Last year, the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act was a step in the right direction. Passed on Nov. 5, the bill will provide the county with $4 billion to upgrade our water infrastructure.
As the temperature rises, year by year, understanding how the qualities of Long Island interact with the changing climate can help us know what is at stake and how to protect it.
We need to keep the momentum going.We must learn how to protect what we have. This may mean reducing our use of fertilizer to minimize contaminated runoff from entering the water. Or it may mean doing the best we can to encourage others to protect the shared treasure that is the Long Island Sound .
Fortunately, the portion of the Long Island Sound in our coverage area is relatively healthy; but we must take steps now to become informed and protect a valuable resource we can appreciate and enjoy.
Former Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sharon R. Soderstrom, his former chief of staff. Photo courtesy of Sen. McConnell’s website
By D. Bruce Lockerbie
Just before its Christmas recess, the U.S. Senate met for an unusual ceremony, the retirement of an employee who, after 43 years on the job, had become known as one of “the most powerful” women in Washington (The Atlantic, May 20, 2015) and, according to former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), even the 101st Senator. Her name is Sharon R. Soderstrom, former chief of staff forMcConnell.
Few ordinary citizens understand the inner workings of our national government; in particular, the “sausage-making process” of passing bills into law to fulfill the policy expectations of voters who sent politicians to high offices.
Sharon R. Soderstrom
The U.S. Senate describes how a senator’s hired staff functions: “Senators depend on the assistance of staff on Senate committees and in their individual offices, both in Washington, D.C., and in their home states. Senate committee staff include clerks, staff directors, staff assistants, legal counsel, researchers, policy analysts, press assistants, and archivists. Most senators’ offices include a chief of staff to manage the office, legislative correspondents to communicate with constituents, and legislative directors and assistants to help develop legislation, as well as schedulers, communications and press staff, and other administrative assistants.”
Sharon Soderstrom filled the role of senior adviser for three Republican majority leaders: Trent Lott (R-MS), William Frist (R-TN) and McConnell.
Soderstrom’s father Karl E. Soderstrom was the head of The Stony Brook School; her brother Mark Soderstrom is a senior captain on the Port Jefferson/Bridgeport Ferry. With their younger sister Cheryl, they all attended North Country Elementary School through sixth grade, then enrolled at The Stony Brook School.
She was valedictorian of the class of 1978 before going on to the University of Virginia, where she majored in English; her intended graduate studies were interrupted by an opportunity to work in the Washington, D.C., office of then Senator Paul Trible (R-VA).
“I thought I’d work there for a year or two before I found my real job,” Soderstrom said. “I started answering phones but soon moved into a role that I found stimulating — learning about policy issues and thinking about how to strategically advance causes through the legislative process.”
The Hill, a widely-circulated insider publication, acclaims her as “an expert on Senate rules and procedure” and “well regarded for the counsel she provides to McConnell and members on Senate strategy. . . . Former aides in the office say that she constantly has her finger on the pulse of the [Republican] conference and the full trust of the longest-serving leader in Senate history.” (Sept. 12, 2023)
McConnell’s spoken tribute began, “For several months now, I’ve been calling the Senate’s attention to the extraordinary people who have me, this institution, and our nation so well — and for so long — in the Republican Leader’s office. Today, I’ve reached the end of the list. My one remaining task is to prepare our colleagues for a Senate without Sharon Soderstrom.”
McConnell ended his tribute by stating, “Come January, the Senate will convene again. The 119th Congress will bring us a new slate of weighty business, new moments of minor crisis, and new opportunities to better serve the nation we all love. But in the most trying moments — and the most triumphant ones — a great many of us will feel like something is missing. We will miss Sharon — the 101st Senator. Sharon, you have served the Senate with honor. You are the greatest at what you do.”
As for her own retrospective, Soderstrom says, “One of the joys of my work through the years has been the opportunities to mentor public-spirited young people. The role placed me at the intersection of operating between the White House, the House leadership and Senate Republican leaders. Among the many things I’m proud of is despite the stresses on our institutions, in moments of crisis I have been part of national leaders who led during 9/11 and 1/6/24 — two different evacuations of the Capitol, two different Republican leaders, and one imperative: Return to the Capitol the same day and demonstrate national resolve for the country and for the world.”
When asked to cite both high and low points in her career, she replied, “I have also been grateful at different moments in time to drive agendas that have been consequential in the moment. After Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, I was with Leader McConnell in Finland, then Sweden, the day they voted to join NATO. We then were part of the legislative team to drive early U.S. ratification of the treaty, and met again with the Prime Minister the day he presented the accession papers to the State Department to make it official.”
“I did ask on behalf of my Norwegian grandparents what took them so long,” she added.
“I credit my upbringing at The Stony Brook School for modeling lessons that helped me in this role. At the end of his life, my Dad told me of his deep satisfaction in doing purposeful work with talented colleagues, many of whom became lifelong friends. I too was able to work with the best and brightest, and as a team we were each better than our individual parts. Building and managing a team that maintained our reputation for excellence and high morale through the tenure of the longest serving leader in Senate history was a great good gift.”
“But I think my greatest disappointment through the years has been watching politics become more performative among each party’s base, making progress more difficult. Mark Shields once said, ‘There are two types of political parties like there are two kinds of churches: those who seek converts and those who root out heretics.’ I hope that we can return to a moment when we try to persuade through the weight of a winsome argument rather than shutting down dissent and vilifying fellow citizens.”
For the first time in more than four decades, Sharon Soderstrom’s daily routine is no longer at the behest of 100 men and women who live their lives in six-year cycles and count to 51 (or 60), depending on the nature of the case before them. She plans to take a well-earned break from Senate arithmetic.
D. Bruce Lockerbie is a longtime resident of the Three Villages.
Welcoming 2025 can mean many different things to different people. Do people still believe in setting goals for the new year, or has this practice become outdated, with goal-setting becoming more or less infrequent?
TBR News Media took to the streets to ask Long Islanders about their New Year’s resolutions to understand this phenomenon across different groups.
Jake Schwarzbard
Jake Schwarzbard, East Setauket
The Ward Melville High School senior is looking forward to the warmer weather, which will help him stick to his New Year’s resolution of “being on my phone less. “I feel like it is taking up too much of my day. I would like to try doing more activities, like golfing.”
Cara Macedonio
Cara Macedonio, Stony Brook
The Emma Clark Library clerk discussed a few of her resolutions: “Go to the gym is basic, but that was one of them. My resolution is to find a fun job that I like.”
Claire Sloniewsky, Old Field
The senior at Ward Melville shared some of her “several” resolutions, which she wrote down on her phone to remember throughout the year: “One of my main resolutions was to spend more time outside, whether on a daily walk or something more high-impact, like going on a run or looking at nature. I feel more grounded when I do that, and it’s pretty isolating and tiring when I’m inside. Another was to read more. I’m already a pretty big reader, but I want to prioritize it this year.”
Angie Zang
Angie Zang, Coram
The elementary school student shared her goal for the year while roasting a marshmallow outside of The Frigate, “I would like to get better at ballet.”
Lindsay Day
Lindsay Day, Three Village
Another Emma Clark Library clerk shared her goal: “My New Year’s resolution is to make more meals at home instead of dining out.”
Spencer Edelbaum
Spencer Edelbaum, Three Village
A local Druther’s Coffee frequenter shared his New Year’s resolution, which he states is his permanent goal: “I have a nonprofit called The Spot. I do a lot of helping; I just love a lot of people. I would just continue loving into people’s lives.”
The Northport-East Northport Union Free School District Board of Education voted to opt out of regionalization at its Jan. 9 meeting.
According to the New York State Education Department, “The Regionalization Initiative is a collaborative regional planning approach for local districts to communicate what they need in order to ensure equitable educational opportunities for all students, leveraging the state’s existing capabilities, talent, and infrastructure.”
Before voting on the matter, the board first opened the discussion to parents and members of the community to consider the public opinion. To summarize, the majority concluded that philosophically it was an excellent idea, but it was far from practical and would be difficult to properly execute.
“We are paying a lot more and we are not getting a lot back,” one constituent said. “I hope you opt out.”
“I understand why the governor might have wanted to level foundation aid … but at the same time when I look at that amount of school districts, 125 school districts across Long Island, there is a reason for regionalization and shared services,” trustee Allison Noonan said.
The board voted to opt out of regionalization on the basis that a lack of data has proved the program’s efficiency and tax dollars should remain within the district.
“The Northport-East Northport Union Free School District strongly opposes any initiative that jeopardizes local control of our schools, or redistributes taxpayer dollars and resources to other jurisdictions,” the school district’s resolution reads.
Other buisness
Students from East Northport Middle School delivered speeches about their school. Students Gabriel Afatato, Emma Origo, Jameson Hand and Emily Smith described their appreciation for the diverse variety of clubs, supportive teachers and counselors and incredible opportunities. Opportunities such as seeing “The Outsiders” on Broadway and performing a realistic mock trial have made learning a fun, hands-on experience. They expressed their gratitude for the sense of belonging and community they feel at their school.
Following the ENMS presentation, physical education teacher Dan Twano discussed improvement in the physical education department based on curriculum research.
After highlighting alignment to New York State learning standards, Twano explained the development process they’ve examined over the months. Twano noted that utilizing collaboration periods, implementing annual curriculum review processes and facilitating partnerships between elementary and physical education staff could significantly impact the advancement of the curriculum.
Next, the board heard from the special education directors from elementary, secondary and student sport services.
The goals for the upcoming year consist of strengthening inclusive, high-quality instruction for all students, fostering a supportive and inclusive school environment, strengthening family communication and enhancing family involvement to support student success and community engagement.
Upcoming meetings will be held Thursday, Jan. 23, and Thursday, Feb. 13.
Prev
