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METRO photo

By Nancy Marr

We frequently hear the mandate “Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle,” but is that really the answer to our waste problem?  

Yes, recycling can work, but it’s not perfect. A recycling business can refurbish and recycle goods or can even create new products from recycled materials. It reduces  the amount of waste sent to landfills, and conserves resources like water, minerals, and timber by reducing the need to collect new raw materials. 

Local government must provide incentives for businesses to invest in research to develop ways to recycle and reproduce products that can be sold. Modern urban recycling, which began with the passage of New Jersey’s mandatory recycling law in 1984, has successfully created a tremendous supply of recycled newspapers, glass bottles, office paper, and other materials. But when it comes to creating markets to meet consumer and business demand for the products made from these materials, the economics of recycling falls apart.

The U.S. has a national recycling goal to increase the recycling rate to 50% by 2030, from a rate of 7% in 1960 and 32% in 1923. Between 70% and 90% of all items that could be recycled now end up in the landfill.  An important success has been the Better Bottle Bill that was passed originally in New York State in 1983. 

Purchasers of bottled water, beer, wine coolers or soda are charged a fee, and are reimbursed when they return them to be re-produced. Returned bottles are sorted based on the type of material (glass, plastic, aluminum), and cleaned. The plastics are then shredded into small flakes and melted down into small pellets which can be used for new bottles. 

To make it more effective, the New York Legislature has written a Bigger, Better Bottle Bill, which would add glass bottles with non-carbonated liquids and iced tea, and increase the deposit price and the reimbursement price to ten cents. It  did not pass in this year’s Albany Legislature, although it will surely be legislated again, or re-written into a bill that mandates the return of bottles.

In fact, as David Biddle, Executive Director of the Public Recycling Officials of Pennsylvania, points out in the Harvard Business Review, recycling is not just a matter of recovering recyclable material; it’s a total economic system. Few people realize that their local curbside collection program is only the beginning of a recycling loop. Unless consumers want to buy the recycled products, the markets for the material they put out at the curb will remain depressed.

While public policymakers are still trying to improve their recycling programs, large corporations and small entrepreneurs alike are in the best position to take the lead. Top managers of companies like American Airlines, Bell Atlantic, and Coca-Cola have made buying recycled products and investing in green R&D part of their overall business strategies, which has allowed them to cut down on waste, increase profit  margins, and, in some cases, truly close the recycling loop. The success of recycling—indeed, its true value in the long term—won’t depend on how much landfill space is saved but on whether or not recycling makes economic sense. 

U.S. manufacturers haven’t always been so slow to invest. For decades, the steel and aluminum industries have successfully developed their respective technologies to incorporate large quantities of post-consumer recycled materials. Aluminum cans all contain a high percentage of recycled content, and virtually all products made with steel contain at least 25% reclaimed steel. In general, these two industries couldn’t survive without the heavy input of recycled material; and in this, they are models for the lagging paper and plastics industries. The universal recycle icon (three arrows in a Mobius loop) shows whether the item can be recycled, or may have been recycled.

Government also needs to enlist university scientists and train students to find additional ways to process glass, plastics, fabrics, and other items that now end up in the landfill. Local governments need to provide education about the importance of recycling and the materials consumers place in their curbside recycle bins. 

By mandating recycling and setting extremely high recovery goals for both paper and plastics, government has challenged U.S. industry to develop the necessary infrastructure for incorporating these materials into manufacturing processes. Yet for this challenge to be met, local government needs to find ways to involve business and industry in using and creating recycled products. 

Nancy Marr  is first vice-president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy.  For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860. 

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Warm Farro Salad with Grapes and Delicata Squash

By Heidi Sutton

An ancient wheat grain that has origins in Mesopotamia, farro is a fabulous, low calorie source of fiber, helps with heart health, blood sugar management and aids digestion. The cooked farro in the following salad recipes makes it a complete meal, adding a wholesome, nutty flavor.

Warm Farro Salad with Grapes and Delicata Squash

Recipe courtesy of California Table Grape Commission

Warm Farro Salad with Grapes and Delicata Squash

YIELD: Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS: 

3 pounds delicata squash cut lengthwise, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch slices

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil divided

1 teaspoon coarse salt divided

1/2 teaspoon black pepper divided

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups farro

2 cups water

3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 1/2 cups halved California grapes

1/2 cup chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 425 F. On sheet pan, toss squash with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cayenne pepper. Spread into single layer and roast 10-15 minutes, or until bottoms are browned. Turn squash and roast 10-15 minutes, or until browned and tender.

While squash is cooking, combine farro, water and remaining salt. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook until farro is tender, 25-30 minutes. Drain leftover water and transfer to large bowl. Add squash, remaining olive oil, remaining pepper, lemon juice, lemon zest, grapes and parsley and toss well.

Note: Acorn or butternut squash may be substituted for delicata squash.

Cold Farro Salad with Pears and Raisins

Recipe courtesy of Elyse Sutton

YIELD: Makes 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS: 

1 cup farro

2 chopped pears

1/4 cup golden raisins

2 thinly sliced celery stalks

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan or goat cheese

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the farro as directed. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl to cool. Add pears, raisins, celery stalks, parsley, cheese, olive oil and apple cider vinegar and toss well. Season with salt and pepper. 

High Energy Salad Bowl

Recipe courtesy of Lori Yates

High Energy Salad Bowl

YIELD: Makes 1 serving

INGREDIENTS: 

2 1/2 oz (about 2 cups) fresh chopped kale or baby spinach

1/4 medium orange, sliced

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/3 cup steamed asparagus spears cut into 2-inch pieces, chilled

1/4 cup cooked farro, chilled

1/4 cup fresh cherries pitted and halved, or blueberries

2 tablespoons slivered almonds or pecans, toasted

2 tablespoons raspberry vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS:

In serving bowl place kale or spinach. Arrange orange slices, cottage cheese, asparagus, farro, cherries or blueberries and almonds or pecans on top. Just before serving, drizzle with vinaigrette.

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The first building in Stony Brook built for exclusive use as a post office. Before then the post office was usually located in a local general store. It was moved to Cedar Street when Ward Melville reorganized the Stony Brook village area. Courtesy Emma S. Clark Library

By Beverly C. Tyler

The first postmaster in Stony Brook in the 20th century was Ralph M. Sammis, appointed on April 16, 1900. He served for 12 years. That same year, Sammis built a home at 77 Hollow Road. According to research by Barbara and Greg Allard, while the house was being built, Sammis and his family rented what is now the Country House Restaurant.

Ralph and Julia Sammis had three children: Anna, Morton, and Mildred. Morton and Mildred were born in the northeast bedroom of the new house on Hollow Road. According to family stories from Anna Sammis, when Morton was born, the family cat gave birth to a litter of kittens under the same bed.

The family’s privy was accessed by a path from the back door, covered by a grape arbor pruned by Julia Sammis each year on Washington’s Birthday. They also maintained a garden with raspberries, blackberries, and grapes, with Ralph planting and Julia tending to the plants. Julia Sammis was known locally for her pickles and preserves.

The Sammis house also played a role in the “Great Stony Brook Post Office Robbery of 1911,” as described in an article by R. Morton Sammis, editor of The Independent Press of Stony Brook, in the Aug. 15, 1952, issue. The post office, then located on Main Street near the current Reboli Center, was situated next to Dr. James A. Squire’s home.

In his article, R. Morton Sammis wrote about his father’s observations during this period, describing how “there was a brick-and-concrete post near the post office windows, and Father noticed someone leaning against it, watching the back room of the post office. From this vantage point, a man could see Father wrapping the money and stamps in a large package we called ‘the bundle.’”

Morton continued, explaining that his father “started home, and the man followed him at a distance… Two days later, a man appeared at our house, wanting to demonstrate furniture polish. He insisted on entering, but once inside, he seemed more interested in observing the layout of the house than his product.”

“That night,” Morton recalled, “Father took ‘the bundle’ home and left it on the table with his coat and vest over it… Later, he took ‘the bundle’ upstairs with him. In the middle of the night, Mother woke him, saying, ‘There is someone in the house!’ Then, we heard the sideboard door squeak, and a flashlight lit the upper hall. Hearing us awake, a loud ‘meow’ came from outside—a signal to the man inside.”

Although the robbers didn’t get “the bundle,” they did steal Dr. Squire’s horse and buggy, later abandoning them in the Islip Cemetery. Following the attempted robbery, Post Office officials issued a stern warning that all money and stamps must remain on post office premises, and Sammis would be held accountable if they were stolen while in his possession. Morton noted that his father, aware of both the rule and the thieves’ interest in “the bundle,” made sure to leave it at the post office.

But that wasn’t the end of the robbers’ attempts. Morton continued in his article, writing, “One morning about a month later, Father arrived to find the safe blown open and its contents gone. Horse blankets belonging to Dr. Squire were wrapped around the safe and soaked, likely at the creek, as one blanket was found too heavy to carry.”

This time, Morton noted, the robbers attempted to escape using Dr. Squire’s early Model T Ford Roadster. However, Dr. F. Duane Squire had turned off the gas line that night due to a leak. “Once again, the robbers resorted to ‘Old Doc’s’ horses, escaping with all the money and stamps,” Morton wrote. “They later abandoned the team on the south side, and Howard E. Dickerson drove Dr. Squire to retrieve it. Later, Post Office officials notified Father that they had captured the culprits.”

Beverly Tyler is a historian with the Three Village Historical Society and author of books available from the society, located at 93 North Country Road, Setauket, N.Y. For more information, visit www.tvhs.org.

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Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief,
Publisher

The drive between my office and home has been treacherous for my tires over the past couple of years, with the potholes and broken stretches of blacktop causing them to whine in protest. I was taking all sorts of detours through adjoining neighborhoods to avoid them. 

So, imagine my relief when a transportation ground crew appeared a couple of weeks ago and proceeded to repair and repave the roads. The route is now smooth enough for roller skating.

This could have been a metaphor for the coming election.

After mounting anxiety among the populace and near hysteria about what voting would be like and what would lie ahead by the media, it is such a relief that nothing violent  happened. It was only an exercise in demonstrating the will of the governed.

Yes, half the population is keenly disappointed that its candidate did not win and make history, and the other half is ecstatic that its candidate did win and did make history. But an amazing calm has descended. 

Polls almost all across our nation were crowded but enabled orderly voting. There were a few bomb threats phoned in, largely attributed to Russian interference, which delayed our voting process in a minor way, but there were no scenes of perilous conflict. 

We Americans did what we are supposed to do during elections. We voted—in greater number than usual—then went about our usual business and awaited the results.

The only uptick in normal activity was in the stock market, which soared wildly at the prospect of calm and stability. There was no factual basis for any claims of chaos. And no one so far seems to be challenging the results.

We can let out our collective breath.

This election should not pass from sight without our plaudits for the poll workers. When I entered my polling place about 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, I was greeted cordially, directed to the proper table to register, then to another for the ballot and given a short explanation on how to fill it out.

When I emerged, ballot in hand, from the booth, I was further directed to one of the voting machines, then I left with a receipt and a sticker some kind soul had supplied that read, “I voted.” As I left, I was thanked a couple of times for voting by poll workers. 

It occurred to me that we, the voters, should be thanking them. Despite the severe concerns expressed in the lead-up to the election about the safety issue for those workers, they showed up, graciously did their jobs, safely put in a long day, then returned to their homes. 

They supported the ultimate key for democracy to happen: the vote.

So thank you to the many men and women, all across America, and those in our individual polling places, for your help. And thanks to those who came to protect them.

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Many people had an enormous stake in the election.

Beyond the policies, the ideas, the rallies and all the other hoopla around the hotly contested Election of 2024, people contributed significant amounts of money to back their favorite candidate or candidates.

OpenSecrets predicted that the 2024 federal election cycle would be the costliest on record, at $15.9 billion.

That’s a lot of advertisements funded by people who felt compelled to offer their financial support to candidates they thought would be the best for them, their counties, their states and the country.

So, what did we get for all that money?

Well, for starters, we had advertisements that decried the unqualified or awful nature of the other candidate. Sure, I suppose there’s some value in that.

But as a die-hard Yankees fan — a fitting phrase this year after the Bronx Bombers committed the kind of errors my son described as U8 mistakes — I’m not sure I’d want my team to spend so much time and effort trash talking, beating up or insulting their opponents.

Yes, I get it. Sports and politics aren’t the same, and yet, we the fans, supporters and general public invest in people in these arenas, hoping for the best from them.

Talking about how bad the competition is doesn’t make you better. It can scare people into voting for you, I suppose, but that doesn’t seem like a particularly honorable way to win. It also doesn’t set the tone for our children, who watch these advertisements or hear the words from would-be political leaders and wonder why they should exercise restraint on the playground after they’ve heard political leaders call each other names or insult each other. 

I suppose all those horrible words and a readiness to “fight” is far preferable to the historic human way of changing government regimes. In previous generations and in non-democratic societies, people shed blood to create a new government or bring in new leaders.

In theory, every four years, We the People can go to the ballot box and alter the direction of the country with our vote.

That brings me back to the money. Beyond the contribution to our candidate, what do we get back for the money we spend?

To borrow from Wall Street, what’s the return on our investment? Can we ask to speak with some of these leaders? Can we send ideas to improve the way government works?

No matter who wins any election, that person has a duty and responsibility to represent everyone, including those people who didn’t vote for them and their adversaries in the election cycle. The once and future president, whether he likes it or not, represents his constituents and his adversaries.

Getting elected doesn’t just give them power: it places enormous responsibility on their shoulders.

They came to us, electronic palms outstretched, asking for money and we gave it to them, despite concerns about our economic future, our desire to save for ourselves and our children and our need to invest in ourselves.

How else could we have spent that money? Could we have taken classes that enabled us to find other jobs? Could we have sent that money to charity to provide for the basic needs of people who are struggling to survive?

Now that donations helped fill many of those seats, those politicians, on day one, should make sure they listen to people, should affect positive changes and policies, and should work to ensure that they reward the public with effective leadership.

Let’s hope that money backed the right candidates, which can and should benefit the entire country.

Is it too much to ask that, one day, we all see a reasonable return on these investments?

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Kai

MEET KAI!

This week’s shelter pet is Kai,  a Bully/Poodle/Terrier mix still waiting to be adopted from the Smithtown Animal  & Adoption Shelter since arriving  in February of this year.

Estimated to be about two years old, Kai is one adorably unique looking dude! At 55 pounds, he is love and fun all of the time but was denied proper training and socializing and nees a patient family that will show him love and give him the time he’s been denight. He would do best in a home with older children. To meet him is to fall in love!

If you are interested in meeting Kai, please call ahead to schedule an hour to properly interact with him.

The Town of Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only). For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.

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The DASH diet is a flexible eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life. Stock photo

By David Dunaief, M.D.

Dr. David Dunaief

Heart failure (HF) occurs when the heart’s pumping is not able to keep up with the body’s demands for blood and oxygen and may decompensate. Unlike a heart attack, it develops slowly over years and may take a long time to become symptomatic. According to the latest statistics, 6.7 million Americans over the age of 19 are affected (1).  These numbers are projected to increase to 8.7 million by 2030, with the greatest growth among those aged 35 to 64 (2).

There are two types of heart failure, systolic and diastolic. Put simply, the difference is that the output of blood with each contraction of the heart’s left ventricle is generally preserved in diastolic HF, while it can be significantly reduced in systolic HF.

Fortunately, both types can be diagnosed with an echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart. The signs and symptoms of both include shortness of breath during daily activities or when lying down; edema or swelling in the feet, legs, ankles or stomach, reduced exercise tolerance; and feeling tired or weak. These can have a significant impact on your quality of life.

Major lifestyle risk factors for heart failure include obesity, smoking, poor diet, being sedentary, excessive alcohol intake (3). Medical conditions that increase your risk include diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and valvular heart disease.

Heart failure can be treated with medication, including blood pressure medications, such as beta blockers, ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers. All of these have side effects. We are going to look at recent studies that examine the role of diet in reducing your risk. 

The role of antioxidants in your diet

If we look beyond the risk factors mentioned above, some studies have explored the role oxidative stress may play an important role in contributing to HF.

In an analysis of the Swedish Mammography Cohort, researchers showed that a diet rich in antioxidants reduces the risk of developing HF (4). In the group that consumed the most nutrient-dense foods, there was a significant 42 percent reduction in the development of HF, compared to the group that consumed the least. The antioxidants were mainly from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, coffee and chocolate. Fruits and vegetables were responsible for most of the effect.

This study was the first to investigate the impact of dietary antioxidants on heart failure prevention.

This was a large study: it involved 33,713 women with 11.3 years of follow-up. Still, there are limitations, because it was an observational study, and the population involved only women. However, the results are very exciting, and there is little downside to applying this approach.

Applying the DASH diet

A 2022 study examined the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet on the risk of developing HF (5). This study included over 76,000 men and women, ages 45-83 and without previous HF, ischemic heart disease or cancer from the Cohort of Swedish Men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort.

The DASH diet emphasizes consuming fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, and low-fat dairy and de-emphasizes red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sodium.

The researchers found that long-term adherence to the DASH diet was associated with a lower risk of HF. The greater the participants’ adherence, the greater the positive effect.

Interestingly, even replacing one serving per day of red and processed meat with one serving per day of other DASH diet foods was associated with an approximate 10 percent lower risk of HF.

Comparing a variety of diets

The REGARDS (REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke) Trial examined the impact of five dietary patterns on later development of HF in over 16,000 patients followed for a median of 8.7 years. The dietary patterns included convenience, plant-based, sweets, Southern, and alcohol/salads (6). 

Researchers found that a plant-based dietary pattern was associated with a significantly lower risk of HF. Compared with the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of adherence to the plant-based dietary pattern was associated with a 41 percent lower risk of HF. 

The highest adherence to the Southern dietary pattern was associated with a 72 percent higher risk of HF after adjusting for age, sex, and race and for other potential confounding factors. Researchers found less effect after further adjusting for body mass index, waist circumference, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease.

They did not observe any associations with the other 3 dietary patterns.

These studies suggest that we should seek to prevent heart failure with dietary changes, including consuming higher amounts of antioxidant-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, and lower amounts of red and processed meats.

References:

(1) Circulation. 2024;149:e347–913. (2) hfsa.org. (3) cdc.gov. (4) Am J Med. 2013 Jun:126(6):494-500. (5) Eur J of Prev Cardiology 2022 May: 29(7): 1114–1123. (6) J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Apr 30; 73(16): 2036–2045.

Dr. David Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.

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Photo courtesy of Councilwoman Bonner's office

GETTING CRAFTY

Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner (kneeling) attended the Suffolk County Homemaker’s Council Showcase at the Coram Fire Department headquarters on Oct. 19. During the event the group presented their homemade craft items and shared crafting ideas with the community. The Council serves as an advisory board for the homemaker units which exist in Suffolk County and publishes a “Council Connection” newsletter, grants scholarships, gives workshops, provides guest speakers and teaches craft and cooking classes.  Photo courtesy of Councilwoman Bonner’s office

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Pixabay photo

By Shannon L. Malone, Esq.

Shannon L. Malone Esq.

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us are preparing for one of the busiest travel seasons of the year. And while the joy of seeing loved ones is the main focus, let’s not forget that each time we cross state lines, we’re also entering a new legal landscape.

Known as the “Implied Consent Doctrine,” this concept means that by simply driving into another state, you agree to follow its rules of the road—even when they’re downright bizarre. To help make your road trip a little more entertaining (and legally compliant), I’ve gathered some of the most peculiar traffic laws from the continental U.S.

Northeast

• Maine: You are not permitted to park in front of Dunkin’ Donuts. Considering how serious residents of Maine are about their morning coffee, this law might just be about preserving access to their lifeline.

• New Hampshire: Do not stop in the middle of the road to let a moose pass; it is considered obstructive driving.

• Vermont: It is illegal to whistle underwater while driving (though one might wonder how that situation could arise).

• Massachusetts: Drivers cannot operate a car with a gorilla in the back seat. Indeed, you read that correctly…

• Rhode Island: If you find yourself in Providence at night, keep a bell handy—it is legally required for cars after dark.

Midwest

• Ohio: In Youngstown, running out of gas on the road is actually considered a misdemeanor!

• Illinois: Hanging fuzzy dice or air fresheners from your rearview mirror is illegal. The goal here is to keep your line of sight clear, though it’s a tough break for lovers of retro car accessories.

• Michigan: When approaching a roundabout in South Haven, be sure to stop if emergency vehicles are nearby, as it is illegal to enter a roundabout while emergency vehicles are approaching.

• Iowa: On Sundays, keep the honking to a minimum if there’s a horse nearby—it is considered harassment, which makes one wonder how many horses have actually complained.

• Kansas: It is illegal to screech your tires—unintentionally or otherwise.

• North Dakota: In Fargo, you can’t drive barefoot. I guess that means flip-flops are fine, but bare feet are a step too far.

South

• Florida: It is the law to let faster cars pass on highways, no matter how much you want to set your own pace. Florida does not mess around when it comes to staying in the right lane.

• Georgia: Driving with an animal tied to your car roof is illegal—a law that likely exists because of travelers who took Clark Griswold’s antics a bit too literally.

• South Carolina: In Hilton Head, it is illegal to ride a bike without keeping at least one hand on the handlebars.

• Alabama: In case you were wondering, driving while blindfolded is prohibited. It sounds absurd, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

• Tennessee: Shooting at any game from your car is a no-go—unless, of course, it is a whale.

West

• California: Shooting at game from a moving vehicle is banned, except for—you guessed it—whales. Who knew whales were such frequent targets on U.S. roadways?

• Nevada: Camels are not allowed on highways, a remnant from the days when camels were actually used for transportation in the desert.

• Oregon: For those planning to fill up their gas tanks, remember that you are not allowed to pump your own gas in many parts of the state, so pretend you are in New Jersey, where motorists have not been permitted to pump their own gas since 1949!

Stranger than fiction traffic laws in our home state of New York

• No Sleeping: In Southampton Village, you are only allowed to sleep in your car at specific times. The local rule is simple: if your car is stationary, you may not sleep in it between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00 a.m. But it may be assumed that it is lawful to sleep in your vehicle for the remaining 22 hours of the day.

• No U-Turns in West Hampton Dunes: In West Hampton Dunes, if you miss a turn, you had better be a master of rerouting. The village has an ordinance that bans U-turns on all streets, leaving no room for error in your navigation.

• No Disrobing: Feel like changing clothes in your car while in Sag Harbor? Do not. The village’s vaguely worded bathing law makes it illegal to strip down in public or in your vehicle. When you bathe in Sag Harbor, you are also required to wear a swimsuit or suitable covering. No exceptions.

• No Warming Up: Cold outside? Too bad. New York is one of thirty states, where it is against state law to warm up your car unless you are sitting in it. The Unattended Motor Vehicle law prohibits leaving the engine running without the key removed. So, unless you want a ticket, you will need to shiver it out. The only exception to this law is if a remote-control starter is used to warm up the car.

• Other Laws Related to Idling Vehicles: Heavy-duty vehicles are prohibited from idling for more than five minutes at a time for trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 8,500 pounds. New York City Prohibits idling for more than three minutes for all vehicles, or one minute outside a school. Fines for idling range from $500 to $18,000 for a first violation.

• No Speeding Past a Sanitation Truck: In 2016, New York expanded its definition of a hazard truck to include sanitation trucks. This means drivers must slow down when passing a garbage truck, just as they would for a fire truck or ambulance. The rule aims to protect sanitation workers from getting clipped by drivers in a hurry.

Although the main goal of Thanksgiving travel is to safely reach family and friends, learning about some of these quirky laws can add a bit of fun to your road trip. Plus, it never hurts to know what to expect when you cross into new territory.

Final thoughts

While these peculiar New York regulations might seem excessive, they are not alone in their strangeness. Just as New York State outlaws warming up your unattended car, unless by keyless remote, other states have quirky twists on idling rules too—like New Jersey, where pumping your own gas is illegal, or California, which limits idling time to protect air quality. 

Meanwhile, Sag Harbor’s ban on disrobing in vehicles is reminiscent of laws in Alabama, where driving blindfolded is prohibited (as if that needed to be specified). Compared to these, New York’s ban on speeding past sanitation trucks aligns more with other states’ safety measures, like Florida’s rule to let faster cars pass. While local ordinances reflect unique community concerns and seem more like relics of an overzealous town board meeting, state laws generally aim for broader public safety and environmental protection, often with stricter enforcement and heftier fines.

Although the main goal of Thanksgiving travel is to safely reach family and friends, learning about some of these quirky laws can add a bit of fun to your road trip. Plus, it never hurts to know what to expect when you cross into new territory.

Shannon L. Malone, Esq. is an Associate Attorney at Glynn Mercep Purcell and Morrison LLP in Setauket. She graduated from Touro Law, where she wrote and served as an editor of the Touro Law Review. Ms. Malone is a proud Stony Brook University alumna.

Traffic Court Forum returns on Nov. 28

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Kate Alexander. Photo courtesy of CSHL

By Daniel Dunaief

In the nucleus of the cell, researchers often focus on the genetic machinery, as the double-helical DNA sends signals that enable the creation of everything from my fingers that are typing these words to your brain that is processing what you’ve read.

But DNA, which occupies most of the nucleus, is not alone. Scattered through the nucleus are protein and RNA filled structures that have an influence on their important gene-bearing nuclear cohabitants, including speckles.

One of the newest members of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory team, Assistant Professor Kate Alexander, who joined the lab in August, is focused on a range of questions about these speckles, which represent about 10 to 30 percent of the nuclear volume.

Preliminary data from Alexander’s lab support the idea that speckles can signal how a person responds to various types of therapy, although careful extensive follow up studies are needed, Alexander explained. She would like to know how the speckles are affecting the genetic machinery.

While speckles have been known since 1910, the ways they affect healthy cells and diseased cells remains a mystery. In some cases, normal or aberrant speckles can signal how a person responds to various types of therapy.

Normal speckles are in the center of the cell nucleus, while aberrant speckles are more scattered. Aberrant speckles can activate some of the surrounding DNA.

At this point, Alexander and her colleagues have “found that normal or aberrant speckle states correlate with survival of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. This accounts for over 80 percent of all kidney cancers.”

Medical choices

After a patient with clear cell renal cell carcinoma receives a cancer diagnosis, the first line of treatment is usually surgery to remove the tumor in the kidney. In addition, doctors could treat the tumor with a systematic anti-cancer therapy. The treatments themselves can and often do cause difficult side effects, as therapies can harm healthy cells and can disrupt normal biological functioning.

Normal speckles look something like the face of the man on the moon and are more centrally located.

Alexander is hoping speckles will help predict the state of the tumor, offering clues about how it might respond to different types of treatments. She could envision how aberrant speckles could correlate with better responses to one drug, while normal speckles might correlate with better responses to another treatment.

In her research, Alexander is exploring how DNA is organized around speckles, as well as how the speckles affect DNA.

“Speckles can change and impact what’s happening to all the DNA that’s surrounding them,” she said. 

Over 20 tumor types show evidence for both normal and aberrant speckles. Aberrant tumors can occur in many types of cancer.

“The consequence of [speckles] becoming normal or aberrant are starting to become more clear,” she said, although there is “still a lot to learn.”

Alexander is trying to figure out how to alter the conformation of these speckles. During cancer, she suspects these speckles may get trapped in a particular state.

In one of the first experiments in her lab, she’s culturing cells in an incubator and is trying to predict what cues may cause speckles in those cells to switch states. 

‘Speckle club’ leader

Alexander previously did postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania in the laboratory of Shelley Berger, where she was also a Research Associate. She led a subgroup in the lab known as the “speckle club.”

Charly Good, who is now Senior Research Investigator in Berger’s lab, worked with Alexander at Penn from 2017 until this summer.

Aberrant speckles are scattered throughout the nucleus.

Alexander “helped recruit me to the postdoc I ended up doing,” said Good who appreciated Alexander’s computational skills in analyzing big data sets. Speckles represent an “up and coming area” for research, which Alexander and Berger are helping lead, Good suggested.

Alexander’s quick thinking meant she would go to a talk and would email the speaker as soon as she got back to her desk. “Her brain is always spinning,” said Good.

Alexander is building her lab at CSHL. Sana Mir is working as a technician and is helping manage the lab. Recently, Hiroe Namba joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher. In the next few years, Alexander would like to add a few graduate students and, within five years, have about eight people.

Originally from Tigard, Oregon, Alexander attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. In her freshman year, she tried to get into a physics class that was full and wound up taking a biology class. She was concerned that biology classes were mostly memorization. When she started the course, she appreciated how the science involved searching for missing pieces of information.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory appealed to her because she could go in whatever direction the research took her.

For Alexander, scientific questions are like a layer of cloth with a few threads sticking out.

“You see one sticking out and you start to pull,” Alexander said. “You don’t necessarily know what’s going to come out, but you keep getting the urge to pull at that thread. You realize that it is connected to all these other things and you can look at those, too.”

She is excited to cross numerous disciplines in her work and is eager to think about how her research might “interplay across those fields and boundaries.”

Speckle origins

As for speckles, Alexander observed during her postdoctoral research how one factor seemed to influence a neighborhood of genes.

For that to occur, she realized that something had to affect those genes at the same time in the physical space. She hadn’t known about speckles before. A few of her colleagues, including Good, came across speckles in their analysis. That made Alexander curious about what these speckles might be doing.

She saw an opening to pursue connections between changes in these potential gene activators and illnesses.

Researchers know that viruses can use speckles to help them copy themselves.

If they are used by viruses “they must be important” and they “probably go wrong in a lot of diseases,” Alexander said. There are a series of neurodevelopmental disorders called “speckleopathies” that involve mutations in proteins found inside speckles.

“We have the computational and experimental tools to start investigating them across a wide variety of conditions,” she said.

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