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A scene from 'Monsters, Inc.' Image courtesy of Disney/Pixar

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

“Monsters, Inc.” and the modern media share some terrifying traits.

You see, at the beginning of the animated Pixar movie, the Monsters from Monstropolis collect energy by scaring children at night.

It’s a relatable phenomenon, especially for those of us with an active imagination and who insisted their parents check under their bed, in the closet and in every conceivable place a monster might hide before going to sleep. I’m not referring to anyone in particular in that description here, in case anyone might be wondering.

So, anyway, in Monstropolis, the terror and screams from the children fill canisters of energy that monsters bring back home through the magic doors, which are often closets.

Similarly, the modern media is filled with terrible stories, finger pointing, angry headlines and the kind of click bait that demands people read the story or they’ll die or, perhaps, worse, become a Democrat or a Republican.

I understand the division in our country. Well, let me rephrase that. I understand that division in the country can be productive and can allow people to share ideas from different backgrounds or from opposite sides of a political fence.

I don’t completely understand why the country has become so fractured and stubborn in its thinking that people view those who are on the other side as unworthy or as the enemy.

The enemy of what, exactly?

News organizations have poured gasoline on our cultural dumpster fire by sharing and blaring headlines about how dumb the other side is, and how specific people, often from one political camp, are to blame for their problems.

On any given day, it’s easy to find a Trump-is-an-idiot-who-is-destroying-the-country story from CNN, the Washington Post or the New York Times. It’s just as easy  to find a Biden-is-too-old, Harris-is-a-disaster, or Futterman-can’t-dress-himself-well story from the other side.

I get it: those stories sell news, draw eyeballs, get advertisers and generate heat and energy.

It’s an energy that feeds on itself, as the next day’s stories often not only include the latest gaffe from the president or the latest outrage from the former president, but they also rekindle all the outrage from the ridiculous things each of them did in the days, weeks and months before.

Those stories are easy to write, because they only require about four paragraphs of new information. After that, it’s off to the races, adding all the usual background about how this objectionable act or speech comes after so many other similar incidents.

What these news organizations don’t often do, however, is what managers often encourage from their employees. If you’re going to bring a problem, try to suggest a solution.

That’s going to be tougher. It’s so much easier to point the finger, to call people names, and to blame others than it is to develop a cohesive and workable plan that might fail.

Maybe these news organizations should demand more from themselves. They shouldn’t fall into the trap of sharing the latest bad news or  problem, but should also force themselves to find people who have better ideas or who can offer solutions.

Returning to the movie “Monsters, Inc.”, perhaps there are other ways to generate energy that don’t terrify people

Laughter, as the cliche goes, is the best medicine. Maybe we aren’t laughing enough or maybe we aren’t laughing enough together. It’s far too easy to become a part of the chorus in a Greek tragedy, shaking our heads and mocking the ridiculous actions of others.

Sure, news organizations should capture the culture of the country and report on real people and real events. But they should also take the time and effort to do more than write the same mad libs story every day about the idiocy of the other side. They should offer the kind of solutions that can help people get a good night’s sleep and that don’t trigger sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

This year, when we attended the annual Publishers’ Conference, we experienced high anxiety adventures on both land and sea. Well, in a manner of speaking. 

The gathering of about 40 publishers was held at a venerable hotel in Boston.

We had a nice enough room overlooking some of the downtown, and it wasn’t until the second day that I noted what seemed to be a solitary fruit fly or gnat, perhaps, flying around my head as I was reading. Not paying much attention, I swatted at it, missing it, and continued to read. Later that day, I saw another-or was it the same fellow-in the bathroom? This time I managed to catch him and do him in. 

Deciding to pay attention to what might be turning into a private battle, I stopped at the desk in the lobby on my way to the next workshop and explained the situation to the clerk, who might have regarded me dubiously but nonetheless agreed to send up a combat team to the room. They, too, seemed unconvinced until we spotted two more such bugs hanging out on my pillow. They sprayed, assured us the problem was solved, and left, telling us there were no other rooms. Busy with the conference, I accepted that decision and went on with my schedule.

That night, in the dark, we were bitten. Nervously, we awaited the dawn, and upon our dire accounting to the front desk clerk, the management changed our room. 

Victory at last. And the hotel did graciously extend an accommodation on the tab when we checked out.

But the excitement in our trip was not ended. We were supposed to leave for home Saturday afternoon. Remember what the weather was like this past weekend? Right around the time of our planned departure, a tropical storm with ferocious winds was moving toward the New England coast from the South and another storm was about to batter the shore from the Atlantic, We were between them.

Should we go? Should we stay an extra day? We would be driving into the teeth of the ex-hurricane, even as we were fleeing the storm at our backs. And what about the ferry? We had hoped to sail home on the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson Ferry for that last lap, saving ourselves an extra hour-and-a-half drive. Would it be running? If so, did we want to be aboard in the midst of the tempest?

We loaded our luggage into the car, waved good-bye to the several people who told us they would be praying for us, and headed toward the Mass Pike.

To our great relief, the drive from Boston to Bridgeport, while sometimes in a mild rain and under black skies, was an easy and a fast one. The usual traffic on that route had been scared off the roads, the predicted thunder and lightning had not yet appeared, and when we called the ferry company en route, they told us they were still running “for now.”

We waited in the ferry loading area for 50 minutes as daylight ended, it began to pour, and until the next boat arrived. We were rewarded, after they unloaded, by being the first car to board. 

“Was the crossing difficult?” I nervously asked several crew members as I drove on. “It was rough!” came the answer. At least they didn’t sugar-coat, I thought.

The boat rocked, pitched from side-to-side, and anything not tied down crashed to the floor as we powered across the Sound. An occasional loud slam that shook the ferry when we hit a large wave, further reminded us what the water was like in the darkness. We were  ordered to sit; the food concession was closed. Some passengers covered their faces. And then it was over.

“Look, lights!” Someone yelled. We had crossed in under an hour, the fastest in my experience. The overhead door opened in front of us, and as the large ferry was artfully ushered to its dock, we marveled at the skill of the captain.

And then we were home. We slept well that night.

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The LIPA Power Station. Photo by Kyle Barr

In recent years, Long Islanders have grown increasingly frustrated and alienated by our state government in Albany. This dynamic must change to move our region forward.

New York State has failed to meet our needs or fulfill our aspirations on various local issues. From stonewalling modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to lackluster maintenance of our state roadways to blatant negligence in protecting nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, our state government has come up short constantly.

While geographical proximity may make it difficult for Albany to be attuned to all of our needs, the state government has not made a proper effort to listen to and address our concerns.

Though the connection between Albany and Long Island remains decidedly frayed, one 2022 development should give our citizens hope: the Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority.

Given the complexity of restructuring LIPA as its contract with PSEG-LI nears expiration in December 2025, a team of state legislators has moved around our Island to gather public feedback on the matter — and the people are speaking up.

At TBR News Media, we are committed to a bottom-up policymaking approach. The citizens of our communities should be guiding our state government toward representative policy outcomes — not the other way around, as is currently practiced. And our elected representatives in the state Legislature are the necessary agents to convert our collective will into sound policy.

This legislative commission on LIPA is a rare opportunity to see our state officials at work, generating local feedback that they will then share with the remainder of the Legislature. This commission is opening up meaningful conversations about a critical state policy that affects all of us.

Questions surrounding our electrical grid are complicated, and many of them will likely remain unresolved regardless of the commission’s final recommendations. Yet, for once, our citizens have been given a voice.

The promise of this legislative commission is its ability to give our residents a platform to help guide state policy. We need such legislative commissions to explore better relationships with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the NYS Department of Transportation and various other state agencies.

With this style of bottom-up democracy, we can begin to decentralize the power of Albany, restoring a connection between Long Island and New York State that has for years been severed.

We ask our state delegation to begin holding more commissions, and may we all start participating in a more representative legislative process moving forward. If we make our voices heard, we cannot be ignored.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

SBU ascends in national rankings

Stony Brook University is thriving. We welcomed our largest-ever incoming class this year and are seeing great momentum from the Simons Infinity Investment and our leadership of The New York Climate Exchange. The energy is palpable.

You know how truly special Stony Brook is, and the world is recognizing it, too.

The U.S. News & World Report 2024 Best Colleges rankings have just been released, and for the second year in a row, we moved up significantly and have solidified our spot as the No. 1 public university in New York.

We are now nationally ranked No. 58 overall and No. 26 among public universities, up 19 and 5 spots, respectively. In addition, we climbed to No. 12 in the U.S. for social mobility, which ties us at No. 2 among all Association of American Universities.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Maurie McInnis, President

Stony Brook University

Reconfiguration urgent for Three Village school district

It has been more than 40 years since the idea of reconfiguration was first discussed in the Three Village Central School District.

As a strong supporter of the changes that are long overdue, particularly the ninth grade being moved to the high school where it belongs, I am dismayed to find that it has been pushed back at least one more year. At the board meeting held on Sept. 13, Superintendent Kevin Scanlon announced that all will remain as it is until at least the 2025-26 school year, stating that the shift needed to be done correctly, not quickly (I paraphrase). [See story on page A5].

Now while I agree that the move should be given its due diligence, and I believe that the superintendent has the district’s best interest at heart, I am truly tired of the endless delays. There are so many ninth graders that have been disadvantaged by the continued housing of high schoolers at the junior high level, my own child included. The lack of electives that are offered to our “freshmen” is simply not fair, and it is so disheartening that our students will continue to suffer for it. 

When this idea was first floated back in the early 1980s, Ward Melville had graduating classes that were twice as big as anything in the recent past or near future. Wings have been added onto a building that was far smaller when I graduated in a class of 752 and yet will more time be wasted trying to find room to add another grade?

The board and the administration need to stop wasting time on this ridiculous “start time” discussion and make reconfiguration happen already. Every high school on Long Island — and New York state — starts within the same time frame that we do. Teenagers aren’t going to bed any earlier, and a 20-minute start time shift won’t change anything. It’s simple reality.

High school starts early and ninth grade belongs at Ward Melville. Conducting another survey is just sending the pitching coach to the mound for a bullpen stall.

Stefanie Werner

East Setauket

Municipalize LIPA

The contract between the Long Island Power Authority and the private PSEG-Long Island expires December 2025. 

There are arguments on both sides of the question, but mostly from PSEG for the status quo. And why not? They’re making billions as a private, for-profit corporation and want it to continue. 

Why municipalize? First, the utility would be more efficient with fewer management people needed. Conflicts and delays would be cut because the management structure is united to provide optimal electricity.

Also being state owned and run, there are no shareholders to satisfy, so maintenance and upgrades are done timely and effectively. I remember with National Grid and PSEG, tree trimming was reduced to cut costs. 

With Long Island having a high amount of overhead transmission, there were so many service interruptions from trees damaging wires, they were forced to increase the trimming. Events like this will not happen with a municipal grid. Other benefits are lower borrowing rates and access to federal and state funds.

Should we worry about the government running the show? LIPA is a New York State authority like the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority running the tunnels and bridges, or the Transit Authority. They get the job done, have significant maintenance equipment and personnel and create many jobs. A private company wants to reduce personnel and equipment to cut costs and maximize profits.

And from the Tennessee Valley Authority, a government electricity provider: “The Tennessee Valley Authority provides electricity for 153 local power companies serving 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six states, as well as to 58 large industrial customers and federal installations. We don’t get taxpayer funding; our revenues come from sales of electricity.” They started in 1933 and have a great history of electrifying the South reliably and cost effectively. Can you imagine private companies doing this?

Or the Bank of North Dakota, “a state-owned, state-run financial institution. It is the only government-owned general-service bank in the United States. It is the depository for all state funds in North Dakota, and uses these deposits to fund development, agriculture and small businesses.” It was unaffected by the banking crisis, and being state owned, does not have to please stockholders.

It is way past the time for LIPA to maximize its advantages to benefit the public. The public-private partnership is inefficient, wasteful, raises costs and cuts quality. A properly staffed and equipped municipal power authority is needed now, especially with the attempted transition to “green” energy and its many critical issues.

Mark Sertoff

East Northport

Leave a mark on local military history

The Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6249 is creating the Suffolk County World War II and Military History Museum and Learning Center that will open on Dec. 7.

We are in the process of collecting military artifacts from veterans and their families that will be exhibited in this museum and creating a history library. If you have any items that you would like to donate or give to Post 6249 on loan, it will surely help our efforts to give this museum a local feeling of patriotism and service from our residents.

There will also be a Wall of Honor for all veterans: active, reservists, National Guard, war and peace time for all Armed Forces components. All veterans are welcome to have their names engraved in black granite on a masonry wall that will be surrounded by a “victory garden” of plants and flowers, especially during the spring and summer.

Anyone who served in the military from all parts of Long Island or this nation could be added to this memorial wall. The cost is $125 for the first name and $100 for each additional person. It is our goal to have over 100 names placed on the wall by our opening and the names of veterans are coming in every day.

We have many families that are adding multiple names of loved ones who have proudly served this country. If there are companies, unions, law enforcement organizations or families who would like to sponsor the creation of this museum, there are opportunities to financially help with $500-$3,000 donations.

All names will be written on a black granite plaque that will be placed at the museum for all to see for many years to come. If you would like to donate any type of item, have a family or friend’s name placed on the Wall of Honor and/or have a sponsorship, please contact Rich Acritelli at 631-839-2996 ([email protected]); or Joseph Cognitore at 631-873-8272 ([email protected]).

The museum will be located directly across the street from the VFW Post 6249, near King Road and Broadway, within the new condominiums on the former site of Thurber Lumber.

Richard Acritelli, Curator

Joseph Cognitore, Post Commander

Rocky Point VFW Post 624

Animal shelter management reflects poorly on Town of Brookhaven

Politics has indeed become a blood sport in daily life.

With the use of social media and the willingness to complain, the Town of Brookhaven’s animal shelter volunteers are among those with a loud voice. After reading the article in the local newspaper [see story, “Volunteers and officials express concerns over Brookhaven animal shelter,” TBR News Media website, Aug. 5] and hearing a report on NPR Radio, these animal lovers have good reason to complain.

These reports about volunteers criticizing the Brookhaven animal shelter are concerning. Volunteers are the lifeblood of an animal shelter. They do a tremendous amount of work for free.

What Brookhaven Town needs is a new animal shelter. The Town of Islip ultimately did just that. It was built because of the constant clamor of complaints from its volunteers and other interested parties.

Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine [R], a person who knows the politics of consensus decisions, has not been responsive. He has heard the continual complaints from the shelter’s most ardent advocates. Yet, he remains silent and unconcerned about those animals who spend time in a shelter about which they are unable to complain.

The conclusion I draw is that if the supervisor of the largest town on Long Island does nothing to help animals who have no voice of their own, what will his response be as a candidate for Suffolk County executive to those who are at least able to express themselves.

Joseph Fritz

East Islip

 

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METRO photo

As Election Day nears, it is becoming increasingly evident that our local elections here in Suffolk County will hinge upon the people’s vision for wastewater treatment.

The state of our wastewater systems is a crucial policy concern for residents and environmentalists alike. Our existing system of disparate sewer districts and individually operated septic tanks is inadequate, impairing our environment, drinking water and quality of life.

Responsible wastewater treatment countywide can ensure our communities remain clean, healthy and safe. However, as years pass, our county’s wastewater infrastructure will continue showing its age — and the consequences could be devastating.

The first and most immediate impact of deteriorating wastewater infrastructure is public health. A failure to address these issues could result in an uptick in health crises, increasing the demand for health care services and leading citizens to question the competence of local governments to meet even their most basic human needs.

Residents expect their elected officials to take proactive approaches in maintaining critical infrastructure. If this does not happen, it can erode trust in government.

Our people ask for clean drinking water. We desire fewer fish kills and algal blooms in our local surface waters. Perhaps above all, our citizens long for political representation that actually advances their needs over the wants of powerful, monied interests that finance political campaigns in this county.

Money talks in Suffolk County, as elsewhere. Powerful special interest groups here — notably developers and organized labor — often curry favor with politicians. For developers, sewers allow for increased building height and density. For labor unions, sewers produce lucrative government contracts.

As we inch closer to November, we remind prospective officeholders that they must be careful not to allow campaign contributors to drive policy, that the people are the prime movers of our democracy.

The paramount stakeholder group in this election is the taxpaying citizens of Suffolk County. Though not cutting large campaign checks, this group will be the ultimate judge deciding who ascends to county office.

Shamefully, the county Legislature failed to put the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act on November’s ballot. So, this election season voters must listen carefully to candidates from both major parties. Only those who demonstrate a firm commitment to the popular will should earn our votes.

Candidates must develop a plan for modernizing our wastewater infrastructure. They should be prepared to answer difficult questions on this most critical issue, demonstrating their commitment to the betterment of our county.

To our fellow residents, listen closely during this election cycle, especially to conversations surrounding wastewater.

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File photo by Raymond Janis

The scope and size of The Stony Brook School’s proposed expansions

In response to your Stony Brook School article on Aug. 31 [See story, “The Stony Brook School submits application for new buildings as neighbors voice concerns”], please note a total of 95 signatures, not “over a dozen,” were submitted to the Town of Brookhaven Zoning Board at the Aug. 23 meeting opposing the indoor practice facility. You can review the video of that meeting on Channel 18 to see when I actually presented the board with the petition.

It is true that the Stony Brook School’s representatives — the lawyers and architect — presented an updated plan that we were only informed of the changes an hour before the case was called before the board, eliminating the access of the indoor sports facility from Chubb Hill Road and also eliminating the 14 proposed parking spots, which is good. 

The new proposed access road will be at Quaker Path, pending the fire department’s approval. But the proposed size of the building itself is huge: 35,000 square feet and 46-feet tall. 

It’s like a Costco smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood. A metal building of that size will significantly impact the aesthetics of the beautiful wooded area of old Stony Brook.

Please note that the proposed 35,000 square feet is 23,800 feet over the currently permitted size of 11,200 square feet. And the proposed 46-feet height is 11-feet taller than the currently allowed 35 feet. The school said they would do nice landscaping around the sports facility, but you can’t hide a 35,000-square-foot, 46-feet-high metal building.

The Stony Brook School only has approximately 400 students grades seven through 12, so the question is why such a large building is needed for a small student body when other schools in our area that have many more students do not have an indoor sports facility. Once the metal building is up, the local residents will be stuck with this monster of a building in our backyard.

Potentially The Stony Brook School can use this sports facility for any function sports or nonsporting event any time of day and night. 

The school can also rent out the facility to outside groups, though the school’s representatives at the Zoning Board meeting said they would not do that. 

I’m not so sure of their sincerity. The next ZBA meeting to discuss this proposal is on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

Hope Wolinski

Stony Brook

Polluted groundwater affects more than the tap

A recent letter by George Altemose [“An alternative to advanced septic systems,” Sept. 7, TBR News Media] suggested that instead of increasing Suffolk sales tax 1/8% to help fund upgraded, nitrogen-reducing septic tanks, it would be more cost effective to eliminate the nitrogen after it has already entered the groundwater. But only the groundwater that comes from Suffolk County Water Authority wells and into our homes as drinking water.

What about the polluted groundwater from old cesspools and septic systems that’s now going into our beaches, bays and other waterways, killing fish and creating dead zones?

Old cesspools and septic systems need replacing, and they should be replaced with upgraded, nitrogen-reducing systems and there are rebates and grants to help pay for it.

Another consideration, according to one local company’s website, is that the upgraded systems work best when homeowners use less water and fewer chemical cleaning products. So in the long run the homeowner will be motivated to reduce water use by running only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher and to stop buying expensive cleaning products with harmful chemicals and instead make their own homemade cleaners using baking soda or white vinegar to prolong the life and improve the performance of their new, high-tech septic system.

Remember, we live on an island and there are grants and rebates to help pay for the upgraded systems because we all benefit from Long Island’s beautiful beaches and abundant wildlife.

Diane Ives

Copiague

Editor’s note: The writer serves on the executive committee of the Sierra Club Long Island Group.

SCWA can’t ward off algal blooms

While the Suffolk County Water Authority can do something about nitrogen in drinking water, it does not and cannot do anything to reduce the excessive amount of nitrogen in the drinking water of those of us that get our water from our own wells, nor can it do anything to reduce the amount of nitrogen in our lakes, ponds, streams and saltwater bodies. In those bodies, it is a fertilizer for all sorts of life.

Plant life, called algae, grows and reproduces at an increased rate when fertilizers are present in the water. In large numbers, they form a “bloom” which actually changes the color of the water.

Two of these are brown algae and green algae. Brown algal blooms — aka brown tides — shadow the seafloor, which leads to the death of seagrasses. It also can slow the growth of shellfish.

Red algae, which contains saxitoxin — a nerve damaging toxin — when present in large quantities as in a red tide or red algal bloom, can kill many fish and shellfish and sicken any animal that ingests the water, including making humans quite sick. Red algal blooms also deplete water oxygen levels, resulting in fish not getting enough oxygen through their gills and dying as a result.

Then there is blue-green algae, which is actually a bacteria — aka a cyanobacteria — that grow in number in shallow, still, warm bodies of fresh or salt water. It, too, contains a neurotoxin called microcystin that is known to cause rashes and make people sick. In fact, it is an excess of this toxin that has killed dogs and other animals when they drink the water.

All because of excess nitrogen that the no drinking water process does or can remove.

Jane Fasullo

Setauket

The system needs a reset

It makes no sense that inflation creates a work shortage [See story with Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio [R-Riverhead], “Giglio: Long Island still grappling with labor shortages, inflation,” Sept. 7, TBR News Media].

How else can you keep up with inflation if you don’t work? And, if wages increase, you also increase prices, which creates inflation. 

This is putting the carrot on the stick in front of the donkey. Add to this Big Government and high taxes. The system needs a reset.

Frank Grande

Northport

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Photo courtesy Skyler Johnson
By Skyler Johnson

With November elections rapidly approaching, both sides of the political aisle are tense.

All 18 seats on the Suffolk County Legislature are up for election, and with the end of County Executive Steve Bellone’s (D) tenure, the county executive seat will be open for the first time since 2011. Unfortunately, the political desperation to take unilateral control over Suffolk County has led to dirty tricks and unethical behavior.

In late June, the Republican majority in Suffolk County was given the option to vote on a measure which, if passed, would have placed a clean water referendum on the ballot in November. The referendum would give voters the option to approve a negligible sales tax increase — 12 cents for every $100 dollars in spending — and critically, gain access to available state and federal funding.

This was particularly important as voters in 2022 overwhelmingly approved a $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act to protect the environment [See story, “NYS offers possibilities of $4.2B bond act for Suffolk County, urges public input,” Aug. 31, TBR News Media], with almost 64% of Suffolk County residents voting to pass the funding. Passing a referendum would allow Suffolk County to access some of these funds.

Clean water infrastructure would greatly improve our drinking water and protect our beaches and natural spaces. In addition, the funding would create new jobs for Suffolk County.

The Republican majority, led by Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), refused to allow residents to vote on approving the referendum. Despite the efforts of labor unions in their efforts to create jobs for working-class individuals, as well as pleading by environmentalists and advocates, the county Legislature tabled the resolution [See story, “Suffolk County Legislature recesses, blocks referendum on wastewater fund,” July 27, TBR News Media].

While McCaffrey made various excuses for his refusal to allow Suffolk County to vote on the issue, the true reason was clear: The Republican majority knew that if the referendum was on the ballot, Democratic voters would be driven to the polls in November to approve it.

The blowback was immediate. People of all political parties voiced their disapproval for the Legislature’s blatantly political action. Despite this, McCaffrey let the deadline to approve the referendum pass.

As residents continued to grow angry, McCaffrey decided to make an attempt to suppress arguments being made by Democratic candidates. Last week, he called a special meeting of the Legislature to approve a December special election for the referendum — a special election which would now cost taxpayers over $2 million to hold.

However, the special meeting of the Legislature was abruptly canceled. While McCaffrey sought to cleanse the record of his heinous political malpractice, he forgot to consider one key problem: The dissent of his own caucus.

The Republican majority refused to vote positively on the issue. With all six Democrats pledging support for the referendum, McCaffrey could not persuade even three members of his 11-seat majority to vote “yes,” and the special meeting was canceled.

Suffolk County residents now bear the consequences of these political games. Tens of thousands of homes throughout the county are without adequate septic systems. Without this funding, these systems will continue to leach toxins into our water — water that we cook with, our kids bathe in and our pets drink.

The failure by Republican leadership to come up with a plan to address Suffolk’s infamously poor drinking water quality is inexcusable. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting our drinking water, estimates that those served by the Suffolk County Water Authority are ingesting numerous separate contaminants.

In a county with the highest breast cancer rates in the state — rates significantly higher than the rest of the nation — we cannot afford McCaffrey and his Republican majority’s dirty games.

McCaffrey cannot wash his hands of this issue. It is his responsibility to address his majority’s failure of government. If he refuses to do so, voters must take this neglect of duty into account when they cast their ballots on Nov. 7.

Skyler Johnson is the chair of the Suffolk County Young Democrats.

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Photo courtesy Ira Costell
By Ira Costell

As September heralds the approaching changes brought on during Earth’s annual autumnal shift, so too does it offer a pathway to a new life for many as it also marks National Recovery Month. 

This comes on the heels of International Overdose Awareness Day which occurred on Aug. 31. This day, for too many families like mine, is a yearly reminder of the awful price exacted by the disease of addiction. 

The lives lost during the ongoing opioid crisis in this country has impacted every community across this country as over 107,000 deaths of our fellow citizens occurred in 2022. Let that sink in. That is the equivalent of almost 300 people a day, or one person every four minutes or so who has died from a treatable and preventable disease.

Can you imagine the resources we would commit to deal with a crisis if every single day a jet plane with 300 people crashed? I dare say everything in the U. S. would come to a screeching halt until we determined how to deal with such a monumental tragedy. 

Yet, the most pressing public health crisis in our country equal to or, at the moment, worse than COVID-19 typically gets short shrift but once a year from many public officials.

This year, many municipalities across Long Island, including Brookhaven Town “went purple” to honor and acknowledge Overdose Awareness day Thursday, Aug. 31 [See story, “Brookhaven goes purple, marks Opioid Awareness Month with calls for intervention,” Sept. 7, TBR News Media]. Many of my fellow warriors in this battle gathered that day to remember and to raise our voices for those no longer here to speak for themselves. 

I added my voice to this fight nearly 15 years ago to honor my nephew David Aaron Costell who, just shy of his 23rd birthday, succumbed to a heroin overdose on Feb. 12, 2007. 

He was a sweet, loving if troubled young man who found recovery for a short time but sadly relapsed due to limited resources of support our society afforded him at the time. But, as the heroin crisis on Long Island became more prominent with Newsday reports of the death of Natalie Chiappa, an 18-year-old honors student, I knew it was time for action.

So, I ultimately became a family advocate involved with educating the press and running to Albany over many legislative sessions. It was poignantly sad but rewarding to work with many families across New York state to change public policy in order to save lives which otherwise would be lost to addiction. 

We accomplished a lot over several years by the passage of better access to treatment to make it harder for insurance companies to refuse treatment so easily to those seeking help. Also, we passed the NYS 911 Good Samaritan Law, which encourages young people to seek help for anyone in overdose without fear of legal consequences. 

We also advocated for the state I-STOP Law, which has nearly eliminated “doctor shopping” by addicts, and changed to an e-prescribing process, thereby enabling a real-time database when prescribing narcotics like opioids.

Along the way, I met many amazing individuals I came to know and love who turned their grief into helping others. Not only did we help change laws, many I have come to know help change lives. 

There is Avi Israel with Save the Michaels of the World in Buffalo and here on Long Island, Gabriel’s Giving Tree and Thomas’ Hope Foundation by my friends Paulette Phillipe and Linda Ventura with help from Teri Kroll, who lovingly offer services to families and individuals impacted by addiction. These are angels in action.

So I am grateful to Brookhaven Town, where I live, and other municipalities which scheduled similar activities on Aug. 31. It was one way to reduce the stigma of drug overdoses and to honor those souls around our area who no longer will share Thanksgiving dinners with us later this year. 

It is not the first time nor the last time families will be at the steps of Town Hall and shed tears for the loved ones as they recall their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, nieces and nephews or fathers and mothers whose lives were cut short by the scourge of opioids and fentanyl. It brings public attention to this crucial issue and hopefully can build support for more action in the future. 

And, while this is a laudable goal, it is not nearly enough to hold hands, hug each other in grief and move on again until next August when Town Hall is lit up purple, the color for Overdose Awareness.

According to an annual report issued last year by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli (D), Suffolk County experienced more cumulative deaths due to overdose than any other county in the state. And, it is easy to extrapolate that Brookhaven Town has more deaths than any other township in Suffolk County. 

I submit it is incumbent on Brookhaven, as well as other towns and the county, to invest more resources at the municipal level to address this absolute horror visited upon our families. It is not only essential to reduce the suffering from the loss of a loved one, but we lose untold hours of productivity in our workplaces due to the toxic stress of families with members still in active addiction. 

Thankfully, Suffolk County just announced another round of nearly $20 million from funds realized by the lawsuit against drug companies and Big Pharma in the opioid settlement case initiated by former Presiding Officer Rob Calarco [D-Patchogue].

I urge Brookhaven Town to promptly put together a proposal to obtain some of these funds to undertake initiatives which could provide better mental health and addiction services to our communities. Babylon Town, with less than half the population of Brookhaven, presently runs a facility called the Beacon Family Wellness Center, which provides drug and alcohol services as well as other important supports. 

This could and should be a priority for the largest town in Suffolk, which is essentially Ground Zero for the addiction and overdose crisis on Long Island. 

With Overdose Awareness Day past, it is important to remember. But it is more important to act substantially throughout the year with tangible programs which can assist people along the path to a healthy life. That is the true way to show support for National Recovery Month.

Ira Costell is the president of the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

You know that optical illusion with the vase and the two faces? If you’re looking at the outline of the white object, you see a vase, but if you look at the white as the background, you see two faces.

Is it possible that we might, at times, be missing something in our lives?

We drive from one event to another, often ignoring the people in the car next to us at a stoplight, at the birds resting on a telephone wire or at the last few rays of the sun as the light disappears over the horizon.

Instead, we’re focused on getting where we’re going, giving our mind a chance to wander to important things, like what we’re going to say to the coach of our son’s little league team, to our boss who wants to know why we’re late, or to that person at the deli counter who starts preparing our sandwich before we even order.

Along the way, we might be missing signs that could stimulate or enrich our mind in unexpected ways or that could provide the kind of unanticipated signs that serve as clues about our lives. Sure, some people read horoscopes for such help, they ponder the pithy poetry of fortune cookies, or they visit a psychic, who asks them if they’ve ever known a person named John or if they’ve ever gone with a date to a movie or like to take walks on the beach.

But, with our heads down, living on our phones, focusing on events and people far from us, is it possible that we might miss something akin to a puzzle piece in the mystery of our lives?

Sure, telemarketers are frustrating and annoying, offering us products we don’t need, asking us for personal information, and assuming a far-too-familiar tone.

What if those telemarketers, who are even more unpopular than used car salesman, journalists and politicians, offered us something between the lines of their scripts that might be of use to us? We don’t have to stay on the phone long with them and we don’t have to buy something we don’t want, but maybe we can give them half a minute, listening to them and politely declining their offer for more life insurance, a time share in the Everglades, or a chance to earn money as a personal shopper.

Maybe something they say will remind us of a task we wanted to accomplish, a phrase a friend or relative used to use, or a responsibility we haven’t yet met for ourselves. In a world in which there are no accidents, perhaps they can remind us of something we value.

Along the same lines, the scenery that flies by while we’re on a train, a bus or in a car could remind us of a picture we drew from our childhood, a tree we used to climb, or a friend who might need to hear from us but hasn’t felt strong enough to ask for help.

Hundreds and thousands of years ago, people looked to the skies for the kind of signs that might help them.

When we shut ourselves in our homes, disconnect from the people in the room or from the environment, we close down the opportunity to see or consider any signs from the world around us or to get out of our own limited physical, mental and emotional headspace. We also lock ourselves in to a particular way of thinking, removing the opportunity to consider whether today is a day to see the vase or the two faces.

By getting away from our computer screens, cell phones, and cubicles, we give ourselves a chance to see what the world offers, and how those cues affect the way we think about our lives.

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Now I’m not one of those happy people who awaken with the dawn, but I will say that my first thought after I open my eyes is usually breakfast. It used to be that I had to get up and walk the dog, but that’s history. Now, as soon as sleep is over, I am hungry.

Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I don’t eat past dinner, and that my dinner usually ends by 7:00 p.m. or even earlier. That means I have been fasting for at least 12 hours, maybe even 14, so my lustful appetite would seem valid. I start thinking about what I am going to make for breakfast while I am brushing my teeth. It’s almost never what you might expect.

I guess the traditional American breakfast is eggs and toast, and maybe some sort of meat, like bacon or ham. Or people start the day with cold cereal and milk in a bowl or hot oatmeal, with maybe some fruit on top. That’s if they have time to fix breakfast. 

Many people just run through the kitchen, put on their jackets and rush out the door to work or to school. Perhaps they might snag a roll or a piece of fruit on the way out, maybe even a cup of coffee if they remembered to plug in the pot the night before and to push the button on the way to the bathroom in the morning. Incredible as it sounds to me, I even know some people who eat nothing until dinner—a big dinner that then stretches right up to bedtime.

So what do I eat?

I might eat an egg with some veggies thrown in if it’s a weekend and I have time to cook. I particularly like English muffins with Irish butter and one of any number of different jams I harbor in my fridge. More often I will heat up some green lentil pasta that I prepared in advance, top it with low sodium spaghetti sauce and a couple of spices, and munch away. (Don’t Yuk! Just try it.) The green lentil flour, which comes in a box, is loaded with good nutrients: 11 grams of fiber; 25 grams plant-based protein. My favorite shape for the flour is rotini; it makes me think I am eating wheat pasta. And by the way, it’s made in Italy.

Or, I might finish off the previous night’s leftovers. That could be anything from shrimp, which I love, or a kind of white flaky fish like branzino or salmon. Now you might be taken aback by the nonconformist choices I make in the morning, so I will explain. I have had the pleasure of traveling to a number of different countries and eating their traditional breakfasts, so I am not in the least put off by eating my leftover sushi that I brought in the previous night. It makes me think I am in Bali.

On rainy mornings, I have the urge for pancakes because my mother, when I was a child, often made silver dollar pancakes for breakfast when it rained, especially if it rained really hard. The wonderful smell would fill the kitchen and bring us quickly to the table. I never put butter or syrup or powdered sugar on them; they were just delicious straight from the pan. I confess, though, that now I hardly ever have time to make them. I’m too busy looking for an umbrella.

Instead I grab a smoothie, filled with frozen fruits and dark green leafy vegetables, like baby bok choy and baby kale, that is pre-made in the refrigerator and carry it to my office, where I sip it through a straw for a couple of hours.

Another unorthodox breakfast that I enjoy is a salad, one with cucumbers, tomatoes, pears and walnuts, perked up with a little balsamic vinegar. I don’t care for iceberg lettuce much, preferring romaine and mixed greens.

I have learned that only some 35 percent of Americans eat breakfast every morning. How about you?

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