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Deer in headlights. Metro photo

As it gets darker earlier, now is the right time to take extra precautions on roadways.

Residents in our coverage areas know the dangers that deer present at this time of year. In the frenzy of mating season, these animals can dart out into the road at any time. These are erratic, unpredictable maneuvers that can bring serious bodily harm to drivers — and deer.

Nowadays, drivers encounter several hazards at night. Heedless pedestrians are often found walking in the evening hours, sometimes wearing dark colors and without flashlights or reflective gear which would make them easier to spot. Drivers should be on close guard for these nightwalkers.

To help alleviate this hazard, it’s wise for people walking along our roadways to wear brighter colors, take a flashlight, or put on some form of reflective material over jackets or shirts.

Unfortunately, pedestrians don’t always keep these tips in mind, so drivers must be vigilant about what’s happening on the road ahead. Extra attention should be paid as it gets darker, especially on streets that are lit dimly or not at all.

While driving through residential areas, slow down. Students may be coming home on the late buses, and people can be standing on the street putting garbage out or collecting mail.

Second, Mother Nature can be tricky during autumn. Fallen leaves, especially when wet, can cause dangerous roadway conditions, impeding one’s ability to brake safely. If a driver finds the tires are slipping on leaves, the best thing to do is refrain from swerving suddenly and to brake slowly. The same advice applies when finding a deer or pedestrian near the road.

Last but not least, keep in mind, even though we all gain an extra hour of sleep, when we change the clocks back, some people have difficulty adapting and can feel drowsy. And with the holidays around the corner, some people will be busier and less rested than usual. Experts advise that when a person is feeling sleepy behind the wheel — yawning, having trouble keeping their eyes open, missing traffic signals — the best practice is pulling over and resting before resuming driving. 

Resting is always better than drinking coffee, opening a window, turning on air conditioning or playing loud music to stay wide eyed as these measures only add a short burst of alertness.

If a driver sees a swerving vehicle, the best thing to do is to keep as far away from the other car as possible. 

Preliminary statistics from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research at the University at Albany’s Rockefeller College show just how dangerous driving while drowsy can be. According to its research, in New York state, “fatigue/drowsy driving” and/or “driver fell asleep” appeared “4,865 times as contributing factors on police crash reports.”

The roads can be tricky this time of year, but common sense can go a long way in keeping ourselves and our fellow residents safe.

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Eye test. METRO Photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Have you ever sat in the eye doctor’s chair and had them shift from one lens to another, asking you if A or B is better or if 1 or 2 is clearer?

I did that many times growing up, particularly because my father was an ophthalmologist.

Oftentimes, even now, I’m not exactly sure whether the first image or second is better. In fact, I asked my father to let me see them again. I could hear him groan as I said, “One, no, no, two, no, wait, one.”

The same subtle differences sometimes define who we are and how we see ourselves.

Sometimes, the question of our identity is simple, at least to us. Are we American and do we live in the Middle Atlantic States?

Other questions also might elicit reflective responses. Are we religious and, if so, do we celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, or Kwanza? Or, maybe we’re not religious at all, and we think of life and ourselves outside the structure of an organized religion.

We also might define ourselves by our race or our combination of races. I had a close friend in college who was so many races that she said she could check off every box on each survey to reflect her mixed heritage. 

But, then, when we define ourselves as part of a group, whether it’s a race, religion, political affiliation or other, what does it mean to meet someone or interact with someone from a different group? If we’re a Republican and someone else is a Democrat, should we behave as if we are the Montagues and the Capulets?

Does the fact that they are different mean we don’t have to be respectful of them or that we need to protect our own first before considering their needs?

Surely, such insular, tribal and protective thinking should violate our sense of right and wrong. Can we prejudge people or suggest that we care less about them because they weren’t born with some of the same elements that define us?

Several of the ways we identify ourselves don’t typically involve choices. I can’t choose to be much taller, even if I might want to be, and I can’t choose to be Taiwanese, even if I have many close friends who trace their roots to Taiwan.

We have choices in our identity that affect our behavior and define us.

We might, for example, choose not to be a bystander, but, rather a defender. People don’t, or shouldn’t, wake up in the morning and hope to witness someone bully someone else and feel gratified that they observed cruelty.

Perhaps, we might consider ourselves protectors or active community members. Remembering this part of our identity, we might be more inclined to help.

We might also choose to identify ourselves as grateful. We might choose a host of adjectives to describe ourselves — smart, flexible, sympathetic, understanding. Ultimately, through our thoughts, words and actions, we can demonstrate whether those descriptions apply or whether our self-identification is a mismatch with our behaviors.

Conflicts arise in us when one part of our identity is at odds with another. We might, for example, want to help others, even though we might realize doing so comes with risk to ourselves.

Standing up for someone at the lower end of the social pecking order might cause a bully to turn his attention to us. We might run the risk of injury or worse by trying to help others in dangerous situations.

At those moments, we can be grateful to those among us who protect us against all kinds of threats, who join the armed forces, or the police or firefighters.

On this, the day before Veterans Day and two weeks before Thanksgiving, we can be thankful for all those people who contribute to our lives and to our country.

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Alarm clock concept

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

You wouldn’t know, of course, dear reader, but I almost always write this column each week at the last minute. Why? I could say it is to get in the latest news, or that I am so busy I can’t write it sooner, but that’s not the truth. The reason is that I am an incorrigible procrastinator. And even when I do write ahead of time and submit the column early, I feel so virtuous, and I want to extend that good feeling as long as I can, which causes me to procrastinate writing the next column until the last minute.

What’s more, I believe most people, and especially most journalists, are closet procrastinators, and that part of the appeal of journalism is the ever-present deadlines, without which we would do nothing but be sloths.

It’s much easier to be lazy. I like to sit on the back deck and just stare out at the trees and think. Perhaps that’s meditating, which would put a respectable spin on it, but it’s more just peacefully enjoying my thoughts and my ease. A deadline, however, does move me.

A recent TED talk, that my oldest son emailed me, confirmed my belief about the existence of multitudes of procrastinators. Tim Urban, a writer and blogger, is also a funny man when he offers a look “Inside the mind of a master procrastinator,” as the subject of his talk. He maintains that we have a rational decision-maker in our brains, who knows when we should get started on a project or chore, and also an instant gratification monkey, who overrides the rational decision-maker in favor of doing things that are easy and fun. There is, according to Urban, a third being we carry in our heads that is a kind of guardian angel. That one is the panic monster, the only being the instant gratification monkey is terrified of. The panic monster, after putting the whole system in chaos by arriving on the scene, successfully motivates us procrastinators to do what we need to do before the deadline.

So what do I do when I am heeding the instant gratification monkey?

I do all sorts of vitally important things, like cleaning out the pantry on my way to the computer keyboard. Of course, by the time I have finished, it’s time to start making dinner or going to bed. You can believe I have a neatly arranged pantry.

The New York Times print version is impossible for me to ignore, and it’s a perfect procrastinator’s tool. No matter how much of the daily issue I have read, there is always more to read, all of it equally important, of course. I carefully read the obits of people I have never heard of, and whose names I will shortly forget, but their lives must have great meaning for me right now.

Then there is the call of the wild from the kitchen refrigerator. I must be hungry, and surely there is something in there that I need to eat at this moment. If the frig fails me, I can resort to the organized pantry alongside.

We all need fresh air, especially if we are about to do something that requires some cognitive effort, so we should probably take a walk before we sit down to create. And after the walk, we need a bit of a rest, say a 20-minute power nap. And who was that we were supposed to call back? We should do it right now, before we forget.

Hey, we can’t begin working yet. “Jeopardy!” is on shortly. We’ll start immediately after the final question. That is, if we are not too tired. If we are too tired, we can always write that next column in the morning, before we go to press.

And that is how, after more than 46-and-one-half years of writing a column, I still do so at the last minute. The fault must be in my DNA. I’ll blame it on my mom. 

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Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, Democratic Party nominee for NY-1. Photo by Rita J. Egan

This November, residents of New York’s 1st Congressional District are presented with two well-intentioned, highly informed candidates for U.S. Congress. Given the choice of only one, the majority of the TBR News Media endorses Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming.

In our nearly two hours with the candidates, Fleming’s candor, intelligence, depth of insight and passion for the issues set her apart. Fleming expressed sincere concern for these matters and how they may affect real people. She did not speak of policies as a detached lawmaker but rather as a reflection of deeply held core values.

Whether on the economy, environment or future of American democracy, Fleming seemed deeply immersed in these subjects. Her platform seems guided by research and independent investigation but with a constant, overriding spirit of empathy and compassion driving her positions.

At this critical moment in our national history, Americans need to elect policymakers who can relate to the plight of ordinary citizens while engaging in reasoned, nuanced and empathetic policy debates. In her decades of experience championing her core beliefs, whether as a criminal prosecutor or public official, Fleming has proven she can do just that.

We hold that Fleming is the right person to represent the people of this district. This November, TBR News Media’s majority supports Bridget Fleming for NY-1.

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Nick LaLota, Republican Party nominee for NY-1. Photo by Rita J. Egan

The United States Congress has lost its way, and it is up to us, the voters, to put it back on track. If elected, Nick LaLota wants to do just that.

Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Congress handles its work. Partisanship and polarization have eroded our national dialogue, and our elected representatives behave as children on a national stage. 

Meanwhile, with each passing year, Congress delegates more of its power to the executive and the innumerable agencies and offices that comprise the federal bureaucracy.

The Framers envisioned Congress as the preeminent branch of the federal government. They believed the legislature would be closest and most accountable to the people. Our forebears would be appalled at how Congress has devolved, how our elected representatives pass the buck to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats.

LaLota seems sensitive to this truth. In our office debate, he advocated for serious Congressional reform. LaLota supports limiting the size and scope of federal legislation, trimming the legislative process of its pork-barreling and partisan earmarking, and restricting the authority of the bureaucracy.

We need to revive the power and prestige of Congress. Nick LaLota has a plan to help get us there. This November, TBR News Media’s minority endorses him for Congress.

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METRO photo

This is a rerun of last year’s explanation, updated for the current elections. 

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Inside this issue is a treasure trove of first-hand information about the candidates and the issues in the coming election. How do I know? Because we, the different members of the editorial board of Times Beacon Record Newspapers, personally interviewed people running for office across the three towns that we serve: Brookhaven, Smithtown and Huntington. The offices the candidates are running for are all local except for Congress, which means that these are the officials who will have the most direct effect on our lives. 

The positions range this year from county  comptroller and county clerk to state senators, and assembly men and women and Congress.

We asked them questions without bias, seeking only to understand who they were, what they believed and what we could expect from each of them, should they be elected — or re-elected, as the case might be. The setting in our conference room was relaxed, and we hoped comfortable, with opponents for each office seated together around the table responding to questions put to them by our editors and reporters. 

Sometimes there was only one candidate who  might be running unopposed or against a shadow opponent, but mostly there were two during each session. Most of the time, the hour went by calmly, but occasionally the opponents get testy with each other — they may even become openly hostile.

METRO photo

At one such session some years ago, one of the candidates invited the other out to the back parking lot “to settle things.” When the other began to take off his jacket, we quickly intervened. But there were no such flare-ups this year. 

The answers were timed in an attempt to get to the main ideas without running on too long. There was ample time at the end for each visitor to tell us anything more that perhaps we hadn’t elicited with our questioning. 

We discussed the candidates at the end of each hour and came to a conclusion for the endorsement. 

We have written up the details of each interview in a separate article for the election section. Most of the time, the editorial group was unanimous because the choices were fairly direct. But for a couple of races, we talked over the pros and cons of each candidate at length before making the selection. These endorsements are based on both the in-depth interviews and the considerable information we know about the incumbents since we have been covering them closely throughout their terms in office. Of course, after reading the stories, you may or may not agree with our conclusions. Our job is to get you thinking.

The many hours that are given to this task, throughout the month of October, are a service for our readers. We are privileged to enjoy an extended face-to-face time with those standing for election, and we feel an obligation to pass along whatever information, facts and impressions we gather during these sessions. We sincerely hope we help in the sometimes-difficult job of casting a responsible vote.

Each year we include in the election section a sample ballot that we are able to procure from the Suffolk County Board of Elections because readers have told us that it is a great advantage for them to receive the ballot at the voting poll already knowing how it is laid out.

Our editorial board is made up of staffers with different political leanings, but when we put our journalists’ hats on, we try to judge each race strictly on the merits of the opposing candidates. And while it is technically possible for me to be tyrannical about the final selections, that is almost never the case. We decide by majority rule.

Sincere thanks to the talented staff who join in this extra work each year. We truly believe that we are watchdogs for the people, and nowhere is that more necessary than in reporting about government and its office holders. We hope we have helped you, whether you read by newspaper and/or online. Now please vote. 

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Above, state Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead). Photo by Rita J. Egan

In this year’s contest for New York’s 2nd Assembly District, the staff of TBR News Media supports incumbent Jodi Giglio’s bid for reelection.

In our interview with Giglio, she detailed the lessons she learned from the private sector. Throughout the conversation with her, it was clear she applied those principles to her work in Albany.

Politicians today often use trendy buzzwords and inflammatory rhetoric to score political points. Giglio, however, seemed most interested in the mundane, though critical, matters to our community — potholes on streets and roadways, waste removal and promoting manufacturing, among others.

As a businesswoman, she can view these problems differently than others, applying her professional experiences to develop innovative solutions.

New Yorkers should keep their sights set on the issues that matter. They should not give in to the entrapments of partisans and ideologues, whose words and ploys can distract us from voting for our own interests. 

Giglio’s no-nonsense brand of politics makes sense for Albany. This November, she has our endorsement.

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Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy, above. Photo by Rita J. Egan

The comptroller’s seat is not the glamor position of the county government. Yet, it is an important office that demands our respect and interest. TBR News Media supports Kennedy’s reelection campaign this November.

Having faith that the officials will handle our tax dollars responsibly lies at the core of what it means to participate in representative government. Administrative in its nature, the comptroller’s office conducts financial monitoring and audits, among several other essential tasks. 

Kennedy appreciates this responsibility. He embraces it fully and carries enthusiasm and focus into that office which we can respect and admire.

Having served in the post for two terms, he has the experience and institutional insight to execute his duties well. He brings to the comptroller’s office a firm understanding of finance and a knowledge of the law rooted in his background as a lawyer.

In his interview with TBR News Media, Kennedy warned of possibly serious financial strife by 2024. If an economic downtown is in the cards for Suffolk County residents, then it is in our interest that our comptroller understands the office and can adapt it to meet the needs of the changing circumstances.

Finally, Kennedy outlined his “nuts and bolts” political philosophy, arguing that politicians often ignore the most pressing issues due to partisanship and tribalism. We agree with this assessment and ask that he continues to apply this approach, keeping the county government running smoothly.

We appreciate Kennedy’s openness, eagerness to express himself and desire to serve. In this year’s election for Suffolk County Comptroller, TBR News Media strongly supports John M. Kennedy Jr. for reelection.

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Above, state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk). Photo by Raymond Janis

In New York’s 1st state Senate District, an enlightening policy debate has been ongoing between the two major party nominees. TBR News Media will support incumbent state Sen. Anthony Palumbo in that race.

Palumbo’s experience in Albany impressed us. Despite being a member of the legislative minority, he has wielded his power successfully, getting several necessary measures signed into law. As a token of their appreciation for his service, voters should give him a vote of confidence this November.

This endorsement is not without conditions, however. Some have criticized Palumbo, a resident of the East End, for not being more accessible in the western parts of his district. 

Constituents want to see their representatives at community events, civic meetings and other forums, not just during election season. As District 1 has shifted due to redistricting, we look forward to seeing more of Palumbo in this neck of the woods.

As for his opponent, Skyler Johnson is a remarkable young man. His intellect, knowledge of the issues and dedication moved us. Johnson will be a leader in this community in the coming years. When he gets his shot, we know he will accomplish incredible feats eventually. When he does, our community will benefit immensely from his service.

In the meantime, we will stand behind the incumbent for this cycle. This November, the staff of TBR News Media endorses state Sen. Anthony Palumbo’s campaign for reelection.

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Above, state Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket). Photo by Rita J. Egan

This November, incumbent state Assemblyman Steve Englebright will be on the ballot again. We should give him our support to honor his decades of service and commitment to this area.

Englebright has worked tirelessly, fighting for cleaner air and water. He is a champion for preserving open space, a critical platform in an age of surrender to the interests of developers and unrestricted suburban sprawl.

Englebright has also made electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch line a staple of his reelection campaign. In our office debate, he referred to this investment as having regional and generational potential. The electrification of the North Shore line is possible, and we hold that Englebright is the right person to get us there. 

In his decades of public service, Englebright has accumulated goodwill among his colleagues and the leaders in state government. Over time, he has cultivated seniority within his caucus. Now more than ever, he can use that clout to deliver even more results for the community.

As for his opponent, Edward Flood, we were impressed by his sincerity and commitment to serve. We wish him well and hope he stays involved in politics.

This time around, however, the TBR News Media staff strongly endorses Assemblyman Steve Englebright for reelection.

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