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Correction:

The print version of this story published in the July 27 issue of The Port Times Record incorrectly stated that the Village of Port Jefferson Treasurer’s Office remains vacant. In fact, Donald Pearce was confirmed 3-2 by the village Board of Trustees following an executive session July 24. We apologize for the error.

Amid the summer heat wave, tensions were even hotter inside Village Hall Monday night, July 24.

Members of the recently reorganized Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees sparred publicly for the second time this month, the board at first opting not to approve Mayor Lauren Sheprow’s choice for village treasurer. 

A motion to appoint Donald Pearce over Denise Mordente, treasurer during the previous administration, was tabled 3-2. Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay joined trustees Stan Loucks and Bob Juliano to table the matter.

Loucks had left the reorganization meeting earlier this month over Sheprow’s decision denying him reappointment as trustee liaison to Port Jefferson Country Club. [See story, “Port Jeff village board cans code changes for Maryhaven, tensions flare amid reorganization,” July 13, The Port Times Record, also TBR News Media website.] He continued to critique Sheprow’s pattern of appointments.

Trustee Stan Loucks delivers his report during a July 24 business meeting of the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees. Photo by Raymond Janis

“You have gotten rid of three and maybe more of the most loyal, hardworking and knowledgeable people” within the village government, Loucks told the mayor. “Now again, you’ve made a motion to get rid of Denise Mordente — this after telling her not more than five hours earlier that she was good as a treasurer and was safe.”

“It just seems to me that a person’s word no longer means anything,” he added.

Sheprow suggested that Pearce’s professional background and experience within PJV would facilitate his transition into the role. She added that the choice is a matter of staffing the government “with people who I know and trust to do a great job for the residents of the Village of Port Jefferson.”

Juliano, who had worked alongside Pearce during a prior administration, maintained his support for Mordente’s reappointment despite Pearce’s qualifications.

“I’m opposed to this not because I’m opposed to Don but because I am approving Denise,” he said.

Only trustee Drew Biondo joined Sheprow in the initial vote to appoint Pearce. Biondo likened a mayor staffing the government to a captain picking a team.

“I’ve been in politics my entire life, and that’s the way cookie crumbles,” he said. “The mayor gets to choose her team, and I’m inclined to give the mayor her team.”

Later in the night, following an executive session, Donald Pearce was confirmed 3-2 as village treasurer, effective Aug. 7. Kassay joined Sheprow and Biondo in approving the appointment.

Other business

The envisioned Six Acre Park along Highlands Boulevard advanced several procedural hurdles on the path toward grant funding. 

The board unanimously approved a resolution establishing Port Jeff Village as the lead agency in developing the parkland and adopting a determination of nonsignificance under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

Kassay said these steps were necessary for applying for the New York State Environmental Protection Fund’s Grant Program for Parks, Preservation and Heritage. The board expects a decision on its grant application by December.

With the Recreation Department at the height of camp season, Loucks urged his colleagues to begin conversations about expanding racket sports opportunities.

“It seems that tennis and pickleball are two of the most important activities, the most popular activities, through the Rec Department,” he said, adding that “250-plus youngsters [are] enrolled in each one of these sports. That’s over 500 on limited facilities.”

Loucks suggested redeveloping the racket sports area at Port Jefferson Country Club to accommodate more tennis and pickleball athletes. 

“I fear that there have to be some decisions made shortly about the redevelopment of our racket complex up at that country club,” he added.

The board will reconvene Monday, Aug. 7, at 5 p.m.

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File photo by Alex Petrosk

The Long Island Seaport and Eco Center (LISEC) seeks boat building/race teams for its annual Sikaflex Quick & Dirty Boat Build Competition, sponsored by the Sika Corporation, to be held at Harborfront Park, 101 East Broadway, Port Jefferson on Aug. 19 and 20.

Now in its 12th year, the event provides would-be boat designers and builders to have a weekend of fun and  showcase their creative skills and talents. Using only a provided supply of plywood, plastic cable ties, and Sikaflex/sealant, two member teams must build, paint and then paddle their design around the village dock in Port Jefferson Harbor located just offshore of Harborfront Park.

Up to 12  2-person  teams will construct a boat in five hours on Saturday and return on Sunday to decorate their boats and prepare to race them at 3 p.m. Trophies will be awarded after the races for design, decoration, first built and race winners. Are you up for the challenge? Download an application at www.lisec.org. For more information, call Len at 631-689-8293 or email [email protected]. 

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John Turner, conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, delivers a guest presentation to the Port Jefferson Civic Association on Wednesday, July 12. Photo by Raymond Janis

On a hot summer evening, with others outside listening to live music, roughly three dozen Village of Port Jefferson residents filled the third floor of the Village Center on Wednesday, July 12, tackling a range of local matters at the Port Jefferson Civic Association meeting.

Members of the Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees also made their presence felt, with Mayor Lauren Sheprow and trustees Bob Juliano and Drew Biondo in attendance. During the meeting, residents touched upon ongoing work within the village’s Election Committee, discussed water reuse opportunities at Port Jefferson Country Club and addressed possible uses for the Maryhaven Center of Hope property on Myrtle Avenue.

Election Committee

Kathleen McLane, PJCA outreach coordinator, updated the body on the ongoing work coming out of the village’s Election Committee. This advisory committee, McLane indicated, was formed after the village board approved — and subsequently rescinded — term extensions for village offices earlier this year.

Members of the Election Committee are exploring whether village offices require term extensions and limits and whether to alter the month the election is held. To provide input for ongoing Election Committee deliberations, email [email protected].

Maryhaven Center of Hope

Members weighed in on the Maryhaven Center of Hope property on Myrtle Avenue after the village board denied code changes for that property proposed during the spring. [See TBR News Media website for recent stories.] 

Civic president Ana Hozyainova suggested that the civic work “to develop a vision.”

“We, as a larger community, need to come up with a plan, develop a budget and draw up these plans at the local level and the higher levels” of government, she added.

Steve Velazquez proposed that the Maryhaven property could serve a variety of municipal functions, accommodating both relocated emergency service headquarters and a new Village Hall.

“There’s a lot of land,” he said. “And that type of land just doesn’t come available” very often. He added, “It would save the taxpayers a lot of money by using one facility for multiple uses.”

Water reuse 

Guest speaker John Turner, conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, returned to the civic body to inform them of an initiative for water reuse.

Reusing treated wastewater, according to him, could have several environmental benefits. He said reusing treated effluent water would help reduce nitrogen levels in local water bodies and ease the strain upon the area’s limited water supply. [See last week’s story, “SCWA ‘pleading with the public’ to conserve water.”]

“We have to begin to meaningfully reduce the amount of nitrogen we’re allowing into … the environment,” Turner said. “Places like Port Jeff, where there are sewers, there’s an additional opportunity to try to reduce the nitrogen going into Port Jeff Harbor.”

He encouraged the village officials in the room to write to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to set aside funds from the recently approved $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act for water reuse purposes.

PJCA will not meet in August. The civic body will reconvene Wednesday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. in the Port Jefferson Free Library.

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

They found me.

After several decades without my civil service responsibilities cropping up, I recently received a summons to appear for jury duty.

The summons brought back memories of a jury I served on years ago. While I was sitting in the courtroom waiting as a court officer chose names of potential jurors for a criminal case, a woman sitting next to me asked my name. When I told her, she said I’d be picked for that jury.

I smirked because there were 200 of us in the room.

Two names later, they called me. I looked back quizzically at the woman, who smiled and walked out of the room with the others who weren’t called.

I served on that jury. It was a buy and bust drug case. I listened carefully as the defense attorney questioned the under cover police officer who tried to buy drugs from the defendant.

When the defense attorney asked how many such operations the policeman had been on, the number was high enough to raise questions about how well he remembered this defendant.

The officer said he made notes, which the defense attorney asked him to read. Going through the notes, he described someone who was about the same build and age as the defendant. He also described a leather jacket with a specific insignia. That was not the defense attorney’s finest moment, as the defendant was wearing that exact same jacket to court. Whoops!

The rest of the trial wasn’t particularly memorable. On closing, the defense attorney suggested that the defendant became addicted to drugs when he served in Vietnam. The judge asked us to focus only on whether the defendant broke the law and not on how he might have gotten addicted to drugs.

After the judge sent us to deliberate, the foreman suggested that we take a vote. Who thought the man had drugs in his possession?

Every hand shot up.

Who thought he intended to sell those drugs?

Everyone but one person agreed.

We asked her about her concerns. She said she had ordered lunch and wanted her hamburger and fries. We told her we’d be happy to pitch in and give her money for a lunch if that was the only reason she wasn’t voting to convict.

Was that, we wondered, paying her for a verdict?

It didn’t matter. She wanted to wait. When lunch came, we ate quietly, waiting for the moment we could take another vote. The holdout said the burger wasn’t good and the fries were soggy.

Gnashing our teeth, we voted again. This time, we all voted to convict. One of the other jurors asked her if she had any other concerns or questions. She shook her head.

When we knocked on the door to let the officer know we were ready, he told us to wait. We spent another three hours in that room.

We returned to the courtroom, where the foreman announced our verdict. The defense attorney polled us all on both counts.

Once we were out in the hallway, I asked the prosecutor why we had to wait so long. She said the judge had held them in the courtroom, figuring that we’d have a verdict before lunch. When he heard we broke for lunch, he told everyone to leave and return in an hour.

Everyone but the defendant came back. The defense attorney spent the next few hours calling his relatives and trying to bring him back.

“What’s going to happen?” I asked.

The police would go to his residence and there would be a warrant for his arrest. He would also enter a database. How hard, I wondered, would the police search for him?

She suggested they would look, but that he was more likely to be caught committing another crime.

“He’s out because someone wanted a soggy burger?” I asked.

She shrugged.

With cell phones and an electronic footprint, the system today may work better than it did then.

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'The Capture of John Andre' by John Toole. Wikimedia Commons

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

But for the fact that three militia men were playing cards and having lunch in the bushes alongside the Albany Post Road south of the West Point fort in 1780, we might be speaking English with a British accent. 

It was down this road that British Major John Andre came galloping, and when the three stopped him near Tarrytown, N. Y. to ascertain his business, they searched him and found detailed maps in one of his boots. It was key information about the fort, and the men realized the rider was a spy, trying to get behind the British lines in New York City.

As it turned out, Andre was coming from a meeting with Benedict Arnold, the commander at West Point, who was about to turn over the fortification to the British and join them in the Revolutionary War. The fort was a most important installation, blocking the British garrisons from moving up the Hudson, splitting New England from the rest of the colonies and connecting with their troops in Canada. This strategy could well have ended the war. 

The British troops had tried to overwhelm the fort but failed. There was a British ship moored in the Hudson, and when Arnold got word that Andre had been captured, he boarded the ship and crossed over to the other side of the river where the British were camped, making his escape and marking him for all of history as a traitor to his country.

The Fidelity Medal

Andre was recognized as an important figure and turned out to be head of British intelligence. The Colonists questioned him in detail. The map and information he carried would have allowed the British to enter and capture West Point. Andre confessed his role and ultimately was hanged as a spy, much as Nathan Hale had been four years earlier.

During the time Andre was held prisoner, he succeeded in charming his captors. A well educated man, of keen wit and culture, he was appealing to the upper-class American officers, including Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette, of the Colonial Army for his patriotism to his country. Ironically, we have heard of “Poor” Andre and Benedict Arnold, but most of us have never heard of John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart, the three who captured the Brit. That is, until now.

Van Wart and the other two were farmers in their early twenties and were part of a local militia attempting to protect the much harassed residents sandwiched between Washington’s forces in the Hudson Highlands and the British army in Manhattan. That is why the three were stationed along the dirt road. Andre tried to bribe the men to release him, but they handed him over to American forces. 

The men “were recognized by the Continental Congress with hand-wrought, silver military medals, now considered to be the first ever awarded to American soldiers,” according to a New York Times article in last Saturday’s issue. And while two of the three medals were stolen from the New York Historical Society in 1975 and never found, the third was held by the Van Wart family for over two hundred years and has now been donated to the New York State Museum in Albany, where it can be seen starting in the fall.

The three men met with Washington, were given the medals, and each a plot of land and a lifetime annual pension of $200, which was then a “princely sum.”

Van Wart died in 1828, and the medal was passed down through the generations of his family until it reached Rae Faith Van Wart Robinson in White Plains. She was inordinately proud of her ancestor and kept the medal in a shoe box under her bed, taking it out to display at historical events. She never married, had no children or siblings, and when she died in 2020, she instructed that the medal be given to a museum where it could always be viewed and the story told. The front of the medal prominently bears one word: “Fidelity.”

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St. Charles and elected officials at the emergency room groundbreaking. Photo by Aidan Johnson

By Aidan Johnson

Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital, a part of Catholic Health, held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday, July 24, for its upcoming emergency department expansion.

The expansion will be 4000 square feet, to include 10 more treatment bays, an expanded waiting room and additional nursing and changing stations, according to a Catholic Health press statement.

“The ED expansion will also include an ED-dedicated advanced diagnostic imaging room with a fully outfitted CT scan to decrease wait times and improve patient flow from the ED to the inpatient setting,” the statement said.

The project cost of $10 million was partially funded through a $4.2 million grant from the NYS Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program.

During the ceremony, hospital President James O’Connor thanked the people involved throughout the process, including local officials, the Catholic Health executive leadership, local first responder organizations and the architects.

“As many of you know, St. Charles was founded in 1907 by four sisters of the order of the Daughters of Wisdom, helping homeless children with disabilities,” O’Connor said during his speech. “Their mission continues … over 116 years later as we continue to help those in need.”

Construction will officially begin on July 31 and is expected to conclude before the end of summer 2024.

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Local officials blast MTA over 'shocking neglect' of Long Island

Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Lauren Sheprow speaks at a July 25 press conference as Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine looks on. Photo by Raymond Janis

A dilapidated bridge and longtime public safety hazard on Sheep Pasture Road in Port Jeff will come down.

“I’m concerned that the MTA has forgotten about this section of Long Island.”

—Ed Romaine

Local and state officials held a press conference Tuesday, July 25, at Brookhaven Town Hall in Farmingville, celebrating a $15.8 million grant through the state Department of Transportation’s BridgeNY Program to replace the bridge. 

The new bridge will be owned and maintained by the town.

The Sheep Pasture Road railroad bridge has facilitated vehicle traffic since 1906. The Town of Brookhaven and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had split the tasks for maintaining the structure — the town supervising the vehicle roadbed and the MTA responsible for the physical structure and its replacement.

“The bridge that’s there did belong to the MTA,” said Brookhaven Superintendent of Highways Dan Losquadro (R). NYSDOT “still gave the Town of Brookhaven $15.8 million to build our own bridge. That tells you how serious the concern with the existing structure was and the unwillingness on the part of the MTA to address the concern.”

Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) underscored the troubles surrounding the bridge’s structural integrity. “Our fear was that this bridge would collapse,” he said.

The supervisor noted that none of the town’s three train lines are fully electrified, suggesting a lack of public attention or investment.

“I’m concerned that the MTA has forgotten about this section of Long Island,” he added.

Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Lauren Sheprow attended the press event, expressing her support for the project under town supervision.

“On the north side of Sheep Pasture Road, those folks have been anxious for this development for a very long time, as have most of the residents utilizing that bridge,” she said. “The Village of Port Jefferson could not be more excited by the development that there will be a new bridge.”

“I’ll quote a congressman from New Jersey, who said the best way to understand the MTA is looking at the MTA backward. MTA spelled backward stands for ATM.”

— Dan Panico

Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook), whose 1st Council District includes Port Jefferson and Port Jefferson Station, thanked Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) office for “answering the call” of the state delegation. 

Kornreich nonetheless acknowledged the need for greater attention by the MTA.

“I’ll echo my colleagues who have pointed out the seeming disregard the MTA has had for our plight and the safety of our residents,” he said. “It’s really been a case of shocking neglect.”

Continuing this theme, Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Manorville) condemned MTA’s position toward Long Island.

“I’ll quote a congressman from New Jersey, who said the best way to understand the MTA is looking at the MTA backward,” Panico said. “MTA spelled backward stands for ATM.”

New York State Assemblyman Ed Flood (R-Port Jefferson) referred to MTA’s inaction on the public safety hazard as “egregious,” decrying the perceived lack of investment by the public railroad into the local area.

“The MTA has no problem increasing taxes on us, our payroll taxes,” the assemblyman said. “Every time they seem to need to go to the well, it’s communities like ours that seem to foot the bill, and we don’t get the proper services.”

Referring to the bridge replacement, he added, “This is just a win for the citizens up here.”

With funding secured, Losquadro said his office is moving toward the planning phase for the project. He maintained that coordinating with emergency services is already underway.

“We will make sure that this process moves as expeditiously as it possibly can,” he said. “We have already spoken with emergency services and first responders to make sure that we have a plan that when this bridge does come down, it will be for the minimum amount of time before the new structure is in place.”

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Left, Dr. Daniel Jamorabo, gastroenterologist at Stony Brook Medicine and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine. Right, Dr. David Purow, chairman of Medicine-Gastroenterology at Huntington Hospital. Left by Stony Brook Medicine/Jeanne Neville; right from Northwell Health

No one rushes to make a reservation at a pre-colonoscopy restaurant with a cleansing and well-reviewed special of the day. 

In fact, for most people, the preparation for a potentially lifesaving diagnostic procedure is somewhere between unpleasant and unpalatable.

That, however, may have changed as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved another incremental improvement in the colonoscopy preparation that could make the preparation and the procedure — which can detect early signs of cancer — less bothersome.

Manufactured by Sebela Pharmaceuticals, Suflave is a low-volume preparation that tastes like a lemon-lime sports drink. It should be available in August.

“Patients really like” Suflave, with about 80 percent finding it palatable, said Dr. Daniel Jamorabo, a gastroenterologist at Stony Brook Medicine and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine. 

Jamorabo called it a “wonderful addition to the bowel preparations that are out there.”

Jamorabo said the ingredients in most preparations are the same: the difference in the Suflave preparation seems connected to the flavor.

The thinking in the gastrointestinal community is that “we need to find a preparation” that is more pleasant, said Dr. David Purow, chairman of Medicine-Gastroenterology at Huntington Hospital. “That will capture more people who are somewhat reluctant to have a colonoscopy.”

Colonoscopies are a “necessary screening procedure,” Purow added, and health care professionals in the field don’t want the discomfort during preparation to discourage people from getting the procedure.

Indeed, doctors have a much higher success rate with patients when they detect evidence of colon cancer early.

Getting it right

Doctors suggested that the success of preparing for a colonoscopy varies.

Jamorabo estimated that around 10% of patients may not take all the steps necessary to have the screening.

In those circumstances, these patients have to reschedule the procedure and go through drinking fluids that clear out their systems more effectively.

Gastroenterologists urged people to ask questions if they don’t understand any of the steps they need to take to prepare.

For some patients, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed their routine colonoscopy visits, as people stayed away from hospitals and medical care facilities during periods of highest viral infection.

Jamorabo added that colon cancers have started to show up in younger people.

In 2018, the American Cancer Society recommended lowering the age for screenings from 50 to 45.

“It’s showing up more” in people under 50, said Jamorabo. “It may even go lower.”

Doctors discovered stage three colon cancer in late actor Chadwick Boseman before he was 40.

“We don’t know yet” why it’s causing cancer in younger people, Jamorabo added, but “it’s not rare. It’s been going on for a couple of years. We can’t write it off as some statistical anomaly.”

Early symptoms

People can and should be on the lookout for symptoms that might indicate colon cancer.

Unintentional weight loss, such as losing 10 pounds or more in three to four months without changing diet or exercise regimen, could indicate a problem.

Blood in the stool, changes in bowel habits and ongoing constipation could also require medical attention.

More subtle signs, such as fatigue, shortness of breath or decreased appetite, could indicate that people are losing blood in their stool.

As for the overlap between COVID and colon cancer, Jamorabo believes that the ongoing inflammation from the SARS-CoV2 virus could predispose people to cancer.

“I don’t think enough time has elapsed” to know if there’s a link between the virus and colon cancer, he added.

With anxiety building over big-picture issues like global warming and an intensely divided population, people are likely increasingly worried about the state of the world.

“Most gastroenterologists are probably busier than they’ve ever been,” Purow said. “Some of that is probably due to the times in which we are living.”

Stress and anxiety can cause gastrointestinal symptoms that manifest in different ways.

Even with less concern about the pandemic, doctors are still seeing more people with alcoholic liver disease, as some turned to alcohol to relieve their ongoing anxiety.

“We’re trying to expand our network of dietitians and mental health professionals that we’re working with,” said Purow.

Information is power

An important tool in preventing colon cancer involves tracking the colon’s health through colonoscopies.

Having Suflave on the market could “lower the dread” of having a colonoscopy, Jamorabo noted. “We need to make the logistics of the preparation easier.”

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Left, Dr. Robert Schwaner, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief of the Division of Toxicology at Stony Brook University Hospital. Right, Dr. Jennifer Goebel, emergency room doctor at Huntington Hospital. Left file photo from Stony Brook University; right from Northwell Health

With summer in full swing on Long Island, local doctors urge residents to stay hydrated and remain aware of the potential health effects from heat and sun, particularly for vulnerable age groups.

“We worry about our elderly population,” said Dr. Jennifer Goebel, emergency room doctor at Huntington Hospital. “They have a little less reserve and can become dehydrated very easily.”

Part of the challenge for the elderly population is that their efficiency in sweating isn’t as high as it was when they were younger, doctors added.

People with heart disease and/or diabetes can also be at risk as the heat index rises.

This summer has reached numerous temperature records around the country and the world. On Monday, a buoy in the Florida Keys measured a temperature of 101.1 degrees, breaking the previous world record for sea surface temperature set in Kuwait Bay in the Persian Gulf. 

Locally, in anticipation of a heat advisory for this Thursday, July 27, the Town of Huntington has opened several cooling centers, including at the Dix Hills Ice Rink and the Dix Hills Park Swimming Pool, as well as at the Elwood and Manor Field Spray Parks.

Amid high temperatures, doctors suggested residents make sure they drink enough water, particularly when active outdoors.

“Water is not light, but you should have enough access to as much water as you need,” said Dr. Robert Schwaner, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine and chief of the Division of Toxicology at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Before he attended medical school, Schwaner worked for a few years seal coating driveways. The heat helped the driveways but not the people working on them. Schwaner said he could go through several gallons of water each day.

Signs of heat exhaustion

People can display a variety of symptoms of heat exhaustion.

For starters, they can get headaches and nausea. That, Schwaner said, can be problematic, as both of those can also be signs of other problems.

“Those are the earliest things you start to feel,” Schwaner said. “If you don’t pay attention, it could be a slippery slope.”

People can also develop myalgia or pain in a muscle or group of muscles. Heat can also cause muscle cramping, aching and dizziness.

When body temperature exceeds 104 degrees, that person can also experience confusion or become unconscious.

“We advise any patient or bystander to call 911 for medical attention,” said Goebel.

Before medical help arrives, people can help by providing water or ice and removing equipment such as protective masks or chest protectors during sporting events.

“Small things can go a long way before medical attention” arrives, Goebel added.

People often develop problems with their thinking and central nervous systems when body temperatures climb in the heat.

When he was a fellow at Bellevue Hospital, Schwaner saw some fit athletes who were confused or aggressive come to the hospital. Sometimes, they couldn’t recognize friends and family members who brought them in for medical help.

Water wins

Doctors urged people to choose water when the temperature and heat index rise.

“People forget that water is always the best,” Goebel said. “We recommend that people stay away from coffee, tea and soda,” which can go through their systems rapidly.

Doctors particularly cautioned against consuming alcohol during extreme heat.

Adult beverages “already put people behind the eight-ball in terms of dehydration,” said Schwaner.

Weekend warriors

Adults who work all week sometimes race out on the weekends, hoping to recapture some of their previous athletic glory from their younger years.

These would-be athletic superstars, often described as “weekend warriors,” are more likely to suffer from torn hamstrings, rotator cuffs or anterior cruciate ligament damage than from heat-related injuries.

“Most weekend warriors can’t last long enough” running at top speed or racing around on a field to develop heat-related injuries, said Schwaner.

People can improve their heat resilience by doing aerobic exercise for 15 to 20 minutes twice or three times a week, Schwaner noted. “You can rev up the body’s ability to cool yourself,” he said.

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Photo by Elsa Olofsson: www.cbdoracle.com

Long Island saw its first recreational marijuana store open in Farmingdale last month. It understandably raises the question of many eager — or anxious — residents as to when a cannabis store will open near them.

We commend our local towns for taking reasonable steps to ensure that marijuana sales impact our quality of life as little as possible. While Smithtown and Huntington have opted out, Brookhaven voted to allow sales, with stringent zoning restrictions, as have Babylon, Riverhead and Southampton.

Cannabis sales can work in our community, but only if each of us stops and thinks about how our actions impact others. Smoking a joint on the beach or on a nature trail fills the air with the smell of cannabis, which is unpleasant. Those who choose to consume cannabis should keep the smoking to their homes, be considerate of neighbors and always be responsible when driving.

We remind parents and other adults to keep their cannabis products secure and out of the hands of children, as THC is proven to induce anxiety, paranoia and other harmful effects in minors.

We also must be considerate, taking steps to ensure we are not impacting each other’s quality of life. As Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) described in a story in our papers this week, people are already contacting the town to ask for exemptions to the strict zoning ordinance surrounding cannabis.

The rules and regulations are there for a reason, and we agree with Kornreich in being hesitant to grant exemptions. We understand that people want to make a living. Yet in trying to skate around the rules at such an early stage of legalization, it shows a lack of consideration to the rest of the community. 

We hope all of our community members reflect on our behaviors surrounding cannabis, and not forget there is enforcement for those who break the rules. They are there for a reason. Let’s follow them.

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