Drug dealers are designing and manufacturing fentanyl-laced drugs to resemble name-brand prescriptions. Stock photo
The Town of Brookhaven Council District 1 Drug Prevention Coalition and the Center for Prevention and Outreach’s SB IMPACT Coalition will be hosting a drive-thru wellness and drug takeback day.
Partnering with the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association, on Saturday, April 24, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. people can visit the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Chamber Train Car at the southeast corner of Route 112 and Route 347 (entrance on Rose Avenue).
Officers from the Suffolk County Police Department 6th Precinct will be there to collect expired and unused prescription drugs.
The Town of Brookhaven E-Waste Recycling will gather vaping products.
Visitors may turn in any expired, unused or unwanted pill/capsule medications, vaping devices and vaping cartridges. Liquids and needles cannot be accepted.
There will also be a food drive for local food pantries.
Above: Mayor Margot Garant with Timmy McNaulty, Brier Fox, Blake Wlischar and Grant Welischar pose for a picture while cleaning up the beach. Photos by Julianne Mosher
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Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Above: Mayor Margot Garant with Timmy McNaulty, Brier Fox, Blake Wlischar and Grant Welischar pose for a picture while cleaning up the beach. Photos by Julianne Mosher
The community came together to make sure the Village of Port Jefferson’s shoreline is squeaky clean.
Hometown Hope, a local nonprofit made up of local residents who love, support and want to do good within the village, hosted its first annual beach cleanup event at all Port Jefferson-area beaches.
On Sunday, April 18, more than 200 volunteers, in conjunction with Sea Tow, Sheep Pasture Landscaping and Maggio Environmental, gathered (safely with masks) at the private beaches outlining Port Jeff. Starting at Centennial Beach, through Belle Terre Beach, McCallister Park, West Beach and East Beach, families and local groups gloved up to fill dozens of garbage bags on the warm and sunny day.
Diane Tafuro, a board member with Hometown Hope, said creating an event like this was a “no brainer.”
“We’re trying to get back to the community and keep our beaches clean,” she said. “Which is one of the best things about Port Jefferson village.”
Tafuro said this isn’t just a one-time thing the group plans to do.
With the mission statement to provide and connect resources and support in times of need to all Port Jeff Village residents by promoting a movement of spreading kindness. Hometown Hope strives to uplift through wellness, resilience and compassionate understanding within the community.
The local Cub Scout troop took one section, while varsity athletes cleaned up East Beach. There, they found a large, heavy tire filled with sand.
“This is exactly the type of thing why we love to live here,” Mayor Margot Garant said. “Our community comes together, and they teach their kids to start loving the place that they live … That’s why we call ourselves Port Jeff Strong.”
To find out more about Hometown Hope visit their website at hometownhopepj.org.
People can take as many pictures of their friends at the new interactive selfie museum. Photo by Julianne Mosher
It’s a new place to play and all are welcomed to it.
Popup Speakeasy is an interactive photobooth museum, that allows people to come in and take as many pictures in different settings.
“It really is for us a place where people can be creative,” said co-owner Catherine Ovejas. “It’s a selfie studio, you come and take your own pictures, or can come with a photographer, and you get access to the whole studio.”
Located at 1860 Pond Road in Ronkonkoma, like a speakeasy of the past, it’s hidden in plain sight. From the outside of the building, one wouldn’t know what to expect when they walk through the front door — a warehouse of 14 different stations from all different eras and scenes.
Ovejas said that each season the stations will change.
Visitors of the Popup Speakeasy can choose from 14 different photobooth stations. Photo by Julianne Mosher
But right now, there’s a “record room,” decorated with a wall of vinyls and a boombox, a picnic scene where friends can pretend to pop champagne, and a pink repurposed Volkswagen bus tucked away in the back.
“It’s a nod to pop culture,” she said. “I love retro things. So, you will see a lot of vintage things … things from the 70s, 80s and 90s.”
She said the idea for a selfie museum came amidst the pandemic. Between production, construction and the creation of each theme, they began the process a little more than six months ago, choosing Ronkonkoma as a central location that everyone interested can get to.
As far as she and her team know, she said, this is the first selfie studio in the whole state.
“There are pop-up photo experiences that have taken place in and around Manhattan,” she said. “But those are more of a museum-type experience where you’re taking pictures of the exhibits, not so much of yourself.”
Oveja encourages visitors to express themselves.
“We want you to go crazy,” she said. “We want you to interact with the scenes and the different themes and make it your own story.”
She added, “It’s not about looking at an exhibit and admiring it from a distance. I want you to actually bring your personality into the theme.”
For just $25 an hour (at the adult rate), visitors get access to the whole studio. Using an online booking system, the space is reservation-only. Social distancing is required, as are masks — except for when a quick photo is being taken in the scene.
Oveja said they are allowing one group at a time, and the whole studio (plus the props) are sanitized before and after each use.
Children are also encouraged to come and enjoy the studio, where kids ages five to 12 are just $15.
“This is a judgment free zone, we want you to be yourself, have a great time and bring your own personality to the table,” she said.
Co-owner Jose Rivera said the ultimate goal is to franchise, and those future locations will have their own vibe.
“There’s no limit to how far we can go how far we can go,” he said. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with as many businesses as we can.”
Comsewogue teacher Camie Zale recently won the contest for Applebee’s Teacher of the Year.
Students from around the Northeast submitted essays as to why they thought their teacher should win.
Kevin Hernandez Meza, one of Zale’s students, wrote about all the outstanding things she did for her students inside and outside of the classroom.
It is impressive because Zale is a very humble teacher and we would never have known all the wonderful things she does for her students outside of the school setting until they told us.
We also heard stories about her support for students long after they have graduated.
We only heard about all the things the students wrote about. They said how Zale would support them at special events like singing or dance recitals and sports events outside of the school setting.
Also referenced in the essay were the times Zale led students to do special fundraising events which benefited other students who were in need.
Her student spoke about how she guided her students to raise money for the Special Education PTA by recently having a lollipop sale.
In the past, a large amount of money was raised for a student afflicted with cancer. Hundreds of students and staff held a Walk-a-Thon around the track — It was a beautiful sight to see with so many people participating.
When the student and his family drove up to see the event, he was extremely grateful and quite emotional. Everyone felt so positive to be able to make a difference in the life of someone who went to their school.
In the classroom, and with the support of other teachers such as Gia Grimaldi and her leadership, the students learned the necessary planning, financial management, marketing skills and more to make this worthy project a success.
This is a way to help prepare the students for the real world where they need these valuable skills.
Photo by Ariana Santos
Brian McDonnell, Director of Operations at Doherty Enterprises which oversees Applebee’s said, “Our restaurants are committed to giving back to the local community now more than ever. We’re honored to support local schoolteachers who have transitioned from in-classroom teaching to online teaching, as Applebee’s wants to recognize their dedication and hard work amidst the pandemic.”
It’s wonderful that Applebee’s did this to showcase the good things teachers are doing out there. Sometimes teachers go above and beyond what they ordinarily do in the classroom and nobody hears about it.
Our local Applebee’s is always willing to help out our district and community in so many ways. They showed up for one of the large fundraising events and cooked a fantastic BBQ with tons of delicious food for hundreds of the kids.
It was a nice way to show the students that they were doing the right thing and to reward them. The Dougherty organization is one of the few companies that look to give back to our students. We appreciate having them as our neighbors and for what they are doing for our community. Bravo to them and our new Teacher of the Year, Ms. Zale.
Andrew Harris is a special education teacher and student character liaison at the Comsewogue school district.
County Executive Steve Bellone, center, speaks at the April 20 press conference. Police Chief Stuart Cameron, left, and Suffolk County Police Department Commissioner Geraldine Hart were also in attendance. Photo from Suffolk County
In response to the 50 mass shootings that have occurred throughout the country in the last month, the Suffolk County Police Department is enabling supermarkets and big box retailers to connect to a camera system set up to provide the police with video access to schools.
Using a resource called SHARE, which stands for Sharing to Help Access Remote Entry, businesses can plug their closed-circuit systems to the police department’s Real-Time Crime Center. The connection, which will have no cost for businesses, is designed to provide critical, up-to-the-minute information to police in the event of an active shooter.
“We know from previous active shooter events that seconds matter,” said SCPD Commissioner Geraldine Hart at a press conference on Tuesday announcing the initiative at the Suffolk County Police Department Headquarters in Yaphank. “Seconds can save lives.”
The ability to see inside a building would give the police intelligence that they could pass along to first responding officers, providing a description and updated location of a person or people who had weapons.
“One of the things that keeps me up as county executive is the idea that we could have one of these shootings here in our county in Long Island,” said County Executive Steve Bellone (D) at the press conference. The SCPD, which has been “at the forefront of efforts to address the possibility of mass shootings is, once again, announcing a continuation of these efforts.”
The collaboration between these stores and the police could go a step further, giving the police access to electronic controls that would allow them to open electronic doors remotely for emergency responders, helping them get to victims sooner and giving them a chance to maneuver around a perpetrator.
“We value partnerships with the community,” Hart said. “The goal is to keep people safe.”
Since 2016, the Suffolk County Police Department has done 420 active shooter presentations. On May 2, the SCPD will hold an active shooter drill at a King Kullen in Middle Island, which is the first time the police will conduct such an exercise in a supermarket.
The SCPD has also held 67 stop the bleed training classes for residents, which teaches people to treat wounds and practice applying tourniquets.
The SCPD will have the “ability to see inside those stores if, God forbid, an active shooter situation arises,” Bellone said.
In 2019, Bellone, Hart and Police Chief Stuart Cameron announced the SHARE program at West Babylon high school, which gave police the ability to tap into closed circuit TVs at area schools.
“This is one of the best things we can do to help save lives in an active shooter situation,” Bellone said. “We’re going to do everything we can on a local level to deal with the possibility of mass shootings.”
Bellone called the number of mass shootings in the country, which exceeds one per day, “insane,” and urged Congress to adopt “common-sense gun safety measures.” Rather than wait for a provision that might solve or prevent all the problems, Bellone urged Congress to take action immediately to reduce the risk of events that rob families and the community of loved ones amid senseless violence.
The police would only access cameras in the event of an emergency or a potentially dangerous situation.
Last month, the Village of Port Jefferson — which has had cameras hooked up to the Suffolk County Real-Time Crime Center for over two years — was able to help police find and arrest Joseph Garcia of Port Jefferson Station for the alleged shooting of David Bliss Jr. on Main Street.
“We were proud to partner with the Suffolk County Real-Time Crime Center a few years ago to take advantage of this program that keeps our streets safe,” said Mayor Margot Garant. “It’s proven to create a quick response and help reduce crime in our village.”
Businesses and Suffolk County residents can gather more information at: SCPDShield.org.
Bill and Lauren Brown, the new owners of SkinMed Spa in Port Jefferson. Photo by Julianne Mosher
A new spa has opened up Down Port, but it’s different than the rest.
Lauren Brown, a village resident and registered cosmetic nurse, decided during the COVID-19 pandemic that she wanted to own her own space.
“I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” she said. “The pandemic just got me reevaluating life and seeing what really matters and where my passions are.”
With her husband, Bill, on board to help, Brown officially took over the former Max & Millie storefront at 142 E Main Street in February. She said it felt like destiny.
In the industry for eight years, Brown has worked for dermatologists and plastic surgeons. While in those offices, she noticed that patients were tired of taking medications, antibiotics and putting chemicals into their skins.
“I thought about it and there are so many great, all-natural treatments out there and other things that we can do instead of always loading ourselves up with medicine,” she said.
So that’s when she got to work.
After finding the space in January, and signing the lease a month later, she and her husband completely revamped inside the former clothing boutique that closed in December.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of the businesses that do really well around here are many of these holistic businesses, because people are looking for more natural treatments to take care of their skin,” she said.
SkinMed Spa offers all the things that a typical spa doesn’t bring to the table.
“We are a place that offers all-natural rejuvenation services that are really targeting conditions of the hair, skin and nails,” Brown said.
An inside look at SkinMed Spa in Port Jefferson. Photo by Julianne Mosher
Some treatments are for thinning hair, hair loss, acne and its scars, facial rejuvenation for fine lines and the breakdown of collagen. Brown said that SkinMed Spa is a place where troublesome issues can be fixed.
“If you actually have something going on in your skin, or you’re trying to maintain your skin to keep it up, this is the place for you,” she said. “I just wanted to offer a very calming and relaxing environment where people could just come and look around and even ask questions.”
Brown said her spa is a place where there is no judgement. Part of her store is an apothecary where she will sell affordable skin products that won’t break the bank.
“We sell affordable skincare products that are all natural that don’t have any dyes, sulfates or chemicals in them,” she said. “And customers can actually sit down with someone who knows about skin, and that I can help guide them in the right place to help treat some of these conditions.”
SkinMed Spa officially opened its doors on April 1 and since then, Brown has already gotten dozens of happy clients.
“What I’ve noticed over the last two weeks is everyone that I’ve been treating — within 24 hours — their relative or best friend is booking a treatment which honestly makes me feel over the moon,” she said. “I’m not just trying to do a facial treatment. I really wanted to have people’s skin be transformed and be happy with it.”
Bill said the services his wife offers are medical grade.
“You’re getting that kind of quality without going to a doctor’s office,” he said. “You’re getting real quality service in a more boutique kind of fashion.”
Some of the services include micro needling, which helps regenerate cells, plasma lifts, microdermabrasion, dermaplane, jet peels and no-needle lip plumping with hyaluronic acid.
“I wanted it to be almost like when you’re walking in the city, and you find like a really cool, swanky place,” she said.
But without the price tag. Brown said the services offered are a fraction of the cost compared to a doctor’s office.
“I wanted to be different where people could escape and you could think about yourself for a little bit,” she said. “How many how often do we put ourselves first? This is a place where you can relax, you can turn everything off, focus on yourself for a good hour, and go home with some stuff that makes you feel happy without spending a ton of money.”
SkinMed Spa is taking appointments online. To book, visit skinmedspapj.com.
“If it’s not the right service for you, we’ll talk about it,” Brown said. “It’s not we’re not going to just do something if it’s not right for your skin.”
Theatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson will hold a Theatre Three Cares food and personal care items drive to benefit the Open Cupboard food pantry at Infant Jesus Church on Saturday, April 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Please help those in need. The following items are in low supply and greatly appreciated:
FOOD ITEMS: Apple Juice, Peanut Butter, Jelly, Coffee, Sugar, Flour, Maseca Corn Flour, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Cooking Oil, Oatmeal, Pancake Mix, Pancake Syrup, Canned Spinach, Canned Chopped Tomatoes, White and Brown Rice (1# and 2# bags/boxes), Canned Fruit, Ramen Noodles, Healthy Snacks, Fresh Chicken, Fresh Ground Beef, Hot Dogs, Eggs, Bread and Butter
We are also accepting donations of grocery store gift cards and cash to purchase whatever else is needed.
Donations will be collected in the back of the theater on the south side of the building. They are also accepting donations of grocery store gift cards and cash to purchase whatever else is needed. If you prefer, you can remain in your vehicle for a contact-free drop off. For more information, call Brian at 631-938-6464.
Volunteers clean up the Greenway Trail in Port Jefferson on April 17. Photo by Herb Mones
Volunteerism — to some degree — still exists. When it comes to Earth Day and protecting our environment, this is a wonderful thing.
Two weeks ago, on our editorial page, we mentioned the increase in roadside litter along our towns’ roads and the importance of keeping garbage off the streets. In that editorial, we made a small mention of the groups that volunteer to clean up in our areas, but they deserve more than a sentence or two.
With Earth Day celebrated April 22, residents may have seen people out this past weekend with bags, gloves and trash pickers along roads, in parks and on beaches collecting the garbage of others.
On Saturday, the Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group hosted a cleanup in conjunction with Suffolk County at Larry’s Landing, and Three Village Community Trust members along with the Friends of the Greenway could be found along the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail.
Hometown Hope, a Port Jefferson nonprofit, gathered volunteers Sunday to clean up the beaches in the village. Dozens of people helped pick up trash along the four-and-a-half-mile shoreline. These are just a few of the cleanups that occur on our roads, trails and beaches throughout the year.
These volunteers deserve a standing ovation for helping to improve our environment and restoring a sense of pride to our communities.
We would love to see cleanups like this happen more often throughout the year. While it’s the responsibility of individuals to treat the outdoors as they would their own living room or car, unfortunately many don’t follow this common-sense rule.
Groups like the ones mentioned above have the ability to organize people and get things done and pick up where towns leave off — even though we would like to see highway departments out cleaning more, too.
Sadly, many organizations are in desperate need of volunteers. As more residents commute to the city or work two jobs, many civic associations, advocacy groups, nonprofits and even fire departments have seen a decrease in the number of people volunteering.
Yet so many groups just ask for a bit of time to help make our neighborhoods better places to live. One individual giving up an hour here and there to help others causes a ripple effect. It could influence many to do the same and create a wave of community engagement.
That wave is evident in these cleanups as not only a spot of land becomes cleaner but, in the long run, it helps our foliage and wildlife thrive and keeps our waterways clean.
So, thank you to all of you who took the time out of your busy weekends to make our little space on Earth a bit cleaner.
About 16 years ago, I stood on the warning track and held my then one-year old son high in my arms above the blue, outfield fence in right center field of the old Yankee Stadium. We asked him to extend his glove as if he had leapt in the air to catch a home run.
Now, as he prepares to graduate from high school, my wife and I are pondering the end of an era filled with the numerous triumphs and challenges of youth sports.
In the last few weeks, while we have awaited the time outs, batting glove adjustments, pauses to look for signs from the catcher, and warm up tosses by each pitcher, we have been replaying our own montage from his years on a baseball field.
A few years after his Yankee Stadium debut, our son donned a baggy uniform that hung from his slight four-year old frame, standing with his left arm out, hoping to catch a ball I tossed with a slight arc toward him.
As the years advanced, his skill set and intensity for the game grew more rapidly than the developmental rules of the sport.
Station-to-station baseball was an abomination for him. When he was six, he caught a ball at shortstop, tagged the runner jogging from second and stepped on third for, what he considered, an unassisted triple play. He tossed the ball to the mound and jogged off the field, only to hear that everyone hadn’t batted so he had to stay on the field. I can still see the disappointed look on his face as all the runners moved to the next base.
Every moment wasn’t athletic heaven. He struggled to find the strike zone when he was pitching, swung and missed at pitches he knew he could hit and suffered through the inconsistent coaching and advice of everyone from his father to the parents of his teammates to semi-professionals eager to give back to the community.
Despite playing a game of failure, he continued to venture to fields close and far for another opportunity to compete, get some exercise and join teammates who have become long-time friends.
He learned how to pick up his friends after their moment in the spotlight didn’t end the way they wanted.
He took us to places way off a tour guide’s map of the eastern United States, as we drove from single traffic-light towns, with their one gas station and one diner, all the way up to Cooperstown.
We paced along frigid sidelines, hoping darkness or snow would grant us a reprieve from frozen bleachers and numb toes. We drove on roads in which the car thermometer read 113 degrees.
When he was old enough, he stood on a 90-foot diamond, looking from third to first as if he needed binoculars to see his teammate and a strong wind to help his throw reach the target.
As he got taller and stronger, the distance became more manageable.
As parents, we made our share of errors on the sidelines and in the stands. While we told him it was the effort that mattered, not the result, he could see the joy in our faces after a win and the slumped shoulders after a tough loss.
While he’ll undoubtedly play other games down the road, that road won’t be as close as the ones we’ve traveled together.
In a recent game, our son raced back and caught a ball against the wall, in a place on the field similar to the one where he extended his tiny glove at Yankee Stadium. We have shared such a long and inspired journey between those two mirrored moments.
Why, if there are 9,700,000 Americans looking for work now, some six percent of our population, are there so many signs outside businesses seeking helpers? Granted, many of those signs are in front of restaurants looking for waiters and shops needing salespeople, service industries in the main, but why the disconnect? And this is not just a regional problem but one in large cities like New York, villages like ours, as discussed at a recent local chamber of commerce meeting, and even rural communities.
The situation could have some unwelcome consequences as the economy tries to recover. “It could act as a brake on growth and cause unnecessary business failures, long lines at remaining businesses and rising prices,” according to an article in last Saturday’s The New York Times, entitled “Businesses Challenged to Fill Jobs.”
The story, written by Neil Irwin, goes on to offer some possible answers. First is the suggestion that benefits are too generous. “The government is making it easy for people to stay home and get paid. You can’t really blame them much. But it means we have hours to fill and no one who wants to work.” That’s a quote from a pub owner in upstate Baldwinsville, New York, that appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard and was reprinted in the NYT.
Some people can make as much or more, thanks to the expanded weekly unemployment payments and the various stimulus cash that has been delivered by the government, at least for awhile. With the reawakening of restaurants and services now, there are more jobs than applicants, which doesn’t drive workers to seek work, compared to the opposite, when the pandemic first hit and jobs were disappearing. The recipients of the cash are doing what economists hoped they would do: spending it. That encourages businesses to reopen, but without enough help. Hence the problem. But it may cure itself when expanded benefits run out in September.
There are other reasons workers may not be inclined to rush back into the workforce. Some, especially those with public-facing jobs, may be afraid of getting sick themselves or perhaps bringing the virus home to vulnerable family members. There does seem to be a relationship between vaccinations of people and a rise in their employment rate, according to the NYT. Researchers have found that a “10-percentage-point increase in those fully vaccinated results in a 1.1 percentage-point increase in their employment.” It would make sense that vaccinated people are more comfortable serving the public.
Here is another possible explanation for the labor shortage. Some of the workers are still needed at home, especially women who might be caring for children, some taking classes remotely, or elderly members of their family. The Times goes on to quote a survey indicating that 6,300,000 million people “were not working because of a need to care for a child not in a school or day care center; and a further 2,100,000 were caring for an older person.” Many of those people, especially women, have disappeared from the rolls of the unemployed and are not even counted any longer. The answer here, as in everywhere else, is in conquering the virus and establishing herd immunity so schools and day care centers can open.
For those businesses that have thrived during the pandemic and have been able to raise the wages they pay workers, like Amazon or construction companies, there is less of a supply problem. But those businesses take away potential workers from industries like restaurants, with thin profit margins. And those workers may not return if they have found better berths for themselves elsewhere.
These issues will sort themselves out eventually, as public health improves and supply-and-demand comes to equilibrium. But one thing is certain. The return to any sort of “normal” will not happen without bumps in the road.
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