From left, sisters Caroline and Alexa D’Andrea of Shoreham are the winners of our Halloween Coloring Contest and receive four tickets to the children’s show, ‘Pumpkin Patch Magic,’ courtesy of Theatre Three in Port Jefferson. Congratulations!
By Rebecca Anzel
Drinking water in public schools across the state will soon conclude testing for lead contamination. Legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in September makes New York the first state to mandate such testing.
The law established a level of lead allowed in drinking water, initial and future testing requirements for schools and deadlines for notifying parents and staff of results.
“These rigorous new protections for New York’s children include the toughest lead contamination testing standards in the nation and provide clear guidance to schools on when and how they should test their water,” Cuomo said in a press release.
Schools are more likely to have raised lead levels because intermittent use of water causes extended water contact with plumbing fixtures. Those installed before 1986, when federal laws were passed to restrict the amount of lead allowed in materials, might have a higher amount of lead.
“We know how harmful lead can be to the health and well-being of young children, and that’s why the Senate insisted on testing school water for lead,” state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) said in a statement. “As a result, New York becomes the first state in the nation to perform this testing and protect millions of its students from potential health risks.”
Lead consumption by children is especially harmful because behavioral and physical effects, such as brain damage and reduced IQ, happen at lower levels of exposure, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Even low levels of lead exposure can cause hearing loss, nervous system damage and learning disabilities.
“We know how harmful lead can be to the health and well-being of young children, and that’s why the Senate insisted on testing school water for lead.”
—John Flanagan
In adults, lead can cause damage to the reproductive system, kidneys and cardiovascular system.
The new law required schools teaching children in prekindergarten through fifth grade to test drinking water by Sept. 30 and schools with children from grades six through 12 to complete testing by the end of October.
This affects in excess of 700 school districts and 37 BOCES locations in the state, consisting of more than 5,000 school buildings, according to the state. Private schools are exempt from this testing.
Any lead level exceeding 15 micrograms per liter must be reported by the school to the local health department within one business day. Schools are also mandated to share the test results with parents and staff in writing and to publish a list of lead-free buildings on their websites.
Glenn Neuschwender, president of Enviroscience Consultants, a Ronkonkoma-based environmental consulting firm, said to a certain extent, these deadlines are a challenge, especially those pertaining to the test results.
“I’ve been speaking to the county health department — they’re currently not prepared to receive that data,” Neuschwender said in a phone interview. “The same would go for the state Department of Health. They’re not currently prepared to start receiving data yet, but they’ve told me that they will be within the coming weeks.”
The cost of a lead analysis ranges from $20 to $75 per sample and must be conducted by a laboratory approved by the Environmental Laboratory Approval Program. Long Island Analytical Laboratories in Holbrook and Pace Analytical Services in Melville are two approved labs, according to the state Department of Health.
If the level of lead in a sample exceeds what the law allows, the school is required to prohibit the use of that faucet until further testing shows the issue is rectified. The law also requires schools to conduct testing every five years.
“The law is certainly, I would say, a work in progress,” Neuschwender said. “The law is very short in discussing remediation — it’s more specific to sampling and action-level objectives — so we expect to see some clarification on the remediation side of things as the law is revised.”
Port Jefferson school district conducted voluntary testing of fixtures throughout the district this summer before Cuomo signed the law, and found small amounts of lead in nine locations. All nine fixtures have been replaced, according to Fred Koelbel, district plant facilities administrator.
By Victoria Espinoza
The New York State Education Department wants teachers and parents to weigh in on changes to Common Core State Standards, and voices are already criticizing the proposals.
The department released a draft of new learning standards for public comment at the end of last month, which included recommendations to change 60 percent of the English language arts standards and 55 percent of the math standards for New York state.
“The overriding opinion is that it’s more of the same. They didn’t really make any substantive changes. These are more revised phrasing and language. They’re attached at the hip to the original standards.”
—Joe Rella
The recommendations came from two committees comprised of more than 130 parents and teachers and included creating a new early learning task force and a glossary of math verbs and English terms.
Middle Country Central School District Superintendent Roberta A. Gerold said teachers in the district will be reviewing the changes and submitting their commentary made throughout the month of October.
“I think that it’s good that state education is asking for teacher’s perspectives and comments on whether or not the revisions are appropriate,” Gerold said. “It says to me that they’re not finished with their revisions, because there are still adjustments that need to be made. Some of them were simple language changes, but I think there’s still more solid work that needs to be done.”
The NYS Allies for Public Education applauded the committee’s efforts but said due to the confining nature of the state education department the results are not substantive content changes.
“The result of their efforts is essentially just a rebranding of the Common Core,” the group said in a statement.
Comsewogue school district Superintendent Joe Rella echoed those sentiments.
“The overriding opinion is that it’s more of the same,” he said in a phone interview. “They didn’t really make any substantive changes. These are more revised phrasing and language. They’re attached at the hip to the original standards.”
He also said the department should have looked at the use of standards themselves.
“It was not meant to do anything but review the current standards,” Rella said. “They never got into the bigger picture, which is the appropriateness of the standards.” The superintendent said he is not anticipating anything different this school year because of the proposed modifications.
Jim Polansky, superintendent at Huntington school district, also questioned how effective these changes would be to districts.
“The truth is that the large majority of those changes are immaterial,” he said in an email. “There is still a chance that additional modifications to the new draft standards will be made following the comment period; however, I don’t anticipate that any further changes will be particularly significant either. I do not necessarily believe that the new set will be drastically different from the current Common Core.”
NYS Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said committee members spent a year listening to public comment before drafting new standards.
“Dedicated teachers, parents and educators from across the state put in countless hours to develop these new draft standards,” Elia said in a statement. “Teachers will be able to use these standards as a basis for developing their curricula and lesson plans to meet the needs of students in their classrooms. These changes reflect what I have heard from parents, teachers and administrators over the past year in my travels across the state.”
For the ELA changes, five subcommittee groups based on grade levels reviewed the original standards to see if they met the criteria for what a student should know and be able to perform at their grade level, and recommended new areas to improve standards.
Specific changes include more focus on students in prekindergarten to second grade, with an early learning task force that discusses issues for younger learners, teaching from a wider variety of texts, and developing clear communication with parents so they understand the curriculum and assignments their children are given.
Math changes include creating a glossary of verbs associated with mathematics, maintaining the rigor of standards so students are aware of what is expected of them at every grade level and providing more time for students to understand mathematics content.
Smithtown Superintendent James Grossane said his district intends to give a thorough response to the state on the changes.
“Some of the new standards reflect changes that we had already made in our local curriculum and instruction based on our own teacher and administrator input,” he said in an email. “We are providing detailed feedback to the NY State Education Department on the revised standards and will await final adoption before making any additional local changes.”
Gerold also said the reactions from the public are an important part of the process.
“I know that there’s some debate going around the state whether the changes were deep enough or developmentally appropriate,” she said. “I think all of that information will be more valid once the feedback is received from all of the stakeholders.”
To review the new English standards in more detail visit the website www.nysed.gov/draft-standards-english-language-arts, and for math standards see www.nysed.gov/draft-standards-mathematics. The public can also comment on the changes by completing a grade-level specific survey.
The public comment period ends Nov. 4.
The Huntington Arts Council unveiled its latest exhibit at its Main Street Gallery on Oct. 6. Titled “Conversations in Color,” the Juried Abstract Show features works by 29 local artists and will be on display until Oct. 22. The winners, selected by juror Kerry Irvine, will be announced at an opening reception on Friday, Oct. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m.
“This abstract exhibit is perfectly defined by the scope of work currently on display. The pieces are vibrant not just in color, but in technique and in the range of interpretation; even for a diverse category such as abstract art. We are so pleased to have Kerry Irvine as our juror and look forward to a well-received reception,” said Marc Courtade, Executive Director of the Huntington Arts Council.
“As an artist who was born and raised in Huntington, it was an honor to be asked to juror “Conversations in Color,” said Irvine. “The challenge I proposed to the applicants, “As Artists we use color to communicate. This is how we bare our souls and share our deepest secrets. With color, we tell our stories. What’s your story?” was met with great enthusiasm and a myriad of beautiful, strong, individual pieces of art.” A resident of New York City, Irvine is an abstract expressionist painter. Her work can be found in private and public collections throughout the United States and abroad. Irvine features color and form often inspired by nature and the human figure. “I am proud to present these wonderful works of art which represent the immense talent that is inspired and cultivated on Long Island year after year,” she said.
Congratulations to the participating artists: Constance Blackman, Sandra Bowman, Joyce Bressler, Kathy Cunningham, Anahi Decanio, Christine Dupuis, Alicia Evans, Baruch Farbiarz, Reg Fludd, Nicole Franz, Mary Fusco, Peter Galasso, John Greene, Rodee Hansen, Roseann Harder, Ron Janssen, Vincent Joseph, Marc Josloff, Karen Kirshner, Deidre Klein, Julia Lang-Shapiro, Tara Leale Porter, Celeste Mauro, Martha Mcaleer, Lorraine Nuzzo, Douglas Reina, Che Sabalja, Sally Shore, and Penny Strong.
The HAC’s Main Street Gallery is located at 213 Main St., Huntington. For more information, call 631-271-8423 or visit www.huntingtonarts.org.
As an editorial staff, we have an opinion. …
The first half of that sentence isn’t necessary in order to reveal what we think. And that is the exact problem we have had with this past weekend’s news cycle.
Political leader after political leader came out this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday to condemn Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s leaked comments, bragging about being able to commit sexual assault against women.
One of the common themes from legislators who pulled their endorsements was “As a father of daughters” or “As a brother with sisters — or a mother,” they were offended.
Two problems here: You don’t need to be a “someone” in order to be offended, you can simply be offended. And why is it that women are repeatedly being referred to as a sister, a daughter or a mother?
A presidential candidate talked about how he can sexually assault women because he is a star. A woman doesn’t need to be anything to be offended, threatened or violated by that sentiment. A man is also not disqualified from finding Trump’s comments reprehensible simply because he is a man.
Women don’t need to give birth or have a brother before they can be victimized by Trump’s words. Men don’t need to be married to condemn sexual assault. It should not matter your role, your background or your stature — no one should need to back up or justify why they are against sexual assault. They just should be.
Dorothy (Kate Keating) greets theatergoer Selah, age 4, of Nesconset, after a performance of “The Wizard of Oz” at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport on Oct. 1. The children’s show runs through Nov. 6.
By Wenhao Ma
Splashes of Hope, a nonprofit organization based in Huntington that provides murals for medical and social service facilities to create welcoming environments that facilitate healing turned 20 this past month.
Years ago Heather Buggee, creator of Splashes of Hope, was just an art school student with a close friend who was suffering from Hodgkin’s Disease. While he was being treated, Buggee said the two friends talked about how positive imagery and an appealing environment would help patients relax and support the healing process while they stayed in a hospital.
Her friend did not survive the illness— but Buggee decided to keep their dream alive.
In 1996, Buggee created Splashes of Hope.
“Environment is very much a part of the healing process,” Phil Rugile, president of Splashes of Hope board said in a phone interview. “Splashes fills that gap, and if nothing else gives a child a few minutes of respite from whatever scary event brought them to the hospital in the first place.”
Senior mural artist, project manager, and daughter of Buggee Sarah Baecher said the organization was started in her mother’s basement. Now Splashes of Hope is located inside Coindre Hall, a mansion built in 1912 that is now owned by Suffolk County, fit with an office and art studio. They have been there for the past 15 years.
There are four artists working daily in the office, but Baecher said the nonprofit has more than 50 volunteers on Long Island and more than 100 nationwide. With the help of volunteers, Splashes of Hope has worked on projects across the country and world.
“To date we have ‘splashed’ thousands of focal points and murals in children’s hospitals across the U.S., local Veteran’s homes, shelters, psychiatric clinics, cancer centers, nursing homes, orphanages in Ukraine and hospitals in Paris, Cairo, Nicaragua and Rome,” Buggee said in an email.
To create murals, artists would first visit the hospital or facility to see how their creation would best fit in the room. Then they can either paint directly on the walls in the facility or on removable panels in their studios, which are later installed in the facility.
“We work with the staff in the hospital and see what kind of theme they need for patients,” Baecher said. “In asthma centers, we want something where you can breath, like an open sky with some birds flying around. In psychiatric centers, you don’t want stimulus. We do a lot of open water scenes.”
Other than painting for public facilities, Splashes of Hope also does murals for the bedrooms of children with life-threatening illness, with artwork that shows off their favorite things.
Ethan Chang, 13, is one of the children who received a mural , Chang has degenerative brain disease, and five years ago, he was granted a wish by Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Dave Gussaroff, who was Chang’s “wish granter” at that time, called Splashes of Hope and asked if they could do a mural for Chang’s bedroom.
Since then, Chang and his parents, Thomas and Ann-Marie, have been involved with the organization. According to his mother, Ann-Marie, Chang loves painting with Baecher and Buggee, and several of his paintings are now hung in the organization’s studio.
“I’m here because of [Buggee],” Ethan’s mother said in an interview, who is now a volunteer for Splashes of Hope. “She got my son interested. Then he brought my husband and me in. You can feel her love and passion for what she does and it makes you want to be a part of it. There’s a million places that we could have chosen and wanted to spend time and volunteer for. And we have done volunteer work for other organizations. But when you come here, there’s a different feel.”
League III's No. 1-ranked Bulls tally fourth shutout in last five games
By Desirée Keegan
Brandon Erny has now scored the game-winning goal in four of the last five games for Smithtown West boys’ soccer team.
In the Bulls’ 2-0 victory over Huntington Oct. 10, Erny knocked in Smithtown West’s first goal with 22 minutes left in the first half.
A senior co-captain, Erny made his way through midfield and passed the ball to junior Andrew McDonnell at his left. Erny then booked his way to the top of the box, grabbed the ball back from McDonnell and tapped it into the far left corner for the early advantage, and ultimately his team’s six straight win.
“I just wanted to get the ball up top,” he said. “I made the quick pass to Andrew and wanted to get the ball back as quick as possible. This was an important win today.”
Senior co-captain Aaron Siegel made multiple leaping grabs throughout the first half to preserve his clean sheet.
“I felt good today,” he said. “I was vocal; did really good in the air. All of their chances were basically long throw-ins, which I came out collecting. I was good on the line today and the back row did pretty well too, so that helped a lot.”
Huntington senior defender Matthew Gelb, with his mighty throw-ins, gave his team much of their chances at a goal, but the forwards had trouble capitalizing on any opportunities at the net. Huntington junior goalkeeper Nat Amato was also strong between the pipes.
Less than three minutes into the second half, McDonnell received the ball in the first half of Huntington’s zone, and moved it toward Amato — who started coming out of the box — and failed to beat him out as the goalkeeper made the stop. Amato did the same on a rebound opportunity. A minute later after a corner-kick send in, McDonnell got his head on the ball for the 2-0 lead.
Siegel said he knew Huntington was going to be a formidable opponent.
“It’s a tough win every year,” he said. “Huntington is really tough; always challenging. They have a coach over there who gets them energized. They always come at us full speed.”
He said his team stayed focused on Friday during practice to earn the win, his fifth shutout of the season and third at home, and will hope to do the same this Friday when his 10-1 top-seeded team takes on No. 2 Newfield (9-1-1 League III).
Siegel said the game will help them prepare for a postseason push. The co-captains are aiming for the county finals.
“We’re going to get playoff ready — playoff-speed ready — because there’s nothing like playoffs,” Siegel said. “Whether you’re the No. 16 team or the top seed, every team is coming at you, everything team is good and every team is fired up.”
Erny said heading into the matchup that the team will work on its defense against the closely-ranked Wolverines in the hopes that the Bulls can hold it down in the remaining two games against West Islip and Centereach to claim the League III title.
Newfield handed the Bulls their only loss this year. A 2-0 defeat Sep. 17.
“I’m looking for revenge,” Siegel said. “They took one from us on our own field and that’s the only time I’ve ever lost in three years playing here. It’s not going to happen again.”
By Bill Landon
The fourth quarter showed something the Tornadoes did little of all game: throwing.
Trailing by six points in the final minutes, the Harborfields football team came out hurling the ball against Rocky Point — making a push to tie — but time ran out on a fourth and long for a 20-14 homecoming loss.
Harborfields junior quarterback P.J. Clementi worked the sidelines and gained heavy yardage as the clock wound down to a minute left, airing the ball to junior wide receiver Gavin Buda, whose acrobatic catches and ability to get out of bounds after the grab brought the Tornadoes into Rocky Point’s zone. On a fourth and long, the Tornadoes were unable to convert as time expired.
“Rocky Point came out more physical than us in the beginning and that took away our [speed] and our running game, which forced us to pass, which is fine with us,” Harborfields head coach Rocco Colucci said. “These kids got a lot of heart, they fight to the bitter end no matter what the score is, no matter who we’re playing — they always believe they have a chance to win.”
Rocky Point struck first when junior running back Petey LaSalla punched into the end zone following a 22-yard run three minutes into the game. With senior quarterback Sean McGovern’s extra-point kick good, the Eagles were out front 7-0. McGovern shared the quarterback duties with junior Damian Rivera all afternoon.
“These kids got a lot of heart, they fight to the bitter end no matter what the score is, no matter who we’re playing — they always believe they have a chance to win.”
—Rocco Colucci
The Eagles struggled with their running game, and neither team scored in the second, as Rocky Point squandered a field goal attempt in the seconds before halftime.
Again, it was LaSalla who got the call to start off the scoring for the second half.
Early in the third, the junior broke several tackles, bounced outside and went the distance on a 32-yard run. McGovern’s foot put his team out front, 14-0.
LaSalla said he never doubted the outcome of the game.
“Not for a minute did we think we were going to lose,” he said. “Our defense really stepped up big today. We had a really good back field and we were able to shut them down, which forced them to throw the ball.”
After a sustained drive, Harborfields finally got on the scoreboard when senior running back Mark Malico ran off left tackle and took the ball 1 yard for six points. Harborfields senior kicker Thomas Beslity added another to make it a one-score game to trail 14-7.
“They’re always a tough team — we’ve had trouble with them in the past — obviously we had some trouble with them today,” Malico said of Rocky Point. “We turned it on [late] and we found our niche with our passing game with some nice catches on the sideline.”
On the ensuing kickoff, McGovern fielded the ball on his own 6-yard line, and sprinted up the left side, crosing midfield and jetting down the righ side line for a 94-yard kickoff return to stretch the Eagles lead to 20-7, with the extra-point attempt failing.
“We just had to stay consistent — every man has got to do their job and [not] overdo it,” McGovern said. “We battled through everything today between the turnovers and them coming back in the last two minutes, so we stayed calm and worked together.”
“We battled through everything today between the turnovers and them coming back in the last two minutes, so we stayed calm and worked together.”
—Sean McGovern
Harborfields switched to its passing attack with seven minutes remaining. Clementi worked the routes and the sideline, and connected with senior wide receiver Andrew Loiacono for a 70-yard catch and run to set up the Tornadoes’ next score. Clementi threw a screen pass to sophomore running back Thomas Sangiovanni, and he turned the corner jetted down the sideline for the touchdown. Beslity split the uprights to close the gap, 20-14.
“We analyzed our defense,” Sangiovanni said. “We had to execute the plays perfectly, we had to change a couple of things up and it worked out. [Rocky Point] just played harder than us in the end.”
Harborfields’ defense took a stand and a clock-eating drive forced the Eagles to punt with three minutes left. Rocky Point head coach Anthony DiLorenzo said he wasn’t surprised that the game was decided in the final seconds.
“We knew this was going to be a four quarter football game,” he said. “They’ve put it on film every week. We’ve done [that in only] two games so far, so our message all week was that this was going to be a four quarter game.”
Clementi went to the air picking apart the Eagles’ secondary, moving the chains downfield as he marched his team to Rocky Point’s 30-yard line with 1:37 left in the game.
On fourth down with 38 seconds, Clementi threw a strike to Buda crossing over the middle, but Rocky Point junior linebacker Alec Rinaldi knocked down the pass to seal the win.
It’s no time to pass the buck.
When it comes to the rising opioid abuse issue coursing through Long Island’s veins, we want to make sure we continue the open dialogue.
As you finish reading this edition, we hope you reflect on how this growing problem affects you, your family, your friends and everyone else around you — we can’t hide from this.
We need to take a more head-on approach to this medical issue, and accept that it is a medical problem, and not as some say a moral failing.
Parents shouldn’t let the stigma attached to drug or substance abuse keep them from talking about it. If we are to learn and grow and recover, we need to be talking. If we hide from the issue, the results will most certainly be fatal.
This is a problem that requires a collaborative effort, including prevention through education and early identification of at-risk people, enforcement with sharper penalties to dealers and prescription writers and improved rehabilitation resources and strategies. And as this issue should reflect, many groups on the North Shore are dedicated to working together to fight this crisis.
A cooperative combination of all of these things can help get Long Island headed in the right direction. Listed below are several resources if you or a loved one is struggling with substance or drug abuse.
• Suffolk County Substance Abuse Hotline: 631-979-1700
• Hope House Ministries: 631-978-0188
• Response of Suffolk County 24-hour hotline: 631-751-7500
• Prevention Resource Center: 631-650-0135
• Phoenix House’s Edward D. Miller substance abuse treatment center: 844-296-9046
• Samaritan Village’s Suffolk Outpatient Treatment Program: 631-351-7112
• St. Charles Hospital rehab program: 631-474-6233
• New York State HOPEline: 1-877-8-HOPENY
• Suffolk County Division of Community Mental Hygiene Services: 631-853-8500
Visit https://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/substanceabuse for a downloadable prevention, treatment and recovery services directory, which gives a list of service agencies and treatment centers on Long Island.
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