The use of Narcan is demonstrated on a dummy during a training class. File photo by Elana Glowatz
By Jill Webb
For five years the Suffolk County Department of Health’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Project has been doing their part to help community members save lives. To commemorate the project’s fifth anniversary an Opioid Overdose Prevention class was held July 31 at the William J. Lindsay County Complex in Hauppauge.
The class trained participants in the essential steps to handling an opioid overdose: recognizing the overdose, administering intranasal Narcan, and what to do while the Emergency Medical Service teams are en-route. These training procedures meet the New York State Department of Health requirements, and at completion of the course, students received a certificate along with an emergency resuscitation kit, which contains the Narcan Nasal Spray.
Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is administered to reverse an opioid overdose, and has saved many lives. Before the project was put into place, only advanced Emergency Medical Services providers could administer Narcan to overdose victims.
“The No. 1 incentive is to receive a free Narcan kit,” Dr. Gregson Pigott, EMS medical director and clinical director of the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program, said. “That’s really the draw.”
He said the class appeals to many people in the field, such as nurses or treatment professionals.
AnnMarie Csorny, director of the department of health’s community mental hygiene services, said another motivation to take the class is “to be better informed, and to have a kit available on you that you would be able to use should you see someone. It doesn’t always have to be your loved one, it could be someone in the community.”
Starting in 2012, the department of health services’ division of emergency medical services has held more than 278 classes. Within this time, approximately 9,000 participants have learned how to recognize an opioid overdose and administer Narcan. Since its start, Narcan has saved the lives of over 3,000 individuals.
Those who have been trained in administering Narcan include EMTs, school district staff and opioid users themselves. The program has developed from how to handle an overdose into adding a discussion of opioid addiction.
“Initially it was just about recognizing signs and symptoms of overdose, how Naloxone is packaged, what it does, what it doesn’t do, what to expect when you administer it, and how to get a refill,” Pigott said.
Now, the program integrates treatment aspects along with prevention techniques.
“I don’t wanna say we just give them Narcan and say, ‘OK here’s how to give it out.’ Pigott said. “I’d like to give them a little bit more background on the epidemic and how we got to where we are, and resources. You have a lot of parents in there who are anxious that they have a son or daughter who is hooked on this stuff. They don’t just want Narcan, they want help for their son or daughter.”
Taking it a step further, in 2016 the county health department started to work with local hospitals to get Narcan kits to those who are at risk of an opioid overdose. They also help educate them along with their families on the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of an opioid overdose.
Suffolk County also operates, with the help of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, a 24/7 substance abuse hotline at 631-979-1700. The line was established in April 2016 for crises, and has received 1,217 calls as of May 31.
On the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program’s impact, Csorny believes it’s a start to tackling a huge issue.
“I think it’s certainly opened the discussion of lines of communication,” Csorny said. “It has, I believe, empowered people to get the support they need and to talk about the things that are not there.”
While the program has educated hundreds of people, and saves many lives, Pigott knows more needs to be done in handling the opioid epidemic.
“I’m realizing that Narcan isn’t the answer,” Pigott said. “It’s a nice thing to say, ‘Hey I got a save, this person was turning blue, not breathing, and then I squirted the stuff up the nose and we got them back.’ But then on the backside of that, the person wakes up and they’re like, ‘Ugh, what just happened to me?’ and then all of a sudden withdrawal kicks in.”
Pigott said after the withdrawal kicks in the users will decide to get treatment or not to, and if they chose the latter they will most likely start using again — administrating Narcan isn’t going to change that.
“That’s the biggest problem we have: it’s a quick fix, and you’re really not fixing anything,” Pigott said. “It’s much more complicated than just giving out Narcan.”
The next step in handling the opioid epidemic, according to Pigott, is getting better treatment options. He said most of the county’s treatment programs are abstinence-based; detox programs in learning how to be drug-free.
“It might be effective at the time but once you’re out of the program it’s easy to get tempted, easy to relapse,” Pigott said. “I think treatment needs to be addressed more and I think there needs to be more options for people.”
Former Stony Brook resident Chris Cantwell sprays mace in a man’s face during the protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photo from Chris Cantwell’s Facebook
By Rita J. Egan
When Vice News premiered a documentary on HBO about the recent rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the story took a local twist when it featured former Stony Brook resident Christopher Cantwell.
Cantwell, who currently lives in Keene, New Hampshire, is a white supremacist who hosts an alternative right call-in show, “Radical Agenda,” which is live streamed through Facebook and UStream. In the Vice documentary, he can be seen with other marchers holding torches and chanting: “Jews will not replace us” and “White lives matter.” During the filming, after being sprayed with mace in his eyes, he said he was attacked by counter-protesters and called them “communists.”
Cantwell did not respond to multiple different requests for comment. Calls to a residence connected to him on Skylark Lane in Stony Brook were not answered, and when a News 12 Long Island reporter approached a man in the driveway of the home, the man denied knowing Cantwell. It was seen on his website in recent days that Cantwell now fears for his life.
Vice documentary
After seeing the Vice documentary, one of Cantwell’s childhood friends, who declined to be interviewed, reacted on Facebook.
“I remember five years ago when I removed him from my page when he started spewing hate speech,” he said. “I may not agree with our government, but I’ll be dead before I align myself with people like this. All of this makes it too real, too close to home and too sad to even comprehend. I feel bad for them really, to live life based solely on hatred of people for a reason based solely in their minds.”
The last mention of a Cantwell in the Ward Melville High School yearbooks was in 1997. He was listed as a camera-shy sophomore.
His website provides insight into his white supremacist beliefs and why he participated in protesting the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park.
Cantwell during the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. Screenshot from HBO’s Vice News documentary
“Here at the Radical Agenda, we’ve made no secret of our utter contempt for the subhuman filth commonly referred to as the Left,” he wrote Aug. 7. “Their Marxist, anti-human war on reality is an ideological contaminant that makes HIV look appealing by comparison. So, we’ve literally made a career out of producing war propaganda against them.”
On Aug. 10, before the rally that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, he posted a message on his website that could only be seen in its entirety if the reader was an existing paying member to his site. He had disabled new membership sign-ups.
“I’m in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite the Right Rally this coming Saturday,” he said in a preview of the post. “Since we have been meeting so much opposition from both the criminal elements and the municipal government alike, we’ve had to exercise a great deal of caution in terms of operational security.”
Cantwell said he was with a reporter, Elle Reeve from Vice, who was covering the rally.
After the documentary aired on HBO, a photo surfaced of Cantwell attacking someone with pepper spray. In an Aug. 17 post on his website he referenced the photo. He said the man was coming directly for him and another person was approaching him from his left, and believed his safety was being threatened.
“I sprayed in self-defense, while holding a flashlight in my left hand,” he said. “In my mind, this was the minimal level of force I could use to deter this threat.”
He posted a YouTube video saying he feared he would be arrested, and appeared on the verge of tears. In the Aug. 17 website post, he said he was preparing to turn himself over to University of Virginia police. Calls to the police department to confirm warrants were issued were not returned. Although the Vice film showed him unloading guns strapped to his waist and legs onto the bed of a hotel room, he said he did not bring his guns to the rally.
Cantwell living locally
Cantwell is no stranger to run-ins with the law, according to Southern Poverty Law Center’s website, a watch group dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry. In 2000, Cantwell pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and driving while intoxicated in Suffolk County. He served four months of a six-month jail sentence. During a failed attempt to run to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District in 2009 as a Libertarian candidate, he was arrested a second time for DWI. He faced up to two years in prison. He eventually took a deal and served 28 days of a 45-day plea bargain.
Cantwell admitted to his DWI arrests in a speech he gave at a Suffolk/Nassau Libertarian Party Convention June 14, 2014. He said at the age of 19 he became very drunk and while driving his car realized he was too drunk to drive and parked his car to sleep. He said the next day he woke up in jail. Nine years later, he said he was out on a date and said he was careful with the amount of drinking he was doing. He was pulled over for speeding in East Hampton. His blood alcohol limit was measured at .01 over the legal limit. In the speech, Cantwell said before the trial his vehicle was seized and his driver’s license suspended. Due to paying thousands in bail and attorney fees, he lost his job and apartment.
“New York is a hopeless cesspool of government violence and corruption.”
— Christopher Cantwell
He began to study government, and said he started to “figure out that government is a violent, evil monster portraying itself as a peacemaker and savior.”
“That far from being that which brings order to society, it is responsible for more carnage and misery than any other institution in the history of mankind,” he said.
During the convention speech, Cantwell said he was leaving New York.
“New York is a hopeless cesspool of government violence and corruption,” he said.
In another Aug. 17 post, Cantwell said he was blocked by PayPal, Venmo, Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and MailChimp. He discovered his online dating profiles at OKCupid, Match and Tinder were disabled — sites he said he used for the pursuit of romance.
East Setauket’s Stefanie Werner, although hoping that others don’t associate white
supremacy with the Three Villages, can see how a mindset like Cantwell’s develops.
“The news about a white supremacist with roots in the Three Village area, although disturbing, should not be altogether shocking,” she said. “I have lived here all of my life and began my teaching career at Ward Melville. Walking the halls of Ward Melville High School, or any other high school in the country, there exists a diverse set of personalities that have yet to fully develop. Adolescent ideals turn to adult ideologies, and it only takes one experience, positive or negative, to help mold these beliefs into a solid foundation. It is sad, and a tad frightening that this particular mindset developed in a community where many may turn a blind eye to the existence of this antithetical culture. However, the current political arena is nurturing this thought process, and this community needs to heighten its awareness of the clashing principles of the modern era.”
File photo of Ward Melville by Greg Catalano
Community reaction
Three Village residents and religious leaders were asked how they felt when they heard Christopher Cantwell was from Stony Brook.
Terry Shapiro: “As an American Jew, I am horrified. Anti-Semitism has a long history in Suffolk County. That is why it is so important to have a representative who speaks out firmly against bigotry in the White House. U.S. Rep Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) has not done so. He has not held Mr. Trump accountable. As long as we have a bigot in the White House and members of Congress who refuse to censure him, I fear that anti-Semitism will continue to resurface.”
Rabbi Steven A. Moss (chairperson of the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission): “There’s no place on earth that is exempt from this kind of behavior. The question then becomes what do the rest of us do. Therefore what we try to do is model ourselves on the idea that evil occurs when good people do nothing. So we organize task forces and people. We need to speak out and make sure we condemn when appropriate this kind of behavior and speak out against it and not simply turn aside.”
Shoshana Hershkowitz: “Chris Cantwell is a reminder that hate exists in all communities. It is deeply upsetting to me that a young man who was raised in our area, was taught in our schools, came away with this frightening worldview and ideology. We need to examine the racism that exists where we live and confront it in our homes and schools. This must be our response to hate if we are to combat it effectively.”
Arnold Wishnia: “I learned that Cantwell came from Stony Brook from you. I Googled him and discovered that I had in fact seen the TV clip where this vile Nazi boasted about strengthening himself for violence, and said he would kill if he had to. Cantwell may be an extreme, but I am not shocked that violence-prone racists can be found in Stony Brook.Suffolk County has a history of KKK and Nazi activity from the 1930s. My sons encountered this kind of unthinking, violence-threatening racism as students at Ward Melville High School, I am disturbed and disappointed to find out that anyone is a Nazi, but not surprised that Stony Brook has bred some.”
The Rev. Kate Jones Calone (director of Open Door Exchange at Setauket Presbyterian Church): “We cannot pretend that prejudice and racism do not exist in our area, whether explicit, subtle or unintentional. The question is how we address it. In my faith, God grieves over separation and longs for reconciliation. If we are to build a community grounded in equity and love, we need first to understand why things are not that way and take action to change it. This requires real commitment, hard work, humility and a willingness to confront what stands in the way. Starting in elementary school, schools, parents and adult leaders need to teach more than simple kindness; they need to teach kids to be affirmatively and actively inclusive and anti-racist. And we need to educate ourselves on why Long Island is among the top 10 most segregated places in the country.”
Suffolk County Police 6th Squad detectives arrested a man that was overpowered after pulling out a shotgun on store employees in Centereach Aug. 19.
Ronald Kelly entered Island Thrift, located at 1770 Middle Country Road, at approximately 8:25 p.m. He pointed a shotgun at the store manager and the five other employees of the store, and demanded money. The store manager, a woman, feared the situation was becoming dire, and grabbed the shotgun. Two of the employees joined the struggle, gained control of the shotgun and wrestled Kelly to the ground, holding him down until 6th Precinct police officers arrived.
The suspect suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the altercation and was transported by ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment. None of the employees were injured.
Kelly, 45, of Holtsville, was charged with first-degree robbery and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip Aug. 20.
Alyssa Paprocky, 22, is one of only two female racers at Riverhead Raceway competing in the Blunderbust class of cars. Photo by Kyle Barr
By Kyle Barr
Alyssa Paprocky parked her car, her acrylic nails still wrapped around the steering wheel. She got out and took off her helmet, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She just finished 9th out of 14 in an Aug. 5 race and she was happy enough with the placement. She’s only been racing for a few years, and is still considered a rookie. She looked to the front of her car where there was a mark of pink along her front driver’s side wheel well — driving that close that fast on such a speedway is bound to rub a few the wrong way. She shrugged.
“Rubbing is racing,” Paprocky said.
Coram race car driver Alyssa Paprocky jumps into the seat of her car. Photo by Kyle Barr
The 22-year-old Coram resident is one of only two female racers at Riverhead Raceway competing in the Blunderbust class of cars. She started racing three years ago, and said even with a number of female outliers — like Janet Guthrie and more recently Danica Patrick — being a female in what has traditionally been considered a man’s sport has had its challenges.
“People think that there’s this stereotype that women don’t know how to drive,” Paprocky said. “People assume that you’re not going to do well. Us girls want to go out there to prove them wrong.”
Racing is in Paprocky’s blood, but she is the first female driver in her family. Her grandfather, and father Joe Paprocky both raced in their day, with her father working on fixing cars and even sponsored some in the 1990s and early 2000s. Being an only child, Paprocky grew up constantly surrounded by cars..
“Once I get in and strap into the race car — the car doesn’t know if I’m a guy or a girl,” she said. “It doesn’t know the difference.“
When Paprocky was young, she would watch NASCAR events and knew the names of all the drivers, their numbers and even their sponsors. She would help her dad work on cars — holding the flashlight so he could see while he was deep in the car’s “guts.” She spent so much time by his side she knew what size socket wrench he needed based on the part he was working on before he even asked for it. Now, she gets in there, puts the wrench in and gets her own hands covered in grease and oil.
“People think that there’s this stereotype that women don’t know how to drive. People assume that you’re not going to do well. Us girls want to go out there to prove them wrong.”
—Alyssa Paprocky
“She wanted to drive for years — you know, being a daddy’s girl,” Joe Paprocky said. “I was like ‘no, no, no, no.’ Then one night, I just thought what was I doing holding her back. It’s been a work in progress, but each week we get something out of it.”
Natalie Fitterman, an English teacher at Centereach High School and friend of the Paprocky’s, said she enjoyed watching the pair work together.
“I saw a man taking the time to teach his daughter about something he is very passionate about, and it is something most fathers would never want their daughters to know about, let alone actually do,” she said. “I have a hard time finding models for my students, but she’s one of them.”
Lenore Paprocky, the young driver’s mother, has also worked on cars. She marveled at the fact that her daughter has taken it one step further than she did — not only working on cars, but driving them. To her, it’s the family and community developed in racing that sets it apart from other sports.
“Camaraderie is a big part of why people stay with this sport,” she said. “It’s competition, yeah, but you could call it a friendly competition.”
Cassandra Denis, the other female racer at the speedway who also races in the Blunderbust class, came up as a rookie around the same time Alyssa Paprocky did. She said she respects her competitor, and admires the courage it takes to be a female in the sport.
“It’s about earning respect on the track, and that means you do the work turn laps and get a victory,” Denis said. “I respect [Alyssa] going through the same struggles. We have to work harder to get here and prove ourselves.”
Alyssa Paprocky (No. 5) follows the pack in an Aug. 5 race at Riverhead Raceway. Photo by Kyle Barr
Paprocky has been in 16 races since she started at Riverhead Raceway. Last year’s season was cut short because her car kept breaking down, and at first, she felt defeated.
“My first engine blew and it was the most depressing thing — it was as if someone had come and shot my dog,” Paprocky said. “Then, it was rebuilding … a smaller engine. That meant everything had to change. Even my driving style.”
Paprocky tries to remain realistic, and though she might place well in some races, what she really looks for is consistency in her improvement.
“I set realistic goals for myself, and every week I would put the hours in and I feel like I met those goals for the most part,” she said. “I take a positive out of every week.”
She said the spirited young fans that approach her after her races keep her going.
“I’ve had little kids come up to me in the pits to sign autographs and they ask ‘whose the driver?’ and I say ‘That’s me,’” Paprocky said. “I still sometimes feel like a rockstar. A couple weeks ago two little girls came up to me, and I went to get a marker to sign their flag and I heard them go ‘Oh, she is the driver? Oh my God.’”
Ring 10 raises money to help abandoned fighters, those down on their luck
Ring 10 boxers smile during a fundraiser. Photo from Facebook
By Kevin Redding
It was one of the few times Howard Davis Jr.’s wife saw him cry in public.
The Glen Cove native and Olympic gold medalist who made history in 1976 as the first amateur boxer to win the New York Golden Gloves tournament four years in a row had just about lost hope that he would ever get back his coveted awards, which were stolen from him and sold at a garage sale.
Matt Farrago with the late boxer and Olympic gold medalist Howard Davis Jr. Photo from Karla Guadamuz Davis
That all changed Sept. 13, 2015, when he was honored by Matt Farrago and his New York-based nonprofit, Ring 10, during a gala at Marina del Rey Caterers in the Bronx.
Davis, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer earlier that year at 59 and was on a personal mission to retrieve the mementos for his family before it was too late, was presented with four golden pendants.
Each one was a perfect replica of his lost golden gloves pendants, made and paid for by Ring 10. Veteran fighters from the nonprofit took turns placing them around his neck.
All Davis could do was bury his head in his hands.
“It was such an emotional moment and it was all because of Matt Farrago and Ring 10,” his wife Karla Guadamuz-Davis said, adding that the organization regularly helped pay for her now-late husband’s expensive medical treatment. “After Howard passed away on Dec. 30, 2015, I called Matt and said, ‘Thank you for giving Howard some joy during the last months of his life.’”
For Farrago, 56, a former middleweight boxer who lives in Greenlawn, helping retired fighters who have fallen on hard times is what he does every single day as the founder and president of Ring 10.
Formed in 2010 with a board of directors made up of ex-fighters, a cutman and some boxing advocates that meet once a month in the Bronx, the group stands as one of the few in the world that looks out for those who have been beaten in and out of the ring. Veteran boxers who are often discarded by managers and promoters at the top of their careers have been lost ever since, and that’s where Farrago comes in.
Ring 10 founder Matt Farrago with board member Richard Schwartz. Photo from Facebook
A majority of them wind up in physical and financial ruin because, unlike other professional sports like football, baseball or hockey, protected by NFL, MLB and NHL agencies, there’s no retirement or medical plan or structure in boxing for them to rely on.
You’re by yourself in the ring and in life, Farrago said.
“This is the rare sport that doesn’t take care of its own,” said Farrago, who was a top fighter in the 1980s until he was abandoned by his manager after losing a main event at Madison Square Garden. “There’s nothing — no safety net — nothing for these guys to fall back on. In boxing, if you don’t produce, you’re of no use. That’s the manager’s philosophy.”
He explained that while most athletes are drafted into the pros based on scholarships and achievements in college, that’s almost never the case for fighters, many of whom come up from the streets.
“If they make money, they think it’s going to last forever,” Farrago said. “Then they wake up with $150 in the bank. Whatever it takes, we try and get them back on their feet. We are the most effective club like this in the world.”
One of Ring 10’s proudest success stories is that of Iran “The Blade” Barkley, the World Boxing Council middleweight champion of 1988. The only guy to beat boxing legend Tommy Hearns twice, Barkley went from top of the world to homeless in the Bronx.
Matt Farago with elebrated boxing judge and analyst Harold Lederman. Photo from Facebook
“We were literally told there’s a fighter in the subway system living only with a bag of clothes and his championship belt,” Farrago said. “When Iran retired, he had nothing. We took him in, got him settled, got him a place to live, had social services kick in and about a year and a half ago he got married to a nurse.”
Barkley now serves on the group’s board of directors, which also includes top boxers Mark Breland and Richard Burton, and celebrated boxing judge Harold Lederman.
Since its inception, Ring 10 has raised thousands of dollars through events and banquets to help more than 30 top fighters struggling around the world.
They send monthly gift cards to boxers who can’t afford groceries and clothes, and checks to the families of those suffering from illnesses such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy — an extremely common degenerative disease among fighters that’s brought on by repetitive brain trauma, also known as “punch-drunk syndrome.”
For the last six years the group has helped out former two-time middleweight champion Gerald McClellan, who suffered an aneurysm and collapsed in the ring in 1995 and is now blind and 80 percent deaf; it frequently sends care packages to Charlie “White Lightning” Brown, who was once regarded as having the fastest hands in the fight game and now resides in a nursing facility in Illinois with fluid on his brain and difficulty speaking; and even provided a proper headstone for a Floridian fighter who died from injuries in the ring and was buried in a nameless plot in Flushing, Queens.
Matt Farrago. Photo from Facebook
While most of the boxers helped are between 45 and 60 years old, board members said they anticipate some younger guys currently in the ring coming to them for help.
“Boxers are basically pawns to be moved around,” said Richard Schwartz, one of the board of directors. “I also think there’s the feeling that a lot of people just don’t care — they don’t care about the modern-day gladiators who get in the ring to entertain them, who risk their lives. Once they hang up their gloves and a lot of the hits to the head kick in, many of them don’t even have any kind of medical insurance when they need it most. Where is Don King? Where is Oscar De La Hoyas? These people have made hundreds of millions of dollars from the sweat, blood and tears of these fighters, and where are they?”
To Burton, a boxer who has been swindled out of a fair share of money over the years, there’s hope as long as Farrago is around.
“Everything he says he does, he actually does,” Burton said. “He goes beyond what’s expected of him and he’ll help anybody. If you’re down on your luck, Matt will find a way to raise money for you. Ring 10 is helping as many fighters as we can.”
The Ring 10 7th Annual Fundraiser will be held at the Marina del Rey Caterers in the Bronx Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A boy wears protective glasses during a partial solar eclipse in 2014. Photo from nasa.gov
By Jill Webb
It won’t be an average Monday, Aug. 21, this year as the moon will completely block the sun for two-and-a-half minutes.
The day marks the first total solar eclipse to happen in North America since 1979, and it’s the first one to stretch from coast to coast in 99 years. In a total solar eclipse the disk of the moon seems to entirely cover the disk of the sun. This will happen Monday on a path about 70 miles wide.
A solar eclipse. Stock photo
Unfortunately, Long Island isn’t on the eclipse’s path of totality, but you still will be able to see a partial eclipse. New York will have about 71 percent of the sun covered during the eclipse. At 1:24 p.m. the eclipse begins on Long Island, and will last till 4:01 p.m. The peak eclipse time is 2:46 p.m.
“I think it’s wonderful for families to experience this with their children,” NASA expert Laurie Cantillo said. “It could be an experience like this that will get a child to stop looking at a phone or tablet and look up to the sky and perhaps motivate them to want to learn more.”
Fredrick Walters, an astronomy professor at Stony Brook University, has put together a list of ways to maximize your viewing experience of the eclipse. Walters said to focus on looking at the stars emerging during the daytime, the shadow bands that will appear across the land and the changing colors as the light fades.
Most importantly, you need to have the proper viewing tool: eclipse glasses. Regular sunglasses won’t cut it, and it’s very dangerous to directly expose your eyes to the sun.
“We’ve all been taught ever since we were kids don’t ever look directly at the sun and that advice applies,” Cantillo said. “The only time it’s safe to remove eclipse glasses is if you’re in the path of totality, during those couple minutes of totality.”
Unprotected viewing may not cause immediate pain, but Walters said he has heard of cases of people waking up the next morning with blurry vision or blindness. Some people can recover in months to years, but it’s not worth the risk.
North Shore solar eclipse events
Middle Country Public Library
2017 Solar Eclipse: Celestial Event of the Century
At its Centereach building, the library will be hosting a solar eclipse viewing between 1:15 and 3:45 p.m. Along with the viewing, activities and eclipse glasses will be provided for all ages. Register for the event by calling 631-585-9393.
Huntington Public Library
Astronomy Crafts
From noon to 2:00 p.m. Huntington Public Library will be offering an astronomy craft session at its main building as well as the Huntington Station branch. One of the space-themed crafts is an eclipse on a stick. There will also be a viewing event in the afternoon at both buildings where you will receive a free pair of eclipse glasses; no registration is required. For more information, visit www.thehuntingtonlibrary.org.
Long Island Science Center
Solar Eclipse Event
From 1 to 4 p.m. the Long Island Science Center will be hosting solar activities, live streaming and more. Planetarium presentations will happen at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Admission is $10 and free for children 2 and under. For more information, visit www.lisciencecenter.org.
North Shore Public Library
Catch the Eclipse!
At 1:30 p.m. Tom Madigan of Suffolk County Community College, who is a part of Astronomy for Change, will give a brief presentation on solar eclipses before leading the event outside to view the solar eclipse. Eclipse glasses will be provided. Register for the event by calling 631-929-4488.
South Huntington Public Library
See the Solar Eclipse
Bring some snacks and a blanket to lay out on the lawn behind the library from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. to witness the eclipse. The library will provide glasses (four per family) while supplies last. Inside, the eclipse will be live streamed from NASA in the library’s theater. Visit www.shpl.info for more information.
Maritime Explorium
Totality 2017 Solar Eclipse
Become a citizen scientist at the Maritime Explorium in Port Jefferson by attending a viewing from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and helping to crowd source data for researchers at NASA and EclipseMob. Eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last; no registration required. For more information, visit www.maritimeexplorium.org.
The professor said that these special glasses are basically pieces of Mylar foil shielding your eyes. The glasses should be from proper sources that are certified by testing organizations.
“If you have a pair of eclipse glasses and want to test them, put them on and look —not at the sun — but just look at bright lights and things.” Walters said. “If you can see anything, throw them away. You shouldn’t be able to see [anything] except the sun.”
If you can’t get a pair of eclipse glasses in time, you can DIY them by putting a small round hole in an index card and project the image of the sun onto a flat surface.
“One thing you will notice if you don’t look at the sun through your glasses is if you look at the shadows on the ground, you’ll see the shadows are crescent-shaped,” Walters said.
Leaves in the trees could act as projection tools too, casting multiple tiny crescent-shaped shadows on the ground.
During the partial phase, according to Walters, you won’t notice anything besides the sun getting dimmer.
“Unless, you look at the sun through your eclipse glasses, and you can see the sun is no longer circular — there’s a chunk taken out of it,” Walters said. “But, nothing much changes until you have the total phase of the eclipse because the sun just fades.”
Viewers along the path of totality will have a different viewing experience than Long Islanders.
“Inside the path of totality is completely different, it will be night for two and a half minutes.,” Walters said. “The sun gets completely blocked out, the corona of the sun is about as bright as the full moon, that will provide illumination.”
Walters also pointed out that in the path of totality, regular colors might appear different. Where sunrises and sunsets usually appear to have reddish tints, during the eclipse the tone will have a blue tinge. Another thing to notice is temperature; during the peak eclipse things will get colder.
Eclipses have provided researchers with data to uncover scientific discoveries. This time, the scientists are letting the public partake in their findings.
“One of the things that is being planned for next Monday is the National Solar Observatory and the National Science Foundation have handed out a number of telescopes [and] cameras to people along the eclipse line,” Walters said. “The idea is to have them take pictures and movies and stitch it all together to a 90-minute-long movie of how the sun’s corona is changing. This has never been done.”
If you miss this eclipse, don’t fret because another one is coming April 8, 2024, that will run from Texas through Maine — and upstate New York will be in the path of totality.
“It’s almost a mystical experience — you really have to experience this,” Walters said. “It’s good scientifically, but it’s really a great thing to observe on a human level.”
News 12 meteorologist Rich Hoffman said in an email that the weather forecast for Aug. 21 is good, even though things could change between press time and the eclipse. Hoffman said mostly sunny skies are expected for the day with temperature highs near 84.
TriCrosse creators Bill Kidd and Andy Matthews demonstrate how their game works at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai. Photo by Kevin Redding
By Kevin Redding
Back in the 1980s, Setauket natives Bill Kidd and Andy Matthews would often spend their summer days fishing and clamming on the Long Island Sound.
But when they returned to shore, the best friends were the only ones playing TriCrosse — a then-brand new toss-and-catch game in which two players with scoop rackets throw a ball back and forth trying to score into goal nets set up in front of their opponent.
That’s because Kidd and Matthews made it up in their backyards.
A man plays TriCrosse during Town of Brookhaven Tournament Aug. 12. Photo by Kevin Redding
“We started off tossing and catching a ball with some lacrosse-like rackets, and then got some fishing and crab nets from the shed to stick in the ground so we could be a little competitive with each other,” said Kidd, 48, laughing. “We thought, ‘This is kind of fun, it’s neat to aim this thing and try to get a goal.’ It kind of grew from there.”
On Aug. 12, more than 30 years after its creation, TriCrosse was played by kids, teens, moms, dads, uncles, aunts and grandparents along Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai during the first Town of Brookhaven-sponsored Fight Breast Cancer TriCrosse Tournament.
The fun-filled event, made up of 28 registered locals and dozens of spectators, pit players against each other in a double-elimination style and marked the game’s first public tournament since it was officially rolled out into several small stores and made available online in April.
Even though most of the tournament participants had never played TriCrosse before, it didn’t take long for them to get into it.
“It’s borderline addicting,” said Kevin McElhone, 25, of Huntington. “As soon as you get the racket in your hand, you can stand out here and do this for hours.”
So far, the portable game — which contains two goals with three different sized nets on each, two bases for indoor and outdoor play, two plastic rackets, two balls and a large carry bag — is on shelves at Amity Harbor Sports in Amityville as well as toy stores in Lake Placid and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
“It’s very fun, it’s great exercise, just a great outdoor game,” said Richard Kryjak, 13, of East Setauket. “It’s definitely perfect to play on the beach.”
A girls tosses her TriCrosse ball during a Town of Brookhaven Tournament Aug. 12. Photo by Kevin Redding
The TriCrosse team, which consists of Kidd, Matthews and Bill Strobel of Setauket, said they plan to meet with multiple retailers in the fall, as well as many physical education and camp conferences later this year to discuss expanding the game’s reach.
“I think I’m going to be a TriCrosse person in retirement,” said John Gentilcore, the former principal at Mount Sinai Elementary School. “It’s important I have a good self-esteem
because I’m probably going to be beaten by a 10-year-old. That’s OK, though.”
Matthews, the director of math, science and technology in the Mount Sinai School District, said the school recently bought four TriCrosse sets to bring into the gym curriculum.
“We want to be the ultimate outdoor game for people at beaches, in parking lots, tailgating, gymnasiums,” Matthews said.
Kidd said he likes to also think it can work in a variety of settings.
“The best part about it is it’s like old school baseball and mitts with the family, but in an environment where it can be very competitive or as leisurely as just hanging out in the backyard and having some fun,” Kidd said.
Although it has been a popular game in Kidd and Matthews’ close circles for years, TriCrosse was tucked away as jobs and families took priority.
That was until recently, when backyard games like Spikeball and KanJam made a splash on the market, encouraging the team to turn TriCrosse into a family-friendly product.
TriCrosse team of Bill Kidd, Andy Matthews and Bill Strobel take their game TriCrosse to Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai. Photo by Kevin Redding
“The three things we’ve always heard from people is ‘What is that?’ ‘Where can I get it?’ and ‘You should be on Shark Tank’,” Strobel said. “It’s such a great family activity, which people really enjoy. Our big thing is also getting kids off the couch, getting them off of their phones and getting them out playing. I know there’s a bunch of backyard games out there, but there’s nothing like this, which is cool.”
After it was released in April, Strobel brought TriCrosse and videos of game play to Brookhaven’s superintendent of recreation Kurt Leuffen in an effort to bring it to residents in a friendly, competitive setting.
Fifty percent of the proceeds that were raised during the event, $200 total, will be donated to the Stony Brook Foundation, which supports research, prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
“We’re not trying to make any money at this tournament,” Matthews said. “We just want to show people what it is and try to get the word out.”
Not much of the game has changed since Kidd and Matthews developed it, they said. The rule is that each player stands behind the goals, which are about 50 feet apart, while throwing and receiving a foam ball with plastic rackets to try and score into any of the three nets for varying points. The first player to reach seven points in 10 minutes wins.
Fittingly, one of the last matches of thenight was between the game’s two creators. Kidd and Matthews struck the ball back and forth with glee as if they were teenagers in the backyard again.
Suffolk County Police 6th Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a construction worker in Coram Aug. 14.
Gloria Taylor was holding a sign to slow or stop traffic on the east side of northbound Route 112, which was under construction, when a 2000 Isuzu box truck traveling northbound drifted to the right near Pauls Path at about noon. The truck struck Taylor, 55, of Islip. She was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital in critical condition.
The driver of the Isuzu, Dominick Sconzo, 19, of Selden, was not injured. A safety check was conducted on the truck, owned by Casa Piazza, located at 509 North Bicycle Path in Port Jefferson Station.
Suffolk County Democratic Committee Chairman Rich Schaffer works at his desk in his North Babylon office. Photo by Alex Petroski
As the night progressed Nov. 8, 2016, it steadily became clear that months of data and polls had failed to accurately predict the future. Around midnight, it was no longer in doubt — Donald Trump was going to be the 45th president of the United States, and Democrats had a long road ahead to figure out what went wrong.
Both nationally and locally, the time since the shocking 2016 presidential election has served as a period of reflection and resistance for the Democratic Party. Political leaders across the country, like Suffolk County Democratic Committee Chairman Rich Schaffer, were tasked with crafting a new message and understanding the emotion Americans voiced with their votes in November: anger.
In an exclusive interview at his North Babylon office, Schaffer weighed in on the platform of the party going forward: How Trump’s message resonated for Suffolk voters making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the county since the early 1990s; a high profile race for Suffolk’s district attorney; the two congressional seats up in 2018; his journey in politics since age 11 and much more.
The future of the party
Schaffer is in an enviable and high stakes position. The leading Democrat in the county has a blank slate as a platform, while the party tries to rebirth itself from the ashes of 2016. The path forward is whatever Suffolk Democrats choose to make it from here, but choosing wrong could be a major setback. The successes of ultra-progressive candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) could make a further left-leaning Democratic Party a possibility for the future. However, swinging too far to the left could alienate moderates from both sides of the aisle, similar to the way Trump Republicans are trying to go it alone with little support outside of the base.
“I’m trying to make sure I keep saying this: Make sure we don’t burn the house down,” Schaffer said of infighting amongst different sects of the party. “Or even I use the line, ‘Don’t make me pull the car over.’ The kids are arguing in the back and we’re about 50 miles away from the destination and they’re carrying on … I’ll pull the car over and we’re not going anywhere.”
Schaffer said he held a meeting in March with about 25 leaders of various activist groups in the hopes of emerging with a unified front.
“I brought them all together at our headquarters and I said, ‘Look, we all have the same goal — we want to defeat [U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley)] and [U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford)] and we want to defeat Trump,’” Schaffer said. “‘That’s our four-year plan. We all have different reasons why we want to accomplish that goal — your issue might be health care, your issue might be the travel ban, your issue may be you think Trump’s an idiot, you’re concerned about the Supreme Court. Whatever your issue is, we have to put that energy together and see how we can, as best as possible, move in the same direction to accomplish that.’”
The Democratic Party is not in the shambles locally as it might appear nationally, according to Schaffer. The Suffolk County Legislature has had a Democrat majority since 2005. He said he wasn’t a huge fan of the “A Better Deal” Democratic rebranding effort released by the party nationally recently, but instead would like to see politicians from both sides of the aisle meet in the middle and compromise on important issues, rather than focusing on branding and slogans.
Schaffer described his initial foray into politics as getting swept up in a Democratic wave of support. Living in West Islip, Schaffer had a friend named Jeff, whose older brother Tom Downey was running for the county legislature in 1971. The candidate, who was just 22 years old at the time, enlisted the help of neighborhood kids, including 11-year-old Schaffer, to pass out fliers for the campaign.
“The father, Mr. Downey, says, ‘Alright you guys, get in the station wagon, we’re going to go deliver these fliers for Tom,’” Schaffer said. Downey was elected, becoming the youngest member of the legislature in its history. In 1987, Schaffer was also elected to the county legislature, and when he was sworn in at age 23 he became the second youngest member. He also currently serves as town supervisor for Babylon and will seek re-election in the fall.
Schaffer credited his preparation for office at such a young age to an unusually difficult upbringing. He said his father abandoned the family when he was 10 years old, and when he was 14, his mother was sent to jail for killing someone while she was driving drunk. His aunt and uncle finished raising him through those difficult times, though he came out the other end more prepared than most for adversity.
In 1974, Downey ran for Congress again aided by Schaffer and others. He attributed the post-Watergate environment to Downey’s victory as a Democratic candidate. Schaffer said he anticipates a similar wave to impact the 2017 and 2018 elections locally and nationally as a response to all things Trump.
Trump support in the county
Trump’s victory nationally was a surprise, but a Republican winning Suffolk County was a shocker not seen in the last five election cycles. He took home nearly 53 percent of the vote and Suffolk County Republican Committee Chairman John Jay LaValle, who also played an active role in Trump’s campaign, told TBR News Media during an interview in April the key issues that drove local residents to the polls in support of a first-time politician were the failures of his predecessors to make any inroads on immigration, health care and jobs in Suffolk.
Schaffer realized the irony in LaValle and him naming the same few issues as the most important to voters in the county.
“Because they’re human issues,” he said. “So that’s what I say, is that I’m never going to question John LaValle’s commitment to wanting to make a better place in Suffolk County. I’m never going to question — take a Republican — [county Legislator] Leslie Kennedy [R-Nesconset]. I’m never going to question that. I know that nobody wants to have gunfights breaking out and gangs and people overdosing, but can we sit down and figure out how we get it done?”
Schaffer was careful to relay that the party needs to have a parallel focus in order to smooth over tensions between the two in the current political climate.
“I think the message should be that we’re going to oppose Trump and his team on things we believe are hurtful to people,” he said. “And we’re going to support him on things, or compromise with him on issues that are going to deliver results.”
A common refrain from Republicans is the everyday voter doesn’t care about “distracting” issues — like the investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign/administration, palace intrigue stories and the president’s tweets to name a few; the voters care about what is actually getting done. From that perspective, the Democrats Schaffer has come in contact with are in the same boat as Republicans.
Local races
Schaffer pointed to the race for Suffolk County district attorney as a potential indicator of where politics is heading in the county in the near future. He sang the praises of Democrat candidate and current Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini, whom the party has already endorsed. Sini will square off with Ray Perini (R) a criminal lawyer from Huntington, for the seat left open by Tom Spota (D), who will not seek re-election. Schaffer also cleared up an issue with Sini’s announcement of his candidacy, which came as a surprise because during his confirmation hearing to become police commissioner before the legislature he said he had no interest in running for DA.
Schaffer said at the time Sini was being truthful, he had no intentions of running, but he said Sini felt he had made more progress in his short time as Suffolk’s top cop to make him comfortable seeking a step up.
“No secret kabuki plan, no conspiracies,” he said. “Nobody said, ‘OK, we’ll fake them out and tell them you’re not running and then you’ll run.’”
LaValle was critical of County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and his management of Suffolk’s finances. The county has a poor credit rating and an ever-growing deficit, though Schaffer defended Bellone and said he’s done an admirable job in a tough position.
Schaffer also addressed comments LaValle made in April regarding Zeldin and his claims that “liberal obstructionists,” and not genuine constituents, were the ones opposing his policies and protesting his public appearances. LaValle called those constituents “a disgrace.”
“Yeah and John should know better also,” Schaffer said. “I’m not ever going to question anyone’s patriotism unless somebody shows me evidence that they’re colluding with a foreign government or they’re doing some terrorist activity.”
Schaffer said regardless of where on the political spectrum a given Democrat falls currently, the goal is to find candidates capable of defeating Zeldin and King.
Gerry Mackedon has become a swinging success, finishing qualifier nine strokes ahead of second
Gerry Mackedon swings away during a St. John’s University tournament. photo by Big East/Stephen B. Morton
By Desirée Keegan
Gerry Mackedon can be found swinging his golf club until the sun sets.
Once the Port Jefferson native’s shift is over at the local country club, the St. John’s University sophomore takes time to perfect his game.
“Gerry spends six or seven hours a day maintaining his game and training for his tournament schedule,” said his father Bill Mackedon, a Professional Golfers’ Association of America head golf professional at Port Jefferson Country Club. “During the summer months, unlike with most kids, there’s really been no taking the summer off. He’s very dedicated to giving himself the opportunity to, and improving, his skills to become the best golfer he can be.”
Gerry Mackedon competes for the Red Storm as a freshman. Photo from St. John’s Athletics Communications
Gerry Mackedon is coming off some recent successful tournaments, and is currently competing in the New York State Men’s Amateur Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course to prepare himself for the USGA U.S. Amateur golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, Aug. 14 to 20.
Last month he won the 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship sectional qualifying round at Huntington Country Club with a 131 36-hole performance — nine strokes under par and ahead of the second-place finishers at even par.
“I am deeply honored by this accomplishment and hope I can represent Port Jefferson Country Club by playing my best golf ever,” Mackedon said in a country club statement. “I am extremely thankful to all of the members who have shown me support in many ways during the last few weeks.”
Winning by that margin is something St. John’s University head coach, Mal Galletta, said is an impressive achievement.
“No matter what his score is in relation to par, to win anything by nine shots in golf shows tremendous ability to put yourself way ahead of the competition,” he said. “His ability to go low, too — it really shows that he’s not just comfortable with winning by one. Not many players can do that or have that mind-set, and I think that’s going to bode well for him in his future.”
Mackedon also placed first at the Michael Hebron championship, the Long Island Golf Association’s top amateur stroke play, Aug. 1 at Bethpage Black.
“It’s nice to play a tough golf course like that — Riviera is a tough golf course as well,” he said. “I still have a lot of work to do so playing well in that tournament gives me some confidence.”
“He was always a top player and he’s so focused and very dedicated to the game.”
— Bob Spira
Mackedon began swinging the club seriously at the age of 10, but was a tri-sport athlete at Ward Melville, playing baseball and basketball.
“I think children should play multiple sports,” the standout golfer’s father said. “It enhances their abilities in each. I think it helped in his development as a golfer.”
Although the swing for baseball is different than golf, the Ward Melville graduate tried out for the varsity golf team in seventh grade, and made the team.
“His stroke was good and he had a great straight ball — at that stage he just needed to work on his mental game,” Ward Melville head coach Bob Spira said. “He was always a top player and he’s so focused and very dedicated to the game.”
Mackedon captured the Suffolk County individual title by shooting a 145, three strokes over par, and also led Ward Melville to its second-straight Suffolk County team championship his senior year. He finished second in the state tournament — one stroke behind first.
He also competed in the renowned American Junior Golf Association circuit, where he shot an average of 77.3 per round, and placed first in both U.S. challenge cups — the Long Island and Northeast junior classics. He took second place in the 2015 Met PGA future series at Bethpage Red, finished third in the 2015 Met PGA future series at Eisenhower Park White and carded a 64 to post another first-place showing at the Met PGA junior event.
“He has a natural talent and that ability to make it look easy.”
— Mal Galletta
“Gerry’s ability to go low is very special,” said Jim White, a Port Jefferson Country Club member and former Long Island caddie scholarship winner. “To win U.S. Amateur sectional qualifying medalist honors by nine strokes is unheard of. He’s a great kid.”
Bill Mackedon said he and his son practiced on his short game for the first two years as the young golfer’s body changed month to month, before adding to his repertoire.
“The initial training and development was to make him an outstanding player around the greens,” the father said. “Then we worked on his full swing and training him to play at the highest level he could possibly play at.”
The head pro said his son’s determination never wavered.
“He stayed within the Mackedon realm when it comes to instruction, but he’s a student of the game,” he said. “He studies the swing — he does what he needs to do. In my opinion, he out trains and outthinks most athletes on the golf course and I think that’s why he’s been so successful.”
He learned from not only his father, who won numerous PGA section events and three player of the year awards while still holding three course records, but also from his grandfather, a head professional for more than 35 years.
Gerry Mackedon winning the 2017 U.S. Amateur Championship qualifier at Huntington Country Club. Photo from Bill Mackedon
Galletta said he sees the work put in, as his athlete came away with a one-hole playoff win for the Connecticut Cup Championship in October — just a month into his college career.
“He has a natural talent and that ability to make it look easy,” he said. “Besides his playing record, I was really impressed with the length he can hit the ball, even in high school. He’s committed to the team and wants the team to win just as much, if not more than he’d like to see himself win.”
His achievements have helped him proudly continue his family’s legacy.
“My wife Michele and I are very excited of this segue into possibly playing beyond college golf,” the college coach said. “I think it’s the beginning of a very bright future for Gerry.”
At the Riviera Country Club, he will be competing in the USGA championship won by the likes of Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“I just hope Gerry enjoys the experience out there,” Galletta said. “Even people who are just part-time golfers, or even those who don’t know Bill or Gerry, should rally around him and be proud of that fact that someone is doing well enough at that age to compete on a national level. It’s a top-notch professional championship setup, and having competed in it myself I know it’s a different feeling than anything else he’s ever competed in. I hope he takes it all in and if he puts his head to the fact that he can do well, besides just thinking about the fantastic achievement of qualifying, I think big things are coming his way.”
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