Sashika de Lanerolle and Chris Ruben recently announced their engagement.
Both from Setauket, they are passionate and driven individuals for art and loving parents to their three dogs, Jaxson, Ola Mae and Carleton.
Chris Ruben, singer and songwriter of the regional act, The Chris Ruben Band, plays all over. This funky six-piece group produces pop/rock music with a mix of danceable and heavy-hitting songs.
Aside from his musical talents, Chris Ruben’s Food Catering, established in 2022, serves a mix of his favorite foods that honor his Italian and Southern Louisiana heritage.
Sashika, a certified personal trainer and figure skating coach, has over 10 years of experience in competition and coaching. She coaches all ages, from preschoolers to adults. If she isn’t on the ice or personal training, she is creating mandala art and supporting her best man on stage.
Brother and sister Abby Walters and Capt. Jeremy Walters watch as the use of a ladder to reach a second-floor position is demonstrated. They then climb and enter the second floor. Photo by Bob O’Rourk
During a break in the practice, a conversation runs between Delaney Florio, Capt. Jeremy Walters, Roy Plume, Kaitlyn Lawrence and Abby Walters. Photo by Bob O'Rourk
Abby Walters ascends the ladder to climb through the window as an instructor watches and directs, if necessary, to complete the climb properly. Photo by Bob O'Rourk
Two firefighters are needed when using a ladder to enter a building. Here, Abby Walters has her feet on the ladder base while another climbs to the objective. Photo by Bob O'Rourk
The search experience had juniors entering a house and searching for people. They were in full firematic gear and used the same breathing devices used by Setauket firefighters. Above, Junior Lt. Gavin Plume has his mask adjusted by his father, firefighter Roy Plume. Photo by Bob O'Rourk
By Sofia Levorchick
Over 100 junior firefighters across Long Island gathered at the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank and Hagerman Fire Department in East Patchogue from Friday, Aug. 25, to Saturday, Aug. 26, for lectures and hands-on training.
“The event’s goal was to give the juniors some flavor of firefighting and all of the different aspects involved,” said Hank Lewis, a member of the Setauket Fire Department, which sent several junior firefighters aged 14-17 to this two-day program.
One primary objective each junior firefighter agreed upon was the need for collaboration, especially when participating in the hands-on training. “We learned to work with people we never met before,” 15-year-old Sophia Florio said. “The event definitely helped me understand how to work collaboratively.”
There were five stations, all of which involved some level of teamwork: vehicle extrication, forceful entry through doors, ground ladders, entry through windows and search in a blacked-out building. From roping hoses out to stabilizing ladders, each junior firefighter had to work together, even with others they didn’t know.
“It was a little bit more than what we would usually get at a normal training,” 14-year-old Jeremy Walters, captain of the Setauket Junior Firefighters, said.
“And it gave us an opportunity to work with different junior firefighters from other stations,” 15-year-old Katie Urso added.
Abby Walters, 17 years old, spoke of the lessons she learned throughout the training regimen. She noted how the program opened her eyes to the need for close collaboration during a fire rescue event. “If there’s a fire, it’s not a one-man job,” she said.
And with unfamiliar people came unfamiliar techniques, particularly those from new instructors.
“One of the most important things I learned was being open to learning things in new ways,” Abby Walters added. “We’re used to how our instructors teach things to us in their own way, but you have to get used to the fact that your idea isn’t always going to work, and you’re going to have to have a plan B or plan C.”
“Some of those strategies work better in situations than the previous ones we learned,” Jeremy Walters added.
“It shows that if we were on a call, we would be working with other members from other stations, so it gave us that experience,” Katie explained.
However, each member faced challenges along the way, especially regarding trusting others and taking part in unfamiliar tasks.
“Searching buildings was probably the most difficult part of the training because there are aspects of the buildings that we have not experienced before,” 15-year-old Gavin Plume, first lieutenant of the junior firefighters, said.
Each junior firefighter managed to persevere through these obstacles, though, and felt that the event was rewarding, particularly in terms of what was learned and ultimately taken away from the experience.
The five junior firefighters all found that becoming acclimated to unfamiliar situations and trusting new people were significant takeaways from this event.
“I valued the opportunity I had to attend this training,” Sophia said. “Although I’ve never met a lot of these kids before, I definitely gained trust from people and learned how to work with them.”
The junior firefighters who participated in the two-day training session were indelibly impacted. With its overall objective to introduce new firefighters to the multifaceted world of firefighting, the event successfully gave them a thorough education that included theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
Overall, this event prepared the junior firefighters to handle emergency responses, emphasizing collaborating with others while accepting new strategies to yield better outcomes.
“It taught us not to be stuck in the box of what we already know,” Abby Walters added. “We have to venture out and think outside of the box.”
A recent Siena College poll shows that 82% of New Yorkers view the wave of migrants flooding our nation and state as a serious problem. Compounding the issue has been Washington and Albany’s lack of action and a clear plan to address the humanitarian crisis their policies helped create.
This failure of leadership can be seen daily in the news — migrants sleeping on the streets, shuttled to hotels throughout the state and haphazard plans complete with no-bid contracts to house these individuals and families in tent cities or on college campuses.
While New York City and Albany lock horns, cast blame and piece together last-minute plans to address a problem that has been a long time coming, we need to ensure that Long Island is shielded, not from migrants, but from the failed leadership and policies that created this man-made disaster.
That shield is local control.
During this year’s legislative session, I joined my colleagues calling for policies to block the use of New York’s ill-suited college campuses for migrant housing and proposed plans to bus them to our small communities without local input and approval.
We also requested that the governor’s office share with us the plan and the amount of New York tax dollars being used to house, transport and care for these individuals.
Additionally, we requested the state comptroller provides a fully transparent accounting of all tax dollars being spent and make that information available via a searchable, public database. This information is critical as the state faces severe financial challenges and we work to stop additional burdens being placed on local governments, schools and, most importantly, taxpayers.
Recent history, from the pandemic to the governor’s failed housing proposals, has shown that the top-down, Albany-centric approach fails because it doesn’t consider the diverse and unique communities that are the foundation of the Empire State.
In light of Gov. Hochul’s [D] previously ill-conceived plan of housing migrants at Stony Brook University’s main and Southampton campuses, and other sites across Long Island, our local communities and officials must all be included in the discussion before any decisions are made.
County and town officials are our partners and need to be treated as such. Strong local control, community input and funding from state and federal partners must be the first step toward crafting a plan to address the migrant crisis.
New Yorkers are a welcoming people, and their change in mood is not one of the heart but in their lack of faith in the leadership of our state and nation. Midnight bus runs to motels and pop-up tent cities in suburban neighborhoods with inadequate services are not the answer.
The only solution comes with funding and proper planning. Plans where input from residents and approval from the town and local officials are required. Building consensus is not always easy, but it is the only way the New York State government will be able to solve this immediate humanitarian crisis and address the long-term impacts of uncontrolled migration until someone in Washington finds the courage to fix the crisis at our southern border.
Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) is a New York State senator representing the 1st District.
The Stony Brook School, a private Christian college-preparatory school just off Route 25A in Stony Brook, applied as of July 12 to the Town of Brookhaven Board of Zoning Appeals for a proposed expansion to add three new buildings to the 55-acre campus.
The boarding and day school’s plan includes the construction of an indoor practice facility, a three-story dormitory building and a three-story STEM building. The school’s original application proposed installing a parking lot from campus near the sports facility with exit points onto Chub Hill Road, Stony Road and Woodbine Avenue, potentially resulting in an uptick in traffic in the neighborhood.
Over a dozen residents turned out at Brookhaven Town Hall Wednesday, Aug. 23, presenting a signed petition, copies of emails and a collection of pictures to the zoning board.
At the meeting, representatives from The Stony Brook School presented the board with an updated plan that slightly altered the soon-to-be-constructed building’s exit points, resulting in lower-grade disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.
Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods have begun an outreach effort opposing the expansion, placing fliers in mailboxes and alerting residents of the incoming project.
In addition to fliers, nearby residents created a petition in opposition to the prep school’s plan. The petition addressed the Town Board and further explained the collective concerns throughout the neighborhood. Over a dozen Stony Brook residents signed the petition.
“My neighbors and I are very concerned this will intrude on the quiet enjoyment of our homes and potentially diminish property values,” said Stony Brook resident James Orlando in an email to members of the ZBA.
“This connection creates a new entrance to the interior of campus, which will bring increased student, parent, sports team and other school-related traffic into our neighborhood,” he added.
“I have contacted local real estate agents who have all said my property value will decrease if these buildings are constructed in what is basically my backyard,” Jenny Lorenzen, a Stony Road resident, said.
Some residents considered the expansion plan a safety hazard and a disruption to the tranquility of their neighborhood, noting the potential for increased traffic congestion and noise, decreasing property values and environmental impact.
Lorenzen and other residents voiced concerns at the zoning meeting, centered around emissions from the facilities as they will be air-conditioned and in use year-round. She is also concerned about other potential environmental impacts, mentioning clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency and road surveys.
As is, the neighborhood boasts narrow roadways that poorly accommodate two-way traffic. In addition, public school buses from the Three Village Central School District cannot enter the area. Instead, children must walk to designated bus stops at Quaker Path, Cedar Street or Christian Avenue.
Following the Aug. 23 meeting, the ZBA adjourned its review of the prep school’s application until Sept. 20.
Runners take off from the starting line on Main Street in Stony Brook Village at last year's race.
Photo from Dan Kerr
Registration underway for SOLES for All Souls Race
By Daniel Kerr
Historic All Souls Church has stood on the hill at the entrance to Stony Brook Village since 1896. Although much has changed in the village since then, the simple beauty of the building and the interior have remained true to Stanford White’s vision.
Interestingly, life expectancy back then in the United States was less than 50 years, and accessibility for the elderly or handicapped was not part of the design. On Sunday, October 1st, the 15th SOLES for All Souls 5K Race/2K Walk will celebrate the role of the National Landmark chapel in the community and raise funds to make it accessible to all.
Episcopal Bishop of Long Island Lawrence Provenzano stated, “Accessibility is an integral part of welcoming everyone in our communities into our parishes and we are proud to support this fantastic event with its goal to make All Souls a place that can truly serve everyone.”
Three of the winners from last year’s race. Photo from Dan Kerr
Herb Mones, an All Souls Church member, and both president of the Three Village Community Trust and Land Use Chair for the Three Village Civic Association,recently observed “SOLES for All Souls is vital to raising the necessary funds for our accessibility project. I am hoping that the entire running and walking community turns out to support our efforts.”
Richard Bronson, MD, former Suffolk County Poet Laureate, remarks, “How many times have I entered All Souls Church, felt its sanctity, marveled at its quiet beauty while listening to recited verse at the Second Saturday Poetry Reading? How can one not wish to participate in the SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk, an event that will raise funds to make this treasure accessible to all…and it is good for one’s health.”
SOLES For All Souls is perhaps the most inclusive race/walk on Long Island.Serious runners compete for gold, bronze, and silver medals in age groups from under 13 to over 80 and receive their hard-won medals in an Olympic-style awards ceremony. Dogs are welcome to accompany their masters and students from Stony Brook University and others often come in costume. Senior citizens with walking sticks line up at the starting line along with parents pushing their kids in strollers.
Looking back on last year’s race, East Patchogue resident and Overall Winner Adam Lindsey commented, “I love the opportunity to run in Stony Brook Village. The hills are the right amount of challenging yet very fun with lovely scenery. All Souls is such an integral part of Stony Brook Village, and it is a joy to run in a race to support them.”
Port Jefferson Station resident Margaret Kennedy shared, “I look forward to this race every year, eager to see familiar faces and the creative costumes. The matched pair of peanut butter and jelly comes to mind. It is the camaraderie and fellowship that keeps us coming back to collect a new color in our t-shirt rainbow. Everyone is welcome, whether running up the challenging hill or walking with a team. This race is truly a labor of love.”
The event is also a food drive for St. Gerard Majella’s food pantry. Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine encourages runners and walkers to feed the hungry: “I am proud to support the SOLES for All Souls and I urge everyone to donate to the ‘Lend a Hand, Bring a Can’ food drive. There are so many of our less fortunate neighbors who experience food insecurity and they rely on donations to feed themselves and their families. If we all chip in and do our part, we can help so many people in need and make a real difference in our community.”
Registration for SOLES for All Souls 5K Run/2K Walk is through the ACTIVE.COM website (Search: SOLES for All Souls) or register on Race Day at the Reboli Center for Art & History, 64 Main St., Stony Brook from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.; the race/walk begins at 9 a.m. Complimentary pre and post event stretching will be provided by Progressive Personal Training.Local musician Bill Clark will perform throughout the morning.
Please call 631-655-7798 for more information on the event or if you would like to be a sponsor. Donations dedicated to Handicap Accessibility Project can be mailed to All Souls Race, P.O. Box 548, Stony Brook, NY 11790.
Daniel Kerr is the Director of SOLES for All Souls Race/Walk.
Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano
By Mallie Jane Kim
The Three Village Central School District Board of Education will have only six members this year, as one member resigned due to a career change making participation impossible.
At an Aug. 23 meeting last Wednesday, BOE president Susan Rosenzweig announced the change, explaining that the former board member in question, Jennifer Solomon, would not be replaced during this term. A special election would cost an estimated $25,000 to $30,000, diverting funds allocated to serve the school children, she explained.
“Each of those dollars that we would have to use for something like that is taken out of the pocket of a child, so that didn’t interest any of us in any way,” she said, adding that appointing someone didn’t seem fair.
The chosen option is to do nothing, keeping the board at six trustees as they aren’t concerned about gridlock. “We all work very collegially and collaboratively together,” Rosenzweig added. “We’re not too worried about the even number.”
Last year was Solomon’s first year of a three-year term, but at a board meeting on April 26, she shared that this outcome was a possibility. During that meeting, a board member read an emailed public comment that mentioned rumors a board member planned to resign after the election, and suggested that person should step down before the election instead to allow the community to choose someone in their place.
At the time, Solomon spoke up. “I suspect the author of that letter is referencing me,” she said, and explained the school district she was working for had cut her position, so she was forced to look for employment elsewhere. “Being on the Three Village Board of Education is a role that I care about deeply, and it’s my intention to continue on the board, provided my circumstances allow me to,” Solomon said.
As Rosenzweig shared at last week’s meeting, Solomon “has taken a position that precludes her from continuing her service to the board.”
Five excessed teachers recalled
The administration recalled five of the teachers whose positions were previously eliminated due to budgetary issues, according to Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon, in some cases to keep class sizes low in each of the primary schools.
Teacher contracts require the district to keep the average class size in each grade below a certain number, but individual class sizes can vary within that average.
“We don’t want there to be an imbalance between one school and another school,” Scanlon said.
But the administration had to get creative to find that balance. “In order to get to those numbers, it’s not as if there was a magic pot of money,” he said. “We actually had to make cuts in some areas.”
For example, the administration cut three permanent substitute teacher positions — a year-to-year appointment — to make room in the budget to reinstate one section of second grade at Setauket Elementary as well as to help cover costs for special areas, such as physical education, art, health and music.
Scanlon also mentioned the district’s declining enrollment, a concern that spurred ongoing considerations to reorganize the schools, is still happening — but at a slower pace. He said there are 77 fewer students enrolled this year compared to last year; last year’s decline was 140 students and the year prior was over 200.
A major factor in enrollment fluctuation is families moving in and out of the district. According to district data, there are more families in the district this year compared to last, but fewer kids.
“That’s a very unusual thing to contemplate, but it’s just that the families are having less children,” the district superintendent noted. “A family used to have three or four children. They’re now having maybe one or two children.”
Doctors warn against swimming in brackish water and advise wearing protective gear when handling raw shellfish, among other safety measures to guard against vibrio vulnificus. Photo from CDC
In mid-August, Suffolk County recorded its first death in seven years from vibrio vulnificus, often referred to as “flesh-eating bacteria.”
A man over the age of 55 who had underlying health conditions was admitted to a local hospital with a leg wound and chest pain in July. He died the following month due to a bacterial infection.
Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of health care epidemiology at Stony Brook Medicine. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine/Jeanne Neville
“People that are at risk should be more aware” of an infection they can get from raw shellfish or brackish water, said Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of health care epidemiology at Stony Brook Medicine. That includes people who have liver disease, poorly controlled diabetes, are considered immune suppressed because of a condition or are taking medication that can cause immune suppression.
At the same time, Connecticut reported that three people died from contracting the potentially deadly bacteria. Two of them died from wound infections, the third contracting the bacteria from handling raw oysters.
To be sure, most people are not vulnerable to contracting the disease or from its effects.
“The general public is not at an increased risk,” said Donelan. “In most cases, [infections] are mild or moderate.”
Those who might be vulnerable to vibrio can avoid it by not handling or eating raw or undercooked shellfish, staying away from shellfish juices, covering up wounds or not swimming in brackish waters.
People can shuck shellfish with gloves to minimize any injuries to their hands and can wash their hands before and after coming in contact with raw shellfish.
“Some people like putting raw oyster juice into different drinks,” Donelan said. “You want to avoid doing that.”
Area doctors and health officials urged people with wounds — which could include cuts, new body piercings or tattoos — to avoid swimming in brackish or salt water.
“The bacteria thrives in brackish water, where fresh water meets ocean water,” Dr. Gregson Pigott, Suffolk County health commissioner, said in an email. “It would be best to avoid those waters if you have an open wound or a chronic health condition.”
Donelan also suggested that people who go in the water with such wounds cover them up with a waterproof bandage.
Symptoms
People who contract vibrio typically develop a host of symptoms.
These can include “diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting,” Pigott explained.
Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. File photo
Symptoms from consuming raw shellfish can start within 24 hours of a meal. A person exposedthrough their skin can develop a blistering skin or soft tissue infection.
Pigott urged residents to seek help for gastrointestinal symptoms or a worsening skin infection.
Those who are unable to drink enough fluids to counterbalance the losses through the gastrointestinal tract could become dehydrated, doctors warned.
Lightheadedness and hypotensive appearances can be a warning sign that residents should seek medical help.
Wounds may become red, hot and tender with streaky marks leading away from them. These are “all concerning things” that might signal an infection, Donelan said.
People generally know how quickly cuts heal. A cut that gets visibly worse quickly, which could include blistering of the skin with a bolus that looks like murky fluid or blood beneath it should be “very concerning signs,” Donelan added.
Knowing that the bacteria is present in Long Island Sound and being aware of it could help people prevent exposure or react early to an infection.
This summer, area hospitals have not reported an unusual number of infections, according to Donelan.
Doctors said the bacteria typically lives in waters between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that the longer the waters remain warm amid a hot summer and warming climate, the more likely the bacteria will be prevalent in waters around the Island.
Illness and travel
At this time of year, residents return from their seasonal travels. They sometimes bring unwanted microorganisms such as viruses or bacteria with them.
Health care professionals urged residents to notify their doctors about their travels prior to getting sick, so doctors can get an idea of where and how they might have contracted an illness.
When people return from cruises, plane trips or other travel, they should “help the emergency departments become aware of where they’ve been,” Donelan said.
A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour. Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons
By Samantha Rutt
The Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning recently released a survey asking respondents to share their thoughts and opinions on the potential modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
“Community input underpins all aspects of our approach to economic development in Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) in a statement. “We look forward to hearing from all stakeholders on the opportunities presented by modernization to allow for a single-seat ride from Port Jefferson to both Grand Central and Penn Station for our communities along the North Shore.”
The survey asks questions regarding the frequency of public transportation and LIRR ridership, the purpose of railway trips, specific and preferred branch use, among other questions.
Currently, the North Shore line offers limited direct train service to Penn Station with no direct service to Grand Central Madison. The decades-old proposal to modernize the line calls for electrification, double tracking and other rail yard improvements and modifications.
If the project were approved, the Port Jefferson Branch could provide faster and more direct service options to Manhattan and more frequent service overall.
Electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch was originally planned in the 1980s but stalled as the Ronkonkoma Branch took precedence. Critics and transit analysts regard the existing dual-mode diesel service as unreliable, inconsistent and environmentally hazardous. [See story, “Port Jeff Branch riders face potentially decades more electrification woes,” Feb. 9, 2023, TBR News Media website.]
“It is vitally important that we electrify the Port Jefferson Branch to protect our environment from the polluting diesel trains, enhance service for our residents and create jobs for our hardworking men and women of union labor,” New York State Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James) said. “Our residents and our workers deserve to benefit from the funding provided to the MTA.”
A key objective of the electrification initiative is to mitigate the need for transfer services for those traveling to New York City. By eliminating transfer services, advocates for the project aim to increase ridership while promoting further development around each LIRR station.
Updates could alleviate vehicular traffic congestion across the Island, according to New York State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), as commuters who regularly travel to alternate lines would have more local transit options.
Electrification would “alleviate traffic congestion, foster economic development and will help to achieve our climate goals,” the state senator said. “Clean, reliable and expanded transportation services are essential to meet Long Island’s growing population.”
The survey received nearly 2,500 responses in its opening week, according to the Department of Economic Development and Planning statement. Bellone encouraged all North Shore residents to complete the questionnaire, which takes an average of 5-10 minutes.
“I encourage everyone, including residents, businesses and students on the North Shore, to take the survey and demonstrate how important the modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch is to Suffolk County,” Bellone said.
Former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright begins his Aug. 18 talk on Joe Reboli’s paintings. Photo by Beverly C. Tyler
By Beverly C. Tyler
At the Reboli Center in Stony Brook on Friday evening, Aug. 18, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) presented a love letter to Long Island and its people through the landscape paintings of Joe Reboli.
Englebright, a geologist also running against Anthony Figliola (R-East Setauket) for Suffolk County’s 5th Legislative District, opened for each of us who attended a new, personal and intimate view of Reboli’s paintings.
In his opening comments, Englebright touched on the importance of Reboli’s work as a local artist.
“Joe Reboli speaks directly to us through his paintings, through his art,” Englebright said. “Joe also speaks now and forever to all who would live here in our community. I believe that open space is the beginning of our story. It’s what attracted the first colonists here, and … I believe that Joe’s paintings suggest that open space should continuously be an important part of our story.”
Englebright noted that he was initially surprised and then intrigued by Reboli’s detail in painting the most ordinary features of nature, including rocks and mud, in how they form and react to the forces of wind and waves.
The first and largest painting was described thus:
“It is likely the Montauk Till — I call it an ice contact deposit — which means that the upper third of the painting is the till that was dropped directly, melted directly, out of the ice, and it included all of the different grain sizes — everything from clay to silt to sand to pebbles to cobble to boulders — that range of that spectrum of different grain sizes is all contained inside of that pumpkin-colored fill,” the former state assemblyman elaborated. “But when the waves break on it, they take away the small stuff, and we have a lag deposit of the boulders and cobbles.”
Englebright also noted the simple beauty and the importance of what Reboli included in his works. “Joe’s paintings speak to us regarding our exquisite coastal heritage,” he said. “Each of his natural images is a journey into nature’s splendor.”
Describing the middle painting, Englebright added, “This is quite amazing. It is a remarkable painting. Avalon is lovingly cared for, and Joe painted this before Avalon was there. They are either red oak or chestnut oak.”
Englebright described the third painting as “the convergence of a manmade feature and a natural feature. The pushed-down fence invites you into the natural world.”
With a series of slides of Reboli’s paintings, Englebright noted how Reboli placed fences, gates, chairs and even old rusting gas pumps into his images of the natural world. Sometimes, they were items that we could imagine belonged in an area of human habitation. In others, such as the images of rusting gas pumps juxtaposed in the foreground of a beach scene, Englebright suggested Reboli illustrated the permanence of the natural world over manufactured objects.
Noting that “respect for this place is infused into Joe’s paintings,” a few of Englebright’s thoughts show Reboli’s love of Long Island. “With the body of his work, Joe Reboli’s Long Island is imaginative, inviting, and I ask the question: Is he not Long Island’s most imaginative storyteller through his paintings?”
Englebright concluded, “Many of Joe Reboli’s paintings have become iconic images representing our sense of place. Joe’s paintings have defined what it means to be a Long Islander. Joe Reboli’s paintings enable us to focus upon the beauty of our community’s natural wonders. Joe’s body of work is breathtaking in its expanse and its beauty,” adding, “Joe painted sites and landscapes that should be saved for all time.”
Beverly C. Tyler is a Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730.
Andrew Young is in a similar place to the one he was in when he first met his wife Lynne over two decades ago: spending time on the water.
This time, however, instead of living aboard a 72-foot sailboat in San Diego, Young is shifting back and forth from his new home in Setauket to a motor boat, fully equipped to form a floating office, in the Setauket harbor.
Above, Andrew Young demonstrates where a cylindrical device for drug delivery could be implanted. Photo by Daniel Dunaief
In the time between his stints aboard ships, Young, who is a native of Taranaki, New Zealand, has conducted research on gut hormones, making the kinds of discoveries that helped lead to diabetes treatments and weight loss treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
When the couple first started dating in 2001, Young was working at a company called Amylin, which was named after a hormone.
For years, no one knew exactly what the hormone did. Numerous scientists believed amylin worked in opposition to the pancreatic hormone insulin, which controls glucose levels in the blood and, when absent, leads to diabetes.
Young’s job was to solve the riddle of amylin. Coming from the beta cells of the pancreas, which are the same cells that produce insulin and that responded to the same stimuli, he suspected it was involved in metabolic control, but “we got it totally wrong for about four years,” he said.
Young helped discover that amylin and insulin weren’t working in opposition: they were functioning on opposite ends towards the same goal.
Insulin accelerates the exit of glucose from the blood, while amylin slowed the entry of glucose into the blood. Amylin works on gastric emptying and suppresses appetite. The “clever little beta cell was doing two jobs,” Young said.
Adding in the second hormone made it easier to control glucose in the blood, without big ups and downs in sugar levels.
Replacing amylin meant the body needed about 30 to 50 percent of the amount of insulin the body might otherwise need. People who take insulin alone to treat diabetes require more insulin than the body usually produces.
“It’s an orchestra of hormones that get the job done,” Young said.
That’s especially true for hormones produced in the digestive tract The discovery of the physiology of amylin made the scientific and pharmaceutical world aware of the importance of the gut in metabolic control. For most pharmaceutical companies, the lesson began with Glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, which has led to Wegovy and Ozempic.
Amylin and GLP-1 were both used for diabetes. Amylin analogs haven’t been approved for weight loss, but Young expects they will be. “The amylin story was kind of neat,” he said. “It focused our minds on the gut. GLP-1 was the next one of these gut hormones.”
A revelation on a poster
While pharmaceutical companies saw the potential benefit of stimulating GLP1, which triggered the release of insulin, they couldn’t create a drug that had an effect that lasted long enough to make a difference.
The body makes GLP1 at about the same rate as it breaks it down, which means controlling blood sugar and appetite by altering GLP-1 was difficult. “You could get a decent anti-diabetic effect if you infused it continuously,” Young explained, as the half life of endogenous GLP-1 is about five minutes.
Young attended a poster session at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco, California in 1996.
Looking at a poster from Dr. John Eng, who works at the Bronx Veterans Administration Medical Center, Young thought he saw a solution in the form of a hormone from the reptilian Gila monster.
Eng demonstrated that the hormone, which he called exendin-4 and which he studied with his own money, stayed in diabetic mice for 24 hours. Young thought this might lead to the development of a diabetes drug.
As he was reading the poster, Young realized he was standing next to someone who worked at competitor Eli Lilly.
“I thought he had figured it out as well” and that they were in a race to understand exendin-4, Young added.
Young arranged for the staff at Amylin to buy what they could of this compound and to make some of it in house as well. The company quickly performed numerous experiments in a short period of time, even before Eng arrived in San Diego.
Eng gave a seminar about what he knew about the molecule. Young then stood up and talked about what Amylin had since learned about it.
Eng was “dumbstruck, but he realized at that stage that we were the people he should partner with,” Young added.
The hormone amylin and exendin-4 had many of the same effects, including inhibiting gastric emptying. They did, however, have opposite effects on other actions. Exendin stimulated insulin secretion, while amylin inhibited it.
Better than an injection
Young has continued to work for six companies in scientific leadership roles. Amid the financial crisis of 2008, Young went to work in North Carolina for GlaxoSmithKline, which is now called GSK.
In 2015, Young co-founded Phoundry Pharmaceuticals with five other former GSK coworkers. Phoundry attracted the attention of Intarcia Therapeutics. Using an invention by Alza Corp and licensed to Intarcia, the company developed a thin, implantable cylindrical device that could push as much as 160 micro liters of drugs out over six months.
In looking for a treatment for its drug delivery system, Intarcia chose Phoundry.
“The limited volume of such a small implanted pump required very potent medicines,” Young said. “Phoundry’s competitive advantage was the knowledge of how to engineer in such potency.”
After the purchase of Phoundry in 2015, Young became Chief Scientific Officer at Intarcia. The FDA, however, rejected the use of exendin from Intarcia. Through an extended appeals process, the FDA is planning to allow one final discussion about the delivery of exendin through Intarcia’s device on September 21st.
The current version of the device lasts for at least three and six months in the body. The same device could be used to deliver other medicines. The pumps have been engineered with a failsafe system that disables its osmotic engine in the event of malfunction, so the drug is not released.
The device could deliver drugs for many chronic conditions, such as hypertension and osteoporosis and is intended for frequent administration of the same drug.
Not only a scientist
As for his work in the early stages of understanding hormones that have led to drugs that are now widely used to treat diabetes and obesity, Young is pleased with his contribution.
“Obesity is probably the most deadly disease on the planet, given its high and increasing prevalence and the cardiovascular risk factors that spring from it,” Young explained.
Novo Nortis recently announced that treating obesity alone, without any diabetes, reduces the risk of death.
Young himself is taking one of these drugs and has lost 36 pounds over six months.
Part of a process that has led to six approved products, he is working as a consultant for several companies, and believes he still has more to give. “I intend to keep doing it,” he said. “I’ve got at least one more” down the road.
Given the long drug development process, he hopes to help move one or more pieces ahead.
As for his oceanic surroundings, Young didn’t exactly sweep his future wife off her feet when they met. “He invited me on his boat for dinner,” Lynne recalls. “He was outside the marina and he had on this sweater that was dirty and oversized.”
Young suggested they have soup for dinner and proceeded to pull out a can of Campbell’s tomato soup.
She knew Young, however, was “probably the guy when I walked on the boat and he said, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’” Other men had suggested an alcoholic drink.
Lynne, who is an attorney, also appreciated his collection of books.
The Youngs chose Setauket because they had cast a wide net, looking for a home on the water somewhere between the Canadian border and North Carolina.
“This was it,” said Lynne, who is thrilled with the extensive art community in the area.
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