Village Times Herald

Photo by Joseph Cali

Several trains will be temporarily suspended on the Port Jefferson Branch for two days, according to the Long Island Rail Road.

Service will be suspended from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, and Wednesday, May 10, between Huntington and Port Jefferson in both directions. Buses will be available for customers. LIRR recommends travelers plan for approximately 30 to 40 minutes of additional travel time in either direction.

LIRR is conducting its Sperry Testing along the branch. The rail testing program is part of an annual track maintenance program to ensure infrastructure is in good repair.

Work is weather dependent, dates are subject to change to take advantage of favorable conditions. 

P129, Dorothy Lane, FPPM

Setauket resident Dr. Dorothy Lane was recently awarded the 2023 Ronald Davis Special Recognition Award from the American College of Preventive Medicine for her “exceptional contributions” in the field of preventive medicine.

She is a SUNY distinguished service professor; vice chair of the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine; and associate dean for Continuing Medical Education in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. 

In a phone interview, Lane told how she became involved in preventive medicine: “I became interested in medicine because my dad was a family doctor, and he had his office in our home. So, I really grew up with medicine and then, once in medical school … I became interested in prevention and avoiding disease, trying to keep people healthy.”

Lane’s brother is also a doctor. “I guess my dad had a strong influence,” she said. Additionally, one of Lane’s children is a doctor, so medicine runs in the family.

The distinguished professor grew up in Brooklyn, but moved to Long Island after she was married. “I’m one of the founding faculty of the school,” she said. “I came here partly because my husband was also coming. So, that was in the beginning of the medical school at Stony Brook in 1971.”

Lane was the founding director of the Stony Brook residency program in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health. “I really get a lot of joy out of helping to train specialists in the field of preventive medicine,” she said. “That certainly has been a very rewarding activity, and they have gone on to hold important positions, leadership positions, in health departments and in many sectors practicing preventive medicine.”

Dr. Iris Granek is the founding chair of the Department of Family, Population & Preventive Medicine at Renaissance School of Medicine and is one of the many former residents that Lane greatly influenced. “She was my program director back in 1993 when I went back to do a preventive medicine residency program,” Granek said in a phone interview. “She was a great mentor … I really feel like my career is thanks to her.”

Dr. Yuri Jadotte graduated from SBU in 2018. In a phone interview, he said that based on Lane’s recommendation, the medical school asked him to remain as a faculty member and an associate program director for the residency program. “I’ve been working with her primarily in that capacity ever since,” he said.

Jadotte explained why Lane was more than worthy of the esteemed Ronald Davis award.

“She’s the only person in our specialty in preventive medicine to have been head of all the major agencies for the specialty,” he said. “She was the president of the American College of Preventive Medicine and was president of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research — it’s sort of like the academic specialty society for teachers of prevention. And she was also the head of the American Board of Preventive Medicine, which is the group that oversees the continuing education for all preventive medicine physicians. And so having done that, she’s had a hand in all those different areas of the specialty.”

Granek, who compiled Lane’s nomination packet for the Davis award, spoke on the Women’s Health Initiative, a clinical study in which Lane served as the principal investigator. Granek praised Lane’s “ability to really write and get good grants.”

“With the Women’s Health Initiative, it was almost a long shot for us to get this because many of the other centers around the country had been doing these kinds of long-term prevention trials, and we didn’t have anything set up at Stony Brook,” Granek said.

Lane described WHI as “one of the studies that was very interesting and is still ongoing.” She said it is “directed at the major causes of death and disability among postmenopausal women.”

“The trial that we ran that’s the most well-known has to do with hormone therapy,” Lane said. “At the time the study started, the belief was that this was necessary … But it never had been proven, based on evidence. The interesting thing that the study revealed was that it actually increased the risk of developing breast cancer.”

Jadotte said WHI is the “largest study of women’s health ever conducted within the U.S.”

“A lot of things have been studied through [WHI], whether it’s cancer screenings, postmenopausal medication, all kinds of different approaches to improving women’s health, especially as they age,” he said.

“I’ve heard people describe [Lane] as the godmother of preventive medicine, and that tells you the impact she’s had on the specialty,” Jadotte added.

While Lane has made a large impact on large-scale projects, she also invests in the lives of her residents.

“So many of the residents have become really successful and gotten great positions,” Granek said. “And I think she’s responsible for all of that, really.”

“She has a very kind, calm demeanor about her that inspires trust,” Jadotte said. “Anybody who graduates from our program is always absolutely proud to have been here.”

She added, “Let’s just say she’s the kind of mentor that we all wish we had — and some of us are fortunate to have — in medicine and public health.”

Lane’s husband, Bernard, passed in 2017. He was a pathologist and founding faculty member of the medical school at Stony Brook University. The couple had been married for almost 55 years. “In my era where there weren’t that many female physicians, he was always very supportive,” his wife said.

Lane has three children and four grandchildren. “I am proud of all of them,” she said.

When younger, she had several hobbies but as her career advanced the more she wanted to spend the free time with her family.

The doctor does not have any plans to slow down yet. “I love my work and I don’t have any plans for retiring,” she said. “So, as long as I have the energy … I think it’s a great way to keep your brain working, actually. But I enjoy what I do, and I think my residents keep me young.”

James Rossie conducting field work at Lake Turkana. Photo by Susanne Cote

By Daniel Dunaief

Dead men might not tell tales but fossilized apes and the soil around them may change a narrative. That’s what happened recently when a large collaboration of researchers gathered clues from an ape fossil in Moroto, Uganda that lived 21 million years ago and from a detailed analysis of the soil.

James Rossie in his lab. Photo by Emily Goble

 

Scientists have long thought apes started climbing upright, which is an important evolutionary step, all those years ago to reach fruit in a habitat dense with trees. Recent evidence from two publications in the journal Science, however, suggest that the habitat included grassland and woodlands.

James Rossie, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, studied the teeth of the fossil, called Morotopithecus, to determine what this ancient ape ate.

“The important thing about the teeth of Morotopithecus is a shift towards folivory” or leaf eating, Rossie said. “The surface of the molars were elongated with well-developed crests” which indicate that this primate consumed leaves rather than fruit.

By contrast, molars of animals that eat fruit are more rounded. Additionally, carbon isotope dating of the enamel suggest that they fed on water-stressed plants. This discovery and analysis changes not only the narrative of this particular ape species, but also of the evolutionary progression and habitat of primates.

A rendering of ancient apes foraging in trees. Image courtesy of Corbin Rainbolt

This analysis indicated that apes lived in areas of open woodlands, where there were patches of trees separated by stretches of grassland about 10 million years earlier than scientists originally believed. During the miocene period, they would have had to evade predators such as Simbakubwa, an extinct carnivore that was larger than a lion.

“It was very unexpected that an ape with upright, versatile climbing abilities was living in a seasonal woodland with open, grassy patches, rather than in a closed tropical forest,” said Laura MacLatchy, a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan and the leader on the study.

“The findings have transformed what we thought we knew about early apes, and the origins for where, when and why they navigate through the trees and on the ground in multiple different ways,” Robin Bernstein, Program Director for Biological Anthropology at the National Science Foundation, said in a statement. “The effort outlines a new framework for future studies regarding ape evolutionary origins.”

The fossils Rossie and his colleagues examined including the lower part of a face, the palate, upper teeth, a couple of vertebrae, the lower jaw, and a complete femur. It’s unclear if these fossils came from one individual or from a collection of apes. With considerable wear and tear on the teeth of the upper jaw, the owner of those bones was an adult, Rossie said.

The mandible of an ancient ape with the left molar enlargement inset. Photo by Laura MacLatchy

By studying the bones as puzzle pieces that fill in a narrative, researchers concluded that the smaller, thick femur, or thigh, bone helped the ape climb quickly and effectively up the trunks of trees.

The longer legs of a human push us away from trees, making it harder to climb, while the shorter, sturdy legs of an ape enable it to get closer to the trunk and reach lower branches quickly. 

Apes that fed on leaves would likely have had larger bodies to accommodate the need for a longer digestive tract. A heavier animal that navigated through trees would run the risk of falling to the ground if their weight caused a branch to break.

By climbing upright, apes could distribute their weight more evenly over several branches, enabling them to maneuver through the trees to the leaves while reducing the strain they put on any one branch.

In a second paper published together as a part of this analysis, soil researchers studied the environment at Moroto and at several other sites of similar age across eastern Africa.  These soil scientists determined that the early habitat included forests and grasslands.

Cooperative work

Rossie believes the work of numerous scientists over a long period of time not only represents a paradigm shift in thinking about ape evolution and the environment in Africa, but also in the way scientists across a wide range of expertise collaborate.

James Rossie conducting field work at Lake Turkana. Photo by Susanne Cote

The researchers who trained Rossie and his colleagues were more competitive and guarded, he said. They didn’t share information with each other about their findings and wanted other researchers to learn about their findings through journal publications.

“We decided to take a different strategy” about a dozen years ago, he said. “It occurred to us that these separate silo attempts to reconstruct these environments were incompatible, with different methods and strategies. We couldn’t put it together into a coherent picture.”

By working together with the same methods, the scientists had comparable data and developed a coherent picture. Such broad collaborations across a range of fields required a “bit of a leap of faith,” he added. The scientists knew and trusted each other.

Indeed, Rossie and MacLatchy have known each other since the early 2000s when MacLatchy first asked Rossie to study other fossils.

Bringing numerous researchers across a range of expertise was a “game theory experiment,” Rossie added. Researchers could have published smaller papers about each site more quickly, but chose to combine them into the more meaningful synthesis.

MacLatchy suggested that the work on this project that involved sharing data across multiple sites, as well as joining forces in a range of expertise, makes it possible to reconstruct habitats with much greater detail.

“We are also able to obtain a regional perspective, which is not possible if interpretations are based on individual fossil sites,” she said. “I’d like to think this kind of collaboration will become standard.”

A resident of Centerport, Rossie is a hockey fan and is pulling for the Islanders.

He enjoys studying teeth because a single tooth can provide considerable information about an animal’s place among other species and about its strategies for getting and processing food.

His professional studies have come full circle. As a college junior at St. Lawrence University, he attended a field school run by Harvard University and the National Museum of Kenya at Lake Turkana. Almost every moment of that experience made him more eager to pursue paleontology as a career.

“As fate would have it, my field project is now centered on an area on the west side of Lake Turkana that I first visited back in 1995,” he explained.

The Turkana Basin Institute serves as his home base during the field season and he is grateful for their ongoing logistical support.

As for future work, Rossie is studying the fossils of at least four different species of apes in Lake Turkana in Kenya.

Stony Brook University has received a donation of the archive of Dan’sPapers, the East End of Long Island’s weekly lifestyle publication, which has been gifted by publication founder Dan Rattiner.

The archive will be part of Stony Brook’s Special Collections, the library division that stewards and curates the university’s collections of rare books and maps, archival collections, manuscripts and historical maps. The collection is also currently undergoing a preservation assessment with the intention to microfilm it, digitize it and make it freely available online.  Rattiner gifted more than a half century’s worth of his personal archives of the eponymous publication to Stony Brook University Libraries, which plans to make it available to the public.

“We are very excited to have Dan’s Papers as a part of Stony Brook University Libraries’ collections,” said Jamie Saragossi, Interim Associate Dean of Collection Strategy and Management at Stony Brook University.

Dan’s Papers is an important addition to the library’s distinctive collections because of its depth and coverage of the social, political, and environmental history of Long Island. It benefits the mission of the university’s libraries and the wider research community,” said Kristen J. Nyitray, Director of Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist.

Dan’s Papers was established by Rattiner in 1960 and is presently one of the only weekly publications covering the entire East End. The collection, spanning 1960 to 2023, comprises the most complete print run of Dan’s Papers held by a research library.

“I started by taking the first paper home once it was printed and kept doing it,” said Rattiner. “I hope that people will enjoy reading the publication.  I think people will learn why so many have come out here to enjoy this place because of its remarkable landscapes and beaches and woods. It’s just such a beautiful place.”

# # #

About Stony Brook University Libraries

The University Libraries are an essential partner in Stony Brook University’s mission of global leadership in research, discovery, and learning, and positions itself as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation, open scholarship, and creativity. A member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL), the Libraries provide access to a wide-range of research content including world-renowned special collections that contribute significantly to student success and faculty productivity.

Teen Driver Safety Program. Photo from TOB

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Daniel Losquadro is announcing several free safety programs at Safety Town at the Holtsville Ecology Site, 249 Buckley Road, Holtsville for Town of Brookhaven residents this spring.

Teen Driver Safety Program. Photo from TOB

First up is the Teen Driver Safety Program on Thursday, May 11, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Teenagers 15 and older and their parents are invited to participate in an interactive experience exhibiting the dangers of texting or drinking and driving. During this intense, real-life program, certified instructors with many years of defensive driving and accident investigation experience will talk with participants about the importance of developing safe habits when traveling the roadways. Teens will then use electric cars to complete obstacle courses designed to simulate driving while texting and impaired.

Child Safety Seat Check. Photo from TOB

The Traffic Safety Department is hosting a Child Safety Seat Check at on Saturday, May 20, from 8 a.m. to noon. The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, along with certified technicians from the Brookhaven Highway Department, will be on hand to inspect car seats and make sure children are riding in the right car seats for their age and size as they grow.

Bicycle Rodeo. Photo from TOB

Also on Saturday, May 20, the Brookhaven Highway Department will host a Bicycle Rodeo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event encourages children to learn how to safely ride their bikes in a mock-roadway, kid-sized setting. Participants of all ages will be evaluated and given feedback on their own bicycle-handling abilities, after proper bicycle safety skills are demonstrated. Participants are required to bring their own helmets and bicycles; both will be inspected for safety.

All programs are funded in part by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration with a grant from the New York State Governors Traffic Safety Committee.

All events are by appointment only; call 631-451-5335 to reserve your spot.

Photo by Carl Safina

MOONBEAMS OVER CRANES NECK

Carl Safina of Setauket captured this incredible sight during a visit to Stony Brook Harbor on May 4. He writes, “The moon was full but the sky was overcast. The combination created something I’ve never seen before: moonbeams coming spectacularly through clouds.”

Send your photo of the week to [email protected]

 

The Jazz Loft of Stony Brook announced Friday, April 28, the establishment of its affiliate, the Institute for New Music, as a “musical and artistic incubator.”

Stephen Nachmanovitch, musician and educator, uses ribbon-cutting scissors as a prop to explain the cutting of funds for the arts. Photo by Daniel Febrizio

Tom Manuel, founder of the Loft and president of INM, spoke at a press conference expressing his excitement for this brand-new endeavor.

“The mission of the Institute for New Music is to strengthen, inspire and ennoble individuals by their contact with newly created art,” he said. “We aim to aid in the discovery and the defense of the new, and we strive to give artists the support of a nurturing platform and foundation to develop their creative ideas.”

Manuel introduced members of INM’s board of directors. Entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan Oliveri is vice president. Treasurer Dawn Oliveri organized the day’s event, utilizing her strengths in public relations, marketing and design. Laura Landor, director of fine and performing arts for the Hauppauge school district, is the secretary. Paolo Bartolani was described by Manuel as a “pianist, musicologist and music manager, working in both classical and contemporary music.” The other board member, Cathy Salit, was unable to attend but Manuel described her as “an actor, improvisor, singer, social entrepreneur, an author and an executive coach.”

“As you can see, we have an outstanding team in place to champion the mission of the Institute for New Music,” Manuel said. “And I’m honored to have them on the board and I’m excited to see what their collective talents will produce.”

The INM president welcomed Stephen Nachmanovitch  to speak, introducing him as a “musician, author, artist and educator” who “performs and teaches internationally as an improvising violinist.” Nachmanovitch lamented the loss of funding and attention paid to the arts. 

Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich presents Tom Manuel a proclamation. Photo by Daniel Febrizio

“There’s been so much cutting of funds for the arts, cutting of funds for education,” the violinist said. “What we’re going to do here with the Institute for New Music is to ‘uncut, unclip, restore’ the creative process to be the property of every child and every human being.”

Manuel said INM will be “further developing” the team, and searching for a physical space.

“Just this past week, we had some promising meetings and conversations with grant foundations and some [Town of Brookhaven] officials about some possible sites,” Manuel said. “And we’re confident that the ideal space will show itself when the time is right.”

Among the event attendees were town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R); town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook); Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket); Gloria Rocchio, president of The Ward Melville Heritage Organization; and Jane Taylor, president of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce. 

The weekend’s events included a performance by popular jazz trombonist Ray Anderson as well as what was called the Spontaneous Creation Workshop with Nachmanovitch and Anderson.

 

Congrats, TBR News Media

Dear Leah,

You must be very proud of your continued recognition from the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest from your team’s work by receiving 11 awards this year. This is also a testament to your success as the founder and publisher of a weekly newspaper.

I believe hometown papers are an essential means to keep residents updated on what is happening in their community as they report on local government, schools, sports, entertainment, news and other items of interest.

I join with all of your readers in congratulating you and your staff and look forward to your continued success.

Rob Trotta

Suffolk County Legislator (R-Fort Salonga)

13th Legislative District

Sunrise Wind projections questionable

The Sunrise Wind project, as we were told in a March 23 TBR News Media article, “will use windmills to provide power to about 600,000 homes.” But what does this mean, exactly? It appears that 600,000 may have been selected as an arbitrary number, which may represent the number of homes that will derive 100% of their power requirements when all of the windmills are generating power at their maximum capacity, although this is not specifically stated in the article. But this raises the obvious question: For what percentage of the time will this be the case? We can only guess.

A much more helpful and meaningful terminology, in my opinion, would be to present these concepts in terms of energy, rather than power. Power is the rate at which energy is produced, or expended. To state that a windmill farm can produce a certain amount of power under ideal conditions, but neglect to mention the percentage of time this may be in effect, is to provide a very limited ability to understand the issue. A much more useful characterization would be to specify the total amount of energy generated in a fixed time, such as a year, compared to the total amount of energy required. For example, we might say something like, “The Sunrise Wind project will provide 45,000 MWh per year, which is 22% of the total energy required by Suffolk County.” (These are, of course, made-up numbers.) In this way, the complex variability of the wind strength becomes included in the energy notation, making the whole issue considerably easier to understand and evaluate.

Surely this issue is well understood by Sunrise Wind, and why they would choose to muddy the waters, as they have, is a matter for speculation. As Honest Abe Lincoln would have told us, a windmill farm can provide some of the power some of the time, or possibly all of the power some of the time, but it can provide none of the power most of the time.

George Altemose

Setauket

More Maryhaven discussions needed

We may be missing the forest for the trees in the process by which the Village of Port Jefferson is approaching this initiative to make an amendment to a long-standing village code for the Professional Office (PO)-zoned Maryhaven property. Residents had their first opportunity to hear and provide feedback as to what was being proposed at the standing-room-only public hearing during Monday’s Board of Trustees meeting, May 1. 

Comments and concerns ranged from: Do what it takes to preserve the Maryhaven building; and, we need to know exactly what the plan is prior to a zoning change; to, have the Architectural Review Committee and Conservation Advisory Council been involved? Because we’ve known about the sale and vacancy for a very long time as a village; and, questions and concerns over the potential density as permitted via the draft code amendment (192+ units/~19 units per acre), coupled with the lack of a full environmental review (SEQRA) and sewage treatment related to the project. Other questions? Why didn’t we work with the owner of the property to secure an historic landmark designation and has water runoff into the neighborhoods below been considered? 

The bottom line is that these questions are just the tip of the iceberg. Engagement with the developer by a select group of village officials had been ongoing, but the announcement of the pending sale (March 6, Deputy Mayor Snaden) followed by the public hearing request (April 3, Mayor Garant) ostensibly came from out of the blue for the rest of us and now we are playing catch up and the residents are as well. 

There should have been more discussion about this building in the public sphere — years if not months ago; i.e., the ARC, CAC, Port Jefferson Historical Society, all could have been engaged. 

Is it too late? We will see. But because the developer is working within a “timeline” as described by the mayor, this has suddenly become an urgent, time-sensitive matter. The public hearing remains open for three weeks. 

I’d like to hear the public’s response to this and encourage feedback. What I heard May 1 was important, if not concerning. Please contact me at [email protected] if you have additional feedback.

Lauren Sheprow, Trustee

Village of Port Jefferson

Maryhaven: a potential spot zoning case

I was surprised to learn at the May 1 standing-room-only public hearing that the mayor, deputy mayor and village attorney have been in discussions with the developer for the proposed Maryhaven project for well over a year. Yet the first time the residents were made aware of this proposal was at a March 6 Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees meeting.

 While I applaud the Board of Trustees for their interest in preserving the historic Maryhaven building, their solution — changing the village code to achieve this goal — seems like the classic definition of spot zoning. This is the practice of singling out a specific property for a special zoning designation that differs from surrounding properties — an approach that is controversial and subject to challenge. During the hearing, the village attorney and mayor repeatedly said the purpose of the zone change was to preserve this historic building.

 Significant concerns were raised about the scope and scale of the Maryhaven redevelopment that would be facilitated by the “relaxing” of existing limits in our code. Many good alternatives to the proposed code change were offered both by residents and trustees Lauren Sheprow and Rebecca Kassay. But there was near universal opposition to changing the village code to accommodate this project because of its potential for adverse impacts to this property and for other parts of the village.

If the village is serious about historic preservation, we need to explore code changes that would apply to more than just a single property. Also, funding opportunities for historic preservation should be vigorously researched and a report issued so that the village can make fully informed land use decisions.

Virginia Capon

Port Jefferson

Editor’s note: The writer formerly served as Port Jefferson Village trustee and chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Character assassination in PJ mayoral race

I came home from the May 1 Village of Port Jefferson public hearing elated. Village Hall was packed with residents who were there to weigh in on a code change that would affect the development of the Maryhaven building, encompassing people from all political stripes. Yet, here we were engaging in civil discourse and united in the goal of trying to find the best solutions for our community.

So I was stunned when I received a letter, the very next day, which can only be described as a character assassination on one of our mayoral candidates. The unsigned letter, which had no return address, purported to be from a “concerned villager,” and proceeded to attack trustee Lauren Sheprow in a vile manner.

I have the pleasure of knowing both candidates and refuse to believe either of them would ever condone such ugly politicking.

Last year, when we had an unusually competitive trustee campaign, the candidates remained civil. I trust Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden to maintain an even higher level of courtesy and respect, and am confident she will publicly condemn this offensive attack on her colleague.

Going forward, I hope all candidates will urge over-ardent supporters to refrain from personal assaults and focus on issues villagers care about.

Kathleen McLane

Port Jefferson

Snaden: a seasoned leader

It has recently come to my attention that we have an open mayor’s seat in the Village of Port Jefferson’s election taking place this June. Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden is running for the open seat, as well as newly elected trustee Lauren Sheprow.

We need to be mindful that the mayor’s office is no longer a place where a neophyte can just step in. The village is a small city, with two major hospitals, a train station, deep water harbor, school district, two business districts, large federal FEMA grants and major redevelopment projects underway uptown. It takes a seasoned, experienced person to be able to run this village and the $11.37 million budget in place.

Having been a trustee for less than one year, Sheprow does not bring experience to the table. She is rather in the middle of a very large learning curve, seeing to the day-to-day “ins and outs” of village policies, New York State law and municipal government — never mind the obligations of the mayor’s office. She has in fact, confessed herself on many occasions in public meetings that she hasn’t done a budget before and hasn’t run a public hearing.

On the other hand, you have Deputy Mayor Snaden, who has been working for years under the tutelage of Mayor Margot Garant. Snaden is a seasoned, experienced proven leader, with her own perspective and innovative ideas who is ready to take control.

In this election cycle, Sheprow would keep her seat if she loses her bid for mayor and would remain a trustee. If, on the other hand, Sheprow is elected we will have in office a neophyte mayor, and we will lose Snaden as she gives up her trustee position to run for mayor. 

So, I ask you: Why would we vote for a rookie and lose the lead pitcher, when we can have them both on our team? Don’t forget, the last time a Garant [Jeanne] left office to an inexperienced mayor, our taxes went up. Let’s not let history repeat itself.

Lauren Auerbach

Port Jefferson

Vote ‘no’ on the May 16 school bond vote

My name is Teri Powers. I’m 63 years old, widowed, a resident and homeowner for 37 years.

Currently, we are on the LIPA tax burden (glide path), in which we have experienced increases in our tax bill, but the lion’s share of this burden is a result of that settlement, which will increase our current taxes by over 35% by the year 2027.

The Port Jefferson School District Board of Education is proposing a $15.9 million capital bond vote on Tuesday, May 16, at the high school between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. A similar bond vote was defeated in December 2022. Please renew your enthusiasm and defeat this bond again.

Teri Powers

Port Jefferson

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation.

Email letters to: [email protected]

or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

Gwen Beloti

For the month of May, the Reboli Center for Art and History is showcasing the beautiful work of jewelry designer Gwen Beloti.

Gwen Beloti

A love of fashion and accessories resulted in a career in the jewelry business for Beloti. A native of Brooklyn, she is a certified fashion apparel designer and a self- taught jewelry creator. For many years she was an apparel designer and in 2019 started to pursue jewelry design after taking several classes in jewelry assembly.

Her jewelry designs are of high quality and perfect for everyday wear.

“The aesthetic is the balance of minimalism and subtle statement. Our pieces are inclusive with extended sizes available and customization options,” said Beloti.

The jewelry designer is inspired by many things she sees in the city, by shapes, art and the jewelry she has collected over the years. When something sparks an idea, she tries to get it down on paper or on the computer and work on it until it comes to fruition. “I’ve learned to be patient with the process because the piece is never the best it can be at the first attempt, and it gets better with time, thought, consideration and iteration,” she said.

Beloti’s jewelry is in gold because she loves its luster and hues. The first piece she created was a gold necklace with Brooklyn spelled across that front, which she still wears today. For the first time, the summer 2023 Gwen Beloti Jewelry line will include a new collection featuring diamonds.

Recently, the Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative with the National Diamond Council selected Beloti to be one of six designers to create a fine jewelry collection of gold and diamonds to be showcased at JCK in Las Vegas, the largest jewelry show in the world.

The Gwen Beloti Jewelry Collection

Although jewelry has been her passion and career, Beloti has a master’s in Psychology and started college when she was 16. She has always had a great appreciation for education and many of her teachers have had a lasting impact on her. She believes in giving back to her community and started a program where local residents nominate a special educator for a golden recognition. Those selected are presented with a piece from the Gwen Beloti Jewelry line, as a token of appreciation for the work they do. Each year, she also donates a portion of her sales to the nonprofit organization Little Dresses for Africa, which provides assistance to young girls throughout Africa.

“I met Gwen at a trade show and was so impressed by her collection and her enthusiasm for creating something beautiful that would make her customers feel special and appreciated,” said Lois Reboli, a founder of the Reboli Center.

On May 19, at the Reboli Center’s Third Friday, Gwen will discuss her artistic journey, craft and career. The talk is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 7:30 p.m. There is no fee and no reservations are required. Light refreshments will be served. Doors open at 6 p.m.

Gwen Beloti’s jewelry is available at the Reboli Center, located at 64 Main Street, Stony Brook. Operating hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, please call 631-751-7707 or visit www.rebolicenter.org

Pictured are designer Gwen Beloti and the Gwen Beloti Jewelry Collection

METRO photo

Long Island has an impending garbage crisis, and the Town of Brookhaven is at the center of it. As Brookhaven voters prepare to elect their next town supervisor and town council representatives, they must keep this garbage issue at the top of their minds.

Given the complexity of municipal government and the scope of its influence, a local election can never be reduced to a single issue. Still, the Brookhaven Town landfill will have an outsized role in townwide elections this year, affecting every resident in the town and citizens across Long Island.

Opened in 1974, the Brookhaven landfill is the largest on Long Island and the centerpiece of waste collection for the region. In a 2019 thesis paper, Katlin Stath wrote, “the landfill isn’t isolated from the rest of Long Island since it is an integral part of the functioning of the Island’s waste management system.”

However, the landfill is near capacity, with plans in place to close the facility to construction and demolition debris by next year, and expectations to close the site completely two years later. The impending landfill closure, therefore, represents one of the great environmental, governmental and social dilemmas of our time.

Brookhaven Deputy Supervisor Dan Panico (R-Manorville) and Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant, a Democrat, have won their respective party’s nominations for this year’s contest for town supervisor. Six months from Election Day, it is time for both candidates to begin preparing comprehensive proposals for this facility.

Though the exact figure is difficult to pinpoint, the landfill is estimated to represent two-fifths of the town’s public revenue. How do the candidates for supervisor plan to make up for the loss of income? Will the town increase taxes on residents? Are there other ways to boost revenue without raising taxes amid this inflationary period?

While the plans are imprecise, officials across levels of government seem poised to begin shipping our trash off the Island by rail. Though garbage-by-rail occurs in other places around the country, is it the optimal solution to our problem? We remind leaders that any plan for shipping trash on train lines must be environmentally and ecologically sustainable.

Our mass transit network on Long Island is dilapidated to begin with. Many residents along the North Shore commute to Manhattan via Jamaica in railcars powered by diesel, a 19th-century-era technology. Will our garbage crisis compel the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to electrify the Port Jefferson Branch once and for all?

How will moving garbage by rail affect other facets of our transportation network, such as our roadways, waterways and airways? It seems plausible that adding greater volume to our rails will incentivize riders to drive, potentially compounding our traffic congestion troubles.

Finally, we suspect the landfill may have harmed generations of residents of North Bellport and Yaphank, who have endured the possible detrimental health and environmental impacts of living in close proximity to this site.

We regret that the Brookhaven Town Board voted unanimously last year to gerrymander Council District 4 — which includes North Bellport and Yaphank — disempowering the most important voices in this landfill closure dialogue, potentially denying them a true champion on the Town Board to expedite the facility’s closure.

We nonetheless encourage both candidates for town supervisor to coordinate closely with the residents of that hamlet and members of the Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group, an advocacy organization that has fought for years to close this facility.

While decisions over the landfill closure are ongoing, Brookhaven citizens will have a stake in this effort. The November election for supervisor and Town Council represents a unique opportunity for the public to guide this process.

We encourage residents to start preparing their questions and for candidates to start preparing their answers. With six months until Election Day, let the landfill conversation get rolling. Permanent closure is just around the corner.