The WPKN LOCAL NEWS is prepared from various sources including CTNewsJunkie.com, CT Mirror.org, and Long Island Patch sites.

Thanks to Brendan O’Reilly of Southampton Patch, WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus and Dita Varleta..

Interested listeners can join WPKN’s team of volunteer news editors – who work at home – by sending an email to EastEndNewsTeam@yahoo.com.

_______________________________________________

Thursday, April 4

At noon today, Governor Dannel Malloy signed gun control and mental health-related legislation prepared by a bi-partisan group of Connecticut legislators.

The bill passed the state House of Representatives 105 votes to 44 and the State Senate by a vote of 26 to 10..

The legislation would require universal background checks for purchasers of all firearms, and expand the state’s existing ban on assault weapons such as the AR-15 used by the Newtown shooter. Magazines holding more than 10 rounds could not be sold or purchased.

But owners of large-capacity magazines would not be required to turn them in. Their use would be restricted and they would have to be registered with the state by Jan. 1, 2014. Those who already own semiautomatic rifles defined as assault weapons could keep them if they submit to new registration procedures.

Beginning Oct. 1, all purchases of ammunition and long guns would require an eligibility certificate. A federal criminal background check would be required to purchase ammunition. A dangerous weapon offender registry will be created and penalties for illegal gun trafficking will be expanded.

The Hartford Courant reported that yesterday, hours before the legislative proceedings began, hundreds of gun owners jammed the halls of the Capitol – some carrying signs such as “Connecticut is the unconstitutional state,” and many breaking into occasional chants of “just say no!” They booed at gun control supporters who went by.

The governor, a strong gun supporter, canceled a scheduled appearance yesterday at an autism group’s event in a Capitol room near the Senate, after state police decided it would be unwise for him to pass through the crowd.

——————————-

The legislation signed into law today also includes provisions relating to mental health.

These include offering a “mental health first aid” program to help educators recognize signs of mental illness. Also doubling the number of teams providing intensive support to people with serious persistent mental illness living in the community

Provisions of the legislation relating to health insurance include:

requiring insurers to make faster decisions about whether certain urgent mental health and substance-abuse services will be covered, and making it easier for consumers to see what criteria carriers use in determining if care is covered.

The legislation does not include requirements that commercial insurers cover specific services. Private plans typically cover fewer mental health services than Medicaid does.

—————————————————–

Governor Dannel Malloy will pick the new head of the governing board of the state’s largest public college system.

Board of Regents Chairman Lewis Robinson said of the three finalists, “Which ever one he chooses, we have a fine leader.”

State law requires the board to forward just one name for the governor’s approval but the governeor has requested three names. The three finalists visited Connecticut last month to meet faculty, staff and the public. They are Jack R. Warner, the leader of six of South Dakota’s public universities since 2009; Gregory W. Gray, head of Riverside Community College in California since 2009; and Jay V. Kahn, interim president of Keene State College in New Hampshire.

East Hampton Town’s motion to dismiss a suit launched by beachfront homeowners over beach erosion was denied, allowing the case to proceed in Federal court.

More than 40 homes, as well as motels and cooperative apartments in Culloden Shores a neighborhood of about 400 homes are directly on the beach. Many of them have suffered storm damage as a result of about 300 feet of eroded beach and dunes.

The lawsuit alleges that the Montauk Harbor Jetties caused catastrophic erosion and damage to the public and private beaches, sand dunes and homes west of the jetties.

The area faces Long Island and Block Island Sounds and is across from southeastern Connecticut.

The homeowners’ attorney, says the town should begin to include the area in its sand replenishment projects that followed Superstorm Sandy.

_____________________________________________________________

Wednesday, April 3

This is national Public Health Week. While deaths and injuries by gun is considered by many to be a public health issue, there are many other issues that have seen progress over the years.

Writing in the CT News Junkie, columnist Paul Gionfriddo says spending on public health (as a percentage of all health spending) has doubled in the last fifty years.

But It is still less than 3 percent of our national health budget.

Among the biggest public health successes he and others point to is removing lead from paint and gasoline, since ingesting lead leads to brain damage and other problems.

Other biggies are control of air pollution, banning smoking in public places, fluoridating water, sewer separation, the oral polio vaccine, and promotion of nutrition and exercise – even if Americans have a long way to go in those departments.

——————————————–

The Hartford Courant reports that Marlin Firearms Company closed its plant in North Haven last Friday after 141 years of manufacturing.

Marlin was acquired in 2008 by Remington Arms Company, a subsidiary of Freedom Group Compny. of Madison, North.Carolina. Three years ago, Marlin employed 345 people at its headquarters in North Haven and 225 in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Remington said in March 2010 that it would close the North Haven Marlin plant, which had 265 employees at that point. The company has been at the North Haven location since 1968 when it moved from New Haven.

Marlin was founded when John M. Marlin left Colt in 1870 and started manufacturing his own line of revolvers and derringers.

Remington said last year that it was consolidating manufacturing because of “intense” competition in the market.

Remington also closed a Bushmaster’s plant in Windham, Maine, and is moving operations from both the North Haven and Maine facilities to plants in Ilion, New York and Mayfield, Kentucky.

At the upstate New York plant the company said it plans to add nearly 100 jobs and spend $5 million in three years. Remington is expected to add 100 jobs and invest $5 million at the Kentucky facility.

Remington will receive grants totaling about $2.5 from New York State and incentives and grants totaling close to $5 million from Kentucky.

—————————-

Members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation voted Tuesday in their annual Tribal Trustees election on Long Island. There were eight candidates in total to serve on the three-member board.

The top vote-getter, was Daniel Collins Sr., who will serve as chairman. Also earning trustee seats were D.Taobi Silva, and Brad Smith.

Among the other candidates were Lance Gumbs, and Gordell Wright, who were elected in 2012 but were ousted last summer — in a move they contend had no basis in law.

——————————————–

Firefighters spent more than an hour dealing with a brush fire that broke out in East Hampton on Wednesday afternoon, preventing it from spreading further, during a period of time in which the entire island is under an increase threat of brush fires.

The National Weather Service has placed all of Long Island in a Fire Weather Watch (a red flag alert) through 8 pm this evening, as very dry air and dried vegetation could lead to more brush fires. The alert may be extended.

The cold front that pushed through the northeast on Monday afternoon brought with it extremely dry air with low relative humidity, leading to the area having conditions that could lead to a brush fire outbreak.

Long Island faced a period of wildfire outbreaks last year, when a dry air mass lasted over the area for a few weeks. Large fires swept across wooded and residential areas in the Town of Brookhaven.

The General Assembly’s leadership finalized a bipartisan response Monday to the Sandy Hook school massacre. They scheduled a vote for tomorrow on a sweeping bill that imposes new restrictions on the purchase and ownership of firearms and ammunition in Connecticut.

The deal will create the nation’s first gun-offender registry, require universal background checks for all gun purchases and ban the future sale of large-capacity ammo magazines. Magazines now legally owned will have to be registered with the state.

In a upbeat press conference, leaders of both parties said no further gun legislation is anticipated this session, though lawmakers are open to further action addressing school security and mental health issues. The bill establishes a School Safety Infrastructure Council that will develop safety standards for school building projects.

The legislation will expand the state’s existing assault weapons law, applying the ban to an estimated 100 new weapons. It creates a new crime of the illegal possession of ammunition.

Robert Crook, who represents sportsmen at the Capitol, said most of the legislation would be a burden to sports shooters, while doing little for public safety. He said the universal background checks, even for private sales, were a good idea, even though they are opposed by the National Rifle Association.

The bill also addresses the related issues of school security and mental health. It requires the state insurance department to evaluate and report on its method for determining compliance with state and federal laws regarding coverage of mental health treatment.

Meantime, in Washington, the Senate has received an N.R.A. proposal to place armed guards in every school in the country. With the Senate set to debate gun control legislation next week, the National Rifle Association on Tuesday made good on its promise to develop a plan to train and arm security guards at every school in the nation.

—————————–

As Congress moves closer to an overhaul of federal immigration policy, a dozen local pro-immigrant activists sat in at Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s office in downtown New Haven today to press her to speak out more forcefully on the issue, and especially on one case. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus reports.

Listen here:

—————————————————

The tumult at the Bridgeport Board of Education, which runs over 30 schools and is the State’s largest second-largest district, continues with a new court challenge.

The State deposed the elected Board three years ago, and replaced it with a five-member board chosen by the State Department of Education, but that action was overturned by the Courts last year.

The appointed Board then selected Paul Valla to be Superintendent . However, State law requires superintendents to meet certain standards, including completion of a training program to be developed by the 11-member State Board of Education. Valla was given one year to pass the course, which he was unable to do since such a course was never developed, and was hired on a probationary basis.

Fifteen months having passed, the appointed Bridgeport Board of Education gave Mr. Valla a three-year contract at an annual salary at over $230,000 . That action is now the subject of a new lawsuit which declares Mr. Valla of not being qualified, despite the fact he formerly led the New Orleans, Chicago, and Philadelphia schools. The suit asks that Superintendent be removed forthwith.

—————————

The deadline to apply for the affordable rental apartments in downtown Riverhead has been extended to May 1.

Summerwind, 52 the four-story residential/commercial building under construction on Peconic Avenue, will house a Bridgehampton National Bank financial services center, restaurants and 52 units of housing.

The apartments offered are efficiency, one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental units. The apartments will remain affordable in perpetuity.

The units will be affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income, with half of the units being affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the area median income. Rents for efficiency and one-bedroom units are expected to range from about 900 to 1300 dollars depending on tenants income. Two Bedroom units will rent for about 1600 dollars.

County Executive Steve Bellone said. “Providing additional housing options for our local workforce is critical to continue the revitalization of this up and coming downtown.”

Bellone said the Long Island Housing Partnership will screen applicants and conduct a lottery. Details are available by calling the Long Island Housing Partnership at 631-435-4710. An application can also be downloaded from the Suffolk County website.

——————————————————

The families of victims’ of the Newtown shooting spoke to reporters at the capitol in Hartford this morning.

They were forceful about their desire to see 30 round magazines banned.

Nicole Hockley, the mother of Dylan, one of the victims said, “We specifically want an up or down vote on the banning of these large capacity magazines. No grandfathering clause”

Search warrants from state prosecutors confirmed that 154 bullets were fired in less than five minutes killing 20 children and six educators.

William Sherlach, the husband of the school psychologist, said he wonders what would have happened if the gunman was forced to reload 15 times with smaller magazines than the six times he reloaded the 30 round magazines.

He said lawmakers must ban even existing high capacity magazines because if they don’t they’re “leaving a gaping loophole… By not closing that loophole, people will be able to purchase high capacity magazines in other states and bring them back to Connecticut and claim they owned them prior to the ban.

Gun groups have argued that forcing them to give up their high-capacity magazine constitutes confiscation of property they purchased while it was legal.

Lawmakers were to meet behind closed-doors this afternoon to discuss the various proposals. At the end. Sen. John McKinney, the Fairfield Republican, said he believes it will be the most “comprehensive package” of gun legislation in the country.

————————————————-

Connecticut State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo reported a $91 million deficit Monday in the state’s chief operating fund. That’s a $40 million improvement from the shortfall projected one month ago. That change is due largely to an unanticipated surge in estate tax receipts.

But the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) also is tracking improvement in the state’s fiscal outlook, both in terms of rising revenues and shrinking expenditures.

OFA analysts are projecting a $50 million deficit in the general fund, a reduction from the $128 million shortfall the office projected one month ago.

Both Lembo and legislative analysts noted that more fiscal improvement could be seen in the coming months if income tax filings around the April 15 deadline show more economic growth statewide.

Lembo said.”Connecticut’s economy is showing signs of a moderate, but steady, recovery,”

——————————————

The Albany Times-Union reports that an advocacy organization created to support Governor Andrew Cuomo’s agenda was the state’s top lobbying group in 2012. The information comes from the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE)

The Committee to Save New York is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation created with the governor’s blessing just after his election in 2010.

Next on JCOPE’s top-spenders list is the Exxon Mobil Corporation, which spent most of its $2.1 million on print advertising to boost the natural gas technique known as hydrofracking. Major League Soccer spent 2.1 million in support of an attempt to build a stadium on New York City parkland in Queens.

Others on the list include the United Federation of Teachers, Wall Mart Stores, Inc, The New York Hospital Association and the civil service union AFSCME as well as other unions.

————————————-

Here’s more on lobbying and the controversy about fracking in New York State.

The pro-fracking Independent Oil and Gas Association filed a complaint with the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, asking it to look into the apparent failure of Artists Against Fracking, an organization that includes Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon, to file as a lobbying organization.

AAFs activity includes ad buys and the release of a video for the environ-Freudian freak-folk song “Don’t Frack My Mother”.

A statement from AAF says “Yoko and Sean, as true with many New Yorkers, have expressed concerns about fracking, participated in the submission of comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation, and visited Albany with their own resources. As such, neither Yoko, Sean, nor their “Artists Against Fracking” endeavor have been required to be registered lobbyists. If there is a need to register, of course that will occur.”

——————————————————————————————

After reviewing details from the Newtown shooting investigation, legislative leaders from both parties plan to meet in private with rank-and-file lawmakers Monday to discuss negotiated gun control legislation. A vote on a bill is expected as early as Wednesday.

Legislative leaders have been working for weeks to negotiate a bipartisan bill in response to the shooting and have requested as much information as possible to inform their legislation.

The Senate President, Democrat Donald Williams, said the sheer number of weapons found in the gunman’s household confirms lawmakers have been “on the right track” as they’ve negotiated what is expected to be a historic package of gun control measures.

Senate Minority Leader, Republican John McKinney said that the warrants confirmed what lawmakers already knew: the shooter was a troubled person who had access to firepower and ammunition.

——————————————————

A coalition of Connecticut labor, faith, environmental and business groups held a press conference at the Capitol Thursday to call for upholding the state’s renewable energy portfolio while creating jobs. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus has more.

Speakers said Senate Bill 1138 would roll back part of Connecticut’s renewable energy requirement of 20 percent renewables by 2020 by carving out up to 4.5 percent of that for big hydropower from Canada. That form of energy has not been considered a Class I renewable. Chris Phelps with Environment Connecticut said that move would create jobs in Canada.

These groups also object to what they say is the speed with which the legislation is being pushed through, since the legislature is moving toward a vote even though the public comment period on the bill ends May 13.

Opponents of the hydro component say they support another piece of the bill, which would create long-term contracts for wind energy.

Melinda Tuhus, WPKN News.

——————————–

Thursday, Governor Dannel Malloy named former state Senator Edith Prague as the commissioner of the new State Department on Aging. Ms. Prague is 87.

She returns to state government after stints as a state representative and state senator, and a tumultuous and ultimately unhappy tenure as the commissioner of aging under Governor Lowell Weicker Jr.

Weicker eventually eliminated the department, folding its functions into the Department of Social Services, earning him the everlasting

The Governor said the rationale for a stand-alone department was simple: Connecticut is aging. By 2030, more than 21 percent of the state’s population is expected to be of retirement age.

——————————————

Newsday reports the Feds are investigating the Southampton Town Police Department,

A source close to the case says the U.S. attorney’s office got involved this month after it received documents about a number of alleged problems in the department.

Newsday obtained documents earlier this month that alleged the Street Crime unit had unsecured baggies of crack, methamphetamine and prescription painkillers in its office

Police Chief Robert Pearce says that evidence from the department’s disbanded Street Crime Unit that had gone missing has now resurfaced.

Newsday also reported that documents provided to the U.S. attorney’s office included felony and misdemeanor charges that former Police Chief William Wilson had prepared against the former commander of the Street Crimes Unit, Lieutenant. James Kiernan.

The charges allege that Kiernan changed time sheets indicating days he worked.

But Kiernan’s attorney, Raymond Perini, told Patch, “There was no substance to the allegation. It was totally investigated and there was no wrongdoing found”

—————————————————–

Brookhaven Town supervisor Ed Romaine says the town is stepping up enforcement against unscrupulous landlords who rent single rooms in a single-family house. This comes in response to a housing problem in the Stony Brook area, where investors purchase houses and illegally rent to University students. Seven or more tenants are living in a single family home.

The Town is proposing to increase fines levied against residents who purposefully violate town housing codes.to as much at $10,000, and reducing the length of rental permits from two years to one.

The town board is expected to vote on these amendments at its April 2 meeting.

Wednesday, March 28

Lanza killed 26 children and educators in less than five minutes, firing 154 rounds from a Bushmaster XM15 military-style rifle. He was prepared to kill far more: Police found three more 30-round magazines on him, with another 15 rounds in his rifle.

The first new on-the-record details from law enforcement came in search-warrant documents unsealed by the Superior Court and in a written statement from Danbury State’s Attorney Stephen J. Sendensky III, who is overseeing the investigation.

Lanza killed himself in one of two classrooms he attacked, clad in military gear.

His mother, Nancy Lanza, was discovered at their home, dead in bed, shot once in the forehead. A rifle was on the floor. There were no signs of a struggle, and a gun safe was unlocked.

The state police affidavits and inventories of the items seized at two crime scenes, the Lanza home and Sandy Hook Elementary, described a home chock full of guns and ammo, including four weapons in a safe kept in Adam’s bedroom, near a gaming console and clippings of other mass killings.

Three books were seized. Two were about autism: “Look me in the eye, my life with Aspergers,” and “Born on a blue day – Inside the mind of an autistic savant.”

Neighbors and classmates of Mr. Lanza have said he had an autism variant known as Asperger syndrome, though investigators have never confirmed this.

The third book was the “NRA guide to the basics of pistol shooting.”

Governor Dannel Malloy, referring to the Bushmaster rifle and magazines containing 30 rounds, said “This is exactly why we need to ban high capacity magazines and why we need to tighten our assault weapons ban. The time to act is now.”

Anticipating today’s release, legislators gave up on an effort to bring a gun-control bill to a vote this week. Debate is expected next Wednesday in the Connecticut General Assembly on a bill that would ban the sale of military-style rifles such as the AR-15, as well as magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The XM15 is Bushmaster’s version of the AR-15.

__________________________________________________

Senator Dick Blumenthal joined three Yale experts on climate science and communication for a panel discussion at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Wednesday night. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus was there:

Blumenthal said the country lacks but needs an energy policy

He pointed out that Connecticut leads the nation in fuel cell production, and more jobs could be created to produce renewable energy of all kinds if they are not undercut by the boom in fracking for natural gas.

One expert on the panel said the jury’s still out on fracking’s impact, while another panelist, Nadine Unger, said its impact is overall negative.

The forum was co-sponsored by the Sierra Club, which is calling for shutting down Connecticut’s last coal-fired power plant, in Bridgeport.

—————————————-

A provision of New York’s new gun control law , that would prohibit the sale of 10-bullet magazines was suspended.

The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law on January 15 of this year banned the sale of magazines holding more than seven bullets.

The law was set to go into effect on April 15.

However, according to the new amendment, eight-, nine- or 10-bullet capacity magazines will still be available for purchase after that date. Gun manufacturers do not yet make seven-round magazines. Still, gun owners will be able to load no more than seven bullets into the 10-round magazines.

Gun-rights supporters point to the many minor changes as proof the law is riddled with problems because it was passed in haste, and some are still calling for a full repeal.

Governor Cuomo has indicated he remains open to tweaking the existing law, but has no plans for a full repeal.

He said “You need a system and government regulation to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.”

____________________________________________________

Wednesday, March 27

A plan proposed by Governor Malloy would require the state’s two wholesale electricity providers, CL&P and UI to stop dealing with end users. The State would auction off the customer lists and accounts to the highest bidders. It is hoped the auction would net the state some $80 Million.

Opponents of the Governor’s plan believe that the 400,000 customers currently billed directly by CL&P and UI, will be acquired by alternate vendors who will seek to recoup their auction bids by charging higher rates. The alternate vendors will be free of State regulation, and that prospect has resulted in spirited opposition from AARP and other consumer groups. Allegations of misleading advertising and bait-and-switch practices abound, and the prospect of customers having to pay penalties to switch companies, rankles many voters.

Cellular telephone subscribers who have been “locked in” to a particular cellphone company, and find a lower rate from another vendor for the same service, may recognize these issues.

DEEP Spokesman Dennis Schain said the unique proposal is intended to create real competition and thereby force prices lower. But each vendor could adjust its rates, on a monthly basis anytime after the first year. Further, the accounts to be auctioned would be without the consent of the customers and any change could invoke a cancellation fee.

But the DEEP believes it can tailor Malloy’s proposal to meet those objections.

——————————–

The Connecticut Regulations Review Committee postponed action Tuesday on changing marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug as it prepares to legalize the drug for medical purposes.

Approving the regulation is one step toward legalization, but some members of the committee felt they didn’t have enough information to take a vote so it was postponed until next month.

Representative Vincent Candelora, of North Branford, said he’s concerned about approving a regulation that would put Connecticut at odds with federal laws and regulations regarding marijuana.

Legislators have gotten conflicting rulings on that issue. In addition to changing the classification of marijuana, the Department of Consumer Protection is getting ready to open up public comment on regulations for the licensing, growing, and distribution of the drug.

—————————————-

The Southampton Town Board and the Southampton Town Trustees have authorized a $434,000 project for the remediation of Water Mill’s Mill Pond.

The pond was the site of a massive fish kill in 2008.

The pond will be given an application of Phoslock, a clay based proprietary substance to prevent harmful algal blooms. The algae can be potentially dangerous for humans and were responsible for the fish kill,

Phoslock is designed to capture phosphorus from septic systems and fertilizer. Phosphorus gets to water bodies through groundwater and storm water runoff, and can produce algal blooms.

The trustees previously cordoned off a channel of Mill Pond last year to test the procedure. After the successful trial run, they are ready to try it on the whole pond starting the first week of April.

Over the course of the next year, tests will be taken to monitor the water quality and efforts will also be taken to reduce any future runoff into the pond.

———————————

The Southold Town Board held a public hearing Tuesday night to discuss a proposed dog leash law.

Town Supervisor Scott Russell began the hearing by saying the resolution to vote on amendments to the town code — which would have required that dogs on town beaches be leashed — would be tabled.

The town code as it currently stands does not allow for dogs on public beaches at all.

Russell said he believed the town needed to act soon — but that compromise should be key.

Last year a Mattituck resident was attacked by a dog on the beach.

Russell said that the discussion did not arise out of that incident but by a growing number of concerns expressed by residents in the Town

After comments from the public on various sides of the issue the board closed the hearing and agreed to set a date for a public forum.

——————————————————————————————-

Dozens of activists from around the state held a rally outside the downtown New Haven branch of TD Bank on Saturday morning, targeting its financial support for the Keystone XL pipeline, which they oppose. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus was there.

Organizer Anthony Sourge, with the group Capitalism Versus the Climate, explained the issue to a curious passerby.

Listen here

Organizers included 350 CT.Protesters said TD Bank has made almost a billion dollars in corporate loans to TransCanada to fund the pipeline project.

Asked for comment, a bank spokesman wrote in an email that TD Bank “supports responsible energy development and employs due diligence in our financing and investing activities relating to energy production.” It also claims on its website to be carbon-neutral in its corporate operations.

Melinda Tuhus, WPKN News.

—————————————————

U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy said Connecticut’s ability to act swiftly on comprehensive gun control could affect national policy, and its failure to act would also send a message.

Gun control will be the first non-budget issue the U.S. Senate tackles after the spring recess. Blumenthal and Murphy said their Capitol Hill colleagues have been asking what steps Connecticut has taken in the wake of the Newtown shooting nearly 100 days ago.

At a press conference Monday in Blumenthal’s Hartford office Murphy said “It would be a tragedy if Connecticut didn’t pass a law that was the strongest in the nation,”.

Blumenthal said there has been enough time for Connecticut to act and it should act.

He added that if a national ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were in effect on Dec. 14, some of the 20 children and six adults killed by the gunman might be alive today.

Murphy said the most important piece of the assault weapons ban is the ban on high-capacity magazine clips.

Connecticut’s legislative leaders continue to work behind closed-doors to craft a legislative response to the tragedy, but no final bill has been completed.

——————————————————

The Suffolk Times reports more than 100 different pesticide-related chemicals have been detected in Long Island’s groundwater since 1996. That’s according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

To prevent future pesticide contamination, the DEC has released a draft version of a strategy aimed at protecting Long Island’s waters. Its goal is to establish effective pest management, while protecting the Island’s waters.

A public hearing on the Long Island Pesticide Use Management Plan (LIPUMP).will be held by the DEC on Wednesday, April 3 from 7 to 9 PM at the Suffolk County Community College Eastern Campus in Riverhead.

A summary of the plan and the Draft Strategy are available at EastHampton.Patch.com. Search for “LIPUMP”

If you cannot attend the hearings, please send your written comments on the Draft Strategy, by 5pm April 30, 2013

via fax to : 518-402-9024

Comments on the Draft Strategy, may be sent by 5pm April 30 by email to

LongIslandStrategy@gw.dec.state.ny.us

—————————-

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine is considering selling the former Town Tax Receiver’s building on Port Jefferson’s Main Street.

Romaine said that selling it could reduce the amount the town would have to dip into its reserve funds at the end of 2013. He estimated it could yield the town anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million.

The Long Island Music Hall of Fame (LIMHOF) has planned the building as their future home.

The Hall of Fame and Brookhaven Town entered into a 15-year lease agreement on the building two years ago. Romaine said he believes LIMHOF may be in default for failing to pay rent and possibly failing to insure itself.

LIMHOF Chair Jeffrey James said they have “absolutely not” breached any terms of its lease with the town.

It remains unclear whether Port Jefferson Village would buy the property should it become available. Mayor Margot Garant has directed the village attorney to reach out to Brookhaven’s law department to see how to get the village involved.

—————————————–

Families of some of the Newtown victims traveled Friday to Hartford to speak with legislators. Some who spoke with reporters appeared to be unfazed by the pace of the ongoing negotiations.

A ban on high-capacity magazines has become a sticking point in negotiations between legislative leaders, who are struggling with whether to endorse an outright ban or to allow gun owners to keep the magazines they’ve already purchased.

Po Murray, of the Newtown Action Alliance, said they don’t believe anyone except for military personnel or police should be allowed to have magazines with more than 10 bullets.

She said they learned 152 shots were fired in five minutes on that “dreadful day.”

Murry added “The need to exchange an empty magazine for a loaded one is the only reason many children from Ms. Soto’s class were able to escape with their lives,”

Ron Pinciaro, executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said a ban on magazines is necessary because, unlike a gun, they can’t be traced and there would be no way to differentiate between those purchased before the ban and those bought after the ban.

Legislative leaders received a briefing Friday from state prosecutors conducting the investigation into the shooting.

____________________________

The Connecticut Correction Department’s early inmate release program was both praised and panned Friday as the Malloy administration touted its benefits and critics forced a hearing on legislation to eliminate it entirely.

The “Risk Reduction Credit” program was passed by the legislature in 2011 and allows the department to award inmates credits that can reduce their prison sentence by a maximum of five days a month.

The Malloy administration says inmates earn credits by participating in programs designed to ease their transitions back into society and reduce the likelihood they will commit another crime.

However, Republicans argue that the credits should not be available to inmates convicted of violent offenses.

The Governor has supported legislation that would statutorily require that violent offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being released from prison. He said that’s been the case already.

_________________________

On Long island, plans for a proposed green energy park will be pitched to the public at tonight’s Greenport Village board meeting at the Third Street Firehouse. The meeting was scheduled for 6pm

The plan, as described by Mayor David Nyce in January would harness wind, solar, and, possibly, tidal energy.

The green energy park would be built on the approximately nine acres of Village owned land at Clark’s Beach on Long Island Sound. The Mayor says that it would make the village energy independent.

Greenport operates its own electric company. Currently 75 percent of its energy usage comes from a Niagra Mohawk Power Corp. hydroelectric plant in Niagra Falls. The remaining 25 percent is purchased on the open market at a higher rate. That 25 percent, according to the mayor, constitutes 80 percent of a user’s energy bill.

The proposed facility would produce from 2 to 4 megawatts of power when demand exceeds that produced by the hydroelectric plant.

If approved, grants would be pursued. to fund the project.

__________________________

An internal investigation by the Southamton Town Police into the operation of the now defunct Street Crimes unit may be held up due to missing money and drugs tagged as evidence according to 27east.com and Patch.

The evidence had been stored in a secure room at police headquarters and was originally discovered by former Police Chief William Wilson.

Present Chief Robert Pearce asked to see the evidence for a new investigation

Wilson, who stepped down in November after 18 months on the job, recently told Patch that a police officer, Eric Sickles, whose job it was to conduct drug investigations, became addicted to prescription painkillers himself, under the noses of his supervisors.

The Suffolk County district attorney’s office initiated a review of more than 100 cases conducted by the Street Crimes Unit while Sickles was purportedly addicted. This led to the reversal of some convicted drug offenders sentences and to law suits brought against Southampton Town and its police officials by three of those convicted.

It has been over three months since the tragic event at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, which resulted in the deaths of 26 persons, most of them children. Yet there is no official report, which according to State Police may take several more months to complete, and which would be shared first with families of the victims.

However, the New york Daily News published an extensive article with critical details of the shooting based on a talk given by a State Trooper at a law-enforcement meeting in New Orleans.

Those details have been sought by state legislators to aid them in crafting new laws to prevent recurrences of such mass murders, but they’ve been withheld pending the release of the final report.

The State Police is now under fire from both parents’ groups and state officials for permitting the leak of information to occur, and Governor Malloy has asked prosecutors to look into the matter, with a deadline of March 29th. Malloy’s request to prosecutors comes amid criticisms from House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, who called the information State Police Colonel Danny Stebbins shared with other law enforcement officers at the conference in New Orleans, a “slap in the face,” to the families of the Newtown victims.

———————————————–

In New Haven Friday morning city, state, and federal officials gathered to break ground on the Downtown Crossing project.

The project is designed to undo the mistakes of half a century ago, when the city demolished hundreds of buildings and displaced hundreds of families to make way for a “mini-highway to nowhere.” Route. 34 will be filled in with “boulevard streets” and mixed-use buildings, designed to “knit together” the Hill with downtown New Haven .

The project is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs,

Work on the roads will continue until June 2014.

Gov. Dannel Malloy saluted the project and its potential to create new jobs. “That’s what we need to do in this state.

But Elm City Cycling’s Mark Abraham said that while he’s excited about the jobs that Downtown Crossing will create,the plans are still not as bike and pedestrian-friendly as they could be.

——————————————————-

For the second time the group “Save Main Road” has filed a suit against Riverhead Town for “improperly” awarding special use permits regarding the Village of Jamesport project. The group says the project will forever alter the character of their North Fork community.

The first suit was filed last August and was dismissed because the group lacked standing, by the New York State Supreme Court in January.

The refiled suit, is focused on voiding the permits issued by the town after the board issued special use permits that would allow for bistros and professional offices at the proposed development, known as The Village at Jamesport.

Special permits are necessary because current rural corridor zoning only allows for certain uses.

Larry Simms, of the “Save Main Road” group said “Our environment is our economy. If we despoil Main Road, our piece of the North Fork will stop being special. The more it looks like the rest of Long Island, the quicker agritourism will dry up.”

———————————————————–

Riverhead continues to explore green, sustainable ways of getting around town as construction of a new, federally funded alternative transportation path began this week.

The project kicked off Monday on Pier Avenue in Jamesport; funded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the plan provides $3.158 million in Federal Highway Administration grant funds to design and construct a town-wide alternative transportation path that will enhance pedestrian and bicycle access throughout the Town of Riverhead.

The path will extend from Enterprise Park at Calverton to Jamesport and connect businesses, schools, libraries, shopping areas, and recreation attractions, as well as existing bike and pedestrian routes.

The project is slated for completion by fall.

—————————————————————————-

Connecticut’s budget forecast has improved over the past month, according to Governor Malloy’s budget director, Ben Barnes. He predicted that the state will end the year with just under a $34 million deficit, down from $56 million last month. The forecast includes the results of the December deficit mitigation and the hiring freeze instituted on Jan. 22, but it does not include the impact of federal budget cuts. The biggest boost came from a $30 million rise in collections from the inheritance and estate tax. The biggest deficiency is still the $255 million Medicaid account. However, Barnes’s projections have been far rosier than those of state Comptroller Kevin Lembo and the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis.

————————————

Big city mayors and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities continued to campaign against Governor Malloy’s proposed two year budget Wednesday. They called the governor’s proposal to scrap car taxes for most residents by 2015 “dead on arrival” in the legislature. Malloy’s budget called for eliminating the tax on motor vehicles valued at $28,500 or less. The proposal would reduce cities’ and towns’ revenue by as much as $700 million. Malloy called the car tax one of the most regressive state taxes. He said “You own a car in Greenwich you’re charged less than 11 mills. You own a car in Hartford you’re charged 75 mills. It makes no sense”

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said, “The car tax is a lousy tax. But you can’t just take $17 or $18 million out of our budget without a plan to replace that.” Finch said he would support a proposal to have a statewide tax rate for cars, but that any proposal should be phased in over time.

———————————-

Advocates and opponents of a “right to die” bill testified at a hearing before the Public Health Committee in Hartford on Wednesday. The bill would allow doctors to prescribe, but not administer, lethal medication to a patient who is competent and terminally ill, with less than six months to live.

Supporters say it’s not an assisted suicide bill because the person would have to administer the medication to himself or herself. Supporters see it as a matter of compassion, individual choice, and a way to avoid suffering. Opponents see the potential for abuse, for people to be pressured into dying rather than being a burden, and for certain lives to be devalued, such as those with disabilities. ______________________________________________________

Southampton Town Police Officer Eric Sickles who was suspended by the Town Board last year was reinstated by the Board today by a unanimous vote.

Sickles was a member of the Town Police Department’s now-defunct Street Crime Unit, which conducted undercover drug investigations.

The officer is at the center of a controversy that also led to his commanding officer’s suspension plus a district attorney’s office review of more than 100 criminal cases — a review that has already resulted in at least three men’s convictions being thrown out.

Officer Sickles spent several months on medical leave related to a prescription painkiller dependency. Sickles was accused of working under the influence of a controlled substance between January 2010 and December 2011, sleeping on duty and failing to be fit for duty.

——————————————————

New legislation approved by the Suffolk County Legislature would prohibit the sale of energy drinks at county-run parks and beaches to those under the age of 18, while also limiting direct marketing efforts of these products to minors.

The bill awaits the signature of County Executive Steve Bellone.

Concession stands at county-owned parks will be permitted to stock popular energy beverages, but not sell them to minors. Similar limitations will affect four county-owned golf courses.

Special event vendors that sell food or drinks at various summer events at county parks would also be prevented from selling stimulant drinks to those who are underage.

———————————-

Business owners and others impacted by Hurricane Sandy have one week left to secure a disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration.(SBA).

The deadline to apply for the 30-year loans of up to $2 million is March 29

To meet with an SBA representative, business recovery centers have been set up at Islip Town Hall and Copiague Public Library. More information is at (800) 659-2955.

Members of the Connecticut Public Safety and Security Committee became the first lawmakers to cast votes on gun control legislation this session when they approved three non-controversial measures yesterday.

The committee passed proposals requiring criminal background checks for the private purchase of guns and new requirements to host gun shows. A third measure would reduce the acceptable blood-alcohol limit for hunters to mirror the state’s driving-while-intoxicated statutes.

As they’re written now, the three committee bills do not include any of the more controversial proposals, which have been under consideration in the months since the December 14 school shootings in Newtown.

————————————-

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment Commissioner Daniel Esty appears to have convinced the Energy and Technology Committee’s chairmen this week that the state should focus more of its renewable energy portfolio on wind, solar, and Canadian hydropower. But he didn’t win over everyone.

The suggested changes would come at the expense of the state’s current focus on biomass and landfill gas. Dozens of environmentalists and industry groups turned out Tuesday to testify against specific portions of the proposal, which calls for expanding the state’s renewable energy portfolio to 20 percent overall by 2020 and 25 percent by 2025, It allows for Connecticut to join states like Vermont and Massachusetts in investing in large-scale projects.

——————————————

About a hundred people representing labor, environmentalists and the faith community met at the Capitol Tuesday night for a Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus was there:

One speaker said that the labor movement was concerned that “green jobs” like home weatherization were not living wage jobs.

But Bryan Garcia, head of the Connecticut Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority, said the green workforce includes a range…

His agency provides financing for green enterprises of all kinds.

Baptist minister Tom Carr said his religious worldview recognizes that everyone is connected and dependent upon one another.

Attendees broke into small groups to discuss the obstacles they see to implementing a good green jobs policy, like the power of the fossil fuel industry over Congress or the lack of information available to Americans upon which to make good consumer decisions.

For WPKN, I’m Melinda Tuhus

——————————————————

Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes urged the House Committee on Appropriations to remove bureaucratic barriers that are preventing already-approved flood mitigation projects from moving forward.

He said Congress should allow the Army Corps of Engineers to use some of the $5.4 billion included in the Sandy relief package to conduct flood mitigation projects in Southwestern Connecticut.

In 2010, Himes secured authorizations for the Corps to conduct flood mitigation studies for Fairfield and New Haven Counties. These studies have not taken place because Congress put a block on funding any new projects due to the backlog of unfinished projects.

——————————————————-

Last week Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone called for closing a breach in Fire Island which he said was contributing to flooding in towns along Great South Bay.

Pro-breach residents believe the new cut at Fire Island’s Old Inlet isn’t causing more flooding and that closing it is a waste of taxpayer money.

In a posting on Patch, the residents say the inlet is not causing higher than normal bay tides and south shore flooding. They have initiated an online petition effort.

——————————————————

In a closely contested election in Greenport on Tuesday, Mary Bess Phillips and Julia Robins were elected as trustees on the village board.

They will serve on the board begining April 1 of this year through April 2 of 2017.

Robins and Phillips received the most votes. Former board member Bill Swiskey came in third.

Robins, who will be new on the board, said she would receive help from Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce and outgoing Trustee Chris Kempner. “I’ll be reading and studying,” she said. “I’m a fast learner. I’m really excited.”

________________________

The battle over labeling of genetically modified foods (GMOs) is currently being fought in Connecticut and thirty other states. At issue is whether those foods sold to consumers must be identified on the packaging. Sixty countries now require such labeling, but there is no national mandate in the US.

In Connecticut, the Public Health Committee heard arguments from both sides in the dispute last Thursday.

Testifying in favor of labeling, Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream told the group that ““This is not about whether you can use GMOs or not. It’s about telling people honestly, openly, and transparently what’s in food so they can decide.”

Vermont is closer to passing such a bill, but Monsanto, which developed the technology and holds patents on the process, has threatened to sue that state if it is adopted.

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is against the bill. They testified that Connecticut’s farmers would be placed at a competitive disadvantage if it passes. They said, “A national policy is necessary to keep the playing field level for Connecticut farm families”.

However, many believe it may be too late, as 70% of all foods in grocery stores contain GMOs which aid in reducing losses from insects by making the plants immune to herbicides. But heath risks are still unclear.

——————————————————-

Two speakers brought the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia to students at the Quinnipiac University Law School on Monday. WPKN’s

Melinda Tuhus reports.

The struggle is part of the bigger fight to end coal extraction altogether, since it is the most polluting fossil fuel both in terms of greenhouse gases and in its devastating health and environmental impacts. In the past decade coal has dropped from providing 50 percent of the electricity used in the U.S. to a little over 35 percent, but blowing the tops off mountain ridges to get at the coal seams beneath continues unabated, mainly in West Virginia.

Elise Keaton is with the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, based in Charleston, W.V. She described the forces that are arrayed against residents’ efforts to shut down this form of mining.

The two are also speaking at Fairfield University and Southern CT State University this week.

Melinda Tuhus, WPKN News

————————————————-

Suffolk County has launched a new pilot program with the goal of helping veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The county is one of four municipalities in the state to launch a peer-to-peer program that allows veterans, active duty reservists and National Guard troops with PTSD to speak with trained veteran facilitators. The facilitators provide comfort and familiarity to those seeking assistance.

The program is named in honor of PFC Joseph Dwyer, a Suffolk County Iraq war veteran. Dwyer suffered from PTSD and later died.

The pilot program holds seven weekly meeting groups across Suffolk County with more than 78 veterans. All meetings operate under anonymity.

The Suffolk County Veteran’s Service Agency has oversight of the program. State Senator Lee Zeldin, of Shirley, has secured $200,000 to fund the pilot phase of the program.

——————————————————

The Southold Town board took steps last week to support a state bill aimed at creating long-term transportation solutions for the East End.

The bill would create the Peconic Bay Regional Transporation Authority, to provide transportation alternatives to the Long Island Railroad.

The vision for long-term transportation alternatives began in the 1990s by the East End Transportation Council. Lack of reliable public transportation has long frustrated residents of the twin forks.

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said the original plan favored the South Fork because it has the infrastructure to support trains throughout the entire town. Russell said “Here, the train stops at Greenport, before the end of the town… It’s not conducive to hamlet growth.”

Instead, Russell said, a request was made for an alternate plan for a “hybrid” system including trains and shuttle buses that would more adequately suit the needs of the entire East End, including the North Fork.

——————————————————————————————-

The 16-member commission was convened by the governor as a response to the Dec. 14 Newtown school shooting.

Some of the draft recommendations the group approved go further than the proposals being discussed by either the governor or the legislature.

While Malloy supports a ban on high-capacity magazines, legislative leaders seem to be leaning away from the measure.

Last week, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, called out legislative leaders for allegedly waffling on the issue behind closed doors.

The group sent a letter to lawmakers calling anything short of a complete ban “intolerable.” The press release included a letter citing legal precedent for taking property.

Robert Crook, executive director of the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen, said the measure to ban guns that accept 10 round magazines turns all “semi-automatic hand guns into paperweights.” He said they didn’t distinguish between tubular magazines and detachable magazines either which means they’re “essentially banning all guns.”

“It bothers me governor’s task force didn’t include any firearm experts,” Crook said.

Meanwhile, the Sandy Hook Commission also recommended mandatory background checks for the sale or transfer of any firearm at private sales and gun shows. It recommended regular renewal of firearm permits, including a test of firearm handling capacity as well as an understanding of applicable laws and regulations.

The Commission found that firearms of significant lethality can be legally obtained without permit and without registration. “According to the Connecticut State Police, there are approximately 1.4 million registered firearms in the State of Connecticut, and possibly up to 2 million unregistered firearms

On the school safety front, the commission recommending that all classrooms in K-12 schools be equipped with locking doors that can be locked from the inside by the classroom teacher or substitute. It also recommended requiring that all exterior doors in K-12 schools be equipped with hardware capable of implementing a full perimeter lockdown.

Legislative leaders will meet again today to see if they can reach consensus on an emergency certified bill the General Assembly can vote on in the near future.

The commission, which has not discharged its duties just yet, will continue meeting Friday, March 22 to being tackling the state’s mental health delivery system.

—————————————————–

An ongoing issue between the Southampton Village Board and the Southampton Town Trustees is coming to a head — a bulkhead. The steel structure is in front of a private ocean front home in the village.

The Town Trustees, who have oversight of the town’s waterways and the ocean beachfront in all of Southampton Town, say that the bulkhead is in violation of state environmental conservation regulations. The Village board disagrees.

The trustees have a longstanding policy against any new bulkheads on Southampton’s shores. They argue that the science shows that hardening the shoreline leads to the narrowing of beaches. They say the sand that is seaside of a bulkhead gets washed away. Plus, unhardened properties beyond a bulkhead become more vulnerable. They point to the extreme erosion created by a steel bulkhead in front of seven homes in Water Mill.

At a Village Board meeting last week coastal geologist Aram Terchunian of Westhampton criticized the trustees’ opposition to bulkheading. He said, “You have to use all the tools that are in the toolbox. You can’t just discard them because you have a philosophy.”

——————————–

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, of Montauk, announced Monday that he will seek reelection in November instead of running for East Hampton Town supervisor. This is despite an endorsement as Supervisor from The East Hampton Republican Committee. In endorsing Schneiderman the committee passed over Republican two-term incumbent, Bill Wilkinson. Wilkinson hadn’t told the committee if he wanted to keep his seat for a third term.

——————————————————

Friday, March 15

Political cartoons have a long history of influencing public opinion. Current examples can be seen at a exhibit of contemporary anti-war cartoons from around the world in a New Haven show at the Gateway Community College. Seven finalists had their work shown last night at the opening reception. They were chosen from over 500 artists who entered the competition.

The exhibit is on view until March 22nd, when it moves to UN Headquarters in New York City.

————————————————————-

The Connecticut Legislature’s Public Safety Committee heard testimony Thursday from a predominantly pro-gun crowd during an all-day hearing on about a dozen proposed gun control bills. Despite continuing bipartisan talks between leaders on emergency certified gun legislations, the Public Safety Committee has moved forward with its own legislation. The committee has until March 21 to move legislation out of the committee. Much of the opposition was directed at S.B. 1076, a broad piece of legislation, which includes many of the proposals under consideration by legislative leaders. It includes language that would expand the number of guns prohibited under the state’s assault weapons ban.

—————————————————

Bridgeport’s gun buyback program continues this Saturday, March 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Community Services Division, 1395 Sylvan Avenue.

The program has taken more than 730 firearms off the streets since December 2012.

——————————————————-

The Port Jefferson School Board is moving ahead to blocking high-school seniors from leaving the school campus during lunch hours. If enacted, the new policy would become ineffective on July 1st, restricting incoming seniors to the campus during normal school hours. Students have protested the policy, even offering alternative scenarios, while administrators seek to move proactively before a student tragedy.

——————————————————–

When Hurricane Sandy swept ashore in Long Island in October, the historic storm significantly altered the shoreline along Suffolk County’s south shore and left a breach at Old Inlet on Fire Island.

Now, county officials are blaming the breach for the increase in flooding experienced by residents in many communities that touch the Great South Bay. During a press conference held at Shorefront Park in Patchogue Village Wednesday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and other county, town and village officials called for the breach to be repaired.

Bellone also acknowledged that there is a debate over whether or not sealing the breach is the right answer, and representatives from nature organizations came to the conference with concerns that this is a mis-diagnosis.

——————————————————–

Southold Town could be one step closer toward mitigating long-term disaster after future storms. The Town board agreed to move forward with a new federal program that would prove proactive in mitigating damage after natural disasters by embracing a proactive approach. In February, representatives of the National Disaster Recovery Framework, a new program under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, met with the Southold Town board at a work session to discuss the initiative.

The program would pull together federal agencies to work together in a collaborative effort, focusing not only on disaster recovery – but on projects that can shore up infrastructure to prevent future storm damage.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he has been working with FEMA officials on a regular basis since the recovery efforts after Hurricane Irene. Currently, FEMA funding exists in the form of direct reimbursement for costs associated with the damage caused by disasters such as Superstorm Sandy.

———————————————————

In Water Mill in Southampton Town severe erosion has caused beach to disappear and a steel bulkhead constructed in front of seven ocean front homes to lean in to the sea.this week.

Sand was washed away beyond the bulkhead exposing junk autos placed there in the 1960s to control erosion. Southampton Town Trustee Fred Havemeyer told the Southampton Press that water washes away the sand in front of the wall and then swings in to wash out the beach beyond. Havemeyer said “that’s why we don’t want hard structures on the beach”.

Nevertheless additional bulkheads are being constructed on the ocean in nearby Southampton Village.

———————————————————————

Thursday, March 14

On Wednesday Governor.Dannel Malloy and the state Bond Commission approved more than $290 million in borrowing for a number of projects and investments.  They include almost $10 million for an on-the-job training program and $10 million to dredge New Haven Harbor.

The on-the-job training program, known as the Subsidized Employment Training Program, helps subsidize salaries of employees for the first six months they’re on the job. About half the money is allocated specifically for manufacturers. Overall, the money is expected to benefit about 1,300 individuals.

Legislative leaders were expected to meet for a fifth round of negotiations Wednesday in hopes of reaching a bipartisan agreement on gun violence prevention legislation.in response to the Sandy Hook murders. But some asked why Democrats, who control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office, hadn’t simply passed their agenda over the opposition of the minority party.

Connecticut Against Gun Violence president Marty Isaac told supporters they had two things now that they lacked in previous years—numbers and money. In future elections, Isaac suggested the group may try to unseat lawmakers who don’t vote their way on gun control. He said in the past, policy makers have only had to deal with the outrage of gun advocates.

——————————————–

Connecticut could lose more than $900 million in federal defense spending this year, according to the  legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis

The state projected that most of the pain from the so-called sequestration cuts would fall on Connecticut’s defense industries. State and municipal governments and private entities in Connecticut also could lose a combined $53 million in non-defense programs, particularly in education, social services and housing.

Both the defense and non-defense cuts would be phased in over the remainder of the year, and many might not come to pass if Congress reaches a bipartisan compromise that cleared the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week.

—————————————————————————————

A Southampton Town drug investigations officer became addicted to prescription painkillers himself, under the noses of his supervisors, according to internal police documents released to Patch and the former chief of the department.

William Wilson retired late last year after 18 months as chief of the department. He said last week he believes the department failed officer Eric Sickles, who was a member of the now-defunct Street Crime Unit, and no one was held accountable.

Sickles’ commanding officer, Lt. James Kiernan was suspended for six months — though Wilson thought he should be fired — and Sickles was suspended indefinitely.

Wilson said he also thought that then-Lt. Robert Pearce, who Kiernan looped in about the situation, also should have been disciplined, but the Southampton Town Board Instead, promoted Pearce to captain against Wilson’s wishes, and Pearce was named the new chief to replace Wilson in November 2012 by a unanimous Town Board vote.

Suffolk County internal affairs officers investigated the matter, and the Suffolk County district attorney’s office initiated a review of more than 100 cases conducted by the Street Crime Unit while Sickles was purportedly addicted.

This led to the sentences of two convicts being vacated and their release from prison – and to suits against the town, Wilson and others by the released prisoners.

—————————————————————————————

Maureen’s Haven, a program that provides shelter to the East End’s homeless population in the winter is holding a Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds on Friday, March 16.

The event will kick off at 11:00 a.m. at The Wharf House at Founders Landing, located on Terry Lane & Hobart Avenue, Southold.

Registration starts at 9 a.m.

—————————————————–

Wednesday, March 13

The Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation is donating 2,500 gun safety locks to the police departments of Bridgeport, Stratford, Fairfield and Waterbury, which will be distributed to residents free of charge.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch thanked the foundation and said, “Every lock we give out potentially prevents a tragedy and saves a life.”

During the past decade, Project ChildSafe, administered by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, dispensed 36 million firearm safety kits nationwide. The kits include a cable lock that makes a gun impossible to fire, and safety brochures.

The Foundation opposes strengthening gun safety laws in Connecticut, or anywhere else in the U.S.

Finch said, “Reasonable people can disagree on public policy, but today’s event illustrates that people with divergent views even on a subject as important as gun control can find common ground and come together for the safety of families and children.”

—————————————-

A bill introduced in the Connecticut legislature would require pediatricians to screen their patients in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 for behavioral health problems during annual physical exams. The objective is to identify mental health problems in a timely way.

It was proposed by Senator Toni Harp, who co-chaired the legislative working group on mental health issues set up after the Newtown massacre. The bill has generated criticism from parents and homeschool advocates who say it would stigmatize children, intrude on parents’ rights, and cost millions of dollars.

Under the bill, the assessments would be done by the child’s pediatrician, who would submit a form to the state verifying that the child had received the assessment. The results would be confidential and disclosed only to a child’s parent or guardian.

The bill as written, applies to all public and home-schooled children, but Harp said Tuesday she would drop the requirement for home-schooled children. She would also consider adding private school children to the legislation.

Opponents said the bill is unnecessary because it duplicates federal laws that require boards of education to identify, assess and serve children with serious emotional disturbances. Deborah Stevenson, founder of National Home Education Legal Defense, said the issue is one of parents’ rights, and has been upheld by a long line of cases in the U.S. and Connecticut Supreme Courts.

——————————–

A group of 26 professional and amateur cyclists rode 400-miles from Newtown to Washington, D.C. to campaign for stronger gun safety laws. They were welcomed by Connecticut’s congressional delegation on Tuesday.

While they may have stirred public support with their ride, Congress is gridlocked on the major gun-control measures under consideration, a proposed assault weapons ban and an expansion of FBI background checks to all gun buyers.

———————————

Brookhaven Town officials are considering a proposal to build large-scale renewable green energy facilities on as many as 15 sites over the next two years. . If approved, the proposal could net the town an estimated $40 million to $50 million over the next 20 years.

The plan’s primary component is a private-public partnership with solar developer American Capital Energy to construct solar panel arrays and small-scale wind turbine sites at town-operated facilities.

If fully implemented, the systems would generate up to 50 megawatts of alternating current electricity, enough to power 8,400 homes.

The developer would sell the energy produced to LIPA through a Power Purchase Agreement .

Each of the proposed sites will include at least one, or a combination of ground, roof or car port solar panel arrays with some having wind turbines.

In addition, 10 solar fueling stations are proposed for Town Hall to allow residents to charge the batteries of electric powered vehicles.

——————————————

A panel discussion on the economic benefits of immigration took place Monday at the Congregational Church of Patchogue.

Panelists included Long Island labor leaders and representatives of the Long Island Farm Bureau and the Long Island Association. The discussion was introduced by First District Congressman Tim Bishop

A video of the meeting is available at Patchogue.Patch.com

——————————————————–

Central Connecticut State University students and professors staged a rally Monday against a proposed tuition increase for all four Connecticut state universities and 12 community colleges.

The proposed increases would be between 4 and 5 per cent.

In-state commuters would pay about 9 thousand dollars a year and In-state residents about 20 thousand a year. Out of state students would pay about 30 thousand.

Student fees would also increase to 1000 dollars for in-state and close to 2500 dollars for out of state students.

This year, Governor Malloy proposed bonding another $1.5 billion for the University of Connecticut while he cut funding for Connecticut State University and community colleges by 14 million dollars.

The Board of Regent’s Finance Committee will review the proposed tuition increases on Thursday.

But UConn students will also be paying tuition increases. A four-year, 6 percent tuition hike was approved for UConn in December 2011. And UConn’s budget was cut by10 million dollars in December.

———————————————————————————————-Governor Malloy gets high marks from voters in Tuesday’s Quinnipiac University poll, which found the governor’s approval rating at an all-time high of 48 percent.

The Quinnipiac University poll of 1,144 voters shows they approve of how Malloy is handling his job and gun control issues 48 to 39 percent, but 45 percent of those polled don’t believe he should be re-elected while 42 percent believe he should be re-elected.

Meanwhile, 76 percent of voters approve of how he handled the Newtown shootings and 80 percent approve of his response to the February blizzard

But fifty-seven percent of voters disapprove of how Malloy is handling the budget, while just 33 percent approve.

Malloy has yet to announce he’s running for re-election even though he’s hinted at a second term.

———————————————————————————————–

Veterans who are students at Gateway Community College in New Haven had a chance to learn about higher education and employment at a jobs fair on Monday. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus has more:

Connecticut Dept of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwarz put the fair in context. She herself is a Vietnam veteran who served as a nurse and couldn’t get a nursing job stateside without starting over. She and others are trying to make things easier for today’s veterans, who need all the help they can get.

Young veterans chatted with people staffing tables from Yale, Southern and Quinnipiac universities, and employers like the New Haven Police Department.

Charles Kim is a Marine veteran who served in Bosnia and Haiti, and then was called back for duty in Iraq in 2003. He already has an anthropology degree from Southern Connecticut State University, but says that hasn’t helped him in the job market.

Veterans benefits cover tuition and books, but the addition of “fees” that are equal to tuition means many vets still must apply for grants or loans.

Melinda Tuhus, WPKN News.

———————————————————

The Town of Huntington is partnering with the City University of New York in an initiative to streamline the solar permit process for home and business owners throughout New York State.

Huntington is one of 30 municipal partners in the “New York Solar Smart” application for a federal grant being submitted by CUNY.

Nassau and Suffolk County Planning Commissions and LIPA launched a unified solar permitting process in 2011. Previously, each municipality in Long Island had a different set of regulations, creating confusion, delays and extra costs.

The Town of Huntington was ahead of the curve, adopting the Solar Fast Track program four years earlier. The Town currently expedites solar permits and does not charge a fee.

Under CUNY’s New York Solar Smart initiative, municipalities will communicate regularly to formulate codes governing solar energy products so everyone is on the same page.

========================================================

Governor Dannel Malloy has made the creation and retention of manufacturing jobs an administration priority, and he left no doubt Friday that he is willing to risk the loss of firearms jobs to win a stronger assault-weapon ban that he sees as inevitable.

Malloy spoke a day after three Connecticut manufacturers of AR-15s, the military-style rifle used to kill 26 people in Newtown, began airing commercials warning that a ban could cost hundreds of jobs.

Malloy reached out two days ago in letters to the manufacturers, saying he hoped they stay, despite their differences. He wrote, “It is my hope that as you plan for the future, you consider Connecticut’s high quality of life, the availability of a skilled and educated workforce, and an administration that has been consistently dedicated to supporting the kind of precision manufacturing that takes place at your company.”

Legislative leaders are scheduled to resume negotiations Monday on a gun-control bill that Malloy thinks should include a broader ban on military-style weapons and a restriction on large-capacity ammo magazines.

—————————————————–

Many public housing developments on the Connecticut shoreline have a history of flooding in big storms.

One example is Washington Village in Norwalk. The oldest public housing complex in the state is one of the most vulnerable structures on Connecticut’s coastline.

Short-term, officials say, there’s little anyone can do to protect the complex, short of shutting power off and evacuating residents in case of a threat like Hurricane Sandy. Blueprints for a replacement show colorful, townhouse-style buildings built above the floodplain, with bigger apartments and more services. They’re a far cry from the current drab, brownish-red brick buildings in the complex.

The housing authority is banking on a $30 million federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help finance the $100 million project. HUD only gives out five such grants each year nationwide. It’s not even clear the agency will have the money to offer any this year of fiscal uncertainty.

—————————————————–

Ashley Murray, the Peconic teen who went missing February 25 appeared with a friend at Southold police headquarters Friday afternoon.

Her disappearance touched off a massive search that lit up the social media world and involved the FBI.

Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley said Ashley was interviewed by police for over an hour before being taken to a “regional hospital”

He said “She said little about where she was during her absence. She didn’t give a lot of information, she was reluctant to say where she was.”

—————————————————

The Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a new gun safety control measure last week aimed at keeping weapons out of the hands of involuntary psychiatric patients.

The measure requires Suffolk Police to crosscheck the names and addresses of individuals transported to Stony Brook University’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program against the county’s pistol license registries.

A New York State law adopted In January allows for cross checking potentially unstable individuals against a not yet created statewide pistol license database.

The county’s legislation takes this one step further by requiring police officers to make immediate referrals to the licensing bureau. This is common practice in handling domestic violence-related calls.

The bill will go to Suffolk County Executive Bellone for his signature. If signed, the new law will impact the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown that have Suffolk Police precincts. The law would not affect the five east-end towns which have independent police departments.

————————————————–

Riverhead Town officials have banned booing at Town meetings.

The board voted to approve new legislation that prohibits any demonstration that lawmakers would consider disruptive to meetings, specifically booing, but agreed clapping would still be permitted.

The first draft of the legislation banned both booing and clapping. But, after protests that the law was restrictive of free speech,” the board agreed to ban only booing.

———————————————————————————————–

The ads underscore their importance to the economy with an implicit threat they could leave for friendlier political climes. The manufacturers are Colt, Stag and O.F. Mossberg & Sons  Each of these is the focus of a 30-second commercial running on cable television in areas outside Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven ,where the industry evidently believes it can find persuadable legislators.

The initial buy is a relatively modest $50,000, according to the trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, based in Newtown. All three manufacturers say they have been courted by other states, an invitation they are more likely to accept if legislators ban the sale of their products in Connecticut. The legislative leaders met Thursday and are to resume talks Friday on the parameters of a gun bill in response to the tragedy in Newtown.

—————————————————————————

Republican and Democratic legislative leaders emerged from a four-and-a half hour meeting Thursday optimistic they’ll be able to come to an agreement on post-Newtown legislation, including some of the more controversial gun proposals. Thursday was the second time leaders met behind closed-doors to work on language for an emergency certified bill expected to be voted on by the full General Assembly some time in the next few weeks. However, they cautioned that no final agreement has been reached. Republican House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero said it was such a productive meeting that they’ve planned to meet again on Friday and have saved time to meet again on Monday, March 11 — the same day the National Rifle Association and a handful of Connecticut gun groups are encouraging gun owners to come to the Capitol to lobby their lawmakers.

————————————————————————————–

BREAKING NEWS:

The Suffolk Times reports that Ashley Murray, the Peconic teen who went missing February 25 has been found. Her disappearance  touched off a massive search that lit up the social media world and involved agencies including the FBI.

Murray is on her way to a hospital for an evaluation after appearing with a friend at Southold police headquarters at 3:15 p.m. Friday, police.

The teen was interviewed by police for about an hour and 15 minutes before being taken to a “regional hospital,” said Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley.

She said little about where she was during her absence, he added.

“She didn’t give a lot of information,” said the chief. “She was reluctant to say where she was.”

Original story

On Friday, Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said  a posting  on Facebook has not altered their current investigation into 16 year old Ashley Murray’s disappearance.

The message on a new facebook page titled  “Ashley Come Home” says “I’m okay.”

But the question was – was the comment actually written by Ashley Murray, or was the post an internet hoax?

Ashley’s brother, Jaime Cradehl, said, “I can’t imagine Ashley really making that post. I mean, it’s possible, but not likely. I’d love for it to be her.”

The post came Thursday evening, the same night Ashley’s mother Charlotte Murray sent out a letter to her daughter on Patch and on the “Ashley Come Home” Facebook page, asking her daughter to let her know that she was safe.

The identify of the poster was being investigated by the F B I, which joined the search for Ashley this week.

As of Friday, 12 days after Ashley disappeared without her medication or warm clothes, and leaving a suicide note, there has been no word on the missing teen.

Anyone with information about Ashley Murray’s whereabouts is asked to call Southold Town police at 631-765-2600.

———————————————————————–

New York Agri-Women is the state chapter of a national organization devoted to the interests of women farmers.

The group will hold a forum titled “Women in the Business of Farming on Long Island” on Thursday, March 21 from 8:30 a.m.to 3 p.m.at Stonewalls Restaurant in Riverhead.

Attendees will hear the personal experiences of women involved in orchards, organic vegetables, wine grapes, greenhouse products, agritainment and aquaculture on eastern Long Island.

More information is available by contacting Debbie Schmitt at debs573@yahoo.com.

——————————————————————————————————————

A conference organized by Ground for Hope,Long Island will be held in Commack on Sunday.

Ground for Hope is a multi-faith Environmental Action in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to empower faith communities for environmental action.

The conference is open to the public.at

Temple Beth David – 100 Hauppauge Road, Commack

from 2:00-6:30 pm Sunday March 10.

More info is at greenfaith.org/programs/ground-for-hope/

Or you may email Fletcher Harper at revfharper@greenfaith.org

The Connecticut House and Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass emergency legislation to assist Newtown school staff and first responders.

The bill establishes a privately-funded foundation to help teachers and police suffering from psychological trauma as a result of the Newtown shooting.

It will help cover missed work and out-of-pocket medical expenses not covered by workers compensation such as mental health impairment.

Between 150 and 200 people will be potentially eligible to access the fund including police officers, firefighters, teachers, and school administrators affected by the December 14 school shooting.

There currently are five police officers who aren’t able to work as a result of the shooting.

———————————————-

The Federal Aviation Administration has notified six Connecticut airports that it will close their control towers effective April 7 due to federal budget cuts.

These include towers at Hartford, Stratford, New Haven, Danbury, Waterbury-Oxford and Groton-New London airports.

The facilities will not close, but pilots flying into those airports will have to navigate by sight, something at least one airport manager said could impair safety. The closures leave only one Connecticut airport, Hartford’s Bradley International, with an operating air traffic control tower after April 7.

And in New Haven, Tweed airport chief Tim Larson vowed to contest the closing. Yale-New Haven Hospital, uses the airport for medical flights. Larson said many of these would have to be diverted if the tower closes.

———————————————–

Over three months after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ordered Sandy-damaged cars off a portion of Enterprise Park at Calverton (EPCAL), the vehicles remain.

And environmentalists said the cars have “utterly destroyed” state-protected grasslands in the area.

According to Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, more than 30 acres in a state-designated special groundwater protection area and endangered species habitat have been “turned into a giant mud hole” at EPCAL.

Amper said environmentalists warned local, county and state officials more than two months ago, that the storage of more than 30,000 cars wrecked during Superstorm Sandy would result in environmental issues.

Amper said:“The Town of Riverhead, County of Suffolk and State of New York did nothing to prevent this destruction and continue to sit on the sidelines as more environmental assault continues.

Amper said aerial photographs and video show forest-bordered grasslands that have been destroyed. The grasslands are home to endangered species and sit above Long Island’s underground aquifer system, which residents depend upon for drinking water.

———————————————————

Southampton Town, its police department, and former chiefs are facing lawsuits from two arrestees whose convictions were vacated due to the Suffolk County district attorney’s review of more than 100 arrests .These involved a police officer who was reportedly addicted to drugs while on the job.

The police officer, Eric Sickles, is on suspension. His former supervisor, Lt. James Kiernan, also a defendant in the lawsuit, is working. Disciplinary charges against Kiernan, related to his oversight of the Street Crimes Unit were settled.

The Street Crimes Unit, which conducted narcotics investigations, has been disbanded.

The first plaintiff, Kwame Opoku, of North Sea, was arrested at his home in January 2011. He was charged with felony and misdemeanor drug possession and related counts.

Police said Opoku was among four men arrested in a raid of a distribution house, where crack cocaine, marijuana and scales were found. He was imprisoned and subsequently convicted, but the district attorney’s office had the charges vacated in July 2012.

The lawsuit alleges that Sickles entered Opoku’s house and searched his home and person without a warrant, “planted narcotics” on him, and placed him under arrest.

The police department also faces a lawsuit from Mohammed Proctor, a Riverside man whose drug conviction was vacated in May 2012

Mary Bess Phillips, Julia Robins and former board member Bill Swiskey have filed petitions to run for 4 year terms for village trustee. The terms for the two seats begin April 1 of this year and run through April 2 of 2017. ———————– Upgrades to the Northport sewage treatment plant are moving ahead despite uncertainty over county funding, according to village trustees. The village recently awarded a contract to W H M Plumbing of East Setauket to complete general contracting for the wastewater sewage treatment plant upgrade for about 3.4 million dollars. The upgrade includes housing de-nitrification and pH equipment. Construction is expected to begin in March and to be completed next year. The contract was delayed because engineering changes needed to be made following Hurricane Sandy. Under the new plans, the facility’s floor will be raised an additional two feet above the 100 year flood mark to withstand future storms. A salt water surge from flooding in the sewer plant would have killed bacterial culture and would have meant about two weeks of untreated sewage would go into the harbor. ================================================ Monday, February 25 The trade association for the firearms industry worries that if some of Governor Dannel Malloy’s gun proposals gain traction with the legislature they will have a detrimental effect on an industry that supports 2,900 direct jobs in the state. Gun manufacturers contributed more than $1.7 billion to economic activity in Connecticut in 2012, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, based in Newtown. A foundation spokesman said last week that the organization is concerned about some of Malloy’s proposals, especially the ban on any semi-automatic weapon with one or more military-style features. Under Malloy’s assault weapons ban, the AR-15 would be prohibited from further sale, though it could still be manufactured in the state. A growing number of states, most of them in the South, are trying to lure gun manufacturers to relocate from places with tough gun laws. The pitch is simple: Gun manufacturers would be happier in states with lax gun laws and stronger support for the Second Amendment. Mississippi’s Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, wrote a letter to 14 gun manufacturers, including Hartford-based Colt and Sturm, Ruger and Co., based in Fairfield, urging them to relocate to the Magnolia State. He cited Mississippi’s support for the gun industry. Colt, which has been in business in Connecticut for more than 150 years, has said it might leave the state to avoid new gun laws. ——————————– Newtown Patch reports Newtown parents and residents urged board members to budget for multiple armed police officers in all public schools, regardless of cost. They spoke at a public hearing last Thursday, in front of the Board of Finance. Head O’ Meadow PTA President Laura Terry said the events of Dec. 14, 2012 changed her sense of security for sending her children to school and asked the board to have school resource officers (SROs) at every Newtown school to avert future tragedies. Terry said she was willing to pay more taxes. She said “we can’t afford not to”. Many speakers said higher taxes are just something residents will have to accept in order to keep children safe. Others suggested volunteer work by parents to free up money in the budget so that SROs could be at every school. One man, who felt that Newtown residents “pay enough taxes already”, suggested select parents undergo training by uniformed police officers and have armed parents in all town schools. The current town budget, a 1.9 percent increase, has yet to include a recommendation by the police commission — a change that must happen at the finance level. At a Legislative Council meeting Wednesday, First Selectman Pat Llodra said the inclusion of the 11 officers recommended by the police commission could lead to an increase of about 4% to the town budget. The Board of Education is scheduled to present their budget to the board tomorrow. ——————————– Two female Southampton Town police sergeants filed complaints to the state last week against the town and the police department. They allege they were subject to sexual discrimination in promotions and assignments. Detective Sergeant Lisa Costa and Sergeant Susan Ralph claimed to the New York State Division of Human Rights that department officials engage in a discriminatory course of conduct. The Division of Human Rights will determine whether the complaints have merit and should proceed to hearings, which could result in fines against the town. According to town resolutions, Costa was promoted to sergeant in 2006 and Ralph was made sergeant in 2010. —————————— Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has threatened to close the John J. Foley nursing home in Yaphank if a proposed deal to sell the facility is not approved soon. Suffolk is currently spending $1 million a month to subsidize the 264-bed facility. A proposed deal to sell the nursing home to private operators for $23 million was narrowly approved by the county legislature, but has subsequently met several roadblocks. County employees filed a lawsuit to block the sale and Brookhaven Town denied a permit needed to sell it. Suffolk Legislator Thomas Barraga proposed to have the private purchasers split ownership with the County to keep the facility open. Bellone called on sale opponents to find “common ground” with him but did not offer a specific proposal. He previously suggested leasing the nursing home to keep it open while a permanent solution is found. ——————————- Suffolk County received New York State approval to create a land bank that would potentially clean up 133 contaminated properties. The land bank, a non-profit agency is aimed at improving the chances of selling Brownfield properties, such as former landfills or gas stations. It will have the power to foreclose on tax-delinquent properties, seek grants for cleanup, and partner with interested business owners to rehabilitate the property and return it to the tax rolls. ======================= FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22 State Senator Toni Harp (Democrat of New Haven) is co-chair of the ad hoc mental health working group of the General Assembly. The group is looking into ways to improve mental health services, especially for young people, in the wake of the Newtown shooting massacre. WPKN’s Melinda Tuhus reports on what the group is proposing. Listen here ———————————— After an outcry from campus groups and New Haven’s immigration activists, Yale University announced Thursday it is putting on temporary hold a Department of Defense-backed research center. The “Center of Excellence for Operational Neurological Science” would rely on local immigrants as military test subjects. Yale Psychiatry Professor Charles Morgan, is working with the defense department on a proposed grant for the center. Morgan and Yale officials have depicted it as a do-gooder project: Designed to help our troops figure out how to communicate better with foreigners during operations abroad, through respectful conversation. But critics said they fear the goal is to use “vulnerable” people of color to figure out how to better carry out interrogations and special-ops against people in the Third World. —————————— Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine is calling on Town Board members to approve four steps of a six-point plan he said would strengthen and reinforce the Town’s Highway Department after its less than stellar response to the blizzard earlier this month. During that storm the Supervisor was out of town and Michael Murphy, the interim Highway Department head was out sick. He subsequently resigned. An election will be held for that position. Last week, Romaine pointed out “People elect their highway department superintendent, who reports directly to the people, not to the Town Board and not to the supervisor,” Romaine is calling for pay-rate increases to outside contractors, a re-evaluation of Brookhaven’s insurance policy mandate for contractors, use of an outside firm to review the condition of all vehicles involved in snow removal, and enhanced employee training with regard to the town’s snow emergency line calls. ———————————————————- The East Hampton Town Police force will soon be carrying Tasers. Tasers are conducted energy devices which induce involuntary muscle contractions causing temporary incapacitation. While the shift supervisor has carried one for at least six years and all East Hampton Village Police Officers have carried them, town patrolmen currently don’t pack them. With $10,000 from the capital budget, the department has purchased 10 more Tasers, enough for at least five officers per shift to have them as an alternate to deadly force. All of the 42 patrol officers are expected to be certified in just a few more weeks, after the completion of in-house training. Though the use of Tasers by supervisors has been rare, a sergeant has deployed a Taser twice in the past three weeks on calls where “out-of-control subjects” posed a threat to officers’ safety, according to Police Chief Ed Ecker. Ecker says he has changed his mind about deploying tasers. He says “Studies show it’s a less lethal and injurious force. Also our insurance company basically asked us to get them,” A recent incident in Southampton led to a law suit after a drug using suspect died after being tasered twice. However use of five grams of cocaine might have been the cause of death. The suit cited improper hospital treatment. ___________________________________

…. F.B.I. agents interviewed his (the gunman’s)  brother, Ryan Lanza, in Hoboken, N.J. His father, Peter Lanza, who was divorced from Nancy Lanza, was also questioned, one official said.”

State police sources told The Courant that the shooter is 20-year-old Adam Lanza. When he was found, he had his brother Ryan Lanza’s identification, which initially led to confusion about his identity, police said. Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance said the gunman was found dead inside the school.   Meanwhile, Friday afternoon distraught parents continued to wait to be reunited with their children. After meeting with parents of the students, Gov. Dannel Malloy is now at the school. Authorities said much information will not be released until the relatives of the victims are notified. President Obama has telephoned Malloy to express condolences and to offer any federal assistance needed in the investigation of the shooting that was first reported to Newtown Police just before 9:30 a.m. Friday. A fourth-grade student at Sandy Hook Elementary School said he and his classmates were “locked in a closet in the gym” to escape the gunman. In an interview with Channel 7, the student said, “the police came  and …. We ran to the firehouse.” ———————– At a rally outside the Legislative Office Building Wednesday, about 60 people called for Connecticut legislation on GMO labeling. Earlier this year, a bipartisan bill that would have required a label on foods that contain genetically modified organisms was tabled.  It was feared it would provoke a lawsuit. At the rally, the bill’s proponent, retiring Representative Richard Roy, said “Let them sue us.” GMO crops, such as corn and soybeans, are genetically engineered not to die when sprayed with herbicide. More than 60 countries require consumer notification that they’re purchasing food containing GMOs, The United States has not. Connecticut’s legislation would have been the first of its kind in the US. The FDA argues that genetically modified food is generally recognized as safe and therefore does not warrant a label. Advocates say it’s irrelevant whether GMOs are safe because consumers deserve to know what they are eating. The original legislation was opposed by the Connecticut Farm Bureau and the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. The Farm Bureau said food labeling would be costly for farmers, requiring separate inventories, labeling, and segregation, and would require higher packaging costs. The Agriculture Department said it would put Connecticut farmers at a competitive disadvantage. ————————— New York residents working to repair their homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy will be able to have faster access to insurance payments. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that several leading banks and mortgage providers have agreed to remove “stringent” requirements that delayed money from being released to area homeowners in need. According to the Governor, the need to have insurance claim checks endorsed by mortgage providers prior to homeowners cashing the checks led to delays. Cuomo said “Homeowners need help now and that’s why insurers are sending advance checks to meet their immediate needs,” Banks and mortgage providers taking part in the agreement include  Bank of America, Citi Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Apple Savings Bank, Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburg and Emigrant Savings Bank State officials also said that the grace period on mortgage payments has been expanded for another three months ___________________ Last month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation ordered cars to be removed from property at the Enterprise Park at Calverton. But DEC officials say those cars are still there. An auto auction company called Copart has been storing cars damaged in Hurricane Sandy just south of the eastern runway at EPCAL.  The state DEC targeted the arrangement because those cars are being kept on grass, raising environmental concerns. Meanwhile in Smithtown Town officials say they have turned down a proposal to store thousands of storm damaged cars on property owned by Anthony Santilli on Old Northport Road. Auto Auctions, would pay the town $100,000 to store the damaged cars on the Santilli property. It was not clear how much Santilli would have received in the agreement. ____________________________ Thursday, December 13 Connecticut was able to slow its loss of jobs in the third quarter of 2012, and might have to wait until the second half of 2013 to see significant growth, That’s according to Stephen Lanza, writing in the University of Connecticut’s quarterly economic journal, The Connecticut Economy. But it could be worse, as many as 20,000 job losses, if the nation, tumbles over the so-called fiscal cliff Jan. 1. Further reductions would result if federal deficit-reducing measures include dramatic cuts in the military budget.  That would slam hard into Connecticut’s defense industry. Connecticut’s unemployment rate rose marginally in October to 9 percent. Besides high unemployment, the wage growth is flat. The November numbers are expected next week.

————————–

Senate appropriators released a 60 billion dollar bill to provide relief to Connecticut and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy. But the legislation’s path to approval appears uncertain The White House last week asked Congress for the same amount to respond to Superstorm Sandy. But this was less than the total of 83 billion dollars the governors of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey said they needed. But Republican Senators Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Jon Kyl of Arizona have threatened to block the bill, saying it costs too much money ___________________

Officials who are scrutinizing the future of the Long Island Power Authority are considering selling off much of LIPA’s assets to a private company.

According to a Newsday report, officials in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration are working with investment bank Lazard Ltd on several plans, which include privatization. Planning related to LIPA restructuring is wrapped in with the governor’s Moreland Commission, which in addition to probing how state utility’s performed in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, is charged with making recommendations for reforming the area’s electric distribution companies. The commission heard testimony from Republican Edward Mangano and Democrat Steve Bellone, the Nassau and Suffolk county executives. Both offered scathing accounts of LIPA’s lack of preparedness and communication to the state commission empowered to investigate the utility’s performance. Bellone said he stopped speaking with LIPA on Day 9 of the crisis and dispatched police officers to LIPA substations to demand answers. Mangano said LIPA provided conflicting information and did not appear to utilize Hurricane Irene as a learning opportunity to prepare for Sandy. They called for dramatic improvement in LIPA’s performance. The commission is accepting oral testimony from the public. To voice your comments email comments to comments@moreland.ny.gov _________________________________ A One Hundred Year Old Bridgehampton Weather Observer Says Global Warming is Real Retired Bridgehampton farmer Richard Hendrickson was honored at a Southampton Town Board meeting on Tuesday to recognize his life of service and his 100th birthday. Hendrickson is known around the East End for his decades as a cooperative weather observer. From his home weather station, Hendrickson has recorded the weather twice a day for the National Weather Service since 1930. Hendrickson said the way of life he knew on the East End as a young man is drying up, and — based on more than 80 years of observations — he can say with certainty that global warming is real. Besides development, he said that global warming is a threat to East End farming because climate change will affect what can be grown. ____________________

Wednesday, December 12

—————————————————————————

—————————————————

——————————————————-

—————————————————————————

When Hurricane Sandy swept ashore in Long Island in October, the historic storm significantly altered the shoreline along Suffolk County’s south shore and left a breach at Old Inlet on Fire Island.

—————————————————————————

Southold Town could be one step closer toward mitigating long-term disaster after future storms. The Town board agreed to move forward with a new federal program that would prove proactive in mitigating damage after natural disasters by embracing a proactive approach. In February, representatives of the National Disaster Recovery Framework, a new program under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, met with the Southold Town board at a work session to discuss the initiative.

The program would pull together federal agencies to work together in a collaborative effort, focusing not only on disaster recovery – but on projects that can shore up infrastructure to prevent future storm damage.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said he has been working with FEMA officials on a regular basis since the recovery efforts after Hurricane Irene. Currently, FEMA funding exists in the form of direct reimbursement for costs associated with the damage caused by disasters such as Superstorm Sandy.

———————————————————

In Water Mill in Southampton Town severe erosion has caused beach to disappear and a steel bulkhead constructed in front of seven ocean front homes to lean in to the sea.this week.

Sand was washed away beyond the bulkhead exposing junk autos placed there in the 1960s to control erosion. Southampton Town Trustee Fred Havemeyer told the Southampton Press that water washes away the sand in front of the wall and then swings in to wash out the beach beyond. Havemeyer said “that’s why we don’t want hard structures on the beach“.