village times herald

Volume 37, No. 44 January 3, 2013 $1.00

Stony Brook • old Field • Strong’S neck • Setauket • eaSt Setauket • South Setauket • PoquottTIMES HERALD

The Village

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Romaine taps PanicoBrookhaven Town councilman dan Panico is deputy supervisor

Page A3

‘Mirrored Images’also, decline of white pines on li, SBu sports

Page B1

Photos from SBU rosaleigh goldhammer, 2, from Selden, digs into the pile of toys placed under the christmas tree. elijah rosario, 6, of yaphank, receives one of several toys from Stony Brook athletes. a few days before christmas, the athletes brought christmas gifts to sick children at Stony Brook university cancer center.

A special Christmas for sick kids at SBU hospital

By erika karP

After a year-long investigation, six men, including a Brookhaven Town employee and a retired New York City police officer, have been arrested for allegedly running a drug ring in the northern part of Brookhaven Town, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tom Spota’s office.

As previously reported, alleged ring leader 30-year-old Thomas Forkin, a Brookhaven Town Highway Department employee

from Miller Place, along with Lake Grove resident Anthony Perretta, 30, and South Setauket resident Johnny Vargas, also 30, were arrested on Nov. 28 and are collectively facing 11 counts of drug-related charges. The men pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included second-degree conspiracy, a felony, as they al-legedly acted in concert between September and October and pos-sessed oxycodone and/or cocaine for resale purposes, according to the DA’s office. Forkin has also

been charged with operating as a major trafficker, a felony.

On Thursday, Dec. 20, Spo-ta and Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco announced more arrests and indictments. Former NYPD officer, 44-year-old Thomas Gironda of Se-tauket, 35-year-old Timothy Ruttura, a heavy equipment operator in New York City from South Setauket and 25-year-old Joseph Finch of Miller Place have been arrested and indicted

Three more charged in alleged drug ring

Photo from Spota’s office Bags of cocaine seized from the drug ring.

DA: Six were dealing in Setauket, Stony Brook, Port Jeff, Rocky Point

DRUG RING continued on page A4

PAGE A2 • THE VILLAGE TIMES HERALD • JANUARY 03, 2013

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By Erika karp

Three Village Bennett Agency has moved back to East Setauket, where it all began 65 years ago.

Virginia McGrath, the insurance agency’s owner, said the company is looking forward to getting settled and becoming more involved with the East Setauket community. “That’s were our roots are,” McGrath said.

According to McGrath, Watson Ben-nett, a longtime Setauket resident, es-tablished the agency in 1947 when he began writing homeowner’s insurance. McGrath said she began working for the agency in the 1980s, left for a brief pe-riod of time to work at a larger agency, but ultimately returned in 1996 to work with Peter Nowick Jr., the second owner of the agency. McGrath purchased the agency in 2006 after Nowick’s death.

“I have tried to maintain the same standards that they had with our clients, and maintaining time and working with

the community,” McGrath said.The agency represents 25 major in-

surance carriers and is licensed in more than 30 states. McGrath said the agency also works within niche markets, in-cluding insurance for churches and high valued homes close to the water.

The agency’s new offices is in the Stafford Associates Technology Center, which is located on the appropriately named Bennetts Road. The agency’s for-mer office is located on West Broadway in Port Jefferson, in the same building as the new Graceful Rose restaurant.

McGrath said even after being in business for so many years, the agency still insures some original clients and has generations of clients. Much of the agency’s business comes from referrals, which McGrath called, “the best com-pliment you can get.”

“With us, service is everything … we look at our clients as family and it is very important to us to take the extra measure,” she said.

The Village Times Herald (UsPs 365-950) is published Thursdays by Times beacon record newsPaPers, 185 route 25a, setauket, nY 11733. Periodicals postage paid at setauket, nY and additional mailing offices. subscription price $49 annually. leah s. dunaief, Publisher. PosTmasTer: send change of address to Po box 707, setauket, nY 11733.

After 65 years, insurance agency gets back to its roots

Photos by Erika KarpFrom left: Chrissy Blair, executive assistant for accounting, Virginia McGrath, owner and agency principal, and Van Stamatiadis, commercial lines account executive in Three Village Bennett agency’s new offices in East Setauket, below.

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The TIMES of Northport & East NorthportThe TIMES of Huntington

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Board of Ed. meeting Jan. 8

The Three Village Board of Education will hold a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8, at 7:30 pm at the North Country Administration Building.

Junior beach ranger program

This yearlong program meets once a month and gives participants the op-portunity to discover West Meadow Beach in all sea-sons. Rangers will hike the beach, explore the salt marsh, learn to read animal signs, solve natural myster-ies, identify the plants and animals of West Meadow’s varied habitat and help with species monitoring pro-grams. An official Ranger patch is earned at the end of each completed season. The first date is Jan. 5, from 10 am to noon or 1 to 3 pm.

By Matt CalaMia

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine recently appointed Councilman Dan Panico as the town’s deputy supervisor. Panico was sworn in to the position on Christmas Eve.

Panico (R-Manorville) re-placed Councilwoman Kathy Walsh (R-Centereach), who served under for-mer town Super-visor Mark Lesko before temporar-ily taking the reins when he resigned in September.

Panico, 34, called the appoint-ment an “honor” and said he felt he and Romaine “complement each other.”

The new deputy said he is looking forward to having a “more direct input into the di-rection of this town.” He and Ro-maine share a vision for shrink-ing government and improving

services, he said.Panico, who was elected to

the Town Board’s 6th Council District seat in March 2010 — in a special election following the death of Romaine’s son and Pani-co’s friend, former Councilman Keith Romaine — said he’s always aimed to collaborate with his fel-low board members regardless of party affiliation.

“I try to com-promise and reach common ground and work with every single one of my colleagues to help each other,” he said. “I think that’s the essence of government: people working together for the

betterment of the citizens.”The supervisor said he chose

Panico because of their history working together during Ro-maine’s time as Suffolk County clerk, as well as Panico’s knowl-edge of the town. Panico was se-

nior deputy county clerk under Romaine.

“I’ve known him for a while and I feel he would be the person to best work at my side,” Romaine said in a phone interview Friday.

Romaine acknowledged Walsh’s contribution to the town in the two months she was act-ing supervisor following Lesko’s resignation.

“I think Kathy stepped up to the plate … as acting supervisor,”

he said. “I’m sure all the citi-zens of the town are indebted to her services. I hope to con-tinue to work very closely with her on the Town Board.”

Walsh was disappointed with Romaine’s decision.

“You like to think the work you do is valuable and need-ed,” she said.

She added, however, that she will help Panico in any

Panico is Brookhaven deputy supervisorEd Romaine also names chief of staff

‘I try to compromise and reach common ground and work with every single one of my colleagues to help each other.’

— councilman Dan Panico

Photo from Panico’s office Councilman Dan Panico is sworn in on Christmas Eve to become the new Brookhaven town deputy supervisor.

APPOINTMENTS continued on page A7


on drug-related charges.“This investigation has culmi-

nated in the arrests and indict-ments of suspects who operated with impunity for years as they peddled oxycodone and cocaine in bars, nightclubs and in the parking lots of restaurants, gas stations and banks in northern Brookhaven,” Spota said in a press release.

Officials alleged Gironda, Rut-tura and Finch acted as Forkin’s co-conspirators. Ruttura alleg-edly bought oxycodone pills from co-workers who had claimed an injury and were prescribed the painkiller, while Finch allegedly bought cocaine from Forkin and Perretta that he then resold. Rut-tura posted $350,000 cash bail and Finch was released on his own recognizance. Ruttura’s attorney, Paul Gianelli of Hauppauge, de-clined to comment on the case. Finch’s attorneys couldn’t be reached for comment.

According to officials, inves-

tigators found a lockbox full of pills and cocaine at Gironda’s business, New Look Concrete Design, which is located on Tech-nology Drive in Setauket. Ac-cording to Spota’s office, Gironda receives a disability pension and is retired from the NYPD. Gi-ronda faces one count of second-degree conspiracy and numerous counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is out on $250,000 bail. Gironda’s at-torney, Dara Martin Orlando of Hauppauge, said Gironda main-tains his innocence.

“He is devoted to his family and these are [just] allegations — that will be proven in the end,” the attorney said.

Investigators said they began using wiretaps at the beginning of September and discovered the ring had been operating for a cou-ple of years, supplying cocaine and oxycodone pills to users in northern Brookhaven, including in Port Jefferson, Setauket, Stony Brook and Rocky Point. Accord-ing to officials, pills and cash were found in a safe at Forkin’s home.

In a press release, Spota said

his office has “considerable evi-dence” that Forkin bought and sold drugs from town Highway Department vehicles while he was working. In addition, some of Forkin’s alleged customers were town highway workers.

In a statement, Highway Su-perintendent John Rouse said he hopes the illegal activity of a few will not tarnish the reputation of other employees.

“The crimes with which these individuals have been charged indeed are not victimless ones,” Rouse said. “The emotional and physical agony brought about by the actions of these criminals is barely imaginable. It is my hope that they will be prosecuted as aggressively as possible and to the fullest extent of the law. As our residents well know, our town employees are hardworking, hon-est people who are the first line of service each day in Brookhaven.”

Brookhaven Town Supervi-sor Ed Romaine said in his own statement that he plans to meet with Rouse so steps can be tak-en to prevent future problems.

During the investigation,

drug ringContinued from page A1

Photos from Spota’s office The six men arrested for alleged involvement clockwise from top left: Thomas Forkin, Thomas Gironda, Timothy Ruttura, Joseph Finch, Anthony Perretta and Johnny Vargas.

28-year-old Carlos Cabrera of Port Jefferson Station was ar-rested for allegedly selling co-caine, but Spota’s office said Cabrera was not part of the ring. Cabrera’s attorney John Loturco of Huntington did not immediately return a call for comment.

In an earlier interview, Per-

retta’s attorney, Michael Fran-zese of Mineola, said the case was attracting attention be-cause of the involvement of town employees, while Vargas’ attorney, William Collado of Brentwood, and Forkin’s at-torney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, did not return calls for comment.

gOP picks Losquadro for highwayAssemblyman will run for vacated superintendent seat in new year

File photoThe town Republican committee has chosen Assemblyman Dan Losquadro to run for highway superintendent.

By ELAnA GLowATz

After considering other candi-dates, Brookhaven Town Republican Committee Chairman Jesse Gar-cia announced Assemblyman Dan Losquadro is the committee’s nomi-nee to run for town highway superin-tendent.

The committee had been consid-ering county Legislator Tom Mura-tore (R-Ronkonkoma) as its nominee after Highway Superintendent John Rouse was elected as a Suffolk Coun-ty Court judge in November. Rouse left his town position on Jan. 1, a year before the end of his term.

The town has yet to set a date for a special election to fill Rouse’s seat.

Losquadro (R-Shoreham) has a few possible Democratic opponents, including Brookhaven Town Coun-cilwoman Connie Kepert (D-Middle Island); Peter Zarcone, a town plan-ning board member and a board member of the General Building La-borers Local 66; or Kevin Gleason, a Huntington Town Highway Office employee and president of the East-port-South Manor Board of Educa-

tion. Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee Chairman Marc Alessi named all three as potential nomi-nees in a recent interview.

But the assemblyman may face someone else: Alessi said in a phone interview last Thursday that while his committee has screened other candidates, he wants to talk to an-other, someone “who might be a tre-mendous surprise for everybody.”

Alessi expects to announce his party’s pick by the end of this week.

He also expressed what he called “disgust” with the fact that Losquad-ro is running for the highway seat. “I think it’s very ... disingenuous,” Alessi said, for the assemblyman to ask voters to re-elect him and then run for highway superintendent.

Losquadro, who was re-elected to a second term in the Assembly in No-vember, responded in a phone inter-view Friday that he had not been con-sidering a run for the town position at the time of the election, but was ap-proached by “a multitude of people” afterward regarding the highway seat. He added he ultimately decided his skills and background would be ben-

eficial to the town.The assemblyman said in a previ-

ous interview that after Hurricane Sandy hit Long Island at the end of October, it became “obvious how im-portant that department really was” and how much it needed a strong leader.

In a press release Dec. 27, Gar-cia listed Losquadro’s experience in managing budgets and his previous work as a fraudulent claims investi-gator for State Farm as reasons the assemblyman would be able to “re-form, restructure and improve the Brookhaven Highway Department.”

The assemblyman said in the press release, “My experience will al-low me to provide a better product at a lower cost to the taxpayers.”

Brookhaven Democrats have yet to name their candidate but committee chairman Marc Alessi has a few names.

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Betty Bezas turned 100 years old on Christmas day. A resident of Sunrise Senior Living in East Setauket, she is very active, teaching knitting and cro-cheting at Sunrise and socializing at the Greek Orthodox Church of the As-sumption in Port Jefferson.

Betty was born on Dec. 25, 1912, in Greece. She was raised on a yacht sail-ing the Mediterranean Sea and living a privileged life until age 15, when she married a man she met on her wedding day through a prearranged marriage. Her new husband, Zachary Bezas, took her to Brooklyn to live while he worked as a mathematician for a New York bank. For a short while, they had a fine life there until the Great Depres-

sion. Zachary Bezas lost his job and to support his family, he dug graves at Pinelawn Memorial Park in Farming-dale.

Later, he bought property in Dix Hills where he decided to be a chicken farmer. The first building they built was a chicken coop; they divided it in half with one part for the chickens and the other for the family. They sold eggs and chickens, delivering them to a market in Garden City, and the business lasted until the beginning of World War II, when Zachary Bezas went to work for Republic Aviation. The couple raised three daughters; Loretta Janelis, Catherine Krusos and Irene Usher.

Photo from Irene UsherEast Setauket resident Betty Bezas turned 100 on Christmas day.

Merry Christmas and happy birthday

To support young journalists, Elaine Crosson, Stony Brook University vice president for external relations, and her son Daniel donated $50,000 to the SBU School of Journalism to establish the Mat-thew T. Crosson Memorial Scholarship in Journalism. The scholarship will be given to student journalists in the school to pur-sue public affairs journalism and advance public discourse for which the late Matt Crosson was well known.

Some of the donation comes from the Crosson’s family and friends, while Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation will match the full $50,000 for a total of $100,000.

Additional donations from the commu-nity will continue to fund the endowment.

Matt Crosson, the former president of the Long Island Association, a title he held for 16 years, died unexpectedly on Dec. 23, 2010, from complications following a stroke. He resigned from the LIA earlier that year and accepted a job as the chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Cham-ber of Commerce. Following his death, Elaine and Daniel Crosson, who is now 14, moved back to their home on Long Island after Elaine Crosson accepted the position at Stony Brook University.

“It has been two years since Matt passed away and Daniel and I still miss him so much, as does the rest of his family, and so many others who knew and loved him,” Elaine Crosson said. “Dan and I wanted to make this gift now to commemorate

Matt’s legacy as a great advocate for public dialogue, and to provide others an oppor-tunity to honor his memory.”

The Crosson scholarship will be avail-able to a qualifying full-time junior or senior enrolled in the School of Jour-nalism, where Jim Klurfeld, Crosson’s friend and longtime co-host of the pub-lic affairs program “The Cutting Edge,” is a professor. The recipient must show a desire to pursue a career in journalism with a demonstrated interest in public affairs. The recipient will also have the opportunity to intern at Newsday or at News 12 Long Island and Newsday.com, or a special rotating internship at all three news outlets.

Beginning in the fall of 2013, one recip-

ient per year will be chosen by a selected committee appointed by School of Jour-nalism School Dean Howard Schneider.

“This scholarship will be invaluable in supporting students, year after year, whose passion will be to pursue reporting in the public interest,” Schneider said. “I can think of nothing more important.”

“This is not only a wonderful devel-opment for our program but wholly ap-propriate that it should be in Matt Cros-son’s name,” Klurfeld said. “Whether he was a prosecutor, running the New York State court system, heading the LIA or hosting a regular public affairs television show, Matt’s goal was always to find the truth. That, of course, is also the goal of journalism.”

Photo from SBU The late Matt Crosson, second from left, with Sean Hannity of Fox News’ ‘The Sean Hannity Show,’ the late Tim Russert from NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ and political commentator and consultant James Carville.

Crosson SBU scholarship promotes journalism

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •news on demandnorthshoreo� ongisland.com

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way she can.“In the end, we have the responsibility to

serve the public and we’ll do that and I’ll make sure he has anything that I have … to assist him,” she said.

Romaine’s chief of staffIn addition to Panico’s appointment as

deputy supervisor, Romaine appointed Garrett Swenson as his chief of staff, effec-tive immediately.

Swenson, a resident of Brookhaven hamlet, served as Brookhaven Town’s chief deputy attorney from January 2004 through January 2006, then as Southamp-ton Town attorney from January 2006 to December 2007.

Swenson, a graduate of Hofstra Univer-sity School of Law and Stony Brook Uni-versity, also spent more than 10 years in the Suffolk County attorney’s office.

Romaine said he chose Swenson because of his experience in town government.

“He has a wealth of legal knowledge.”

appointmentsContinued from page A3

File photo Brookhaven Town Councilman Dan Panico was appointed deputy supervisor.

PROBATE CITATIONFile No. 2012-659

SURROGATE’S COURT - SUFFOLK COUNTY

CITATIONTHE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF

NEW YORK, By the Grace of God Free and Independent

TO: “Audrey McGuiness and the distributees, heirs at law and next of kin of Norma June Anderson, deceased, if any be living; and if any be dead, their respective dis-tributees, heirs at law, next of kin, legatees, devisees, executors, administrators, assignees and successors in interest, all of whose names, whereabouts and addresses are unknown and cannot be ascertained with due diligence, being the persons interested in the estate of Norma June Anderson, de-ceased, as distributees or otherwise.”

A petition having been duly filed by NORMAN BOYUM, who is domiciled at 1602 WASHINGTON STREET, NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA 55057

YOU ARE HEREBY CITED TO SHOW CAUSE before the Sur-rogate’s Court, Suffolk County, at 320 CENTER DR., RIVER-HEAD, NY 11901, on FEBRU-ARY 5, 2013, at 9:30 o’clock in the forenoon of that day, why a decree should not be made in the estate of NORMA JUNE ANDERSON, lately do-miciled at 500 MATHER DRIVE, SOUTH SETAUKET, NEW YORK 11720, admitting to probate a Will dated AUGUST 4, 1994, (A Codicil dated ) a copy of which is attached, as the Will of NORMA JUNE ANDERSON, deceased, relating to real and personal property, and direct-ing that [XX] Letters Testa-mentary issue to: NORMAN BOYUM

Dated, Attested and SealedDecember 5, 2012

HON. JOHN M. CZYGIER, JR.Surrogate

MICHAEL CIPPOLINO,Chief Clerk

(Seal)

Attorneys for Petitioner NANCY BURNER& ASSOCIATES, P.C.46 ROUTE 25A, SUITE 4,SETAUKET, NEW YORK 11733631-941-3434

[NOTE: This citation is served upon you as required by law. You are not required to appear. If you fail to ap-pear it will be assumed you do not object to the relief requested. You have a right to have an attorney appear for you.]

420 12/20 4x vth

NOTICE OF ADOPTIONNotice is herby given that the following amendment(s) to the Uniform Code of Traf-

fic Ordinances of the Town of Brookhaven was/were adopt-ed by the Brookhaven Town Board on Public Hearing Date 12/18/2012 to become effec-tive ten (10) days from this publication as required by Section 133 of the Town Law.Article VIII Section 34 entitled RESTRICTED PARKING is here-by amended by ADDITION of the following in the hamlet of CENTEREACHMARK TREE RD NO PARKING ANY TIME BEGIN 750’ N/O LINDA DR CONTINUE NORTH +/-75’

STATE OF NEW YORK) SS:COUNTY OF SUFFOLK) I, Patricia A. Eddington, Clerk of the Town of Brookhaven in said State and County do hereby certify that I have com-pared the annexed copy of the Amendment(s) to the Uniform TrafficCode with the record of the original filed in my office, and that it is true and correct copy of such record and of the whole thereof. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and Affixed the seal of the Town of Brookhaven on this 18th day of November, 2012 .SEAL

438 1/3 1x vth

PUBLIC NOTICEVILLAGE OF OLD FIELD

A Public Hearing will be held before the Board of Trustees of the Incorporated Village of Old Field, Suffolk County, New York at the Ward Melville Heri-tage Center, 111 Main Street, Stony Brook, NY on Tuesday, January 15, 2012at 7:00 PM. The hearing will be on the 2013-2014 budget of estimat-ed expenses and revenues for the Village’s fiscal year com-mencing March 1, 2013 and ending February 28, 2014, which has been prepared by the Board of Trustees. The budget is on file and open to the public for in-spection Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays from 9:30am-3:00pm at the Village Hall, 207 Old Field Road in said Village from the time of this notice until the time of the hearing. All persons interested will be given an opportunity to be heard at said time and place. All citizens have a right to at-tend the public hearing, to provide written and oral com-ments, and to ask questions concerning the proposed Vil-lage budget.

By Order of the Board of Trustees

Lynda HowellVillage ClerkDated: December 20, 2010

442 1/3 1x vth

NOTICE OF ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS

SETAUKET FIRE DISTRICT

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Board of Fire Com-missioners of the Setauket Fire District has scheduled their organizational meeting for Thursday January 3, 2013 at 6:00 PM followed by their Business meeting. The meet-ings will take place at 26 Hulse Road East Setauket, N.Y. Dated: December 21, 2012

CYNTHIA HUBBARDFire District Secretary

445 1/3 1x vth

Board of AppealsIncorporated Village

of Poquott

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR VARIANCE – SPECIAL

PERMIT

Please take notice that Mr & Mrs. John Mastauskas of 54 Washington Street has made an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Incor-porated Village of Poquott, Suffolk County, New York, by filing a petition in writing which will be heard on Janu-ary 16, 2013.Pursuant to Chapter 183 of the Code of Ordinances of the In-corporated Village of Poquott and is hereby requesting a setback variance whereas re-quired setback of 30’-0” and applicant wishes to request a decrease in the setback to 25’-0”.#54 Washington Street

All persons interested in this proposed variance-special permit will be heard at 8:00 PM on the above mentioned date at the Village Hall, 45 Birchwood Avenue, Poquott, NY 11733

Dated: 12/18/2012

Joe AricoBuilding Inspector

APPLICANT’S PLANS ARE AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT

THE OFFICE OF THE BUILDING CLERK MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, FROM 9:00 AM TO

NOON AND 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

443 1/3 2x vth

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guidelinesDeadline is 12 noon

1 week prior to publication date.

E-mail your text to: legals@tbrnewspapers.

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631.751.7744

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With sound planning, Long Island will be preparedOPINION

Your turn

BY rich murdocco

Planners must use the best available data at the time to craft their plans, and the data is in. Despite the tumultuous politics associ-ated with climate change, extreme weather is a reality for Nassau and Suffolk counties and our infrastructure needs to adapt. First, there was Tropical Storm Irene, which made landfall at Coney Island in 2011, and now, Hurricane Sandy, which took a sharp left-ward turn and struck the tristate area dead on. Both incidents represent two wake-up calls that policymakers and municipal of-ficials must heed. As Lee Koppelman, Long Island’s veteran planner, always told us at Stony Brook, “The storm of the century is now happening every other year.”

Keep this in mind: As horrible as Sandy’s impacts were, the storm barely was a catego-ry 1 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The 1938 Long Island Express, which is considered by many to be the benchmark for Long Island’s hurricane threat, was estimated to be a cat-egory 3. That storm created the Shinnecock Inlet, and changed erosion patterns that offi-cials on Fire Island and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are still dealing with to this day. The damage in the 1938 storm was wide-spread and spoken about for decades. Since then, Long Island’s population has exploded with the expansion of suburbia, and these subdivisions have replaced critical wetlands

along our shorelines. Post-Sandy, a relatively weaker storm compared to 1938, Islanders had flooding, fallen trees and destruction that hasn’t been seen here since then.

We must be prepared, and we must adapt our settlement patterns wisely. Planners consider Long Island’s floodplain as the area that stretches south of Sunrise Highway from the Queens line to the Village of Rockville Centre, and south of Montauk highway to the end of the Island. The South Shore is the home to some of the densest population cen-ters on Long Island, and it is imperative that we protect these communities from fu-ture storms through smart infrastructure upgrades. On Fire Island, the barrier beach whose geological purpose is to protect the region’s vulnerable South Shore from pounding surf, never was an ap-propriate place to construct residences, and Sandy’s impacts show how dangerous it is to rebuild there. We cannot afford to rebuild to the status quo, we must learn from the les-sons of both Irene and Sandy in dictating

where future growth will occur.As important as our infrastructure is in

the long term, there are crucial short-term fixes we can make to get better prepared.

In a disaster area, it is cru-cial for residents to have accurate up-to-the-minute information. Social media has proven to be invaluable in providing residents with the status of emergency services, availability of gas, supplies and electricity. Both Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s offices were bril-liant in their use of Twitter in the days immediately after the storm to keep resi-dents in the loop. Cuomo’s use of his account was mas-terful regarding the Long Island Power Authority’s response, the availability of

gasoline and crucial updates from Federal Emergency Management Agency. More municipalities and agencies should fol-low suit, and build social media outreach into their emergency planning. Accurate, up-to-the-minute information is almost as valuable as gasoline and batteries in a storm

scenario, and in the age of the smartphone, Twitter is just the tool to utilize.

Long Islanders are resilient, and we will rebuild. The loss of life was mitigated thanks to the lessons learned from Irene, and we will hone our response for next time using the lessons from Sandy. Policymakers and planners need to study what worked in regard to the execution of the emergency evacuations, and what didn’t in terms of LIPA’s response afterward. Now more than ever, government has to direct resources to preparing our fragile infrastructure sys-tems, and fine-tuning our emergency plans.

When planning, one must look at the successes of the past, and integrate them with the advancements of the future. Unfor-tunately, Long Island will have a large-scale hurricane hit its shores again, but thanks to sound planning and policymaking, Long Island will be prepared.

Murdocco has worked with the NYC may-or’s Office of Capital Project Development. He has his B.A. from Fordham University in political science and urban studies, and his M.A. in public policy from Stony Brook Uni-versity. He works at the Community Devel-opment Corporation of Long Island. Follow him on Twitter @thefoggiestidea.


PEOPLE

Announcement submissionEmail items to [email protected] you Dr. Dev Chitkara for:

• Serving the health and well-being of the Smithtown community and beyond

• Four decades of providing outstanding care to your patients

• Your strong leadership

• Your incredible mentorship

Enjoy your well-deserved retirement!

From your Patients, your Colleagues & your Family

Hurricane Sandy relief projects in full swing at Laurel HillDriven by a strong sense of compassion and an

urgent desire to help their neighbors on Long Island, Laurel Hill students and staff in each grade (K-8) focused their collective energies on supporting a wide variety of relief projects across the Island. From children to their pets, students at Laurel Hill identified those in need and organized collection drives:

School Packet Drive: Kindergarten students made “School Packets” that included notebooks, crayons, pencils and other school supplies to replace some of the many items that were lost. Library Book Collection: First grade students collected picture books to donate to a school that lost books during the storm. To show support, express their concern and lift the spirits of the students receiving the books, the children created personalized bookmarks with inspiring messages. Baskets Of Clothing: Third grade students decided to help by collecting basic necessities that would replace some of what was lost. Baskets full of hats, gloves,

scarves, jackets, pajamas, blankets and warm clothes were made from items donated by school families. A school parent, who is a Suffolk County policeman as-signed to work at one of the hardest hit areas volun-teered to deliver the baskets. Pet Shelter Supplies Drive: Second and fourth grade students teamed up with a local veterinarian who was volunteering at a shelter for pets of storm victims. The children collected a wide as-sortment of items including food, toys, collars, leashes and bedding for the pet shelter. These donations were needed to care for the pets whose owners were busy repairing their own lives.

Helping A Family In Need: Fifth grade and staff identified one particular family to assist directly. The children collected the basic items the family requested including blankets, jackets and personal hygiene products. Raising Much Needed Funds: Middle school grades, 6-8, solicited donations of much needed money and donated the funds to Family-to-Family.

Paws up for fundraisingSince the spring of 2008, Minnesauke

Elementary School music teacher Susan Aupperlee has been inspiring her students to help create warmer and more welcoming living environments for those furry friends in need of a permanent home. Over the years, the school has collected thousands of dollars and countless amounts of dog and cat food and supplies for the Little Shelter Animal Adoption Center in Huntington. Most recently, the students focused their collection efforts on helping those animals displaced by Hurricane Sandy and alleviat-ing the major damage suffered at Little Shelter as a result of the superstorm. This year alone, the school has collected more than $520.

To gather the monetary donations for the organization, Aupperlee puts loose change in a collection jar on her classroom piano every time the students exhibit positive behavior traits in her classroom. The students have also been donating their spare change, along with a variety of sup-plies, toward the effort.

Photo from Jennifer Kuefner, Syntax

Tofano named hospitalist

director at Mather Hospital

Michael Tofano, MD, of Old Field, has been named hospitalist director at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital.

Hospitalists are physicians and allied staff employed by hospitals to care for admit-ted patients. Hospitalists

communicate with a patient’s primary care physicians and specialists and handle the patient’s care until they are dis-charged from the hospital.

Dr. Tofano joins the Mather staff after serving for the past three years as director of hospital medicine for Marl-boro and Clinton Hospitals, UMass Memorial Health Care and as associate chief of Hospital Medicine at UMass Me-morial Health Care in Worcester, Mass. Prior to that, Dr. Tofano had a cardiology private practice in Princeton, NJ.

He received his medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla. He was an internal medicine resident and later chief medical resident at St. Vincent’s Hospital & Medical Center in New York and completed a fellowship in cardiology at UMDNJ, Robert Wood Johnson.


PEOPLE

Grace Audrey McDonnell

Grace Audrey McDonnell, age 7, born on Nov. 4, 2005, be-loved and cherished daughter of Christopher and Lynn Zapf McDonnell of Sandy Hook, Conn., died tragically on Dec. 14 in the Sandy Hook Elemen-tary School.

A beautiful and artistic soul, Grace was truly a gift from God and represented all that is good in this world. She was passionate about paint-ing, and she loved the beach. Grace’s dream was to become a painter and live on Martha’s

Vineyard.In addition to her parents,

Grace is survived by her big brother Jack Sheridan McDon-nell of Sandy Hook, Conn.; maternal grandparents Fred-erick and Sheila Dunn Zapf of Stony Brook; paternal grand-mother Mary Ann Gorbutt McDonnell of Shelton, Conn.; and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

Grace was predeceased by her paternal grandfather, Lawrence P. McDonnell, and her namesake, maternal great-grandmother Audrey Dunn Franz.

A Memorial Mass was cel-ebrated on Friday, Dec. 21 at St. Rose of Lima Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider making a donation to the Grace Mc-Donnell Memorial Fund at Fairfield County Community Foundation. If you choose to do so, please make your check payable to “Grace McDonnell

Memorial Fund at FCCF” and mail to Fairfield County Com-munity Foundation, 383 Main Ave., Norwalk, CT 06851.

James Michael Donovan

James Michael Donovan, age 70, longtime resident of Stony Brook, died on Dec. 17.

He was the cherished husband of Lynn; loving father of Scott (Kathleen) and Matt (Beth); beloved Grampy of Gavin, Shane and Will; and devoted brother of Lynn Schulz and William Donovan.

Services were held Dec. 21 at St. James Episcopal Church, St. James. Interment followed at Pinelawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center, 45 Park Ave., Bay Shore, NY 11706.

Arrangements were en-trusted to the Maher Family of

the St. James Funeral Home, in St. James.

Warren D. Bree Jr. Warren D. Bree Jr., 68 years

old of East Setauket, died Dec. 10, 2012. He was born March 18, 1944, in Brooklyn, the son of Warren H. and Margaret Bree. He was a painter for Lo-cal DC9 .

Mr. Bree is survived by his son, Michael (Liza); daughters, Lisa (Bob) and Christine; five grandchildren; mother, Mar-garet; sisters, Caroline, Diane, Geraldine, Dolores; and broth-ers, Ronald and Edward.

Services were held at Bryant Funeral Home on Dec. 14, 2012. Interment followed in the Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale.

Arrangements were en-trusted to the Bryant Funeral Home of Setauket. Please visit www.bryantfh.com to sign the online guestbook.

Obituaries

Dzvonar begins term as president of chamber

Jennifer Dzvonar recently took over as president of the North Brookhaven Cham-ber of Commerce. Her goal is to strengthen the chamber through membership growth while fostering the business climate in the towns served by the chamber: Port Jefferson Station, Terryville, Mount Sinai, Sound Beach, Miller Place and Rocky Point. Watch for networking opportunities for both Chamber members and future/prospective members in the months to come. Dzvonar has been an active member in her local chambers for years as well as handling the office/phone aspects of her husband Will’s business, Bass Electric. She brings much enthusiasm and energy to her term as presi-dent. Visit the North Brookhaven chamber online at www.northbrookhavenchamber.org for information and meeting schedules.

Minnesauke gives backMinnesauke Elementary School

students were involved in a wide vari-ety of community service projects this fall as part of their continued effort to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

With the help of the school’s Site-Based Team and coordinating teach-ers Kristen Barnes, Jason Hugues and Paul Wilgenkamp, the building coordinated a Communities Helping Communities collection drive for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook. For the drive, the build-ing collected a wide range of sup-plies – from toiletries to baby food to clothing – for individuals living in the Long Island communities hit hardest by the hurricane and still struggling as a result of the devastation they suf-fered.

The sixth-grade students in Kristen

Bernardo’s class worked on a Book Finder Friends project for a school in Long Beach. For their effort, the students collected more than 3,160 gently used books from their fellow classmates and school staff members. The students explained that they were looking to “give the joy to read to those in need.”

With the help of school librarian Nicole Connelly and teacher Mary Fernandes, the entire school partici-pated in a read-a-thon to raise money for local families affected by Sandy. The students collected pledges from family and friends over a two-week time period and participated in the read-a-thon during a 40-minute block of the school day. The school collected nearly $8,000, with more than $800 collected by student Daphna Fineberg.

Photos from Jennifer Kuefner, Syntax


PEOPLEMaking Days Bright

Students and staff members of Three Village Central School District spread holiday cheer and goodwill to others this holiday season through a variety of collec-tion drives.

Teaming up with the students at Ar-rowhead and Minnesauke elementary schools, the student government at R.C. Murphy Junior High School organized a holiday toy drive for the Gerald Ryan Outreach Center in Wyandanch. This is the 25th consecutive year that Murphy has worked to bring holiday gifts to the center, which serves one of the largest and neediest populations on Long Island. The effort, spearheaded by school psychologist Dr. Jeff Pomerantz, inspired the schools to donate thousands of new and gently used toys. Working with their partnering schools, Murphy’s students stuffed a box truck with all of the donations and had them delivered to the center just in time for the holidays.

In the spirit of the holidays and friendly competition, the P.J. Gelinas Junior High School student government coordinated a holiday contest in Decem-ber aimed at bringing joy to others. “Floor Wars” has become an annual tradition at the school, pinning the first- and second-floor homerooms against each other in an effort to see which floor can collect the greatest number of toys for the Town of Brookhaven Holiday Toy Drive. This year’s winner was the second floor with 290 donations. In total, Gelinas collected more than 540 toys.

W.S. Mount Elementary School’s student government collected toys for NANA’s House, a nonprofit organiza-tion that serves 110 families per year. The organization contains a thrift shop, gift shop and food pantry where families can use “Nana Bucks” to purchase items they need. The mission of the facility is to aggressively advocate and provide a full range of appropriate services for homeless families and their dependents. Just before the holiday break, Mount’s student government visited the facility and delivered all of the donated toys they had collected.

At Ward Melville High School, students and staff members donated toys to the Marines annual Toys for Tots program. Soliciting donations from the district’s junior high school level and cen-tral office administration building, Ward Melville was able to collect boxes full of toys for the worthy cause. As a special treat, this year students in P.J. Gelinas Junior High School’s technology and family and consumer science departments created dancing puppeteer bears, crayon turkeys, wood-turned whistles and soft teddy bears for the donation effort.

Setauket Elementary School students also coordinated a giving tree for fami-lies in need. The school collected many wished for items for those who are strug-gling this holiday season.

In addition to the holiday drives, many students also visited local area senior citizen and nursing facilities to brighten

the days of those residents. Nassakeag Elementary School sixth-grade orchestra and band members visited the Long Island State Veteran’s Home in Stony Brook, where they not only performed a few holiday pieces but also engaged the residents in a festive sing-a-long.

Pictured from top: The Floor Wars competition at Gelinas JHS, Murphy JHS’s stuff-a-box truck ef-forts, WMHS toy collection for the Marines’ Toys for Tots program and Mount student government collected toys for NANA’s House.

Photos from Jennifer Kuefner, Syntax


File photos

Alexa Antipas and Alexa Rohan, above, and Ward Melville coach Jeff Salmon and Antipas, left.

numbers to his resume. He came away with a bronze medal at last summer’s national championship for Division II men’s sabre.

In the epee event, junior Tyler La Tour-rette defeated each of the two Walt Whit-man competitors that he faced. “He’s a tall fencer who is really learning to use his height to his advantage,” Salmon said.

The Patriots have a very strong and competitive boys foil squad. Each foil competitor has achieved national medals at some point over their careers. “They are the counterpoint to the girls sabre squad,” Salmon said. “They’re quite accomplished in their weapon.”

Senior foil Matt Petrie uses speed to his

advantage. “He’s a very fast and precise fencer,” Salmon said.

Junior foil Devon Reina came fresh off his Division II national championship vic-tory, but he didn’t show any signs of slowing down. “Devon is an extremely talented left-handed fencer,” Salmon said.

Sophomore foil Mike Antipas is one of the top-ranked cadet fencers (17 years and younger) in the country. He competed this fall in Budapest as a member of a United States team. “He’s doing very well,” Salm-on said.

Both teams will compete on Jan. 3 at home against Brentwood at 5 pm.

SPORTSWard Melville boys, girls fencing at 4-0

Reina wins men’s foil national championship

By fRAnk doWd

The Ward Melville fencing squad had a lot of well-deserved excitement to cheer late last month. Both the boys and girls teams made easy work of Walt Whitman by fencing their way to victory in front of their hometown fans Dec. 19. The girls came out on top 21-6 and the boys won their match 22-5.

“Both teams had solid and consistent performances,” Ward Melville head coach Jennie Salmon said. “We were glad that we were able to execute against Whitman.”

Junior Melanie Holl came out on top of her epee competition 2-0. “Melanie is one

of the top fencers in the county and she was able to defeat another highly ranked com-petitor,” Salmon said. “She executed well. She was able to balance patience with find-ing good moments to score touches.”

Sophomore Angela Zhang, who is un-defeated in foil, kept her perfect 9-0 record intact by securing two wins against Walt Whitman. “She is stepping into a leadership role,” Salmon said. “She is just strong and a very well-rounded fencer. She is able to fig-ure out each opponent.”

The sabre competitors continued their undefeated streak by going a combined 6-0 against Walt Whitman. Senior Alexa Anti-pas, senior Alexa Rohan and Kacy Charpin each won both of their matches.

Antipas is a three-time national cham-pion. “She’s pretty good,” Salmon said.

Rohan has been recruited by California’s Stanford University. She is looking forward to fencing on their squad next year.

Charpin continues to push the momen-tum of her young career forward with vic-tory after victory. She won the Division II national championship event in St. Louis, Mo., this past summer.

For the boys team, senior Travis Quinn, who went 2-0 against Walt Whitman to add more victories to his fencing career, is a left-handed fencer. “It’s a great thing,” Salmon said.

Quinn continues to add impressive

By fRAnk doWd

Junior Devon Reina is quickly making a name for himself at Ward Melville High School and all across the fencing commu-nity. He has earned his first taste of nation-wide gold by placing first out of 200 fenc-ers who took part in the Division II men’s foil national championship in Milwaukee, Wis., Dec. 8. “It’s an incredible experi-ence,” Reina said. “It feels pretty good to win something like that.”

Over the span of Reina’s five-year fenc-ing career, he has competed in many na-tional fencing championships. Reina was recognized with a successful bronze medal two years ago, but those feelings pale in comparison to the excitement he has felt this time around. “It feels great to win,” Reina said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot more special than when I placed third because it’s a higher-ranked competition.”

Reina entered the competition with

a C fencing rating. He showed off excep-tional skills and ability to plow past all six competitors he faced. After the final touch, Reina was crowned champion, which ad-vanced his fencing status to that of a B-rated fencer. “He can no longer fence in Division II because he is too good,” Ward Melville head coach Jennie Salmon said.

On his road to capturing the title, Reina pulled through with seven victories in direct elimination bouts. In each of those bouts, the first competitor to reach 15 touches was declared the winner. The competitors were also up against the clock because each match had a time limit of nine minutes.

Reina found himself trailing 6-1 in his opening direct elimination match. His strength, endurance, intensity and deter-mination helped him battle his way out of the hole. Reina tied the match at 10-10 and he went on to win 11-10 in overtime. “That

is what it takes to become a champion,” Salmon said. “He was able to overcome his bouts and come out on top. It was quite an impressive performance.”

In Reina’s gold medal match, he faced Arizona’s Calvin Liang. The bout was tied at 12-12, and Reina found just enough add-ed intensity to rattle off three consecutive touches to win 15-12. “It was a close match all of the way through,” said Salmon.

Reina fences year-round, but he picked up the intensity of his training two months prior to the national event. “I focused more on my technique,” he said.

Reina has been working very hard to move up the ladder, but he has goals to advance even further in his fencing career. “I’ll work just as hard as I have been do-ing,” said Reina. “I would like to get an A rating. I have been working hard for quite a while now. It just takes time and effort.”

fencing

boys fencing

Photo from Susan Reina

Coach Jeff Salmon and devon Reina


Building walls around themselvesTO THE EDITOR:

As I listen to the growing debate about gun control in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., shootings, I am reminded of the poem, “Mending Wall,” by Robert Frost. The speaker in the poem lets on about the puz-zling though amusing task of repair-ing the stone wall that separates his property from his neighbor’s. What is it about the winter that seems hell-bent on destroying the wall? Where did the wall come from and what purpose does it serve? The neighbor’s response has become a time-honored adage: “Good fences make good neighbors.” And yet, as the speaker says, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

I’m beginning to wonder if this issue reveals a chasm deeper than our respective interpretations of the Second Amendment.

Like the neighbors in the poem, we seem to be divided by two dis-tinct views of the world: one that only trusts individual freedom and personal responsibility (presuming the same in others) and another that finds value in the collec-tive nature of community. We all remember how candidate Obama was ridiculed by conservatives for being a community organizer. They

convinced some that such a job was reserved for the weak and ineffec-tual. Not only do the efforts of citi-zens working, compromising and legislating together prove fruitless, but personal freedom, wealth and opportunity are usually the cost.

The National Rifle Association wants us to believe that in taking care of ourselves, we take care of the community. If more individu-als have guns, the community will be safer. My purpose here is not to question the wisdom of such a proposal. There are places where it might work. I’m just bothered by the other cost: the cost to our sense of community, to our willing-ness to listen to one another and to our faith in progressive solutions. I’m not ready to give in to baser instincts. And as gun advocates persist in a way that seems myopi-cally insensitive to the devastation in Newtown, they ought to be concerned about the walls they are quickly building around themselves.

John BraileEast Setauket

Sandy helpers deserve thanksTO THE EDITOR:

Each year I continue to be impressed by your selection of the Men and Women of the Year, and

2012 is no exception. Having said that, however, I felt it was impor-tant to address the criteria for hon-oring individuals for their efforts within a community. My guess is that there are people who are nominated for such honors well in advance, and that those nominat-ing them are within a select group chosen by the paper. While these individuals have valid reasons for nominating particular honorees, the community should recognize that there are many more among them who literally go unnoticed.

What comes to mind in the recent wake of Hurricane Sandy, are the countless numbers of men and women who either worked a tremendous amount of overtime within their communities, or vol-unteered their time and resources to help their fellow neighbors: Utility crews, local town highway workers, volunteer fire and EMS workers, police officers, hotel staff, hospital staff, clergy, community leaders, chamber of commerce members and local officials all go-ing above and beyond, deserving the right to be recognized.

Some of the behind-the-scenes good deeds, that so often fail to make the news, are some of the most powerful examples of what the title of Man or Woman of the Year should represent. It doesn’t take a lot to find such stories of greatness; it only takes a willing-ness to uncover them.

There are so many Three Village residents that treasure their com-munity and value the coverage their local paper provides. As one of them, I thank you and trust that you will continue to cover the stories that matter most to all of us.

Happy New Year and blessings to all in the year ahead.

Lisa BehnkeStony Brook

The opinions of columnists and letter writers are their own. They do not speak for the newspaper.

EDITORIAL

OPINION

For the last three weeks, lawmakers, commen-tators and everyday citizens have been arguing over how the country should respond to the trag-edy in Newtown, Conn., as well as to the other mass shootings we’ve seen recently.

Some people want to outlaw more or all guns, while others want to attack Hollywood and video games. On the other hand, some want to see more guns in the hands of Americans. Wayne LaPierre, National Rifle Association’s CEO and executive vice president, responded to the Connecticut massacre on Dec. 14, by saying, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

He also criticized Hollywood, popular music and the video game industry, which the U.S. Supreme Court supported in the June 2011 ruling of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Associa-tion when it struck down a California law that regulated the sale or rental of violent video games to children. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling that limiting video games would restrict people’s rights under the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court also voted 5-4 in sup-port of the Second Amendment in the June 2008 ruling of District of Columbia v. Heller when it confirmed that an individual has a right to own a gun for the purpose of self-defense — among other things — as opposed to for use in a militia.

But the way to prevent mass shootings may not be further limiting guns, having more access to guns or limiting video games — it may be in how the country addresses mental illness, specifically identifying people who are dangerous.

It’s been reported that about 20 percent of America suffers from mental illness and many mental health professionals say there is not enough care to go around.

Less than one-third of adults and one-half of children with a diagnosable mental disorder receive mental health services in a given year, ac-cording to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

With a lack of available services, high costs and the stigma of mental illness, it’s become clear that more help is needed.

We should be catching these illnesses in schools before they escalate. Many schools have cut social workers and school psychologists to trim budgets. School districts should add a few extra specialists and spend time evaluating every student, which could help erase the stigma and give children some time to talk about their prob-lems with trained professionals.

We may have to make cuts elsewhere, but it’s become evident that too many violent mentally ill people are slipping through the cracks and some-thing needs to be done to get them help before it’s too late for us all.

Mental illness must enter the discussion

Art by Anthony Freda‘Year of the Snake’

Letters … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number for confirmation. Email letters to [email protected] or mail them to The Village Times Herald, PO Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733.


Let’s turn off that car engine

You drive to the train station to pick up your spouse. You arrive a few minutes before the train, which is

good, especially when the temperature dips and you don’t want your passenger to get cold after a long commute from the Frozen Apple to the Windswept Island. Maybe you play with your iPhone while you’re waiting, you go through your bills, you catch up with a friend and you wait for that large light to appear down the track, signaling that the train is returning weary commut-ers to their families for a precious few hours before they trudge out to the morning again.

But while you’re waiting, there’s some-thing you can do with a simple flick of the wrist: Turn off your car. All too often, we sit in our warm cars, waiting anywhere from two to 15 minutes for someone to climb in

so we can go to our next activity.Why do we need the engine running?

Do we want to make sure the car is warm when our passenger enters? Modern cars warm up incredibly quickly. Besides, even if the temperature drops in the car slightly, most of us aren’t sitting in shorts and a T-shirt, playing hide and seek with the cold.

And then there’s the wait outside schools. Our secondary school kids have friends who, despite their cell phones, Ins-tagrams and every other means of commu-nication, still need to say those one or two or six more things to each other before they separate. That can take minutes. While we’re sitting in our cars, let’s turn them off.

The benefits to our environment, to our children and to us are obvious: We’ll save gas, we won’t spew fossil fuels into the air, and we’ll protect the lungs of those same children who have to walk through invis-ible plumes of smoke as they pass all the other cars on the way to our family vehicle.

I know it seems like small potatoes compared to all the bigger issues around us,

like getting jobs, keeping jobs, cleaning up after the storms, taking our children to all their life-enriching activities and finding hor-mone-free foods. But, it’s in its modesty that it becomes a manageable community New Year’s resolution.

Those of us sitting in idling cars aren’t hiding from the fumes, either. According to the International Center for Technology Assessment, people sitting in cars are inhaling pollutants like volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide.

I’ve read a wide range of reports on idling that suggest turning off your car saves more gas than restarting it if you’re idling for more than 30 seconds. This ex-cludes sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, when traffic rules limit your ability to turn off your car. It also excludes hybrid vehicles, some of which automatically shut down if they come to a stop in traffic. Most of us

sit for well above 30 seconds, waiting for our next trip.

There’s also the economic argument: Sitting in an idling car burns gas, costing you money you could use for

other things.I’ve also read that, despite anti-idling

laws in places like New York City, enforce-ment limits their effectiveness. But why should we need stringent enforcement of laws designed to help all of us?

With everyone carrying cell phones they can use to alert their personal drivers of their likely arrival time, we should be able to coordinate our pickups. Each of us may not be sitting for that long, but, collectively and over time, it adds up. If we have to wait, let’s turn off the engine.

D. None of the aboveby DaNiel DuNaief

[email protected]

It’s in its modesty that it becomes a manageable community New Year’s

resolution.

TIMES BEacon rEcordnEWSPaPErS

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EDITOR AND PUBLISHERLeah S. DunaiefGENERAL MANAGERJohness KuiselEXECUTIVE EDITORRachel ShapiroEDITORRachel ShapiroLEISURE EDITOREllen BarcelSPORTS EDITORKatherine Winkler

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The best spectator sport for 2013

Surprise! It was more of a fiscal pebble than a “fiscal cliff.” When the long-awaited Congressional

vote finally came, first in the Democrat-controlled Senate in the pre-dawn hours of New Year’s Day and then in the GOP-controlled House later Tuesday, what we got was what we expected. Taxes will rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on those individuals earning more than $400,000 a year and families more than $450,000 — a level Obama had already agreed to — and almost everything else is in the can that got kicked down the road.

In the scorekeeping that currently reigns between the two parties, Obama was quick to point out that the GOP finally yielded on new taxes. Whoopee! What courage. The overwhelming majority of voters already indicated that they were in favor of having the rich pay more taxes, as were a majority of the rich. It was hardly a creative solution to our deficit spending. The new taxes will amount to a sliver of what is needed to pay the nation’s bills. But, OK, it’s a start-ing point.

There was more. Dividends, interest payments and capital gains realized from the sale of assets like stocks, will now be taxed at 20 percent instead of 15 percent if the taxpayer is part of the official “rich” — those over $400,000. Many of those living off such income are older and retired.

But the officially rich still includes those who earn over $200,000 and $250,000 for whom deductions and per-sonal exemptions on their adjusted gross incomes are to be phased out. Estate tax rates will now move to 40 percent from 35 percent for those who leave their heirs more than $5 million. The alternative minimum tax, designed to catch those who might have slipped through the deductions cracks, will now be indexed to inflation, which should protect some of the middle class, who number in the mil-lions, from higher taxes. And all of us who are employed will go back to paying our full share of social security withholding, namely 6.2 percent instead of last year’s temporary 4.2 percent.

Unemployment insurance is extended for another year, a no-brainer since that money is put right back into the economy to support those who are unemployed and is therefore something of a tiny stimulus. The 27 percent reduction in Medicare payments to providers, which had been

proposed, has been put off for another year. And the tax credits in the 2009 stimulus law have been extended.

So for the moment, tax revenues have been in-creased by some $600 billion over the period of the next 10 years — a trifle compared to our projected increases in the trillions in spending over the next decade.

And speaking of spending, we reached our debt ceiling of 16.4 tril-lion on New Year’s Eve, and only some “extraordinary measures” will allow the Treasury to pay our bills until late Febru-ary or early March before we default. This is about the same time that the automatic spending cuts of $110,000 bil-lion to military and domestic programs, which were to start Jan. 1, have now been rescheduled to start in this latest Con-gressional action.

Democrats and Republicans are set for a showdown at the O.K. Corral at High Noon on March 1, with lots of run-ning warfare until then. This year is off to an exciting start already.

What? You were expecting Congress and the White House to reach an agree-ment on a broader deal to reduce the

deficit over the next 10 years? Just because that would have boosted business and consumer confidence and accelerated growth, you thought that our elected officials could have come to

some consensus for the national good? Why would you expect them to agree when they clearly prefer fighting with each other?

There is some good news, believe it or not. Europe’s financial crisis seems to be easing a bit and the real estate market in the U.S. might be coming to life again. Prices are up modestly, and according to realtors, houses are selling. There are even occasional bid-ding wars, if the property is appealing enough. Large companies have lots of cash that they have been loath to invest just yet. And the stock market, that al-leged indicator of the future direction of the economy, seems to be able to look past all the in-fighting to a better place. I sure am cheering for stocks. Happy New Year!

between you and meby leah S. DuNaief

[email protected]

This year is off to an exciting start already.


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