News Roundup

Jan
22
2017

About 100 North Fork residents boarded a pair of buses out of Southold before sunrise Saturday to attend the Women’s March on Washington.

The group, made up mostly of women, departed at 4:30 a.m. to join an estimated 500,000 protestors in the nation’s capital on the morning after Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. The buses returned to Southold shortly before midnight.

“It was an absolutely amazing experience,” said...read more ››

Jan
20
2017

This piece is not an evaluation of the president’s legislative accomplishments or failures. or even his politics — but rather a reflection of the very personal impact the 44th president had on one 15-year-old boy from Port Jefferson.

It was 2008 and I was just coming of age. Then I saw him on television, delivering his iconic “Yes We Can” speech. In that moment Barack Obama instilled in me a genuine sense of hope, a firm belief that in...read more ››

Jan
8
2017

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is once again urging state lawmakers to allow early voting access in New York as part of a series of voting reform measures his office unveiled on Sunday.

Cuomo, who last year proposed early voting and automatic voter registration at state licensing offices, is also calling for same-day voter registration, saying in a news release the measures would “remove unnecessary barriers that prevent participation in...read more ››

Jan
3
2017

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday proposed free state college tuition assistance to ease the burden of paying for higher education for hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income students.

Cuomo announced the Excelsior Scholarship college degree program, which would help cover the cost of SUNY and CUNY tuition, including at two-year community colleges, for students whose families earn up to $125,000 annually. Individuals also would...read more ››

Jan
3
2017

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer prodded President-elect Donald Trump and said Democrats will hold him and the Republican majority “accountable” to the American people and the law as the New Yorker made his first speech Tuesday as Senate minority leader.

“With all due respect, America cannot afford a Twitter presidency,” Schumer said as he warned Trump about using social media to make policy. “These issues are complex and demand both...read more ››

Jan
3
2017

Suffolk’s Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory won his fourth term Tuesday to lead the 18-member county legislature for another year, vowing to focus on county’s budget problems.

Gregory was voted in on an 11-5 party line vote, with Republican lawmakers nominating Legis. Kevin McCaffrey, GOP caucus leader, as a symbolic alternative.

Despite his candidacy, McCaffrey complimented Gregory on being evenhanded with the minority...read more ››

Jan
2
2017

A 200-member team of investigators has been assembled to help ensure businesses across the state comply with the new minimum wage law that took effect Saturday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his top aides announced Monday in Manhattan.

The Multiagency Enforcement and Outreach Unit will hold employers accountable by notifying employees of their rights, collecting their complaints and conducting investigations, Cuomo said.

New York...read more ››

Dec
12
2016

More than 100 local men and women will board buses and head to our nation’s capital Jan. 21 for the Women’s March on Washington.

“This bus trip is about making sure that voices are heard,” said Damon Rallis, a Southold Town Democratic Committee member and co-president of the Southold Democratic Club. The town committee is sponsoring the two buses, which filled up quickly.

Mr. Rallis, who will not take part in the trip, said he...read more ››

Nov
15
2016

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo established a statewide “hotline” Tuesday to report hate and bias crimes and incidents after an “explosion” in “bias-motivated events,” including displays of swastikas and Confederate flags in White Plains, Wellsville, Geneseo and other parts of New York following Donald Trump’s win in the presidential election.

Cuomo, a Democrat, said the State Police, the state Division of Human Rights and university...read more ››

Nov
14
2016

On Tuesday, November 8th, voters on the East End of Long Island had an important environmental decision to make on their ballots: whether or not to extend the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) in the five East End towns. Voters have spoken and the results showed a resounding desire to extend the CPF, the vital 2% real estate transfer tax that protects and preserves local farmland, water quality and open space. This ballot initiative to extend...read more ››