Calverton Civic Association urges public to attend this evening's zoning meeting

National Grid Ventures, co-owner of Long Island’s first two battery storage plants, has withdrawn plans for a half-dozen other plants across the region, even as it works with partner NextEra Energy Resources to overhaul a plant in Montauk that’s offline. National Grid Ventures, a division of London-based National Grid whose U.S. operation owns a fleet of Long Island power plants and the regional natural gas system, had been listed in a state grid-connection database as proposing battery plants in West Babylon, Southampton, Far Rockaway, Port Jefferson, Wading River and Glenwood Landing.Together the projects represented hundreds of megawatts of potential energy storage, some using space at power stations National Grid owns from its acquisition of KeySpan in 2007. (The plants were previously owned by the former LILCO.)Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that New York Independent System Operator, which manages requests to connect to power grids across the state, previously had proposals for about 60 battery-storage facilities for Long Island in 2025. That list has since been whittled to 20. "National Grid is not planning to develop any additional battery sites on Long Island at this time," other than the two on the South Fork, National Grid Ventures spokesman Will Brunelle told NEWSDAY. "The other proposals were withdrawn in favor of opportunities that better aligned with our business priorities." National Grid was listed as proposing battery plants in Wading River, Southampton and Glenwood Landing. The two existing facilities on the South Fork, in Montauk and in East Hampton, have been operating under contract to LIPA since 2018. LIPA’s 20-year contracts to use the facilities, which are rated at 5-megawatts each, amount to a combined $109 million.***Suffolk County health department testing of Peconic River samples following last week’s sewage discharge at an East Main Street construction site have shown “bacteriological indicator levels …. well below NYS Standards for bathing beaches” a health department official wrote in an email to Riverhead Sewer District Superintendent Tim Allen yesterday. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the Suffolk Health Department has lifted a Jan. 14 health advisory urging the public against recreating in the tidal waters of the Peconic. The agency said in a press release “recent analysis of surface water samples collected from the potentially affected area indicates this area is suitable for primary contact recreation.” “SCDHS took multiple rounds of samples for bacterial contamination at various locations in the tidal portion of Peconic River. Results were unremarkable and do not suggest any sewage-related contamination,” Suffolk County Associate Public Health Sanitarian Nancy Pierson said in her email to Allen. A break in a Riverhead Sewer District pipe at the 203-213 East Main Street construction site on Jan. 14 resulted in a discharge of approximately 10,000 gallons of untreated wastewater at the site, located a short distance from the river. Allen said last week the situation was quickly “mitigated” and there was no visible evidence of the discharged wastewater contaminating the river. The property under construction is being developed by Heatherwood with a 165-unit apartment building. Allen told the Riverhead Town Board last Thursday that the discharged wastewater “saturated into the ground” so “there was no cleanup.” The contractor has a dewatering box on site because the shallow depth to groundwater requires dewatering during excavation for sewer pipes and the building foundation. ***The Calverton Civic Association is urging members of the public to attend this evening’s Riverhead Town Zoning Board of Appeals meeting at 6 p.m. to raise concerns about a proposed construction and demolition debris processing plant at 1792 Middle Road, which is currently the site of a single family home but is zoned for light industry. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the property had formerly been in a regular industrial zone. This comes on the heels of the denial of two variances for a vertically farmed industrial cannabis operation at 1458 Middle Road in Calverton.The RIVERHEAD TOWN Zoning Board of Appeals meeting is tonight at 6 p.m.***A state judge yesterday ruled New York State’s current congressional map unconstitutional because it discriminates against Black and Hispanic people in Staten Island and Brooklyn and ordered it redrawn in a matter of weeks.The ruling is a huge win for Democrats — if it holds up on appeal.Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that it could allow a Democratic-dominated New York State Legislature to reconfigure the state’s 26 congressional districts ahead of this fall’s midterm elections and give the party a better chance to seize a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.It also comes as several Republican-led states, urged on by Republican President Donald Trump, have acted to redraw their congressional maps for partisan advantage.In New York, State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ruled the 11th Congressional District in Staten Island and Brooklyn dilutes minority votes and deprives minority residents of representation.Pearlman said it is "clear to the court that the current district lines of CD-11 are a contributing factor in the lack of representation for minority voters."The district’s current officeholder, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, is the lone Republican in the New York City delegation.Republicans are expected to appeal to New York’s highest court and then to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Party leader Ed Cox blasted the decision and Pearlman, who worked as a lawyer for New York Democrats in several capacities before becoming a judge."This is a partisan ruling made by a partisan judge brought by a notoriously partisan attorney," Cox said.He referred to the Elias Law Group, the Washington-based firm that has represented Democrats in redistricting and other election law matters around the country.Democratic State Chairman Jay Jacobs hailed the ruling."I think it’s a good decision that will improve representation," Jacobs told Newsday. "I am hopeful it will be upheld."Normally, every state redraws its maps following the once-a-decade census, with new maps in place for years such as 2022, 2012 and 2002.But President Trump has overturned that by pushing Republican-led states to redraw their maps as fast as possible to help the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections.***A crew of local eighth grade boys beat out 260 entries to earn the title of best mac’n’cheese recipe in the state — with ingredients like sweet corn, Muenster cheese and garlic toast breadcrumbs.Alex Mitchell reports in THE NY POST that eleven Southampton Intermediate School kids in the last-period cooking club also used mozzarella, cheddar, bacon and shredded chicken under a pie crust for their award-winning and super aromatic pot-pie MAC.“Security guards came into the classroom because they could smell it down the hall, everybody loved it,” said Charles Holle, one of the self-proclaimed “Mac Island Mariners.”“We didn’t expect to win necessarily, but we knew that it had a chance,” he said of the recipe that took first place in Cornell University’s Mac & Cheese Challenge, netting the kids a $300 prize for creative academic endeavors. The close-knit group made the “spontaneous” decision to participate when the contest started last September, with little to no real experience. “They were very excited and really wanted to try it out,” teacher Christina Duryea told The Post. The SIS students were hungry for a win when Duryea told them about the contest on day one. “The next week, we were already working on recipes, and it just kind of all fell into place,” added teammate Cole Collins. Their task, per the competition, was “to develop their perfect macaroni & cheese recipe” and submit it on paper to judges, who would independently prepare the dish based on the students’ cooking recommendations. “We had no clue what the competition was doing because it was private, so we only knew what we were doing,” Collins added. Ms. Duryea said she was most impressed by how the little chefs learned to collaborate — and how their teamwork yielded a product superior to that of hundreds of their peers across the Empire State. And with three hundred bucks at their disposal now the Mac Island Mariners may not be done yet.Kudos Southampton Intermediate School cooking club!***Greenport’s Floyd Memorial Library is throwing a Showtunes Soirée tomorrow evening from 5 to 7 p.m. in conjunction with its new exhibition, “Playbills Throughout the Years.”Co-hosted by Huck Hirsch of North Fork Community Theatre and Sally Grant, the library’s Art Exhibits Curator, Friday evening will feature pianist Jim Lowe and several vocalists.Ms. Grant tells EAST END BEACON that, “We’re also thrilled to be joined by members of Greenport High School’s Drama Club who will be performing shortly after the reception starts at 5 p.m.”The event is not a recital — the organizers hope to channel New York City’s iconic piano bar Marie’s Crisis for an evening of sing-a-longs of much-loved Broadway tunes.The suggested dress is “your most fabulous, festive, Tony-Awards’ attire.”That’s the Show tunes reception for Playbill Throughout the Years…tomorrow from 5–7 pm. at the Floyd Memorial Library, 539 First Street, Greenport, NY 11944***Forecast models now predict that the probability of 6-plus inches of snow has increased, bringing a "significant winter storm" to Long Island beginning late Saturday.In an updated alert issued this...