Suffolk County may be declared "disaster area" over oyster crop

The Trump administration's $2.2 trillion budget proposal prioritizes defense spending while proposing significant cuts to domestic programs, notably targeting New York and other blue states for alleged program mismanagement.Proposed cuts include eliminating the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, prompting bipartisan opposition from local lawmakers concerned about the high cost of energy.Lawmakers and officials, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, criticize the budget for exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis and prioritizing military spending over essential domestic programs.Laura Figueroa Hernandez reports in NEWSDAY that the proposed budget also calls for the elimination of the $3.3 billion Community Development Block Grant program, which has long been used by municipalities to build affordable housing and improve blighted neighborhoods, and cutting $393 million in federal funding for homeless programs.Members of Long Island’s congressional delegation have raised concerns about some of the cuts, particularly to the heating and cooling assistance program that the administration tried unsuccessfully to eliminate last year and as well as during Trump's first four years in office. Those attempts failed amid bipartisan pushback, and lawmakers told Newsday they’re prepared to fight again for the program. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), noting he is "the only Northeast Republican on the House Appropriations Committee," said that last year he helped secure support for an additional $20 million in funding for the LIHEAP program, but he also blamed Hochul and state lawmakers for not doing enough to keep energy prices down."I will continue fighting to support LIHEAP so Long Island families can afford their energy bills and stay safe," LaLota said.Another Suffolk County U.S. Congressman, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), told NEWSDAY, "Cutting LIHEAP is the wrong approach for those already struggling with high energy costs, especially in high-cost regions like Long Island, where energy bills can be a real burden." Garbarino noted that during past attempts to cut the program he has led a bipartisan effort in support of maintaining its funding.***The East End’s representatives to the New York State Legislature have introduced new legislation that would give commercial fishermen immediate relief from the state’s fuel tax, as a way to ease the burden of skyrocketing gas prices. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that since the Trump administration ordered U.S. military forces to join an Israeli assault on Iran, the per gallon price of the diesel fuel their boats run on has more than doubled, fishermen said this week.Commercial fishermen are entitled to relief from state taxes, much like farmers are. But, unlike the agriculture industry, they have to pay the full price for their fuel at the pump and then can apply to the state for a rebate, which can take months to get back.The bill introduced last week by NYS Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni of Sag Harbor and State Senator Anthony Palumbo of New Suffolk would give fishermen the break immediately so they do not have to carry the costs of the fuel taxes, as well as the increased burden of the cost of gas until the red tape clears.The state’s three largest commercial fishing ports are all in the 1st Assembly and Senate districts represented by Schiavoni and Palumbo.A similar bill that Palumbo has introduced in the State Senate would extend the fuel tax exemption to charter boat captains, as long as they can show that they earn at least 50 percent of their annual income from running for-hire fishing trips on their vessel.Whether the proposal will win support from the rest of the Legislature and the governor’s office, and how quickly it can be implemented if it does, remains to be seen.New York State budget for fiscal year 2025-2026 has not passed yet. It was due April 1st.***ReWild Long Island will launch the fourth summer of its South Fork internship program in 2026, offering high school students hands-on experience in sustainability, food security and environmental stewardship.The Summer Program to Fight Hunger and Climate Change is open to rising freshmen through seniors and provides modest stipends along with environmental education focused on Long Island’s unique ecology. Students who complete 60 hours of supervised volunteer work will be eligible to receive a $300 stipend. Participants may also choose to complete fewer hours to earn community service credit while still taking part in the educational programming.The program runs from the end of the East Hampton School District academic year in June through Labor Day, connecting students with local residents and nonprofit organizations working to protect biodiversity across the region’s green spaces and waterways. Applications for both interns and volunteers opened April 1 and are available to the end of the month.ReWild Long Island also welcomes adult mentors and volunteers to support its South Fork chapter.For more information or to apply, visit the program page at https://www.rewildlongisland.org/summerprogram.***The Riverhead Zoning Board of Appeals held a lengthy and contentious public hearing last Thursday night on Stony Brook Medicine’s proposal to locate an ambulance storage and service facility in the rear portion of the former Big Lots space at Staples Plaza, 1087 Route 58 in Riverhead.The hearing ended without a decision by the board, which kept the record open for written comments until April 23. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the owner of the shopping center is seeking a zoning code interpretation on whether the proposed use is permitted in the Shopping Center zoning district, or, in the alternative, a variance from the code to allow the proposed use. The ZBA originally held the hearing on Jan. 8 and reserved its decision to a later date. Before it made a decision, Peconic Bay Medical Center, asked the ZBA to reopen the hearing.The application seeks permission to use about 14,236 square feet of the former Big Lots store for storage space for up to eight ambulances and one mobile stroke unit, along with office, training, break room and supply space.The proposal drew opposition Thursday from Northwell Health/Peconic Bay Medical Center, whose Riverhead hospital is located close to the shopping center and is preparing to open a thrombectomy-capable stroke center. PBMC and Stony Brook are competitors in the regional health care market.Speaking on behalf of PBMC, President and CEO Amy Loeb said the hospital supports advanced stroke care but questioned the need to base a mobile stroke unit a short distance from a hospital that is about to open a thrombectomy-capable stroke center.Former PBMC president Andrew Mitchell told the board the issue before it was not whether mobile stroke units are beneficial, but whether an ambulance garage belongs in a shopping center.Deputy Town Attorney Annmarie Prudenti, who serves as counsel to the Riverhead ZBA, said the record would remain open for written comment until April 23, after which the board would consider the matter for reserved decision on May 14.​​***At the site of a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Holtsville, about 100 people protested yesterday, decrying the plan and the agency's raids on Long Island and throughout the country."ICE out!" the crowd of faith leaders and others yelled outside a building housing Internal Revenue Service office space that could be transformed into an ICE detention and processing facility."We have organized here today to insist that Brookhaven Town not be a place of detention for immigrants [and] that we stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors here on Long Island," said the Rev. Kate Jones Calone, chair of the Long Island Immigrant Justice Alliance, which sponsored Sunday afternoon’s protest.Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in NEWSDAY that construction documents submitted to the Town of Brookhaven showed that the Holtsville facility could include holding cells and detainee interview rooms with handcuff bars.The proposed site would be under the same roof as an existing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office, which handles legal immigration requests. Federal immigration agents have detained people there who were making regular check-ins, eventually transferring them to cells at the federal court in Central Islip.Later, the protesters piled into dozens of vehicles to make their voices heard at Brookhaven Town Hall, they said.For their part, Brookhaven Town officials have rejected the plans, noting that holding cells are not permitted for office space under town code.The town can’t permanently halt the project because the applicant can seek a zoning change or use variance for the privately owned two-story Barretts Avenue property, which the federal government leases, Newsday has reported.Suffolk County said it does not participate in ICE’s local immigration enforcement partnership. Nassau County has a pact with ICE and last year detained upward of 2,600 immigrants at the county jail in East Meadow.***Peconic Landing hosts a panel discussion with the North Fork Environmental Council, “Rising Tides & Rising Rents,” on how we address the North Fork housing crisis while protecting the environment. this coming Friday, April 17 from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Peconic Landing, 1500 Brecknock Road in Greenport.North Fork Environmental Council’s mission is to raise environmental awareness on the North Fork, and move our east end community and...