School Districts May Cancel For "Heat Days"

Long Island Morning Edition

The number of umpires, referees and officials is declining on Long Island and nationwide, a decrease blamed on the onslaught of verbal abuse from parents, spectators, players and coaches, according to Newsday interviews with more than two dozen sports officials, school administrators and high school coaches. Statistics from Nassau and Suffolk counties show there has been a sharp drop in the number of people willing to officiate since 2011-12. According to lists published by each county, Nassau has seen a 25% drop in the number of referees since the 2011-12 school year, while Suffolk has experienced an 18% decline.

Gregg Sarra, Ben Dickson and Carissa Kellman report on NEWSDAY.com that the verbal abuse and concerns about safety have made recruiting new referees difficult, and those interviewed said the problem has become worse in recent years thanks, in part, to social media and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the referees said that while the extra money is nice, it's difficult to do the job unless you love sports and working with kids. Long Island referees have ejected nearly 400 players, coaches and spectators at public school events this school year.

“Fan behavior and negative behavior in general is the number one reason sports officials are quitting or not coming back or not entering in the first place,” said Bill Topp, the president of the National Association of Sports Officials.

Topp said the decline began long before COVID, but said, “[COVID] just pushed it over the cliff.”

"The officials are taking more abuse than ever," William Floyd High School football coach Paul Longo said. "It starts on the sideline and extends into the stands. And people are abusing officials in Little Leagues and through college."

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An IDA reform measure passed both chambers of the New York State Legislature in the closing days of the legislative session was welcome news to Riverhead Central School District officials. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Assembly Member Jodi Giglio, who voted in support of the bill, attended Tuesday night’s school board meeting to announce its passage. The bill, sponsored by Assembly Member Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), mandates the appointment of a representative of the school district and a representative of a labor union to the boards of directors of industrial development agencies in the State of New York. The bill makes mandatory the appointment of a school superintendent or their representative, or alternatively, a school board member, as well as a representative of a labor union, to every industrial development agency in New York State. “Adding school board members to IDA boards guarantees tax abatements take into account local schools’ financial obligations while empowering labor to advocate for quality job opportunities,” Solage said yesterday. “This bill fosters inclusive economic development that prioritizes equity, and I encourage the Governor to sign this legislation into law,” Solages said. Assembly Member Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) and State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) both voted in favor of the measure. Giglio said she expects the governor will sign the bill into law.

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School districts may end up canceling school for “heat days” under a bill approved by the State Legislature last week that would set maximum temperature levels in classrooms and learning spaces and in extreme cases require students be sent home. Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the measure, which now heads to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her consideration, would require public schools to take action such as turning on fans and pulling down blinds if room temperatures reach 82 degrees. If temperatures hit 88 degrees, students and staff would not be allowed to occupy the space, according to the bill. The proposed legislation aimed at protecting the health of students and teachers comes as school districts statewide and across Long Island have faced rising temperatures in recent years because of climate change, experts said.

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A dazzling Hamptons beach surrounded by multi-million dollar mansions has logged some of the worst fecal matter levels in the country – a perennial problem locals have had a hard time flushing away. Alex Oliveira reports in THE NY POST that Mecox Bay in Water Mill last year landed in the top 10 of US beaches that tested positive for dangerous levels of enterococcus — an intestinal pathogen commonly used as an indicator of how much fecal matter is in water. Enterococcus levels at Mecox Bay exceeded the amount considered safe by New York State standards in 46% of the tests undertaken in 2023 by the Surfrider Foundation, a water quality non-profit which samples beaches across the country. Mecox Bay, an inland body of water cut off from the ocean by a spit of land, is home to dozens of gorgeous waterfront mansions, including a 12,000-square-foot building with private dock and ocean access – and 220 feet of “direct water frontage” – listed for sale at $37.5 million. But locals say the bay is the receptacle for a considerable amount of the Hamptons’ watershed — nearly all the upland runoff from business, farms and homes packed into the area gathers there. Compounding the issue are the old septic systems and cesspools that the Hamptons largely depends on, meaning after a heavy rain — or even after an excessive lawn watering — tracts of human waste seeps into the bay. “All of that pollution ends up entering the bay,” said Scott Horowitz, president of the Southampton Town Trustees. To remedy the issue, the Town of Southampton periodically physically opens Mecox Bay to the ocean by digging a cut through the land separating it from the ocean, which drains the waste and also re-salinates and purifies the area on the rising tide. But come April 1 every year, endangered species like piping plovers and least terns begin to roost on the land where the cut is made, meaning the trustees need to delay the drainage until the species allow them to. “When you get a delay like that the water quality degrades. It just gets worse and worse and creates problems for the region,” Horowitz said, adding that the better job they do protecting birds every year the worse the water problem becomes the next as more come to roost. “Our strength becomes our weakness,” he said. “You can’t make this stuff up.”

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New York City’s comptroller said he’s assembling a coalition of congestion pricing advocates with the goal of “exploring all legal avenues” to combat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision last week to shelve the MTA’s long-planned tolling plan. Alfonso A. Castillo and Matthew Chayes report on Newsday.com that Comptroller Brad Lander joined other congestion pricing supporters at a noon rally yesterday outside the Municipal Building, where he said Hochul "took a disastrously wrong turn, so we're here today to steer our shared future back on track." He added: "The governor's sudden and potential illegal reversal wronged a host of New Yorkers, who have a right to what was long promised to all of New York — a world class mass transit system that works for everyone."

Michael Gerrard, a Columbia Law School professor who attended the rally noted the 2019 statute — passed by the legislature and signed by-then Gov. Andrew Cuomo — stated that the MTA "shall" implement congestion pricing. Failing to do so, Gerrard said, is a violation of the law and Hochul's duty to execute the law. Gerrard also cited laws relating to the environment and people with disabilities, as well as the violations of bondholder covenants. Lander said potential plaintiffs include disabled riders for whom promised accessibility upgrades to the transit system are less likely to be delivered; residents of the congestion zone impacted by congestion, particularly those with respiratory problems and MTA board members who support congestion pricing; and bondholders.

It’s been a week since Hochul’s surprise announcement that she was ordering an "indefinite pause" on the MTA's Central Business District Tolling Program, which was set to take effect on June 30. The first-in-the-nation plan would have charged most vehicles $15 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan. Proponents said the policy would reduce traffic in Manhattan, improve air quality, and generate needed funding for transit investments.

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Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day enslaved people in Texas learned that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation is a federal holiday which is next Wednesday, June 19. This coming Saturday, June 15th, the Village of Greenport will play host to a day-long Juneteenth celebration beginning at 10 a.m.

The event, organized by Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church, Coming to the Table, and the Southold Anti-Bias Task Force, will start at the church at 614 Third Street at 10 a.m., with remarks by Pastor Natalie Wimberly. A parade will progress to Mitchell Park at 11 a.m., followed by a day-long celebration with music, dance, poetry and yoga. At 2 p.m., the newly opened North Fork Arts Center will host a screening of the documentary “Juneteenth: Freedom and Faith,” followed by a panel discussion.

That’s the JUNETEENTH celebration this Saturday in Greenport.

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On websites like Facebook, X and TikTok, a complex set of algorithms helps create curated personalized feeds to keep users engaged on the platform for as long as possible.

But for children in New York, that is about to change. Claire Fahy reports in THE NY TIMES that the NYS Legislature passed a bill last week that will disrupt the relationship between tech companies and young people by restricting the use of algorithms on minors’ social media feeds.

The legislation, championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, is meant to address growing concerns about the impact of social media on young people’s mental health.

“These are ruled by addictive algorithms designed to draw the young people deeper and deeper into that darkness over and over,” she said.

Governor Hochul is expected to soon sign the bill into law. It will go into effect six months after the state attorney general releases regulations, which is expected to happen sometime this year.

Under the law, social media companies will be required to obtain parental permission to provide algorithmically curated feeds to children under the age of 18. Social media companies would also be prohibited from sending notifications regarding addictive feeds to minors between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. unless parents give explicit consent.

Young people will still be able to follow whichever accounts they choose without parental consent, but their posts will appear in chronological order.

The NYS attorney general’s office will be responsible for overseeing and enforcing the new regulations, which have not yet been entirely specified. It’s unclear how websites will verify a user’s age or ascertain that a parent’s permission was actually given.

Most social media companies already require users to be 13 years or older, but parental consent is not currently required for children who meet the age requirement to open an account.