SHSE Student Leading High Jumper In U.S.

Jumping to new heights

Smithtown High School East student-athlete Daniel Claxton has been named the leading high school high jumper in the United States this year. On Jan. 28, Claxton beat his own record by jumping 7 feet at the Ocean Breeze Invitational, setting a new meet record, school record and Suffolk County record. Claxton has been named league champion, large school champion and was the top finisher at the state qualifier meet. He will be competing in the state championships on March 4.  

Photo courtesy of Smithtown Central School District

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Protecting Farmland On LI

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Suffolk County government is moving forcefully to appeal a judge’s decision seen as severely undermining the county’s Farmland Preservation Program and also with new legislation overcome issues raised in a lawsuit that resulted in the ruling.

County Executive Steve Bellone, in outlining the twin strategies, declared last month: “We believe that the findings in this lawsuit strike at the very heart of future agricultural success in Suffolk County and that the findings fail to recognize that support structures on agricultural land have always been an essential and inherent component of agricultural production…I want to ensure that Suffolk County’s vibrant agricultural industry continues for future generations.”

The lawsuit brought by the Long Island Pine Barrens Society held that allowing structures on farmland saved under the landmark and nationally-emulated Farmland Preservation Program was a violation of the program. This was permitted by amendments to the program approved by the Suffolk Legislature in 2010 and 2013. State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Whelan agreed with the stance of the Pine Barrens Society.

But as Suffolk Legislator Bridget Fleming of stated at the press conference January 11^th with Mr. Bellone: “Our goal is not to allow development on farmland. On the contrary, the goal is to prevent overdevelopment by preserving and supporting our working farms. Our critically important agricultural industry will only survive if farmers can undertake the basic practices that make a farm work and turn a profit. Row crops must be watered, protected from wildlife, and supported by machinery that needs to be stored. Our preservation program must allow for these basic practices, our legislation confirms.” 

Also at the press conference, Vito Minei, former chief of the Office of Ecology in the county’s Department of Health Services and now executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, said “hopefully” the county’s appeal of the judge’s ruling plus the legislation will “prove successful in undoing the potentially devastating effects on agriculture that could result from the judgement.”

Legislator Al Krupski of Cutchogue, also a sponsor of the legislation, drew from his extensive experience as a fourth-generation Suffolk farmer, to tell of how accessory structures are needed on farms.

A statement from the county executive’s office noted that “farmland protection programs across the state and across the nation all recognize that farming requires accessory support structures including greenhouses, barns, fences, animal pens and farm stands to maintain the economic viability of the agricultural operation. Accessory structures have always been essential to the art and science of agriculture. They are inherent and necessary components of agricultural production and working agricultural lands.”

The county is hiring the law firm of Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin & Quartararo of Riverhead, well-known for environmental litigation, to represent it in the appeal at a cost, if necessary, of up to $100,000. 

The Suffolk Farmland Preservation Program has been a key to saving an important and historical activity here and keeping Suffolk a top agricultural county in the state which also encourages tourism. It was initiated in 1974 under County Executive John V.N. Klein of Smithtown and has saved 10,750 farm acres. Mr. Klein is a former Smithtown Town supervisor and a county legislator representing Smithtown and was the first presiding officer of the Suffolk Legislature.

The basis for the program—a first-in-the-nation concept—is purchase of “development rights.” Owners of agricultural land are paid the difference between the land’s value as farmland and it being developed. The land must then remain in agriculture in perpetuity. 

The legislation, advanced by the county executive, Mr. Krupski and Ms. Fleming, sums up the situation well. It begins stating that “Suffolk has worked assiduously since the early 1970’s to preserve and protect the county’s farmland resource, agricultural industry and heritage” with “the most important tool in the county’s agricultural preservation effort” the “pioneering” purchase of development rights. The program “has been amended and updated…in order to stay current with changing practices in the agricultural industry and to ensure the program’s continued success.” The judge’s “ruling upset a consensus on farming practices that was reached by the county’s policymakers after years of careful deliberation with all interested stakeholders.” It “will severely undermine the county’s farmland preservation efforts.” 

Farmers in the preservation program “are unsure what actions they may take to sustain production on their lands, and farmers who were considering entering the program are now hesitant to do so. Further, this legislature finds that the uncertainty surrounding the program’s future makes it more likely that thousands of acres of unprotected farmland will be converted into non-agricultural uses.” Thus this “clarifying legislation”—spelling out how limited and neceded structures can be on preserved farmland—is being brought forward “to allow the county’s farmland program to continue functioning.”

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.

Kings Park Native John Picciano Retired Police Detective And CBS Hunter

John Picciano at Professors Diner in Kings Park

By pbiancaniello

Kings Park native John Picciano has worn many hats (mostly police caps) in his lifetime. After graduating from Kings Park HS he joined the Washington D.C. Police Department before joining the NYPD. He served 25 years with the NYPD, retiring in 2014. In 1988 John Picciano married his Kings Park sweetheart Kathy. The couple live in Kings Park with their four children: Jackie, John, Kristen and Jennifer.  John loves his family and Kings Park.

Picciano, a detective with the NYPD, had a long notable career.  He served on the Warrant Squad where his job included hunting fugitives who were often violent. He worked on the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force and was deputized as a U.S. Marshal giving him power to to travel across state and national borders tracking down criminals. John’s work focused on dealing with the “worst of the worst” people and police cases. He acknowledges dealing with murderers, drugs, and worse but he doesn’t like to talk about it. He says his motivation to do his work for so many years was knowing that he was providing closure for families who were facing much pain and uncertainty. 

John got his first taste of acting when he appeared on the program Manhunters. After receiving a call and after several interviews he was offered a position as a hunter on the CBS prime time show Hunted ( 2017) . In the show John is on the Golf team and is partnered with Vinny Senzamici. Golf team is one of nine two-person teams of hunters who are tasked with finding two of the 18 hunted people also working in two-person teams. The goal for those being hunted is to escape detection from hunters for 28 days. A prize of $250,000 will go to teams who successfully evade the hunters. The entire season is taped in advance over a one-month period in a 100,000 square mile area in Georgia and Florida.

John is enjoying his role which he describes as being easier than chasing real life criminals. He uses the knowledge and experience he gained from his police work. The hunters understanding of behavioral patterns and digital prints along with the proliferation of cameras and technology makes it difficult for people to avoid being caught. John offered a word of caution “Everything that someone has done online is available forever. Deleting is not what you may think it is, it is always available.” John laughed as he explained how he has gone from not having any digital footprint to having a facebook page, instagram and twitter accounts.

So how is he enjoying his stardom and has anything changed for him? John acknowledges that he is having fun.  “Much better than having to chase real criminals and murderers with guns.” When he was on the police force he never brought his work home to his family. The gruesome details of his work was not something he wanted to burden his family with. While in the police department he would get home and unwind by cooking for his family. This hasn’t changed, he still cooks for his family and friends, and is considering opening a restaurant sometime in the future. 

Although he doesn’t consider himself a celebrity, he does enjoy the attention he is getting from his kids who are very interested in watching Dad on HUNTED.  Having never shared his work horror stories with his kids, now young adults, they are learning a little bit more about their dad’s skills and he is enjoying their questions and comments.

John Picciano has gone from the man who relished bringing closure to suffering families to hunting people in real-time for television and that’s okay with him. He has gone from not talking about his work and chasing people with real weapons to using his skills to track people who just want to win money. John’s newest hat keeps him in police work but even though it is television, John Picciano is serious about catching the team trying to evade him.

I’m guessing he will catch them.

You can watch Hunted on CBS at 8pm Wednesday nights.

Indictment In Death Of 20-Year-Old Kings Park Man

Long Island Man Charged With Distributing Heroin That Caused The Death Of A 20-Year-Old College Student

A three-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging Richard Jacobellis with distributing heroin that caused the death of 20-year-old Nicholas Weber, and conspiring with others to distribute heroin. Jacobellis was arrested earlier today in Ridge, New York, and his arraignment will be this afternoon before United States District Judge Joanna Seybert at the United States Courthouse in Central Islip, NY. If convicted, the defendant faces a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum sentence of life. 

The charges were announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division, and Timothy D. Sini, Police Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD).

“As alleged, the defendant is a drug dealer who for years peddled poisonous heroin to Long Islanders,” stated United States Attorney Capers. “The heroin epidemic on Long Island has cut short far too many young lives, like Nicholas.’ To those heroin dealers who flood our streets with this highly addictive narcotic, be forewarned: if you sell heroin, my Office and our law enforcement partners will prosecute you.”

DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Hunt stated, “A life lost too soon paved law enforcement’s trail to a drug dealer’s door. investigates sources of supply worldwide as well as the local sources responsible for pushing heroin and fentanyl into our communities. Two months ago, DEA quickly turned an online tip into a high priority, joint investigation with the Suffolk County Police Department and the Eastern District of New York that identified the alleged drug dealer who caused the death of twenty-year-old Nicholas Weber. This arrest serves as a reminder to drug dealers that they will eventually face the consequences of their actions.”

Police Commissioner Sini stated, “As I’ve made clear on numerous occasions, we will stop at nothing to hold drug dealers accountable for their depraved indifference to human life. This prosecution is the culmination of a multi-jurisdictional investigation, which sends a clear message to dealers in Suffolk County: every time you sell heroin in this County, you risk spending the rest of your life in prison.” 

As detailed in the indictment and court filings, Jacobellis distributed heroin on Long Island from 2012 to the present. Jacobellis’s heroin has caused the death of one young man and nearly killed another. Indeed, in March 2015, one of Jacobellis’s drug customers overdosed after using heroin that Jacobellis sold to him; fortunately, SCPD officers were able to quickly administer Naloxone, a nasal spray that reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, and save that young man’s life. 

Undeterred, Jacobellis continued selling heroin to Long Island residents, according to the indictment. As charged, on May 17, 2016, Jacobellis drove from his home in Ridge to Kings Park and sold $100 of heroin to Weber. Weber used that heroin and died shortly thereafter. Nicholas Weber was a graduate of Kings Park High School. While in high school, he was the Suffolk County wrestling champion for his weight class, and upon graduation, he was attending Suffolk County Community College and had been accepted to Stony Brook University where he was going to study physics starting in the fall of 2016.

According to the indictment and court filings, despite learning that his heroin killed Weber, the defendant continued to sell heroin up until a few weeks ago. Indeed, in mid-January 2017, a confidential informant who was working with law enforcement contacted the defendant for the purpose of arranging a heroin transaction. The defendant agreed to sell heroin to the confidential informant. Shortly thereafter, the defendant met the confidential informant and consummated the transaction.

The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Section. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher C. Caffarone is in charge of the prosecution. 

People In The News - St. James Native Philip Hall

St. James native awarded scholarship for medical school

Philip HallSt. James native Philip Hall was awarded a prestigious Alumni Legacy Scholarship toward his tuition at Ross University School of Medicine on the Caribbean island of Dominica. This scholarship provides a $21,325 award, covering the full cost of first-semester tuition at Ross. 

Hall earned a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Health Management and Policy from Drexel University in 2016. While pursuing his MPH, he was accepted into the “Opening Doors for Diverse Populations to Health Disparities” program, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and offering research opportunities for students. 

Through the Opening Doors program, Hall interacted with underserved communities in West Philadelphia and saw firsthand the health disparities that result from social factors such as environment, poverty, and neighborhood infrastructure. 

“Being born into a low-income community should not constitute receiving far inferior health services,” said Hall. “I hope my journey in medicine will lead me to contribute to a healthier society—one in which where we are born does not make all the difference.”

Hall graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2012 with a dual degree in Science Pre-professional and Anthropology. He conducted research with Notre Dame’s Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, where he spoke with patient families to better understand their struggles with the health care system. 

Hall has also volunteered as a Big Brother for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Long Island. 

His various experiences, he says, have inspired him with the goal of eventually practicing medicine in underserved communities. 

“I became a true health care provider when I started seeing someone else’s problem as my own and started coming up with ideas for how I could contribute to the solution,” said Hall. “My experiences with sick children and their families represent the population I feel drawn to, the population I want to cure.”