Off-peak, Mid-Day Daily Travel Lane Closures of NY Route 347 Begin Tuesday, September 14, 2010 in the Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County

Off-peak, Mid-Day Daily Travel Lane Closures of NY Route 347 Begin Tuesday, September 14, 2010 in the Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County

 

For the protection of motorists, single travel lanes will be closed during off-peak, mid-day hours along sections of eastbound or westbound NY Route 347 (Nesconset Highway) between the NY Routes 347/454 split and NY Route 111 beginning Tuesday, September 14, 2010. These off-peak, mid-day lane closures will be in effect Monday through Friday. Westbound NY Route 347 single travel lane closures will take place between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and eastbound closures will take place between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. At least one travel lane on NY Route 347 will remain open to motorists during these mid-day closures. In addition, single travel lane closures will take place on Brooksite Drive directly north and south of NY Route 347, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. A single lane will remain open so drivers will still be able to travel through this area via an alternating traffic pattern: During the single travel lane operation, a flag person will stop southbound Brooksite Drive traffic to allow northbound motorists to use the single available lane; then northbound traffic will be stopped while the southbound motorists proceed. On NY Route 111, travel lanes will be shifted directly north and south of NY Route 347. To minimize the impact on motorists, only smaller roadway sections where the contractor is actually performing work will be closed. Nevertheless, motorists are urged to use alternate routes as there will be travel delays.

These travel lane closures are needed to perform construction work, including tree removals, on the $26.8 million NY Route 347 safety, mobility, and environmental improvement project between NY Routea347/454 and NY Route 111. The featured project website, www.NY347.org provides detailed project information including links to project plans. As with any roadway project, this operation is weather dependent and may be canceled, postponed, or prolonged due to inclement weather. Emergency service providers, neighborhood schools, and the Town of Smithtown have been notified of the NY Route 347 travel lane closures. On Thursday, September 30, 2010 NYSDOT is conducting the NY 347 Construction Kick-Off Open House for the public between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the NY State Office building, 250 Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge.

Motorists are being warned in advance of the closing via road signs but are urged to use alternate routes to avoid delays. In addition, motorists are reminded to drive carefully through the work zone and obey the posted construction speed limit for their safety as well as the safety of the highway work crew. For 24/7 up-to-date traffic and travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit www.511NY.org. Motorists may also obtain travel information from the INFORM Transportation Management Center cameras at www.INFORMNY.com and on their hand held communication devices at www.INFORMNY.mobi .

The New York State Department of Transportation appreciates the patience and cooperation of motorists and local residents during this necessary road improvement project.

Ira Bernstein - When John Flanagan said It Couldn't Be Done...

Ira Bernstein is not for increasing Charter Schools like Senator John Flanagan because it would take money from the public schools. Flanagan has been cutting money from all the schools in his senate district. In the Middle Country School district alone,it has laost 3.2 million dollars. Commack,Northport and Smithtown will be facing the same budget cuts as well. The Senator claims that he is bringing the money back to Long Island that is spent in tax dollars.

Nothing can be further from the truth! Flanagan is the ranking member of the education committee in the senate.

 

Three years ago, Ira Bernstein who is challenging Flanangan for the senate seat was on the legislative committee for the Middle Country School District. Flanagan claimed there was no more money available for state aid to go to the Middle Country School. This would have meant an 8% increase to all of the Middle Country residences.

Ira, along with its committee members received thousands of letters which were submitted to Sen. John Flanagan’s office in protest.

 

It was because of Ira Bernstein’s effort NOT Sen. Flanagan that the residents received a 3% tax increase that year instead of 8%.

 

This just proves that Senator Flanagan’s  own statements about bringing as much money back to the schools in his district is not so!

The glass ceiling is still in place and women can only rise to a certain point.”

By Erica Jackson

 

America Celebrates the 90th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage 

It’s hard to believe that prior to the adoption of the 19th amendment of the Constitution in 1920 many women in America were not permitted to vote or hold office.  After all, today, women, according the the US Census Bureau, vote more often than their male counterparts.  There are also more women holding congressional office than any other time in American history — there are 76 women serving in Congress and 17 that hold Senate seats.  Yet, despite the strides made by women, many local women leaders say there is still much work to be done.

 

“Women have come a long way over the years, but true equality is still not quite there” said Suffolk County Legislator Kate Browing, who is one of only three women legislators currently serving on the 18-member legislature.  “We have strong female leaders in government, the military service and in the science field to name a few, however they do not always gain the respect to their male counterparts. For every dollar a man makes, a women makes approximately 75 cents.  Young women need to be encouraged to explore careers outside the fields they were traditionally steered towards. Much progress has been made, but more needs to be done.”

 

Vivian Viloria-Fisher, who serves as the Suffolk County Legislature’s deputy presiding officer, agreed with her colleague:  “We as women must be models of leadership to our next generation. I do not believe that we have enough representation by women in our halls of government at this point. Having the right to suffrage for three generations or more, we are not at the point we should be. We should have much better representation.”That is, she pointed out, especially so in Suffolk County where women outnumber men. 

 

According to Deanna Marshall, director of Suffolk County’s office of Women’s Services, women constitute over 51 percent of the population in Suffolk County.  

“There is still much more to do,” said Marshall, “When you think about it, 90 years is only one lifetime — obviously, a very long lifetime – but there are women alive today who were born into an America where no women had this country’s guarantee that she could vote.  Look at what’s changed since this amendment was finally passed, women not only vote, but are getting elected and appointed to high-level offices in government. Think about how many decades our suffragists lobbied and marched and worked to get it done. Maybe that will encourage us to keep working to do women’s work.”

 

“We have some challenges ahead of us,” said Angie Carpenter, who currently serves as Suffolk County’s treasurer. She previously sat on the Suffolk County Legislature as one of four women leaders at the time.  “I was a business owner for many years and I never felt a bit inhibited because of my gender, but in politics there is room for improvement. We don’t have as many women elected officials.  Look at the demographics of the county. More than half are women and yet we only have three women legislators. In its hay-day, I was one of four.  But focusing on the anniversary of our right to vote will hopefully wake some people up and provide an opportunity to look at our representation in government.  Women bring something unique to the table.  They are up to the task.”

 

“Women achieve more and more each year,” said Joyce Rosenthal, president of the Smithtown League of Women Voters, an organization that encourages everyone to vote.  “but we have not reached complete equality.  The glass ceiling is still in place and women can only rise to a certain point.”

 

Theresa Knox, who sits on the Smithtown Central School District School board, agrees and remembers pondering as a child, why women couldn’t serve as say, Pope.  “Women’s suffrage was the first important step for half the population to been seen as full citizens.  I wish more men and women would exercise that important right to vote on a regular basis. People died for this right.”

 

And making young women aware of the importance of voting is something that Shari Lee Sugarman, president of the Suffolk County Women’s Bar Association hopes to do.  “It is very important that women vote and our organization is dedicated to bringing women forward and teaching them the importance of the political process.  We want to teach our children the importance of women voting and how it can help to get more women voted on the bench.”

 

Aside from thinking about all that needs to be done in the United States, Lisa Renee Pomerantz, lawyer and chair of the Suffolk County Women’s Business Enterprise Coalition, reminded to keep in mind “that there are counties where women are still denied the right to vote and obtain education and participate fully as citizens.”  She said,  “There are so many countries where nobody has the right to vote.”

 

And while many agree that so much needs to be done, Lynda LaCour, owner of SmithtownMomstown.com said we should always remember what the women before us have done. She said, “It is unbelievable to me that at one time women did not have the right to vote in this country. At SmithtownMomstown.com we meet women who are essential leaders in our community. Without the right to vote, these women would never have had the opportunities they have today to be leaders in our community, businesses, government, education and many other fields. We should all take a moment to reflect on the strong women who fought the difficult fight for all of us.”

Suffolk County Conservative Party First Exec Chair Endorses Cox

SMITHTOWN, NY — Today, the Suffolk County Conservative Party’s First Executive Chairman declared that “Our once proud Conservative Party has lost its way.”

Fries, whose lifelong conservative principles were inspired by his grandfather’s love for America, refused to sacrifice his core values. He was the only executive committee member to reject Randolph Altschuler as the party’s designee in the First Congressional district.

“It was clear to me then, and it’s even clearer now: Altschuler is not a Conservative, nor is he even a Republican,” said Fries. “It was insulting for the other members of the Executive Committee to completely ignore the letter from highly respected, former New Jersey State Republican Chair, Virginia Littell. In it, she detailed a 2008 meeting where Altschuler informed her that he would be running as a pro-choice candidate because he was not pro-life.”

“The fact that Executive Committee members completely ignored her letter and still picked Altschuler is outrageous!” said Fries. “What’s especially disappointing are the elected officials who blindly jumped to an uninformed endorsement.”

“I have not gone public before today out of respect for my position as an officer, but I can no longer sit back and watch my beloved Conservative Party be destroyed by a few misguided individuals. The endless stream of distortions and repulsive lies by Altschuler and his dishonorable gang must stop now!” he declared.

Fries described in detail Altschuler’s lifetime of liberal lapses, including his district-shopping, his Marxist Green Party membership, and his history of outsourcing our American jobs overseas.

After learning that Altschuler had only voted once in his entire adult life, Fries said, “It angers me that someone who did not care enough about his country to even vote, would be begging our beloved veterans to vote for him. It’s an insult to all American heroes, past and present, who continue to risk their lives protecting our freedoms.”

Fries said, “I fully expect to be the latest member of the Conservative Party to be attacked and shunned for standing up for my beliefs. To paraphrase our great former President Ronald Reagan, “I have not left the Suffolk Conservative Party; the Conservative Party has left me.”

You Are Invited To Gather to Remember 9-11

Community To Gather to Remember 9-11

By Erica Jackson

Debbie Virga of Commack, like many other Americans remembers exactly where she was when the Twin Towers fell nine years ago. She was watching a television in the teachers’ lounge at Commack high school when she witnessed two airliners crash into the towers; a third airplane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and she saw the aftermath of a fourth plane that hit the ground in Pennsylvania.  On that day,  2,996 lives were lost, including the 19 al-Qaeda hijackers who steered the planes to their doom.

 

“It is a day that I will never forget,” said Virga, who is the director of community relations for the Commack School District.  Nor will she forget the days following the attack.  She recalls the community outpouring. She started a collection and people came out of the woodwork, donating money for families who lost loved ones and gathering goods for the armed forces.  She spoke of one young girl, about six or seven years old, who sent her a letter with $2 enclosed in it.  The girl wrote that many people sent her money when she was in the hospital with a brain tumor and she wanted to give back and help.

 

Virga still has that letter along with many others that she received during that time. She keeps them in a scrapbook along with photos of “Ground Zero” that her son took two days after the attack. “I hope that this scrapbook will be used as a sense of history,” said Virga. “Everyone’s lives changed on that day.  Everyone was affected. You can’t get on an airplane without taking your shoes off.  Our innocence is gone.”

 

Yes, she said, “we have moved” on since that fateful day, but she hopes people will “continue to remember and never forget what happened.” That is why for the past 8 years she has vigilantly worked to keep the memories of those who perished on that day and all those affected by holding a Night of Remembrance at the Commack High School Athletic Field.  This year will be no different.  “I will keep doing this until there is one person left in the stands.” said Virga, who thought that that time would have come five years ago.  Yet, year after year, 500 to 1,000 community members gather on the field to pay tribute to not only those who lost their lives, but to their families, the military, and rescue workers.

 

Like in years past, volunteers from all aspects of the community have stepped up to provide services for this year’s gathering, including the Commack Ambulance Crop; the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, representatives of the NYPD Honor Guard, and the Veteran Marines of Huntington.  Numerous community leaders also will be in attendance to give speeches.  Among those leaders will be Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Congressman Steve Israel, Senator John Flanagan, Suffolk County Legislator John Kennedy, and Smithtown Councilman Kevin Malloy.

 

In addition family members of Commack residents who lost their lives on 9-11 will be in attendance. Including the families of iEzra Aviles, who left behind a wife and three children; Benilda Domingo, whose sister is a Commack resident and took in Domingo’s two young children as her own; Dennis Scauso, a Commack High School graduate who left behind his wife and four children; and James Munhall, also a Commack High School graduate.

 

Special this year will be representatives of the 9-11 first responders committee.  Virga said they were invited to help pay tribute to the near 900 or more people who have been affected by health ailments after working at “Ground Zero”

 

Talking about the ceremony, Virga said, “This is an event where people can be together to reflect. I am about togetherness.” This year’s Night of Remembrance will start at 6:30 p.m. on September 11.  All are welcome to attend.