Sara McGiff
News InternSara McGiff is a news intern at WSHU for the fall of 2023. She is from Suffolk County, and is an undergraduate student at Stony Brook University, majoring in journalism and minoring in history. Sara is the opinions editor for the Statesman, which covers the Stony Brook University campus, and has previously freelanced for local newspapers on Long Island, such as the Babylon Beacon and Amityville Times.
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Stony Brook University ecologist Chris Gobler completed his 2023 Assessment of Water Quality Impairments for Long Island. The map and report aims to provide a guideline for residents and policy makers by comparing water quality to the standards of federal and state regulators.
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Democratic candidates for the Suffolk County Legislature have seized on environmental justice issues due to the controversy surrounding Brookhaven Landfill’s vendor Covanta. Outside of the Yaphank facility, Minority Leader Jason Richberg called for Ed Romaine, county executive candidate and Brookhaven Town Supervisor, to be held accountable.
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The state Public Commission Service rejected a slew of subsidies, including an “inflation adjustment,” for four offshore wind projects and 86 on-land community projects. Ahead of the decision, climate advocates rallied outside of The Plaza at Long Beach City Hall in support of these projects off the south shore of Long Island.
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New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation will continue to investigate Covanta over allegations of improper ash mixing and disposal at Brookhaven landfill.
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Between 2006 and 2014, there were several incidents where landfill vendor Covanta dumped ash at the Brookhaven landfill and that state monitors willingly looked the other way by omitting negative information on inspection reports, according to documents obtained by Newsday.
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Governor Kathy Hochul announced $100 million available for the first round of funding to implement zero-emission buses in New York, but the timeline for implementing these mandates may not be feasible for school districts.
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A status report released this week showed that the Diaper Connections program has distributed over 1 million diapers to over 2,200 families in Connecticut.
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U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, wants to extend the Child Care Stabilization Act along with other Democrats from the House and Senate. The pandemic-related relief is set to expire on Sept. 30.
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A bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing: Another New Haven tenant union forms. An MS-13 member pleads guilty to notable murders in Brentwood. Eversource is recovering from a cybersecurity attack.