Good morning. The City of Long Beach wrote a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, opposing the proposed Empire Wind project. Equinor wants to construct wind turbines between 15 and 30 miles off the Long Island’s South Shore to power over 1 million homes.
Last Tuesday, City Council said negotiations with Equinor have broken down. They are concerned about burying a transmission line under the beach and a densely populated area of the city. The project would also require the construction of a substation in Island Park that could jeopardize a decade-long flood mitigation project to clean up the North Shore and Back Bay. Residents are also concerned the wind turbines will have a visual impact from their nearby shore communities.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
A study will look at possible PFAS contamination from Tweed-New Haven Airport. The “forever chemical” takes centuries to break down, and may be present in shellfish and fish in urban waterways off the coast of New Haven. The Connecticut Sea Grant program will use over $100,000 to study the area’s seed oysters that are used for commercial shellfishing.
Excavation equipment was used at the Massapequa Park home of suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer. Police have been investigating Rex Heuermann’s property for evidence in the deaths of three women killed in 2010. Commissioner Rodney Harrison expects the investigation of Heuermann’s home to conclude later this week, but he called search “fruitful.” Heuermann denies wrongdoing.
Several Long Island schools will consider “Do No Harm” policies for Regents exams. Districts, including Center Moriches High School, said dropping low scores on state-mandated tests will improve course grades. Regents exams are used by the state to evaluate the quality of instruction and learning in schools. If schools adopt the policy, exam results will only be included in students' course grades if they earn a good score.
The first LGBTQ-affirming private school in New England may open in Connecticut this Fall. PROUD Academy was created to give students a safe space to learn, free from sexual harassment. The school will be located at the Ansonia Boys & Girls Club and will serve grades 7-8 in its first year. The founder of the school, Patty Nicolari, said she hopes to expand each year up to 12th grade. According to the academy, 75% of LGBTQ+ students have experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
New York counties are eligible for $20 million to improve emergency communications systems. Counties can apply to the State Interoperable Communications Grant Targeted program to improve the resiliency of public safety radio systems, expand coverage of National Interoperability Channels and enhance shared radio systems. Counties have until Sept. 8 this year to apply for the program.
UConn will not renew its contract with a media surveillance company. For eight years, the university has paid Navigate 360, formally known as Social Sentinel, around $10,000 annually to monitor millions of social media posts related to UConn for potential threats to the school. UConn will drop the service after reports last year that found its technology to be faulty.
Fifty-two Long Island kids impacted by gun violence are being sent to sleepaway camp. The Scott J. Beigel Memorial Fund donated $78,000 to send the children to Camp Herrlich on Sunday. They hope the sleepaway camp will allow these kids to be kids where they’ll enjoy carefree time outdoors, make new friends of diverse backgrounds and learn to trust and feel a sense of community. The fund was founded in honor of Scott Biegel, a geography teacher who was killed in the Parkland School shooting in 2018.
