Good morning. The parents of a North Bellport teenager who died from cancer are suing the Town of Brookhaven for failing to address concerns of alleged toxins coming from the nearby landfill.
The wrongful death lawsuit said 13-year-old Javien Coleman’s death may have been prevented if the town had shut down Frank P. Long Intermediate School, once reports of illness among students and teachers started surfacing. Coleman attended the school for two years before he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He died last year. His parents said his cancer is connected to chemicals he was exposed to at the school.
The South Country Central School District rejected efforts to close or move the school. The Town of Brookhaven will start the process of closing the landfill at the end of 2024.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
New York City saw a spike in emergency room visits from asthma attacks over the multiple days of heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires. A study from Yale found a 50% jump in cases in the city throughout the severe smoke days. June 8, the day the smoke was the heaviest, saw a 44% increase. The patients represented all age groups and all five of the city’s boroughs. A study from the CDC also found asthma cases jumped 17% nationwide during peak smoke days.
A retro-futuristic, laser-equipped train will be deployed in Connecticut to survey for potential damage and remove residue from leaves. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will roll the train out on Metro-North’s New Haven line in Connecticut; another was rolled out in Staten Island. The MTA said there has been a decrease in delays, costly repairs and the necessity for diesel-intensive wash trains.
Jake’s 58 Casino is temporarily out of order. Owner and operator Suffolk County Regional Off Track Betting Corp. said the Islandia facility will be out of action for the third day in a row due to malfunctioning equipment upstate that had knocked out gaming operations at four New York casinos. Suffolk OTB President Phil Boyle said the issue was not connected to a cyberattack but did not determine what caused the service interruption.
Twenty dairy cows are dead following a truck rollover on I-84 in Newtown. The crash happened at about 3:30 a.m. on the westbound Exit 10 off-ramp. Connecticut State Police said 14 cows were killed in the crash, and six more had to be euthanized. Twenty-four other cows were rescued. The driver of the tractor-trailer was uninjured.
The Connetquot School District sued over a ban on the use of Native American mascots. The lawsuit seeks to nullify a recent statewide ban on public schools’ use of Native American mascots, names and imagery. School attorneys said the mascot Thunderbird, a mythical bird used in Indigenous folklore, is not exclusive to Native American culture. The district serves the villages of Bohemia, Sayville, Oakdale and Ronkonkoma. The state Education Department and Board of Regents have declined to comment.
Over 7,000 Connecticut customers were affected by mortgage company withdrawals. Parent company ACI discovered the error with Mr. Cooper’s mortgage company's "Speedpay" platform in 2021. ACI took immediate steps to revoke the incorrect debit entries before any funds were actually transferred from consumer accounts. The company paid a $25 million penalty to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and any affected customers can sign up for remuneration through a class action settlement.
Governor Kathy Hochul announces $13.5 million for a suicide prevention fund. The state Office of Mental Health has accepted two federal grants to extend access to mental and behavioral health services for youth — and to enforce the ‘Zero Suicide’ model at 13 certified community behavioral health clinics across the state. Over five years, New York was granted $10 million to develop a holistic team-based approach at 15 youth-serving primary care practices, focusing on promoting health equity. The plan will triple the number of clinics across the state to serve around 200,000 New Yorkers.
Ava’s Law has taken effect to help New Yorkers who are overcoming pregnancy and infant loss. The legislation requires the state Department of Health to provide information to healthcare providers and New Yorkers to help them through the healing process from a miscarriage or stillbirth. The law will also help assure child-bearing New Yorkers have access to the aid they need to help their mental and physical recovery.
An event this month at the Danbury Library is sure to be out of this world. The Western Connecticut UFO Conference will be held virtually and in person. The itinerary covers UFO sightings in New York and western Connecticut, with many conversations about extraterrestrials. Register ahead of time for the free events that will be held the weekend of Oct. 28 and 29.
