Good morning. Only 39% of Long Island residents plan to receive updated COVID-19 vaccines this winter.
According to a Mount Sinai South Nassau poll, only 15% of residents have received updated vaccines after they were approved in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many naysayers feel they don’t need it, don’t think it’s effective and believe there are too many vaccines.
In contrast to COVID-19, 61% of residents plan on getting a flu shot this season.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
A Naugatuck police officer is being investigated for using excessive force during a robbery in October. Officer Nicholas Kehoss chased Jarrell Day, 33, into a field where Kehoss tased Day three times. Day repeatedly begged Kehoss to stop tasing him. Day was arrested and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 16. Day has not filed any complaints and was not treated for injuries. Kehoss was charged with cruelty and placed on paid administrative leave.
Suffolk County will invest $47 million in small businesses and downtowns. The funds will be distributed through the county program JumpStart that’s designed to strengthen existing community projects. Sixty county organizations will split $30 million, and the rest will go to local towns and villages.
Connecticut has a new program called “Prevention Starts With You.” State Police will distribute 50,000 drug deactivation and disposal pouches to residents of Hartford and New Haven counties by September 2024. The pouches can be used to safely dispose of extra or expired prescription drugs. Officials want to eliminate over two million unwanted medications from being abused in the state.
Police are investigating antisemitic graffiti found in Montauk. Half a dozen swastikas and racial slurs were spray painted at Ditch Plains Beach on Monday. The three-foot-tall symbols of hate were towering on wooden fences and picnic tables. In Suffolk County, police have encountered more than 80 hate incidents since January, a 50% increase from last year. The Jewish Center of the Hamptons is fearful for their community after an apparent sharp increase in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Theraplant, the first legal cannabis cultivator in Connecticut, is being sued by their former CEO Jennifer Mandzuk. She alleged Theraplant owed her $350,000 in severance after she left the company in December 2022. Theraplant was bought by the New York-based DXR Holdco this past summer. Mandzuk was hired earlier this year by the state Department of Consumer Protection to become the new state program manager for cannabis.
The Nassau County Legislature approved a $4.1 billion budget for 2024. County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s budget will recruit 10 additional police officers, four superior officers and two assistant district attorneys and increase county spending by $180 million. The budget will go to the Nassau Interim Finance Authority for final approval.
Children of the pilot who died in the 2021 crash near Robertson Airport in Plainville are suing three companies for their father’s death. Jake and Julia O’Leary are the children of pilot William O’Leary who was one of four people who died in the crash. They claim the plane's manufacturer Textron Aviation Inc, Interstate Aviation of Plainville and Brook Haven Properties Inc. failed to maintain the plane and correct a known defect in the plane's brakes which led to the crash. The O’Leary’s are seeking compensatory and punitive damages under Connecticut’s product liability law.
The East Hampton Town Board may soon adopt a wireless telecommunications master plan to address spotty cell service. A 2021 CityScape community survey found that 71% of residents had poor cell coverage in town. If adopted, the plan will construct 10 macro wireless cell service towers throughout town to boost service. Forty-four small wireless antennas will additionally be mounted on utility poles to increase network capacity.
