News Roundup

Jun
4
2012
Congressman Bishop with John Behan

A South Fork Republican heavyweight has thrown his support behind Democratic incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop in the First Congressional District race.

Former State Assemblyman John Behan, who was chairman of the East Hampton Republican Committee when Randy Altschuler first decided to run against Bishop in the 2010 race, said his decision to go against his party's endorsement before the 2012 election was about the candidates, not politics....read more ››

Jun
1
2012

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone served as keynote speaker for the conference at Carlyle on the Green and told the crowd that, "If you have not started to plan, you have already failed."read more ››

May
31
2012

Sunday bus service has returned to the East End and will last one month longer than last year, when the Suffolk County Legislature first approved a special surcharge on the two lines during the week, to pay for it.

Started as an experimental program — there was no Sunday bus service on the North or South forks before it began — the buses ran for 11 weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, drawing a total of 5,861 riders. A 50-cent...read more ››

May
22
2012

Thomas D’Amore said he wasn’t even aware that he was eligible for more benefits from his Navy service connected disabilities until he met another fellow serviceman. He’d served in the U.S. Navy from 1972 until 1974 and since that time he suffered from the condition known as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs website, PTSD is a mental health problem that occurs after a person goes...read more ››

May
21
2012

The Republican-controlled Islip Town board will vote Tuesday night on a measure to hire Islip's Republican Party chairman as counsel to the town planning board.

Frank Tantone would be paid $55,000 a year for the position of outside counsel, town attorney Robert Cicale said. Tantone would not receive health benefits or pension credits, he said.

Some towns such as Brookhaven and Huntington prohibit town board appointments from...read more ››

May
19
2012

Thomas D’Amore of Rocky Point received a $39,000 retroactive award and a benefit of $1,672 per month from the Veterans Administration and will be honored by Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, after Bishop interceded on their behalf.

A ceremony will be held Monday at 5:30PM at the Elk's Lodge in Port Jefferson Station to honor D'Amore and two other Suffolk County Veterans who received a total of $127,256 in retroactive compensation from...read more ››

May
11
2012

The Hampton Bays Middle School was a sea of green on Friday morning as students, staff and local lawmakers came together to celebrate the school’s recent designation as a federal “Green Ribbon” building and to pledge to take their efforts even further with solar panels and wind energy.

At a pep rally held in the Ponquogue Avenue gymnasium on Friday, students—decked out in green—listened as Hampton Bays Schools Superintendent Lars...read more ››

May
8
2012
Bellone addresses County Legislature of Health Bill

The Suffolk Legislature, responding to growing public pressure, last night voted to impose a share of health insurance costs on nearly 500 political appointees -- part of an opening salvo to pressure county unions to agree to a similar concessions.

"It's a good day for Suffolk County taxpayers," County Executive Steve Bellone said after the vote. "It's important to show we are leading by example . . . and we're not expecting any one...read more ››

May
7
2012

Call center bill gaining traction, though no public hearing has been scheduled yet

Computerworld - WASHINGTON - A bill designed to discourage U.S. companies from setting up offshore call centers is gaining bipartisan support in the U.S. House.

The U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act (HR 3596), spearheaded by US Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-NY) and David McKinley (R-WV), is designed to...read more ››

Apr
27
2012

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican...read more ››