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Thursday, May 28, 2026 ~ Volume 71 ~ Issue Number 26 ~ $1.00
Suffolk’s Supervisors Convene in Hauppauge in 250th Tree Planting By Matt Meduri
With less than two months to go until the historic 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, all ten towns in Suffolk pitched in on Friday in Hauppauge to “plant it forward.” The County has encouraged residents to take free red oak saplings from various County parks to be planted anywhere in Suffolk. Each tree will be documented with the County Clerk’s office and each planter will receive a plaque as a commemoration. The supervisors of Suffolk’s ten towns brought soil from their respective municipalities. Each bag of soil coated the trunk of a cherry blossom tree, each forming a semi-circle around the existing Freedom Plaza. Additionally, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) planted a separate tree, while Presiding Officer Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville) planted a tree along with Legislators Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset), Steve Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), and Ann Welker (D-North Sea). Continued on page 5
County Executive Romaine plants a cherry blossom tree for Suffolk 250 (Credit - Matt Meduri)
LaLota Delivers Funds to Rebuild
Mill Pond Dam By Matt Meduri
The summer 2024 storms saw two dams washed away: the Stump Pond Dam in Smithtown’s Blydenburgh Park, and the Mill Pond Dam in Stony Brook. Mill Pond has been revered as a generational touchstone for the unofficial village of Stony Brook, but the storm also took out Harbor Road, which connects Stony Brook with the Village of Head of the Harbor. The pond was also a recreational gem for the Village as well as St. James and other nearby Smithtonians. The last two years consisted of a scavenger hunt for ownership of the physical property upon which the dam once sat, with the Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO) insisting they were not the owners, while the Town of Brookhaven and Suffolk County each completed exhaustive records searches proving the opposite. Head of the Harbor, led by Mayor Michael Utevsky, sued the WMHO to repair the road and the dam, but the case was thrown out in April as the Village lacked legal standing to force action outside its own boundaries. Continued on page 10
The remains of the Mill Pond dam in Stony Brook on Wednesday (Credit - Matt Meduri)
FULL STORIES ON:
Lake Ronkonkoma Panico Addresses Data Fireworks Cancelled Center Concerns Page 4
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Calverton Winery is One-of-a-Kind Page 17