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April 6, 2023
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Vol. 34 No. 15
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GoP names council candidates Page 19
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‘Airtime Anna’ is top boarder L.B. 12-year-old earns No. 1 ranking at snowboard nationals in Colorado By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
Justine Stefanelli/Herald
let’s just follow the guy with the ears The annual Long Beach Easter Egg hunt took place last Sunday — after a postponement — and hundreds of kids and family members searched the Recreation Center fields.
Long Beach is usually associated with surfing and other summertime activities. One girl is changing that, though, with her prowess on snow-covered slopes. Anna Margiotta, 12, or “Airtime Anna” to her coaches, is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association’s Menehune Girls division, for 11- and 12-year-olds. But don’t misunderstand: She’s not all about snow. She also surfs and skateboards, like so many of her friends Long Beach. “When you’re riding a snow-
board, it’s like carving waves while surfing,” Anna explained on the phone from the USASA National Championship in Copper Mountain, Colorado. “Your knees are bent and you’re just sitting into a wave, kind of like carving. But the difference is, on a snowboard you’re putting pressure on your front foot, and on a surfboard you’re putting pressure on your back foot.” Anna specializes in slopestyle, a freestyle discipline in which snowboarders negotiate a course with rails, jumps and other obstacles. She has been snowboarding for five years now. Her father, Jim, taught all four Continued on page 4
City Council hires law firms to look into Equinor project By JAMES BERNSTEIN jbernstein@liherald.com
The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire three law firms and an engineering company to help study a proposal by the Norwaybased energy company Equinor to build a wind farm off the South Shore that would include electrical cables running beneath city streets. The 5-0 vote came after a lengthy an often acrimonious discussion about the $3 billion proposal by Equinor, which must receive a host of governmental approvals to move forward with its project. A number of council
meeting attendees raised strong objections, saying the cables might well pose environmental and health threats to the community. In response, several council members said they did not yet have enough information to support or reject such suggestions. The council voted to hire the following law firms: ■ Certilman Balin & Adler, of Hauppauge, at an hourly rate of $467.50 to $510 for partners, $225 to $403.75 for associates and counsel, and $127.50 to $216.75 for paralegals. ■ Bee Ready Law Group, of Mineola, at a rate of $400 an hour for
W
e’re going to bring in the experts.
JoHN BENDo President, City Council
partners, $350 for senior associates, $300 for associate attorneys and $200 for paralegals and law clerks. ■ Eli D. Eilbott, of Arlington, Virginia, at an hourly rate of $400. The council also voted to hire Nelson Pope & Voorhis, of Mel-
ville, an engineering company, at a cost not to exceed $51,000. The expenses are to be covered by taxpayer-generated funds. Residents raised a serious of objections, to both the project and the hirings, as they had at a council meet that also focused on the Equinor project on March 9. Christina Kramer, of Long Beach asked council members
what they were looking for from the law firms and the engineering company. “It’s not about finding out something,” said Ron Walsh, the city’s police commissioner and its acting city manager. “It’s about understanding. These are experts.” Equinor has filed for a “certifiContinued on page 10