Volume 11, No. 50
The TIMES
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photo by alex petroski
From left, gil anderson, Michael deering, tom Falcone, neal lewis, Steve Bellone, lisa Broughton, Mike voltz, dave daly and gordian raacke show off some of the energy efficient projects announced at Monday’s press conference, as well as an always Conserving energy award.
Bellone delivers environmental boost By alex PetroSki
Suffolk County is making strides toward a greener future. On Monday Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) announced upgrades designed for energy efficiency to several county buildings, including key
Dollars and sense
Town raises highway head’s salary as department tech improves
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spots in Smithtown, that should save taxpayers more than $3 million annually. Improvements were made to the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge, where the press conference was held, the Board of Elections in Yaphank, the Riverhead Criminal Courts
Building and the 4th Precinct police building among others. The county has invested about $15 million in energy efficiency funding since 2010, Bellone said. “As you know Suffolk County is home to more than 1.5 million people,” Bellone said. “It’s
the largest county in the state of New York outside of the city. Of course we provide an array of different services to all of those residents. So many of our operations and facilities are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We’re responsible for the opBeLLONe continued on page a4
Activists flock to Flanagan over education By alex PetroSki
A small group of people carried the voices of thousands of New Yorkers standing up for students across the state. Activists representing four New York State and Long Island groups in support of education funding — especially for low-income districts — dropped off a petition with more than 9,000 signatures from across New York to state Sen. John Flanagan’s (R-East Northport) office in Smithtown last Wednesday. Those in support of the petition pledged
their support for state Assemblymen Carl Heastie’s (D-Bronx) “millionaire tax bill,” which was introduced in February and proposed an increase in taxes to those who earn upward of $1 million annually. The petition was also in support of a full phase-in of the money still owed to pay off the Campaign for Fiscal Equity resolution, which ensured that $5.5 billion would be committed to mostly high-need districts in 2007, and was supposed to take effect over the course of four years. This was a result
of a lawsuit started in 1993, which eventually reached the New York State Court of Appeals, which ruled that high-need districts were being neglected. About $781 million of that money is still owed to Long Island schools, according to advocates of the resolution. The groups represented at Flanagan’s office included New York Communities for Change, Jobs with Justice, Long Island Progressive Coalition and Alliance for Quality Education as well as community members from across Long Island. Flana-
gan was not in his office, and a legal aide who took the petition declined to comment. “We need to address the emotional, physical, social, needs of the child and the Senate has shown that they are not caring right now with the budget they have proposed,” said Blanca Villanueva, an organizer from Alliance for Quality Education. “We need them to represent us because they represent all of Long Island and all of New York State.” The petition was also delivered to New York Gov. FLaNagaN continued on page a7