BEACON RECORD The Village
Mount Sinai • Miller Place • Sound Beach • rocky Point • ShorehaM • Wading river • leiSure country
Volume 31, No. 32
March 3, 2016
Residents look at heroin use on LI By giSelle Barkley
’Godspell’ comes to Theatre Three
Also: ‘The Sainted’ book review, Theater Talk, go ape exhibit winners
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Housing fraud hits home
Lawmakers talk issues with squatters and unsafe structures
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“Addiction is a family disease.” That’s what Tracey Budd and social worker Mary Calamia had to say during the North Shore Drug Awareness Advocates community event about heroin use on Long Island. Around 20 residents gathered at the Rocky Point Veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters on Feb. 24 to discuss drug laws, heroin use in the community and how to combat the Island’s heroin issues. Budd, of Rocky Point, estab-
lished the advocates group last fall. Her son, Kevin Norris, was one of many heroin users on Long Island before he died of an overdose in September 2012. With the creation of this group, Budd hopes to educate local communities on drug awareness and establish a support system for drug users and their families who are seeking help. She tries to hold a meeting at least once a month. “I’m hoping that as parents, neighbors [and] friends, we learn how to advocate [about drug awareness] a little more, rather than putting it on Facebook,” Budd said about residents who have sought help through social media outlets, especially with acquiring the anti-overdose medication Narcan. She was among several residents, including Dorothy Johnson, of Blue Point, who said people need to change how they view heroin users. Johnson is a member of the Great South Bay Coalition. She
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File photo above; photo left by giselle Barkley
addiction to pills, like the ones above, is the reason why tracey Budd, left, of rocky Point, founded the north Shore drug awareness advocates group to work with families to try to combat drug issues on long island.
lost her son four years ago to a heroin overdose and has fought to increase drug awareness ever since. For Johnson, heroin and drug users aren’t junkies, but everyday people in need of help. “It’s not that they’re bad and sitting on a street corner,” Johnson said. “It’s somebody that’s walking around in a suit and tie that comes from a good family.” Many of these families do not change how they view or deal with their relatives once they return from a rehabilitation center.
According to Calamia, treating rehabilitated individuals as though they still use heroin or other drugs will only encourage future drug use. In light of heroin use on Long Island, the Suffolk County Police Department started using Narcan in August 2012, according to Dr. Scott Coyne, chief surgeon for the police department. While Narcan allows officials and those trained to administer it to save people who overdose on heroin or opiateDRUg aWaReNeSS continued on page a8
Miller Place reveals first budget projection By alex PetroSki
Miller Place Superintendent Marianne Higuera presented her proposed budget for the 201617 school year on Feb. 24. The proposed budget of $70,602,887 would be $596,007 higher than the budget for the current school year. All instructional and noninstructional programs from the current school year would remain intact. “We expect some things might look a little bit different, but we’re not looking to eliminate any programs,” Higuera said following the presentation, which was made by school business official Colleen Card. “We’re not looking to eliminate any teams, any clubs; and we’re going to be able to maintain all of our programs from this year to next year,” Higuera added. Though the budget would increase by a small amount,
Photo by alex Petroski
Miller Place Superintendent Marianne higuera and board of education President Johanna testa discuss the proposed budget for the 2016-17 school year during the Feb. 24 meeting.
the school board unanimously approved a tax levy decrease of 0.14 percent on Feb. 24. That means that the district will have about $62,000 less revenue from tax dollars in 2016-17 compared to the current school year. Despite less tax revenue, the proposed budget would be bal-
anced by a $3.5 million fund balance and additional state aid thanks to a partial restoration of money lost to the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which deducted about $13 million from funding to Miller Place since its inception several years ago. The adjustment deducted money
from districts across New York state as a means to eliminate a budget deficit. Higuera’s proposed budget accounts for about $20.6 million in state aid. The district will also benefit from a small amount of required retirement payments this year, Higuera said. Johanna Testa, president of the board of education, heaped praise on the district’s administration after the presentation. “Keeping all programs and being able to propose a budget that keeps all of our academic programs and increases our capital project funding when we’re in a negative tax levy cap, that’s really amazing,” Testa said. The school board and administration convened again on March 2 for a budget workshop meeting at Miller Place High School. Budget adoption will take place on March 30.