01.17.2017 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Free tuition for New Yorkers — an old idea for a new age New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal last week for free tuition at SUNY and CUNY schools has roots going back nearly two centuries in this region, to 1847 and...
12.12.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Ruling against preserved farmland development is misguided A local environmental organization has brought a lawsuit challenging the implementation of the Suffolk County Farmland Preservation Program, a visionary concept that has been the key to saving an...
12.04.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: A familiar Long Island creature facing extinction A world expert on horseshoe crabs is worried about their extinction after 455 million years of life on Earth — largely because the crab has become a delicacy in...
11.19.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Inside the county elections The astonishing win of the U.S. presidency by Donald Trump on the Republican ticket has, to put it mildly, overshadowed all other political news out of the 2016 election....
11.05.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Budget battles at top of county government The top fiscal watchdogs in Suffolk County government are critical of County Executive Steve Bellone’s recommended $2.96 billion county budget for 2017.
10.23.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Getting to know Al Krupski Al Krupski is a man of the land of Long Island — a fourth-generation farmer. He’s a champion of open space and farmland preservation. And he well understands the...
10.15.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: Is the county doing enough to treat wastewater? Suffolk County government for years delayed considering advanced wastewater treatment systems — to be installed at homes and featuring new technologies that reduce nitrogen discharges to a fraction of...
10.09.2016 Columns Suffolk Closeup: County wars over dollars and sense County Executive Steve Bellone (D-Babylon) has proposed a record-high budget for Suffolk County government for 2017 — $2.96 billion, 1.5 percent higher than this year’s. Mr. Bellone says the...