Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor

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To the Editor:
Last week I wrote an intensive letter to the paper but was told that 750 words was not acceptable, but had to be 400 words.

And I did not even touch on hunting, ticks, Lyme disease, housing or the bridge and tunnel situation.

So, this letter is going to be very short. Most of my letter last week was addressed, basically, to the Town Board. Now I will email each Town Board member individually with my concerns and, in some cases, write to the entire Town Board. Addresses of the members can be found at shelterisland.us.

Perhaps to let the board know your concerns, without having to attend meetings or try to get on their agenda, send them a cyber space message. It just might work; someone might pay attention.

(Was it really only six people who helped enact the “Dark Skies” legislation?)

My hope is that Shelter Island will remain the UN-Hampton. Seems that this is going to be a struggle.
GEORGIANA KETCHAM
Shelter Island

Zika and the Island
To the Editor:
In the next few weeks, many of our friends from Latin America will be returning to the Island after going home for the winter.

Unless they are tested and/or quarantined before entering the U.S., some may unwittingly bring the Zika virus here.

Eliminating the human carriers that could introduce the Zika disease here is the first step. Then, doing whatever we can to reduce the mosquito infestation this spring is step number two.

Since we will have an influx of people traveling from Zika-infected countries back to the East End, we should be concerned. We must demand this immediate and necessary precaution. Like Ebola, Zika is a pandemic and is officially declared an international emergency.

Zika is transferred by mosquitoes that have bitten an infected person and then bites you. Aside from known birth defects, scientists are discovering other Zika-related illness that affect the general population. We don’t need another Lyme disease nightmare. Like Lyme, there is no preventive vaccine. The Zika virus is incurable.

Because we have such a large number of people arriving here from Latin America, our Town Board needs to be proactive about this very real public health crisis. We need the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to begin testing for Zika now, not after it has a chance to proliferate. Bureaucratic inaction and excuses are not an option.
VINCENT NOVAK
Shelter Island