BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO
The Reporter asked the two candidates for supervisor and three candidates for Town Council to give our readers their thoughts on four of the most critical issues facing Shelter Island.
The questions submitted were :
1. How, in practical terms, would you plan to achieve affordable housing?
2. How, in practical terms, would you address the issues of water quality, tick infestation and infrastructure needs without raising taxes? (more…)
AMBROSE CLANCY PHOTO
Breaking news: Turkeys storm Reporter office last week.
In certain parts of the Island it seems as if nature has gone haywire, and our human habitat is being overrun. We’re talking turkeys here.
At the Reporter’s office in the Center, it’s common to see a flock of meleagris gallopavo silvestri (impress your friends) moving through the front and back parking lots or up on the porch. A couple of the birds recently were even fighting a few feet from our front door.
Well, we think they were fighting, but it could have been the polar opposite, since none of us are conversant with the courtship rituals of the wild turkey. In any event, it was a lot of excited sounds, strutting and pecking. You be the judge. (more…)
KATHERINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | A mute swan mother with her cygnets.
Despite its overwhelming passage in the State Legislature, Governor Andrew Cuomo has vetoed a measure that would have blocked the outrageous plan of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to go after the 2,200 mute swans in the state.
Most of these beautiful birds, some 1,600, are here on Long Island. (more…)
REPORTER FILE PHOTO|
Questions for PD
To the Editor:
Jackie Black’s letter to the editor of the Reporter last week, describing a house guest’s encounter with a local police officer as she waited for a cab at South Ferry after midnight, described a very upsetting situation.
The trope, “Show me your papers,” immediately conveys feelings of fear and oppression. (more…)
PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO
This 7-year-old diamondback terrapin turtle, held by Karen Testa of Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, has been in captivity since it was a hatchling. Turtles of this species have been found dead in nearby creeks feeding the Peconic Bay.
Turtles have been dying in significant numbers near some of the creeks leading into Peconic Bay, amounting to an “unprecedented” die-off, according to environmental advocates and state conservation authorities. (more…)