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In The Centerfold Every Week!
Thursday, July 24, 2025 ~ Volume 70 ~ Issue Number 40 ~ $1.00
Romaine Signs Thorne’s EMS Housing Bill By Matt Meduri At last month’s General Meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature, all eighteen legislators unanimously approved a bill that would require developers and builders to include units earmarked for volunteer Fire and EMS personnel at discounted rates. The bill, sponsored by Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue), who is also a member of EMS personnel, was signed by Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) at the Brookhaven Fire Department in Brookhaven hamlet on Tuesday morning. Thorne says that handling the housing crisis requires a joint effort between federal, state, and municipal partners. Continued on page 4
(Seated L-R) FRES Commissioner Sunderman, Executive Romaine, Legislator Thorne as Romaine signs the EMS Housing Bill (Credit - Matt Meduri)
Hauppauge Boy is ‘Sheriff for a Day’ Ahead of Surgery By Matt Meduri On Tuesday afternoon, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office gave a Hauppauge boy a spirit-lifting day ahead of his big surgery next week. Twelve-year-old Wyatt Houppert was invited to the Sheriff’s Office in Riverhead to serve as an Honorary “Sheriff of the Day.” Along with his entire family, Houppert was able to step foot into policing activity, meet Sheriff Errol Toulon (D), and enjoy his passion: vehicles.
The day was especially motivating not only for Wyatt, but also his entire family, as Houppert is scheduled for a kidney transplant next week. His donor, conveniently, is Dawn Rice, the wife and sister of two Sheriff’s Office corrections officers. Wyatt was born with one functioning kidney, which then failed in February this year. Continued on page 10
FULL STORIES ON:
Town’s Recycling Program Successful Pages 3
Garbarino Named Chair Connetquot Kennedy Hosts River Suffolk Plan for of Homeland Sec. Cmte. County Watershed Heroes in the Breakfast Works Page 9
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