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VOL. 123 NO. 6
Bayville offers drop box for medications bage go into a landfill, and those flushed down the toilet are transported to either a septic tank or Flushing or throwing away cesspool. unwanted drugs was once Richard Walka, a semi-retired encouraged, but no more. environmental engineer and Although the traditional options chairman of the Bayville Enviof disposal ronmental Conensured that the servation Comdrugs would not mission, worked fall into the for the DEC in the wrong hands, the 1970s. When he New York State learned of a line De partment of item in the 2021 Environmental state budget for Conservation has DEC grants for found that aquatsecure drop boxes ic life can be for prescription adversely affectcontrolled and ed, as well as that non-controlled of humans. substances, he “In either case, became committhese substances ted to making cereventually find tain that the viltheir way into our lage had one at its groundwater or pharmacy. the beautiful surWalka said he face waters that knew the man Courtesy Michael Hancock surround our vilwho managed the BAYVILLE’S DROP BOX. lage,” Bayville grant program at Mayor Bob De the DEC. He also Natale said. “Put simply, this can knew Michael Hancock, the have potentially serious, long- owner of Bayville Pharmacy. He term adverse effects on our had worked at the pharmacy for health and the health of our nine years before purchasing it environment.” in 2019. Walka said that when he In Bayville, waste pharmaceuticals that end up in the garCONTINUED ON PAGE 4
By LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com
Courtesy Jen Skelly
What is this cold white stuff? It was something of a balancing act, but William Skelly, who just turned 1, was determined to take a seat on a bench in Bayville. More photos, Page 3.
Forestalling suicide by asking questions is topic at library class By JENNIFER CORR jcorr@liherald.com
Question, persuade and refer. Those were the three words highlighted in a Tuesday-night virtual class hosted by the Bayville Free Library, where Barbara Tedesco and Gayle Parker Wright, of United Health Care, led participants through a technique that could save someone from dying by suicide. Nation-
wide, 48,000 people take their own lives each year. “I had heard about [the program] last year, and we were actually scheduled to do it last March, before everything shut down,” said Kristy Fumante, the library’s adult program coordinator. “We were going to do it in person. It was very important infor mation that I thought would be helpful to some.”
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, suicide is on more people’s minds, as they deal with grief, isolation and hopelessness, Parker Wright said. Question, persuade and refer — or QPR — was developed by clinical psychologist Dr. Paul Quinnett. At the end of the course hosted by the library, participants earned certifications CONTINUED ON PAGE 14