________________ OYSTER BAY _______________
Studying our Revolution
Helping to beat back diabetes
Page 3
Page 10
VOL. 127 NO. 16
APRIL 18 - 24, 2025
1285301
HERALD $1.00
Officials decry wind turbines, battery centers Firefighters would be limited to monitoring the fire, and would have to allow it to burn out Nassau County Executive itself, which could take days, he Bruce Blakeman and other said. “There’s a lot of benefits elected officials gathered on the L o n g B e a c h b ay f r o n t o n with different technology, espeWednesday to express their cially when we’re needing more concerns about, and opposition energy,” county Chief Fire Marshal Michael to, plans to erect Uttaro said. “The wind turbines off issue that we’ re the coast, and the m o re c o n c e r n e d lithium-ion battery about is firefighter facilities that safety. It’s a huge wo u l d s t o re t h e commitment of the energ y they profire service to have duce. to try to control “These wind turthese fires. If you bines are killing drive here through birds and killing Long Beach, you whales and create see what dense popenvironmental hazulation and dense ards,” Blakeman MICHAEL UTTARO building looks like. said at a news con- Chief fire marshal We fully support, ference at the city right now, hitting fire station on West Park Avenue. “There’s oil and the pause on this until there’s diesel fuel with each and every better research done, better one, and that fuel could escape. codes to handle that training.” Joseph Saladino, Town of There could be a collision, there could be a leak of some O y s t e r B a y s u p e r v i s o r, kind, and pollute all of our expressed concern the potential impact of the state’s Renewable beaches. And then, on top of that, these battery storages, are Action through Project Interconnection and Deployment the size of buildings.” Act. The RAPID Act, enacted Blakeman claimed that if there were a fire at a storage last year, would, according to facility, it could not be put out. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
By BRENDAN CARPENTER
bcarpenter@liherald.com
T
Luke Feeney/Herald
At the Oyster Bay Life Enrichment Center on Wednesday, Rebecca Koltun taught more than a dozen seniors about phone accessibility. The center offers active older people numerous programs and services, including exercise, social services and socialization.
Koltun leads tech class at O.B. Life Enrichment center By LUKE FEENEY lfeeney@liherald.com
Rebecca Koltun’s life turned upside down after she took a terrible fall on a Vermont skiing trip with her friends in March 2021. While the 25-year-old Plainview woman doesn’t remember the fall, for which she was treated at a New Hampshire hospital, she does recall finding out from doctors that she was paralyzed from the neck down, and needed a ventilator because she couldn’t breathe on her own. Koltun, who was 21 at the time, had sus-
tained a C1-C2 spinal cord injury, which is considered the most severe of all spinal injuries because it is often fatal, and leaves most of those who survive it completely paralyzed. On Wednesday, Koltun came to the Oyster Bay Life Enrichment Center, where she spoke with more than a dozen senior women about phone accessibility. The center, on East Main Street, offers a variety of programs and services for active older people, including exercise and social services. Beth Spickler Lerman, the center’s social CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
he issue that we’re more concerned about is firefighter safety.