Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, August 14, 2020
Vol. 69, No. 33
LIVING 50+
DRIVE TO SAVE HILDEBRANDT’S
STATE CERTIFIES SUOZZI RACE 6 WEEKS LATER
PAGES 21-28
PAGE 2
PAGE 7
A week later, some still have no electricity PSEG LI blasted for response failures BY R O S E W E L D ON
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD
Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin stands in front of PSEG Long Island headquarters Monday, saying ratepayers and taxpayers should not have to bear the cost of the power company’s incompetent response to Tropical Storm Isaias.
“Before the major storm knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders, the electric company promised that they were prepared,” Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) wrote in a letter to her constituents Aug. 7. “Then, the website for reporting power outages crashed and the phone lines jammed, text messages and apps fared little better, trees tangled in electrical wires blocked major thoroughfares days later and the company couldn’t track what traffic lights were
still out.” DeRiggi-Whitton wrote. “Are we talking about Superstorm Sandy in 2012 – or Tropical Storm Isaias just a few days ago?” Over a week after winds from Tropical Storm Isaias rocked Long Island for under three hours, thousands of PSEG Long Island customers remained without power, and state officials were launching probes into the utility’s perceived ineffective response in terms of preparedness and communications, said by some to rival the Long Island Power Authority’s response to Superstorm Sandy. Continued on Page 34
4 N. Shore districts breached deadline: gov In a statement issued with a plan by this Friday, they can’t But the Manhasset and Mineset, New Hyde Park-Garden City BY Park, Mineola and Garden City ola districts said they had submit- the list on Monday, Cuomo said open,” Cuomo said in a statement. ROBERT PELAEZ The governor said that the disA N D R O S E W E L D O N school districts are among 107 in ted their plans, and the other two the districts’ in-person plans will
the state that have not submitted The office of Gov. Andrew models for in-person learning that Cuomo claims that the Manhas- were due July 31.
districts have posted their plans online. Cuomo announced on Friday that school districts throughout the state will be permitted to open their doors for in-person education beginning in late August or early September.
be due Friday, with districts that fail to meet the deadline unable to provide in-person learning this year. “There are 107 school districts that have not submitted their plan – for those 107 school districts, how they didn’t submit a plan is beyond me. If they don’t submit
tricts, like all districts in the state, are required to complete three to five public sessions with parents and teachers, and post their plans for remote learning, testing and tracing on their website by Aug. 21 to be in compliance with standards established by the state. Continued on Page 35
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