Long Island nonprofits, social service groups and other recipients of federal funds responded with alarm and confusion yesterday to a Trump administration memo that sought to impose a freeze on targeted federally funded programs. Tom Brune and Laura Figueroa Hernandez report in NEWSDAY that the memo issued Monday night by the Office of Management and Budget put a "temporary pause" on federal grants and loans to align spending with President Donald Trump’s priorities and to eliminate "Marxist equity, transgenderism and green new deal" policies. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C., halted the memo’s orders until Feb. 3, moments before it was to take effect at 5 p.m., to consider its complicated ramifications.

1st Congressional District Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) said in a statement that he and Trump made campaign commitments to pause funding for some foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations and initiatives like DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), gender ideology and the Green New Deal while protecting Social Security and Medicare. "Should the courts block the President’s actions and instead require Congress to step in, I will work closely with him and my colleagues to achieve a balanced budget, strengthen national security, improve affordability, and ensure that Long Island gets its fair share," said Congressman LaLota.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, "Last night, President Trump plunged the country into chaos. Without a shred of warning, the Trump administration announced a halt to virtually all federal funds across the country."

Meanwhile, Nassau and Suffolk county health agencies and nonprofits are scrambling to understand the order and whether it applied to them.

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Jessica Lynn Elliott was recently named as the new executive director of the Southampton African American Museum in Southampton Village, taking over for founder Brenda Simmons, who has transitioned into a new role as the museum’s president and CEO. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that Ms. Elliott was a teacher and history professor at Syracuse University before taking the role with the museum in December. Its mission is to promote an understanding and appreciation of African American culture by creating programs that will preserve the past, encourage learning and enhance the life of the community. The museum fulfills that mission by researching and collecting local history, producing media events, and creating exhibits and community celebrations. Located at 245 North Sea Road in Southampton, the museum is the former home of a Black barber shop that was founded by Emmanuel Seymore, who came to the North during the Great Migration in the late 1940s to escape the Jim Crow South. He purchased the land in Southampton and opened the shop, becoming a successful businessman. Elliott has been an educator for 20 years, working as a teacher of U.S. history, government, global history and geography in the Syracuse City School District, and writing and teaching African American history curriculum for the same district for 15 years before taking a role as a history professor at Syracuse University. Elliott earned both her doctorate and masters from Syracuse after graduating from Delaware State University in 2006 with a double-major in history and political science and a double minor in African American studies and philosophy. After working at Syracuse University for five years, Elliott said she was ready for a change, and in looking for new opportunities, came across the opening at the museum.

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The Sag Harbor Zoning Board of Appeals last week issued three variances to the John Jermain Memorial Library that will allow it to replace a failing heating and ventilation system. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the variances allow for a soundproof fence that will be placed around the system on the north side of the library building to be 6 feet tall, where 4 feet is ordinarily the limit. Two other variances would ease restrictions on total lot coverage and building coverage, which the library building already exceeds on the 14,172-square-foot lot. With the variance now in hand, the library is expected to receive site-plan approval from the Planning Board. And not a minute too soon. The library reported that its existing heating system broke down on January 13.

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The Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, which lost its entire flock of 99,000 to an outbreak of bird flu, has begun the long, methodical process of sanitizing its facilities. Mark Harrington and Lisa L. Colangelo report in NEWSDAY that Doug Corwin, president of the family-owned operation in business since 1908, said all the ducks have been euthanized, as required by federal officials, and two layers of quarantine remain in effect around the operation. None of his workers has fallen ill or tested positive for the virus.

"The worst is over as far as any viral spread," he said. "Now we’ve got to do an intensive cleanup here. USDA will come down once or twice a week and monitor our progress. We talk with them multiple times a day."

The future of the popular farm, which supplies duck meat to restaurants and gourmet shops throughout Long Island, New York City and beyond, hinges on several thousand eggs that are being safely kept off site. Infectious disease experts have said the risk to health among the general public is still low, especially since there have been no confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission.

Corwin was forced to lay off 48 workers but kept 20 to help with the cleanup.

He said the company was successful in salvaging many of the 10,000 eggs that he hopes could represent the future of Crescent, which has developed a unique genetic strain of duck over generations. Eggs were kept off the farm and sanitized and tested along the way, and many are now being incubated at an undisclosed location. Corwin has not yet determined whether he will raise ducks at the site again. He has been frustrated with the lack of a vaccine that would protect ducks from the virus. "There’s a lot of challenges left," he said. "But don’t get me wrong. We’re making every step forward so that at least we can try. I’m not backing down by any means."

Richard Ball, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets said there have been no other recent detections of bird flu on Long Island.

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Following a similar announcement by Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard last Friday, Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski released a statement Monday reaffirming the Town of Southold’s long-standing policy to “not assist Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other federal agency in the enforcement of federal laws. The Town of Southold’s Police Department will focus on maintaining public safety and will continue to treat all residents with respect, regardless of race, national origin, citizenship or any other matter which may define us,” states Supervisor Krupski. Beth Young in EAST END BEACON reports that a Community Informational Session to provide important and timely information to residents on the Southold Town Policing Policy will be held on Thursday, Jan. 30…that’s tomorrow evening from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Southold Town Recreation Center, 970 Peconic Lane, Peconic.

Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan, along with representatives from the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force and the Police Advisory Committee, have been invited to participate in this discussion and “to be responsive to issues of greatest concern to our residents,” according to Supervisor Krupski’s statement.

For more information, contact the Supervisor’s office at 631.765.1889.

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A proposal to phase out sand mines on most residentially zoned land in Southampton Town was adjourned until February 25 by the Town Board on Tuesday. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that Councilman Bill Pell, the legislation’s sponsor, said that the board had received comments from the Town Zoning Board of Appeals and the Suffolk County Pine Barrens Commission, but had yet to hear from the Town Planning Board, necessitating the need to adjourn the hearing. However, the board accepted testimony from the four people who signed up to speak during a public hearing on the measure, three of whom supported the town’s action. The only speaker to oppose amortization, Aram Terchunian of Westhampton Beach, urged the town to use incentives to encourage sand mine operators to transition from mining to less intense uses.

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Fear and uncertainty, but also an invincible devotion to God, permeated a Roman Catholic Church in Riverhead where hundreds of immigrants gathered for Sunday Mass despite President Donald Trump’s order that federal agents can enter houses of worship to arrest people in the country illegally.

Some immigrants, who acknowledged they were living here without documentation, said they came to pray anyway at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Riverhead since their faith and belief in God was stronger than any threat Trump might level.

"We are afraid but we have confidence in God," one immigrant, a landscaper who is in the country illegally, said in Spanish.

Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that the church attracted a standing-room-only crowd of about 800 people, larger than even the typical showing of 650 to 700 of the faithful, said the Rev. Larry Duncklee, pastor of St. John. Immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and other Latin American countries packed the pews. The aisles along the walls were also full.

Hispanics are among the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States. Many denominations including the Catholic Church are catering to them to try to stem declining membership, in pa...

Long Island nonprofits express alarm and confusion over Trump attempt to freeze funding

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