Civil rights advocates and police reform activists on Long Island reacted with alarm yesterday to a new Trump administration directive that would severely limit federal oversight of local police departments.

The Trump administration, in a memo, instructed lawyers in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division not to file any new complaints, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Another Justice Department memo ordered lawyers to notify Department of Justice leadership of any settlements or consent decrees reached in the last three months of the Biden administration, saying Trump’s administration "may wish to reconsider" the agreements, which lay out plans for police reform and are enforceable by the courts. It does not appear that any Long Island police departments have reached settlements in that time period. Nicole Fuller reports in NEWSDAY that New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with her counterparts in 10 other states, said they won’t abide by any Trump administration-ordered freeze on civil rights litigation. The attorneys general said they would focus on continuing to enforce laws to protect immigrants.

"Despite what he may say to the contrary, the president cannot unilaterally rewrite the Constitution," they said in a statement yesterday. In New York, State Executive Law 70-b gives the attorney general authority to investigate all instances in which a police officer may have caused a death.

The law was passed in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

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The Riverhead Central School District has notified the community it will strictly adhere to New York State guidance that “immigration enforcement actions cannot occur on school grounds without proper legal documentation.” Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the statement came two days after the Trump administration announced it was ending a ban in place since 2011 against federal immigration agencies making arrests at schools, churches and hospitals. In a letter to the school community sent out through the district’s Parent Square communications app and posted on the district website yesterday, the district said it would adhere to the state guidance “in the strictest sense” and would call on its “legal counsel to affirm the validity of any supposed legal documentation brought to the District by any federal agency before we commit to compliance.” The letter was signed by Riverhead School Board of Education President James Scudder and Interim Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich. They emphasized that New York State law and federal protections guarantee the right to a free public education for all children, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The Riverhead School District student body is 66 percent Hispanic according to district officials.

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Hampton Library in Bridgehampton is hosting “Winter Intermezzo: An Afternoon of Poetry & Music” on Saturday afternoon. That’s tomorrow at 2 p.m. in St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Bridgehampton. Inspiring words of verse will be read by local poets Peter Walsh and Candace Hill Montgomery, Canio’s Maryann Calendrille, Hampton Library’s Jill Burdge and Lisa Michne, student Poppy Edwards, and St. Ann’s Father Jim, with musical interludes by, among others, violinist Garry Ianco, associate concertmaster of The New American Sinfonietta. Blythe Danner will be the special guest. Refreshments will be served in the parish house after the reading. Tickets may be reserved in advance at myhamptonlibrary.org or by calling 631-537-0015. Admission is free but donations will be accepted at the door. All proceeds will go toward the Hampton Library’s Capital campaign.

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The North Haven Village Board last week unveiled a slew of proposed code amendments, ranging from new definitions for what can be included in determining the size of a building lot to a proposal that would have banned the display of sculpture or other artwork on a front lawn, which was withdrawn by Mayor Chris Fiore without comment. The remaining hearings were kept open, pending a ruling by the Suffolk County Planning Commission that the proposed changes are appropriate. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that the proposal that generated the most pushback was one that would exclude that portion of a property that is underwater or under a street from being included in the total lot area. Trustee Terie Diat said there are at least 175 waterfront lots in the village, where land below the high tide line is considered part of the property and taxed by both the Village of North Haven and the Town of Southampton. Eliminating that square footage could reduce the size of what could be built on it and would be particularly “punitive to waterfront homeowners who have small lots,” she said. Mayor Fiore said the village took up the proposed zoning changes because the board has received complaints over the years from residents who see modest ranch houses razed and replaced with McMansions, destroying the village’s character in the process. Another resident, Rob Remkus, told the board, “The village should be careful about how strict it is in restricting the size of houses because those larger houses pay higher taxes and will help support the village in the future. Trustee Terie Diat said she supported the general effort to protect the village’s character. However, she argued that the work was too important to do in “a piecemeal” fashion. “We should look at zoning changes in a comprehensive manner.” Barbara Roberts, a North Haven resident, backed Diat. She said the village should invest the time and energy into creating a comprehensive plan. “The conversation has to start with the entire community brainstorming,” said Ms. Roberts.

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The Southampton Town Board has scheduled a public hearing for Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. on major changes to its town codes regarding Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), after massive public backlash last year against a proposed 100 megawatt BESS project proposed not far from the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.

The board has scheduled the public hearing just in advance of the expected end of a moratorium on consideration of BESS systems on Feb. 13, 2025. That moratorium has been in place since mid-2023, as New York State has been working to revamp its code guidelines for battery storage in the wake of three 2023 fires at BESS sites throughout the state, including one in East Hampton. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that under Southampton’s proposed new regulations, BESS systems large enough to be considered Tier 2 and Tier 3 under the new code would be prohibited in residential areas, and stand-alone BESS systems would be capped at 5 megawatts, while systems tied to a solar array could be rated no greater than 20 megawatts. Southampton Town Planner Seth Race said 16 recommendations by the New York State Interagency Fire Safety Working Group, which are expected to become state code “at some point,” have been incorporated into town code, including mandatory peer review of applications by experts in the industry who do not have a financial stake in the project. The New York State Energy Research Development Agency is compiling a list of “qualified, certified individuals that should be able to assist the town.” The fee for this consulting work would be paid for by the applicant, he added.

Here's a text of the code changes

"The Southampton Town Board hereby directs that a public hearing shall be held on February 11, 2025 at 1:00 p.m., both in-person, at Southampton Town Hall, 116 Hampton Road, Southampton, New York, and via videoconferencing, to hear any and all persons either for or against a local law entitled: “A LOCAL LAW enacting Article VIIA entitled "Energy Storage" within Chapter 330 Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Southampton."

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This coming Sunday the North Fork Polar Bears will host their third Annual North Fork Polar Bear Plunge — a charitable cold-water plunge open to the public at Veterans Beach on the Peconic Bay in Mattituck.

Plungers and supporters will gather to brave the cold to raise funds for the Center for Advocacy, Support & Transformation (CAST) and Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program’s Back to the Bays Initiative.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the plunge starts at 10:00 a.m. this Sunday.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that The Plunge has become a highlight of the North Fork’s quiet winter season — more than 300

plungers and supporters took part in the second annual event in January of 2024.

This year, the North Fork Polar Bears are raising the stakes with an ambitious goal of 500 participants and a fundraising target of $100,000.

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Southampton History Museum Executive Director Sarah Kautz recently confronted the Southampton School Board over “seemingly coercive comments” made during a previous meeting, comments that suggested the nonprofit could lose its spot on the district ballot in May following its termination of the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery’s lease. Michelle Trauring reports on 27east.com that efforts to clarify quickly deteriorated into a back-and-forth between Kautz and the School Board — with the museum administrator calling out specific members by name, and Board President Jacqueline Robinson insisting that this conversation be placed on pause until they had spoken with their attorney. “We take this extremely seriously,” Kautz said. “We do, as well,” Robinson interjected. Kautz responded, “We spent a lot of, over 100 years, serving this community, and not just any museum gets a charter.”...