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Gas prices on Long Island, which have seen daily increases since the war with Iran began in late February, are up a dollar from the same time a month ago, according to online pricing data from AAA. Victor Ocasio reports in NEWSDAY that the average per gallon price of regular gasoline on Long Island reached $3.87 yesterday, up from the $2.86 per gallon the motorist club reported on Feb. 24. Here in Southampton the Shell station on County Road 39 was charging $3.76 Tuesday morning and the Speedway in Water Mill $4.00 per gallon as of last night.

The rapid increase in price is not the norm for this time of year and is reflective of the soaring price of crude oil caused by the ongoing U.S.-Israel war with Iran, said Robert Sinclair Jr., senior manager of public affairs at AAA Northeast.

Traditionally, gas prices on Long Island, like in the rest of the Northeast, begin to slowly increase in early spring due to the seasonal switchover from winter blends to summer blends of gasoline at refineries across the country, he said.

“The summer changeover usually is responsible for a 25-to-35 cent per gallon increase under normal circumstances,” Sinclair said.

But that slight increase is a far cry from the more than dollar bump that local drivers are experiencing at the pump.

Steven Kent, chief economist for the Long Island Association business group, said high gas prices have a direct impact on consumers and the economy.

While prices are higher, they are still below record prices set less than four years ago on Long Island.

Gas prices hit a record high of $5.04 on Long Island in June 2022 following the U.S. decision to levy sanctions against Russian oil exports after the country invaded Ukraine early that year.

To save money on trips to the pump, experts recommend that drivers make sure their vehicles are well-maintained, and that drivers try using new spark plugs and fuel injectors to get more efficiency out of their truck or car.

Long Island drivers also should consider filling up their tanks on Sunday, as it is the most affordable day of the week to buy gas.

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Anyone who has ever carted young children to the post office to apply for passports understands it can be a stressful process.

For those without children, finding time in the day for a trip to the post office, during its normal business hours, to complete a passport application can also be a challenge. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that for many people preparing for a trip abroad, the local library has been the better option for obtaining a passport. For years, many local libraries have offered passport services to their patrons, offering more extended hours than most post offices, and a more welcoming environment for families with young children.

It’s a service libraries have been doing for many years.

However, last month many libraries throughout the country, and across the East End, lost the ability to process passport applications after the U.S. State Department said that association or nonprofit libraries would no longer be allowed to provide the service. Instead, only libraries that are part of a municipal government entity can continue providing the service.

Most of the libraries on the East End are association or nonprofit libraries, sometimes known as “free” libraries. There are 21 nonprofit libraries in Suffolk County, and 17 of them were offering passport processing services before the federal government took away that ability officially on February 13 of this yea

Mara Zonderman, head of reference and adult services at the Westhampton Free Library said that in January the library got an email from the State Department saying it had to cease accepting passport applications, based on a law, which is not new, that declares only state or local governments or the postal service can collect passport fees.

Ms. Zonderman said the library is pushing back against the change for several reasons.

“This is a very valuable service we’re able to provide our patrons, and another revenue stream, and [library] funding is constantly being threatened,” she said. “In a public library, every penny counts.”

Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton Village is another library affected by the change.

Beth Gates, the reference department supervisor, said that Rogers has been processing passport applications for eight years, and does roughly 100 a year. Five of the librarians serve as passport agents.

“The vast majority of people who come are families, because kids need to have their passports renewed every five years,” Gates said. “It’s great for them, because we’re set up for families at the library. We also serve a lot of adults who either never had a passport or haven’t gotten one in years and need a little extra hand-holding. We’ve also helped a good amount of new Americans, people who recently became citizens and are getting passports for the first time, and I think they have trust in us.”

Liz Burns is the director at R.M.L. and has been a library director for 30 years. She described the situation as “disheartening.”

“As a public library, we’re here to help people,” she said. “We’re in a helping profession and a service profession. With this, we’re being told we can’t help people, and that’s really hard for us as librarians.”

U.S. State Department limits libraries' ability to aid with passport process