Saturday, April 16 2011 09:24

Written by Denise Civiletti

Demolition of a long-abandoned unfinished condominium at the Knolls at Baiting Hollow got underway yesterday.

The Riverhead Town Board declared the structure unsafe following a packed Sept. 8 hearing at Town Hall, during which the board heard testimony about the hazards posed by the structure in the event of high winds or fire.

The town delayed advertising for bids on the project after being informed by the owner that it would demolish the structure on its own, according to Supervisor Sean Walter. But when work didn't begin, the Town Board went forward with the bid process in December.

KJB Industries of Riverhead, at $45,454, was the successful bidder out of 13 bidders who responded to the town's bid notice for the project.

Patricia Panchak of KJB Industries said the demolition job will take about a month to complete.

Under Chapter 54 of the Town Code, the town will recoup the costs of the hearing, bidding and demolition and disposal from the property owner by assessing the amount as a lien against the property.

Saturday, April 16 2011 06:26

Written by Denise Civiletti

Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) is blasting the Republican budget blueprint bill passed by the House in a partisan vote Friday as a "radical plan" that would end Medicare.

Bishop and every other House Democrat voted against the blueprint bill, which was developed by the House budget committee. Four Republicans also voted against the bill, which passed by a vote of 235-193.

“I support reducing spending and reducing the deficit, but this plan embraces the wrong priorities,” Bishop said.  “I cannot support a plan that raises taxes on the middle class and punishes the vulnerable to give more tax breaks to large corporations and millionaires.”

The Republican budget eliminates traditional Medicare by ending the program’s guaranteed benefit.  Instead, seniors would be issued a voucher to partially cover the cost of a private insurance plan.  The voucher’s value would be pegged to inflation and its purchasing power would deteriorate over time, as medical costs increase at a faster rate than overall Consumer Price Index, Bishop said.

The change would go into effect for people born in 1957 or later.

The Congressional Budget Office reported that by 2030, a typical 65-year-old would pay 68 percent of his or her health care costs under the Republican proposal, as opposed to 25 percent with current Medicare, Bishop said.  This cost shift means seniors would pay $6,400 to $7,000 more per year than traditional Medicare for comparable coverage, he said.

Private insurers would also be free to raise rates and deny coverage, Bishop said.

Bishop said the Republican Budget reflects misplaced priorities by targeting vulnerable populations while providing trillions in tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and corporate special interests.  

It includes cuts in funding for education at all levels, slashes Medicaid by $800 billion, and neglects necessary investments in alternative energy, job training, and infrastructure, he said.  

It would also repeal the new health reform law, raising prescription drug costs for millions of seniors by re-opening the Medicare Prescription Drug "Donut Hole" and eliminating the new free preventive care benefit under Medicare, which went into effect on January 1.

The blueprint bill is not a funding resolution, Bishop said during a conference call with the media Tuesday. See previous story.

"The FY12 process begins with the budget resolution and works through the summer as the House and Senate take up the resolutions that fund the government as of October 1," he said. The ensuing debate, he predicted, will make the debate over the just-passed continuing resolution — which funded the federal government through Sept. 30 — "seem like a walk in the park."

Bishop is attending the Mobile and Manufactured Homeowners Association meeting this morning at Riverhead Town Hall, to speak about the Medicare changes proposed by Republicans. The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m.

Friday, April 15 2011 06:48

Written by Denise Civiletti

Riverhead police have so far identified nearly two dozen theft victims outside of Riverhead Town whose stolen property was recovered following the March 30 arrest of three Manorville youths on larceny charges, Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said yesterday.

The stolen property was recovered March 31 during a search of the Manorville home of one of the defendants, Andrew J. Gelman, age 17.

Police arrested Gelman, Alan M. Lockel, 17 and Anthony Waage, 18, March 30 in connection with the theft of an assortment of personal property from unlocked parked cars that night.  See March 31 story.

Additional thefts of property from parked vehicles had occurred on several occasions during the overnight hours in various Wading River neighborhoods. See March 28 story.

Hegermiller said at the time the thefts in Wading River were "probably just the tip of the iceberg" and other thefts had occurred in other jurisdictions. He said the search warrant executed at Gelman's home recovered many more items than those stolen the night before.

The recovered property included GPS units, iPods, wallets and credit cards, the chief said.

Riverhead police detectives investigating the case have been matching recovered property to reports of thefts filed with other police departments, including Southampton Town and Suffolk County Police.

Gelman, Lockel and Waage were arraigned on larceny charges and released March 31. Waage, who police said had a can of Mace in his possession at the time of the arrest, was also charged with unlawful possession of noxious material.

Hegermiller said March 31 he expected more charges would be forthcoming. No additional information has been made available.

Wednesday, April 13 2011 15:49

Written by Denise Civiletti

Correction officers foiled an escape attempt at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in Riverside Tuesday.

Jose Nunez-Garcia, 16, scaled the inner fence of an exercise yard at the jail Tuesday, according to a press release issued by Sheriff Vincent DeMarco this afternoon.

Nunez-Garcia found himself trapped between the multiple layers of security fencing at the facility, according to the release. He ran along the narrow passage in a futile attempt to find a way out, and was captured within seven minutes, the sheriff's office said. He suffered cuts from the razor wire on the security fencing, the sheriff's office said.

Nunez-Garcia is incarcerated on multiple burglary charges, according to the sheriff's office.

Correction officers from multiple units, including the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team and Internal Security responded to apprehend the would-be escapee, the press release said.  "He was never able to penetrate the the secure confines of the facility," the release said.


Nunez-Garcia will be charged with attempted escape first degree, a class E felony, according to the sheriff's office.

“The swift response of our highly trained officers, coupled with security measures at our facilities, reinforce the foolishness of such an attempt,” Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said in the press release.

Editor's note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.