12 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JULY 2021
IN THE NEWS
WEB BRIEFS LI AT A GLANCE
SINGAS CONFIRMED TO NY'S TOP COURT
The New York State Senate confirmed Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s pick for a vacant seat on the state’s Court of
Appeals, former Nassau County District Attorney
Madeline Singas, on June 8. The next day, Singas swore
in an acting district attorney, Joyce A. Smith, at the
Nassau County Supreme Court building in Mineola.
The governor announced on May 25 his nomination of
Singas, who had served as Nassau’s district attorney
since 2015.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said Smith is
“a seasoned law enforcement veteran who has made
history in becoming Nassau County’s first Black District
Attorney.”
Smith, a prosecutor since 1996 who previously served
with Singas in the district attorney’s office and before
that, in the Bureau of Domestic Violence, spoke with
pride about Singas, calling her “a mentor” and “one of
the hardest-working people in our office.”
-Briana Bonfiglio
FBI PROBES DEJOY'S LI-FOUNDED FIRM
The FBI is investigating campaign fundraising
activity involving a company
founded on Long Island that the
head of the U.S. Postal
Service formerly led, a
spokesman for Postmaster
General
Louis DeJoy said
on June 3.
DeJoy, a supporter
of Republican former
President Donald
Trump who was named to the post in May 2020, has
faced criticism from Democrats over mail service
changes and a plan to slow some deliveries to save
money. DeJoy previously served as chief executive at
North Carolina-based New Breed Logistics, which his
father founded on LI in 1968.
The Washington Post first reported the investigation.
FBI agents have interviewed current and former
DeJoy and New Breed Logistics employees and have
issued a subpoena to DeJoy, The Post reported.
The Post reported last year that some New Breed Logistics
employees said they were pressured by DeJoy
or his aides to attend fundraisers or make political
contributions to Republicans and then were repaid
through bonuses. DeJoy in congressional testimony
denied making such reimbursements, calling it an
“outrageous claim.” New Breed was sold to XPO Logistics
Inc in 2014.
-Reuters
COOPERS BEACH NO. 2 IN US
Coopers Beach in Southampton came just one spot shy
of reclaiming its title of best beach in America, according
to Dr. Beach’s annual list ranking the nation’s top
10 beaches, released May 27.
The beach, which topped the list in 2010, dropped
down to No. 8 in 2016 before inching back up the list.
It came in No. 5 in 2017, No. 4 two years in a row, and
No. 3 last year.
“Coopers Beach is hundreds of yards wide, made of
grainy white quartz sand,” Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman,
a coastal expert and professor at Florida International
University who has produced the list for the past 30
years, wrote in his review.
“The beach is backed by large sand dunes covered by
American beach grass interspersed with extravagant
mansions,” he continued. “Some of the best beach access
in the Hamptons exists on Coopers Beach; a snack
bar serving lunch and drinks can be found here as
well.”
Coming in
at No. 1 this year
was Hapuna Beach State
Park on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The full list can be found at drbeach.org
-Timothy Bolger
LI NURSES WOW AMERICA'S GOT TALENT
JUDGES
The Northwell Health Nurse Choir from Long Island
put on an inspiring and heartwarming audition on
America’s Got Talent, impressing the judges and earning
them the golden buzzer, giving them an automatic
spot in the quarterfinals.
The group of 18 nurses performed a medley of “Stand
by Me” by Ben E. King and “Lean on Me” by Bill
Withers on the NBC show’s June 1 episode, rendering
positive emotional reactions from all the judges. The
choir was created during the most difficult time of
the pandemic for the nurses to spread love and joy
through the power of music.
“We know that there’s a lot of us out there that are
still hurting. We’re hoping to just shoot out some joy and
some love and to let them know that we found our resilience
and we’re hoping that they do, as well,” said Winnie
Mele, one of the choir members, during the audition.
The choir members are a part of the largest health
system in New York and come from a team of more
than 19,000 nurses that work for various Northwell
Health hospitals and medical facilities. The Northwell
nurses have cared for more than 200,000 Covid-19 patients
over a 14-month span and created their choir to
spread positivity and forge bonds.
-April Garnock
PCLI, NYPA HONOR LI PRESS
The Press Club of Long Island honored the Long Island
Press with three awards for the publication’s coverage
of crime, commentary, and technology in the organization’s
annual media awards contest.
Placing second in PCLI’s crime and
justice reporting category was
Maureen Ledden Rossi’s story
“Long Island’s
Human Trafficking
Crisis
Thrives in
S h a d o w s , ”
about the hidden
realities of human trafficking
for sex and labor in the region.
Tim Bolger, Long Island Press’ editor in chief,
earned second in the commentary category for his
editorial “Media Blaming: Not a Coronavirus Cure,”
urging people not to treat coronavirus coverage as
fake news at the height of the pandemic.
Bolger and Long Island Press business reporter Claude
Solnik also placed second in PCLI’s science and technology
category with their piece, “LI Innovators Wield
Sharp Minds, Cutting-edge Tech in War on Coronavirus,”
about local doctors and scientists who crafted
new technologies in response to Covid-19.
Long Island Press‘ sister publication, Dan’s Papers,
which covers the East End, took home five awards in
the contest for its coverage of local news, history, and
the arts.
The honors come after Schneps Media, the parent company
of the Long Island Press, recently won a total of
49 awards in the New York Press Association’s annual
Better Newspaper Contest.
Long Island Press Associate Editor Annie Wilkinson
placed third in NYPA's Features Story category for
her Rear View column "Showdown at The Surf Hotel,”
about a cholera outbreak quarantine.
-BB
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