10 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • AUGUST 2021
IN THE NEWS
WEB BRIEFS LI AT A GLANCE
NASSAU, SUFFOLK REACH OPIOID CRISIS
SETTLEMENTS
Officials from Nassau and Suffolk counties joined
together in a news conference on July 20 to announce
yet another settlement in the ongoing litigation with
pharmaceutical companies over their roles in the
opioid crisis on Long Island.
The three largest drug distributors, McKesson Corporation,
Cardinal Health, Inc., and AmerisourceBergen
Corporation, will dole out at least $86 million to each
county over 18 years, which officials said would go
straight toward drug treatment and prevention.
“We’ve been working on this issue at an extraordinary
cost,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
“These dollars can never replace who has been lost
and the families that have been devastated … but it will
help lift the burden off taxpayers, bring some relief,
and hold drug companies accountable.”
Bellone said that Suffolk would likely end up with about
$120 million from all settlements and will convene a
committee to allocate the dollars toward various
drug abuse programs.
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran
said that Nassau will receive up
to $115 million in total from all the
settlements, which will “go straight
to helping curb opioid abuse.”
-Briana Bonfiglio
3 LI NATIVES KILLED IN MIAMI COLLAPSE
The bodies of three Long Islanders who were reported
missing in the Surfside, Fla. condominium collapse on
June 24 have been found in the rubble, Miami-Dade
County Police said.
Dr. Brad Cohen, 51, who was from Dix Hills and lived
in the Champlain Towers South building that partially
collapsed, was found dead on July 7, police said in a
statement. The body of his brother, Dr. Gary Cohen,
58, who was reportedly visiting from Alabama at the
time of the collapse, was recovered on the same day.
Another Long Island native, Judy Spiegel, 65, from
Plainview, was found dead in the collapse two days
after the Cohen brothers.
The confirmed death toll consists of the 97 victims
killed outright when the building crumbled in the
early hours of June 24 as residents slept, and one
victim who died while hospitalized.
Although the remains of everyone who was believed
to have been trapped in the rubble have since been
found, police will continue to sift through the debris
for additional remains of those who died and for
personal effects to return to loved ones, Miami-Dade
County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
While the cause remains undetermined, a 2018 engineering
report found structural deficiencies that are now the
focus of several inquiries, including a grand jury probe.
-BB with Reuters
RIVERHEAD TOWN BOARD REJECTS
PROPOSAL TO OPT OUT OF POT SALES
The Riverhead Town Board voted down July 7 a
proposal to opt out of allowing recently legalized
recreational marijuana to be sold and consumed at
pot shops and cannabis cafés.
The measure was rejected by a vote of 3 to 2 following
weeks of debate surrounding the issue, meaning pot
sales will be allowed once retailers get the go-ahead
next year. Supervisor Yvette Aguiar and Councilman
Kenneth Rothwell both voted for opting out while voting
against were Councilmen Frank Beyrodt, Timothy
Hubbard, and Councilwoman Catherine Kent, the
lone Democrat
on the Republican
majority board.
“I respect my colleagues’ decision to vote to allow the
retail sale and café use of marijuana,” Aguiar said.
“However, I am voting yes to prohibit cannabis retail dispensaries
and on-site consumption sites … until we have
better clarification of the New York State legislation.”
The state legalized marijuana in March, but towns and
villages have until Dec. 31 to decide whether to opt out
of allowing sales or on-site consumption in their communities.
But since the neighboring Shinnecock Indian
Nation announced plans to open a dispensary in Southampton
this year, and the tribe is not bound by town
laws, some, especially Town of Southampton leaders,
have questioned whether opting out would be effective.
The Town of Shelter Island passed a measure in May
opting out of sales and on-site consumption of marijuana.
Shelter Island officials said that passing a weed
sales ban now will give the public a chance to petition
for a referendum on the question in time for Election
Day, as is allowed under the new law.
-Timothy Bolger via Dan’s Papers
EX-HEMPSTEAD TOWN, GOP OFFICIAL
ADMITS $60K THEFT
The Town of Hempstead Buildings Department’s
former deputy commissioner admitted stealing more
than $59,000 from the Cedarhurst Republican Committee,
of which he was also executive leader.
John Novello, who was also chief of staff to New York
State Assemblywoman Missy Miller (R-Atlantic Beach)
until shortly before his arrest, pleaded guilty on July
23 to grand larceny at Nassau County court. Ten
other theft and election law charges were dropped in
exchange for his plea.
The town fired Novello in February. The Nassau GOP
also removed Novello from his position in the party.
Prosecutors have said the Hewlett Harbor man spent
the money from the committee’s campaign account
on his home mortgage, a winery trip, luxury candies,
entertainment, and personal expenses from January
2016 through his arrest in 2019.
He also allegedly stole
more than $37,000
from donations
to the committee’s
annual golf tournament
fundraiser and the
Mayor’s Cup in 2018 and 2019,
according to investigators.
Novello, who was released without bail, faces up
to 15 years in prison when Judge Teresa Corrigan is
scheduled to sentence him on Sept. 27. His attorney
did not respond to a request for comment.
-TB
SUFFOLK COPS USED EXCESSIVE FORCE
AGAINST ADVOCATE, LAWYER SAYS
Suffolk County police officers allegedly used excessive
force while pulling from an ambulance a woman who
advocates for better relations between law enforcement
and minorities while she tried to comfort a Dix
Hills shooting victim on June 27, the woman and her
attorney claimed in a forthcoming lawsuit.
Cindy M. O’Pharrow, the cofounder of the West Babylon
based nonprofit organization Cops N’Kids Long
Island, a program devoted towards creating stronger
relationships between police officers and Long Island’s
youth, particularly from Black and Brown communities,
announced July 7 that she will be filing a notice of claim,
the first step in filing a lawsuit against the Suffolk County
Police Department. She and her lawyer, Hempstead-based
civil rights attorney Frederick Brewington, are calling for
three things: The names of all the officers who were present
during the incident, an independent agency other than
the Internal Affairs Bureau to conduct an investigation of
what occurred, and a public apology from Suffolk County
to O’Pharrow for the officers’ behavior.
Suffolk Police dash camera footage shows O’Pharrow
was delaying transport of a critically injured person
by EMS personnel, said Acting Suffolk Police Commissioner
Stuart Cameron, according to foxnews.com.
-Amber Wilkins
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
/foxnews.com
