NY to let schools in 'hot spots' reopen with testing
Schools in hot spots to reopen under testing protocol
New York has imposed restrictions on "micro-clusters" in Brooklyn, Queens, Rockland and Orange counties to bring down infection levels and avoid community spread.
But Cuomo said during a telephone briefing with reporters that public and parochial schools and yeshivas "want to be open" and his administrations worked with administrators to find a way.
Meanwhile on Long Island, schools in Shoreham and Mastic Beach were closed Friday after new cases surfaced. As of Friday afternoon:
- Shoreham-Wading River High School closed for in-person instruction on Friday and 110 students were under quarantine after the Suffolk County Department of Health Services completed contact tracing for two positive cases, school officials said. The cases might be related to at least one gathering of students, according to a county health department official.
- A second suspected case of COVID-19 prompted William Floyd School District officials to close the William Paca Middle School in Mastic Beach Friday "out of an abundance of caution," according to a note to parents posted on the district's website. While the case is not confirmed, district officials decided to close the school.
Instead of trick-or-treating, these Long Islanders are donating
Linda Romero stands in front of her home with two Halloween baskets she plans to give out on Saturday. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
This Halloween, some Long Islanders are forgoing the tricks to hand out extra treats — specifically to those in need.
Volunteers will be knocking on doors to deliver candy to children in Central Islip and Brentwood, meanwhile in East Meadow, fifth-graders will skip trick-or-treating to raise money for different causes.
The organization UpLift Our Towns supports families with clothing and food donations. During the pandemic, volunteers delivered groceries to families. For Halloween, they reached out to those same families to see if they’d like to celebrate in a socially distanced way.
Volunteer Linda Romero has been shopping and collecting donations to create "Quaran-Treat" baskets for children in Central Islip and Brentwood.
74% of LI factories hired at the height of COVID-19
More than seven in 10 manufacturers on Long Island added jobs during the height of the pandemic, according to a survey released Thursday.
In an ongoing poll by Hofstra University, 74% of 70 factories said they hired people in the past six months. Thirty-eight percent said they plan to boost employment in the next six months. The poll is the basis of the 2020 Hofstra-Long Island Manufacturing Supply Chain Index.
The hiring by manufacturers in the spring sharply contrasts layoffs at restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues and other hospitality companies.
"The manufacturing sector is doing very well, still hiring people through this pandemic," said Kaushik Sengupta, a management professor at Hofstra who is working on the supply chain index. "Only a small minority of manufacturers plan to decrease their workforce in the next six months."
Remembering Ken Weldon, ballplayer who made friends with ease
Ken Weldon was a lifelong music lover and longtime baseball player and coach. He died at age 82. Credit: Melissa Weldon
The story of Ken and Loretta Weldon is one she calls a classic: She was the bridesmaid, he was the usher. It was 1958 and he was fresh out of college; she had graduated high school the year prior.
They married in 1962, had two daughters and made their family home in a two-bedroom, two-bath cottage in Montauk. Summers were characterized by baseball and softball, cookouts at the house and sitting on the lawn. Ken would angle speakers out the window and play music.
He would live with Loretta in that house until symptoms of Alzheimer's made it necessary to move to the Westhampton Care Center. In April, Ken tested positive for the coronavirus. He died that month at age 82. Read his story.
Visit this page to read more stories or submit your own of those lost to the coronavirus.
More to know
People walk while wearing masks on a July day in Patchogue. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Long Island and NYC yesterday saw new daily case counts rise to levels not registered since May, although the positivity rate was 1.5% and the state broke its record for the number of tests completed, Cuomo's office said.
New weekly Long Island jobless claims remained virtually unchanged last week after seeing a significant drop the week before, state data shows.
The Giants practiced in the rain while wearing masks on Thursday, after learning guard Will Hernandez tested positive for COVID-19.
News for you
Stephanie Guzowski and her daughter Lainey run in the 2017 Garden City Turkey Trot. Credit: Howard Schnapp
You might have to rethink the Thanksgiving turkey trot. The in-person Thanksgiving turkey trots may have been canceled, but virtual trots are taking place across Long Island. Here's a list.
And speaking of Thanksgiving ... Many are starting to think about their travel plans. Three public health experts weigh in with what they plan to do, how they'll decide and what kind of precautions they'll take. Read more.
Easing student loan debt for recent college grads. Federal and private loan borrowers have options to make payments more manageable, regardless of employment status or type of debt. Find out more.
Long Island playwright's play to premiere virtually. Ellen Pober Rittberg has waited more than 30 years for her play "Sabbath Elevator" to get off the ground, but on Nov. 8, it will be presented over Zoom. Get the details.
Plus: Catch up on a list of streaming or socially distant events happening through the weekend that can give you something to do while staying safe.
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Commentary
Credit: Getty Images/CatLane
Changing clocks twice a year is harmful to your wallet and your health. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, and most Americans — those not living in Arizona, Hawaii or our outlying territories (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam, among others) — will again suffer the consequences.
The consequences are not limited to the time and trouble of moving the hands of analog clocks back one hour in the fall, only to be forced to move them forward again in March when DST returns. The annual rituals of "falling back" and "springing forward" impose very real costs on the economy and stress the human body physiologically, both worrisome during normal times but even more so in the midst of a pandemic to which governments have responded with draconian lockdowns that have crippled business operations, thrown millions out of work, and forced many people to avoid or delay routine medical care.
What's the big deal? Unlike Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman, why should we worry about losing just an hour of sleep in the spring, only to gain it back in the fall? Keep reading.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
