Spreading their messages

Daily Point

Virus misinformation

The missive that came from State Sen. Anna Kaplan on a Saturday evening was an unusual one.

It was a "community warning," regarding a flyer that dozens of residents in a housing complex in Manhasset found taped to their doors earlier Saturday.

"Nassau residents beware," Kaplan’s email and Facebook post said. "False information is being spread in our community on these flyers, which have been found taped to the doors of our neighbors."

The alarming flyer has a "WARNING" heading.

"In a rush to find a vaccine for the Covid-19 or Corona Virus, the government is looking for minorities to experiment on," it said.

"If your child participates in the ‘Free Lunch’ program or benefits from any other social assisted programs you should be very alert!" the flyer continued. "You could be signing your child up for something that will be extremely harmful to them."

It is unclear whether the flyers were only posted in the single housing complex or whether their distribution was more widespread. Who is behind the "warning," perhaps an indicator of their motivation, is also unknown. Kaplan said in her post and email that she was "absolutely disgusted that some coward would spend their time trying to scare parents with anonymous notes like this full of lies and conspiracy theories."

A Kaplan post to social media about the incident generated dozens of replies, many of which expressed anti-vaccination sentiments, or support for some of the flyer’s contents.

"It’s not false. It’s informative," a commentator wrote on Facebook.

Kaplan’s opponent in the November election, Dave Franklin, told The Point he didn’t know anything about the flyer beyond what Kaplan’s statement said.

"It’s nothing coming from my camp," Franklin said. "I will come out against her policies and decisions but that’s not my style. I accentuate the positives."

Kaplan’s statement said that local and state officials, as well as the Nassau County Police Department, had been told about the situation.

"We’re not going to sit back and let people strike fear into the hearts of our neighborhoods," Kaplan said.

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Talking Point

Trying to get the president's attention

The heads of the region’s three leading business groups are directly appealing to President Donald Trump, in the latest attempt to get federal dollars to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and to state and local governments.

Kevin Law, the chief executive of the Long Island Association; Kathryn Wylde, who heads the Partnership for New York City; and Marsha Gordon, who leads the Business Council of Westchester, sent a letter to Trump focusing on the MTA’s impact on the local, state and national economies, and suggesting that Trump had the ability to "negotiate the agreement that provides dedicated funding for mass transit systems…"

But Law, Wylde and Gordon went further, noting the importance of federal funding for state and local governments, and linking it to a favorite topic of Trump’s — public safety.

"As a businessman yourself, you understand that superior public safety leads to more private investments and business expansion, and that a lower crime rate is an asset for economic development," they wrote. "And thus, if state and local governments lay off employees and reduce services, this will negatively impact our economy and the national recovery."

Law told The Point that the three business leaders decided to write the letter last week, noting that they hope business leaders might be able to appeal to Trump as a businessman. He added that if Trump wanted to, the president could get Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to the negotiating table.

Law said the business leaders weren’t asked by anyone to write the letter. But it comes as MTA executives, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, union leaders and others are pushing a singular message: The MTA needs federal funding — now.

"The MTA is hemorrhaging," Law said. "It’s going to be lights out if we don’t get some help."

—Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Tweeting while it burns

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/cartoons

Quick Points

• The Afghan government and the Taliban have begun peace talks focused on forming a power-sharing government, but only after U.S. forces began a phased withdrawal, and the Afghan government agreed to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners and include opposition parties on its negotiating team. Doesn’t seem to be much sharing going on so far.
• President Donald Trump and his supporters are promoting leaked audiotapes of a conversation between Joe Biden and former Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko as supposed evidence of corruption, despite a warning from Trump’s own administration that the recordings rely on "false and unsubstantiated narratives." You didn’t expect that caveat to matter, did you?
• Could there be anything better for Joe Biden than raising a record-breaking $364 million in August for his presidential campaign? Perhaps following that with a commitment from Mike Bloomberg to spend at least $100 million in Florida alone to help Biden.
• Huge clouds of smoke are hampering firefighters trying to stop the flames of Pacific Northwest wildfires. And all the firefighters have to do to get rid of the smoke is, well, put out the flames.
• Concerned about Joe Biden’s campaign, former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders wants Biden to campaign more with young liberals like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Bernie, that didn’t work for you in the primaries, why on earth would it work for Biden in the general election?
• "Hurricane skepticism" led more Republican voters than Democratic ones to ignore evacuation orders when powerful Hurricane Irma hit Florida in 2017, UCLA researchers have found. Not the most surprising news of the day, but still worrisome.
• President Donald Trump warned at a Nevada rally last week that he is prepared to "be really vicious" in the last weeks of the campaign. "Really vicious" as compared to what exactly?

—Michael Dobie @mwdobie