In the News

Two decades to the day after Patrick Mapleson was struck by a cement truck and killed while filling potholes in Eastport, his family, friends and fellow state transportation road crew remembered him Tuesday by planting a maple tree in his honor and urging drivers to pay attention in work zones.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline hit $3.64 Wednesday on Long Island, up 20 cents from last week and nearly 80 cents above local fuel prices reported last month, according to AAA Northeast’s online gas price tracker.

During the period of the coldest weather, between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9, use of the Island's biggest power plants, including in Northport and Port Jefferson, increased 260% compared with the prior year, according to National Grid Ventures, which owns them.

Tourism is “economic development in action,” Mitch Pally, interim CEO and president of Discover Long Island (DLI), told local leaders, noting its role in supporting downtowns, restaurants and hotels and boosting visitation to cultural institutions and parks.

Long Island’s school bus industry, already suffering from a driver shortage, will lose hundreds more drivers because of a Trump administration directive preventing immigrants with temporary residency from obtaining, or renewing, commercial driver’s licenses, officials said.

Ryan Stanton of the Long Island Federation of Labor emphasized the importance of growth and learning through new experiences.