On April 20, 1979, a 13-year-old Smithtown boy named John Pius was found dead in a patch of woods behind an elementary school. His death had been remarkably cruel: He had been beaten, and stones the size of marbles had been shoved down his throat. He choked to death. READ
“I am the child of refugees. Had my father and his parents not been allowed here, I would not exist.” — Billy Joel
The passenger ship St. Louis left the port of Hamburg, Germany, May 13, 1939, with 937 Jewish passengers aboard, including hundreds of children. Its destination was Havana, Cuba, which had given the passengers transit visas and landing certificates to disembark once they arrived. READ
How Tara Scully ended up on the Democratic Party primary ballot for Suffolk County Surrogate Court is a far more important issue than who will next serve on that bench.
In late June, Ms. Scully, an attorney and registered Republican, answered what amounted to a “help wanted” ad posted by Newsday’s editorial board. This remarkable editorial called for someone to run for Surrogate Court who was not handpicked by party bosses in a backroom deal that put forward an approved candidate to be rubber-stamped on Election Day by voters who don’t know any better. READ
We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have heard some of it before. There have been other reports of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church. But never on this scale. For many of us, those earlier reports happened somewhere else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere.
— from the Pennsylvania attorney general’s grand jury report READ
On Saturday, Dec. 1, 1979, Allan Glover was working in a potato barn in Mattituck when his former wife, Nancy, came to find him. He could see something was very wrong. (more…)
For Sandi Brewster-Walker, connecting names and histories to the men who worked on whale boats in the 19th century is a passion. READ
This week, you’ll want to see “The Work We Do” videos on The Suffolk Times and Riverhead News-Review websites. Both showcase local people on the job, doing the work that gets them up in the morning. In so doing, they show the rest of us that working hard and loving what you do can be a celebration. READ
Last Saturday night a large group of men, women, children and babies filled all the pews at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Greenport for the 8 p.m. Spanish Mass. Benches at the rear of the church were filled, and the foyer by the doors that open onto Main Road was standing room only. READ
Carl Vail was an American story. He was born Aug. 12, 1895, on his father’s farm in Peconic. His father was Floyd Vail, and he farmed land that ran from the North Road nearly to the Sound, where he also maintained cabins on the bluffs that he rented to tourists. READ
