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The Long Island Daily

The Long Island Daily

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The Long Island Daily, formerly Long Island Morning Edition, with host Michael Mackey provides regional news stories and special features that speak to the body politic, the pulse of our planet, and the marketplace of life.Copyright 2026 WLIW-FM Daily Politics & Government
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  • Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers

    Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers
    Jun 30 2026
    Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers, according to the results of a Newsday/Siena Research Institute poll, which highlighted growing concerns among New Yorkers.Data centers house the physical infrastructure for data storage, and technology giants say they are vital to the growing use of artificial intelligence.The poll found 47% of Long Islanders back a bill passed by the State Legislature on June 4 that would put a one-year pause on the permitting of large data centers. One in three, about 34%, said they were either in the middle, didn’t know enough or refused to answer the question. About 19% of Long Islanders said they thought a moratorium is bad for New York.Statewide, the results mirrored those on Long Island with 46% of New Yorkers saying a moratorium would be good for the state, 21% saying it would be bad, and 33% saying they were in the middle, didn’t know or refused to answer, according to the poll."Communities that are making this decision are focused on this. You’re weighing jobs, energy uses, the effect on water," Don Levy, executive director of the Siena Research Institute, told Newsday. Underneath those concerns is the question about AI and whether people feel it is going to be beneficial or they are threatened by it, he said.The Newsday poll was done in conjunction with the Siena Research Institute between June 17 and 23 among 412 registered voters on Long Island. The margin of error was 6.1%, meaning answers may vary by that amount. The regional survey was taken as a subsection of a statewide Siena poll that surveyed 1,120 voters and has a margin of error of 3.6%Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the poll comes as hundreds of large-scale data centers are popping up around the country and municipalities across the state and Long Island weigh the benefits and potential negative impacts of the centers on their communities. A large-scale data center is being proposed in Yaphank in Suffolk County.Developers have touted the need for data centers, as well as the community investment and jobs they bring, largely through the construction of the facilities.But there are growing concerns over their massive energy consumption and use of water for cooling purposes, which put pressure on infrastructure, increase utility rates and raise questions surrounding environmental impact.If the bill is signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York would be the first state to put a moratorium on the development of more large-scale data centers.Jennifer Fowkes, 58, of East Hampton, told Newsday she is "really grateful" to the legislature for passing a moratorium. "There’s so much fear, misinformation, misunderstanding," said the Democrat who participated in the poll.Fowkes said the issue needs to be studied and expressed particular concern over the impact on water use and quality because Suffolk County sits on a sole source aquifer. "I don't think a year is long enough," she said, but "it’s a great start."The question on data centers particularly "stands out," because one-third of respondents statewide and on Long Island say either they are torn, or they don’t have enough knowledge to have an opinion, Levy said. "Certainly, to whatever extent this is a political issue, they could be wooed."***A federal judge yesterday dismissed the complaint challenging New York’s Even Year Election Law, throwing out the governmental plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice, while allowing the remaining non-governmental plaintiffs an opportunity to file a new complaint.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that in a sharply worded 22-page decision, U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown on Monday ruled that the remaining government plaintiffs could not pursue the federal constitutional claims, concluding they were barred by the prior state-court litigation, lacked standing and had no cause of action under the federal civil rights statute known as Section 1983.Barring further relief in the case, the ruling means Riverhead’s 2026 supervisor election is expected to proceed under the Even Year Election Law, with voters electing a supervisor this November to a two-year term that will align the town’s election cycle with even-numbered years.Judge Brown questioned the propriety of municipal governments participating in the litigation alongside partisan political organizations, calling government spending on the lawsuit "troubling," since there was lack of "evident injury" suffered by the government plaintiffs, citing RiverheadLOCAL’s reporting on more than $1.6 million in taxpayer-funded legal fees.Judge Brown granted the state’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, dismissing the remaining governmental plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. He also dismissed with prejudice the claims against the State of New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Board of Elections.Thus, government plaintiffs - Suffolk County and Huntington Town — have been dismissed from the ...
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    6 mins
  • Large orca spotted off coast of Montauk

    Large orca spotted off coast of Montauk
    Jul 23 2026
    An analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) tactics on Long Island shows how the agency has largely operated outside of coordinated raids and targeted home visits, and instead emphasizes parking lot surveillance and traffic stops. At least 84 of roughly 400 cases of local ICE arrests reviewed by Newsday involved immigrants who were using a car on Long Island, including during traffic stops, in parking lots and following crashes. ICE is barred by state law from accessing New York DMV records, but has run out-of-state plates in several cases that led to arrests, records show. Josefa Velásquez and Arielle Martinez report in NEWSDAY that ICE has arrested more than 2,000 people on Long Island since the start of the second Trump administration, and almost none have come from the type of attention-grabbing sweeps that have sparked unrest around the country. Instead, ICE is leveraging the region’s prevailing car culture, turning strip mall parking lots, side streets and highways into a pillar of its surveillance operation, a Newsday investigation found.The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that favors limited immigration, said ICE is carrying out its responsibilities by surveilling parking lots and carrying out traffic stops."Like any law enforcement department anywhere in the country, they look for violators in places where they are most likely to be found and utilize the tools that are available to them to identify people who are subject to enforcement," said Ira Mehlman, FAIR’s media director. "That appears to be precisely what ICE is doing on Long Island."Immigration arrests on Long Island reached a historic high at the start of the year and continued steadily, according to the most recently available arrest data, from October through early March. The arrests make up a growing share of detentions by ICE in the metropolitan area.Since last fall, arrests on Long Island make up more than half of the arrests in the region, although roughly 15% of New York’s undocumented immigrants call Long Island home.***A massive and potentially legendary orca was spotted cruising off the coast of Montauk Monday in what could be the first sighting off Long Island in decades. Katherine Donlevy reports in THE NY POST that the beast — possibly the famous Old Thom whale known for patrolling the waters off Cape Cod — shocked sailors by sticking its 7-foot dorsal fin above the surface and shooting a spout of seawater from its blowhole.Incredible video captures the whale’s single, quick surfacing — and its black fin slicing through the blue waves just 10 nautical miles off Long Island’s South Fork.“It was just a really impressive animal. I think we all stood in shock and couldn’t believe what we saw and we were screaming at the top of our lungs!” said Discovery Channel superstar Dr. Craig O’Connell, who witnessed the once-in-a-lifetime event. “It’s kind of like winning the lottery that we actually got to see one.”O’Connell was at sea with the O’Seas Conservation Foundation’s Shark Camp — a program that teaches high school students how to tag and study sharks.But the sharks were seemingly scared off by the killer whale, one of the few species that make meals of sharks.Plus, the Montauk orca was traveling with a sea of dolphins rather than a pod of orcas, behavior for which Old Thom is known.The orca sighting could be the first off Long Island waters in decades.The species’ return to Long Island could simply be because it was following food, explained O’Connell.“We were in an area where there was an abundance of prey. There’s big bluefin tuna around right now. There are smaller marine mammals that they can also feed on. There’s also sharks in the area, so likely it’s prey related,” the Shark Week host said.“It’s a species that utilizes all waters. We call it circumglobal, so they can be anywhere and the fact that it’s here in Montauk is exciting and definitely unusual, but it’s not something that’s out of the realm of possibility.”***A long-planned new headquarters for the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps {RVAC} moved a step closer to construction Tuesday, with the Town Board’s approval of two measures related to the project.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the ambulance headquarters drew the most discussion among the board’s formal actions. The board scheduled an Aug. 4 public hearing to conduct a Monroe balancing test for Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps’s proposed new emergency services facility at 1111 Osborn Avenue. The project calls for demolishing the existing one-story ambulance building and replacing it with a 25,303-square-foot, three-story building with ambulance bays, offices, meeting rooms, bunkrooms, kitchen space, recreation and fitness rooms and other support space.RVAC President Garrett Lake thanked the Riverhead Town Board, Council Member Ken Rothwell, ...
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    10 mins
  • The Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs has announced the return of its Family Night Series

    The Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs has announced the return of its Family Night Series
    Jul 1 2026
    Massive changes are coming to the federal student loan system starting today, with fewer repayment options for many borrowers and new loan limits for parents, graduate students, part-time students and others.Maura McDermott reports in NEWSDAY that the new rules are part of President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending legislation, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, approved last year by Congress. They’re expected to have a broad impact on Long Island and across the country, with nearly 43 million Americans holding $1.7 trillion in federal student debt.Federal education officials have said the changes are intended to simplify the student loan system, protect borrowers from excessive debt and reduce the cost of higher education. In congressional testimony in May, Department of Education secretary Linda McMahon called college costs “exorbitant” and said they must be reduced.In many cases, though, student debt experts said borrowers will face higher monthly payments, and the new loan limits could prompt some to take out higher-cost private loans.One of the biggest changes is the replacement of older programs such as the Biden-era Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, which linked monthly payments to income, with the lowest-earning borrowers having their payments reduced to zero.More than 7 million borrowers in the SAVE plan will be notified that they have 90 days to choose one of two new plans, said Michele Zampini, associate vice president for federal policy and advocacy at The Institute for College Access & Success. The new options are the standard plan, which does not take income into consideration, or the income-linked Repayment Assistance Plan, she said. RAP requires payments of up to 10% of a borrower’s adjusted gross income for 30 years.SAVE borrowers who do not apply for RAP will be placed in the standard plan.Even in the RAP plan, a family of four earning the national median income of about $80,000 could see monthly payments spike from $36 under SAVE to $440 under RAP, Zampini said. Two other plans, the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plans, are also being phased out but not until 2028.Other changes that take effect today include a new $20,000 per year and $65,000 lifetime limit on Parent PLUS loans. Previously, parents could borrow up to the full cost of tuition.***The East Hampton Historical Society has spent the past six months restoring the Mulford Farmhouse on James Lane to how the structure looked in 1776, during the American Revolution.Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that in celebration of the semi-quincentennial, the historic structure — part of one of the most significant and intact colonial farmsteads in the nation — will reopen to the public this coming Saturday - the 4th of July.East Hampton Historical Society Executive Director Steve Long said the project was the first comprehensive interior restoration of the historic building since the Historical Society first acquired the structure in 1948.The restoration project was comprehensive and entailed major plaster repair, carpentry and painting. A paint analysis was done about 10 years ago, which first identified the finishes in the various rooms, allowing the Historical Society to recreate the paint from 250 years ago.Mulford Farm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was originally built in 1680. The farmhouse has been left largely unchanged since the end of the 18th century, with much of the framing and wood beams in the house being left undisturbed.“By modern standards, it’s a tiny little house, but by 18th century standards, it was really one of the most outstanding houses here in East Hampton,” Long said.Those who want to see the new house can take a self-guided tour or a tour with historical society staff. On the tours, they will learn about the eight members of the Mulford family who lived there, according to the 1776 Suffolk County census, and they will learn about the eight enslaved people who lived on the farm.The guided tour will begin on July 4 at 3 p.m. and those interested are asked to meet at Home Sweet Home Museum. Throughout the summer, the Mulford Farmhouse will be open Thursday to Monday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.***The Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs has announced the return of its Family Night Series, a summer of free arts, music and community programming.Beginning this coming Monday, July 6, and continuing weekly through August 10, Family Night will transform Duck Creek’s East Hampton campus into a lively community gathering space where residents and visitors can enjoy performances, hands-on activities, food and entertainment. Programs take place on Mondays from 5 to 7 p.m. and are free and open to all ages.The series opens July 6 with Goat on a Boat Puppet Theater, a longtime East End favorite known for inspiring creativity through puppetry and interactive workshops. Founder and puppeteer Liz Joyce will serve as host for all six...
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    10 mins
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