Congressman Bishop Will Continue Public Meetings

WPKN News, Friday January 14, 2011

Eastern Long Island Democratic Congressman Tim Bishop says he will continue having public meetings with his constituents despite the events in Tucson, Arizona last weekend. He was speaking at a meeting on the steps of Town Hall in Southampton today.

WPKN’s Henry Letcher reports:

Bishop, New York’s First District Representative says that threats to members of Congress are not part of a campaign of intimidation.  He says they are an expression of extreme anger.  


"I think it is a reflection of a level of anger that exists in this county that is  not only unproductive, it is destructive."

Congressman Bishop who had already scheduled a series of public meetings with his constituents says he wil continue with the meetings.

"I'm doing one at the end of January at the Rogers Memorial Library here in Southampton.

I'm doing community office hours tomorrow in downtown
Patchogue at the office of the Mayor of the Village.

In order to do my job properly I have to stay connected to the
people I represent so I'm going to continue to do them."

During his campaign for re-election last summer Bishop was confronted by members of the Tea Party who tried to shout him down at public meetings. Police were called in to protect Bishop. In a statement published in the Suffolk Times of Southold, Suffolk County 9-12 Project, a tea party organization, condemned the horrific attack in Tucson.

For WPKN’s East End News Team this is Henry Letcher.

Federal judge limits delay on Shinnecock recognition

Reported and produced by Tony Ernst

On Wednesday, July 21 a federal judge set limits on a delay in Federal Recognition for Long Island's Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Judge Joseph Bianco gave the federal Department of Interior 10 days to write to him with a final date for approval of the federal recognition of the Shinnecock. Bianco says if the agency fails to do this he will set his own schedule for action to be taken by September 24^th. Speaking outside the court house in Islip, Senior Shinnecock Trustee Lance Gumbs, says the delay is hurting the tribe:

“We have health care, education, all the essential elements that make up a community have now been delayed once again because of this frivolous claim. This group didn’t get formed until after our final decision came down and here we are now having to wait an additional 2 months...”

One of two groups that filed challenges to federal recognition of the tribe is the Connecticut Coalition for Gaming Jobs. That group, whose members are not named, claims that federal recognition of the Shinnecock will result in Connecticut's two Indian-run casinos losing money. They allege that the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed to acknowledge that casino developers were backing the Shinnecock and that this compromised the integrity of the tribal structure. Gumbs does not buy those arguments:

“They’re talking about preserving 27,000 jobs in Connecticut. They’re talking about Connecticut’s taxes. What about New York’s taxes? What about New York’s jobs? We had the ability to provide jobs here on Long Island. We had the ability to help out with the budget. Connecticut essentially threw us under the bus by saying ‘protect theirs, forget about New York’. ”

The Shinnecock filed for recognition in 1978 and again in 1998. In 2007 Judge Bianco had ruled that the BIA's delay was unreasonable. That ruling led to the BIA recognizing the Shinnecock in June. The judge says an open-ended BIA process for acting on the challenges constitutes another unreasonable delay.

For the radio broadcast, listen here.

This report was prepared for WPKN 89.5 Bridgeport and WEER 88.7 Montauk (East End Radio). Thanks to WPKN News Director and WSHU Connecticut Capitol Reporter Ebong Udoma.

Mark Ungar, farmer

Reported by Hazel Kahan

Produced by Tony Ernst

Mark Ungar is a man with vision and determination, who walks his talk and who truly believes in what he is doing.

He is a farmer who has created a model of farming designed to liberate people from dependence on others and to teach them how independence and sustainability are achievable—for them, in this lifetime!

His vision is that of an eco-system that is also an economic and educational system that includes volunteers, individual households, farmers, restaurants, farm stand owners, teaching them how to do everything from growing their own heirloom tomatoes from seed to building their own solar panels and processing their own biodiesel. He believes we can all begin to live an organic, sustainable life, right here and now.

Mark spoke to us from Manhattan but you can find him and learn from him in the fields of the East End’s Mattituck every weekend.

Listen here.

Broadcast on WEER 88.7 fm Montauk Saturday, July 3, 7.30 pm

Kevin McAllister, Baykeeper

Reported by Hazel Kahan

Produced by Tony Ernst

Peconic Baykeeper, an environmental advocate organization with offices in Quogue, has this week released a report that reveals the extent to which Suffolk County cesspools are putting the region’s waterways in peril by releasing dangerously high levels of nitrogen into the bays and rivers.

Listen here to Kevin McAllister, Baykeeper, talk about the report.

Broadcast on WEER 88.7 fm Montauk Saturday, July 3, 7.00 pm

Mike Martinsen, fisherman

Broadcast on WEER 88.7 fm Montauk Saturday, June 13, 7.30 pm

Reported and produced by Tony Ernst

Mike Martinsen, a Montauk commercial fisherman talks about his trip to the Gulf Coast, the clean-up efforts there, the management of off-shore drilling by the government an the real possibility of oil from the Gulf washing ashore on Long Island beaches.

He talks about his weekly Oil Meetups at Gin Beach in Montauk - now scheduled on Tuesdays at 7pm.

Listen here.

http://www.allcoastsenvironmentalresponse.com/