Drivers in the Town of Hempstead last year were hit with nearly 40,000 more school bus camera tickets than drivers in Suffolk County, despite having half the population. Payton Guion reports in NEWSDAY that BusPatrol America, a Virginia-based company that runs the school bus camera programs, recorded 140,456 violations in Hempstead in 2023, compared with 103,532 in Suffolk. The town’s population is 793,409, while Suffolk is home to more than 1.5 million people.

A number of factors likely contributed to Hempstead's higher ticketing rate, but town communications director Brian Devine said the two biggest reasons were simple: Hempstead is denser and its camera program is newer. BusPatrol also said denser areas tend to see more tickets. Devine added that the number of tickets issued this year is down compared with last year, which is consistent with other BusPatrol programs as they mature.

Newsday analyzed the nearly quarter of a million tickets issued last year, providing the most comprehensive picture to-date of the bus camera programs in Suffolk and Hempstead town. Programs officials say bus cameras are necessary to protect children but critics have called it a "cash grab."

"The passing of school buses is such a problem in our state and nationally," said David Christopher, executive director of the advocacy group New York Association for Pupil Transportation. "This is just one tool of many that we can employ to keep kids safe. People are driving aggressively and they’re driving distracted, and kids are in danger when that happens."

Nearly 250,000 school bus camera tickets were issued in Suffolk County and the Town of Hempstead in 2023, according to a Newsday analysis of data provided by the county and town.

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September is the peak month for mosquitoes and West Nile virus, but they got an early start on Long Island this year. Lisa L. Colangelo reports in NEWSDAY that health officials reported larger numbers of infected mosquitoes compared with recent years, as well as more human cases of West Nile and biting mosquitoes overall in Suffolk County in July and August, possibly setting the stage for additional cases of disease later this year.

Even more troubling to experts is the growing spread in the Northeast of eastern equine encephalitis, another mosquito-borne disease that can be more deadly. For the first time in five years, an EEE-infected mosquito sample was found in Suffolk County, officials reported Friday.

While there have been no human EEE cases in New York, they have been documented in New Jersey and Massachusetts. A man from New Hampshire died last month after contracting the virus and developing the disease, and concerns about transmission have led some New England towns to recommend 6 p.m. curfews on outdoor activities this month to avoid infected mosquitoes.

For now, the bigger threat in New York is the West Nile virus, especially for people over the age of 50.

Experts suggest people avoid outdoor areas when mosquitoes are biting. If you have to be outside, wear long sleeves and long pants. Use insect repellent registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and follow label directions carefully. Eliminate standing water on your property, which can serve as mosquito breeding grounds.

Scott Campbell, chief of the Suffolk County Health Department’s Arthropod-Borne Disease Laboratory tells Newsday that the rainy spring on Long Island provided rich breeding grounds for mosquitoes, leading to high populations earlier than usual.

And the hot, relatively dry summer led mosquitoes and birds to share limited water...

The credit card surcharge has crept into daily life like rust on a tractor — appearing so slowly that customers hardly notice it until it is, seemingly, all over. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the little signs on cash registers announcing, or acknowledging, that a surcharge of up to 4 percent will be added to the price of any transaction that is paid for with a credit card bother some consumers more than others, but everyone has noticed them.

The card surcharges have become most common at places like delis and small markets and modestly priced retail stores. They’re less common but not unheard of at some restaurants and pizza places. No large grocery or department store chains tack them on — yet — and few of the high-end shops on the main streets of South Fork’s hamlets bother with them.

It is “legal” for stores to charge credit card fees to customers — in case you were wondering, or thought otherwise — and has been for more than a decade.

But last winter, the New York State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul approved a new law requiring that merchants do so in a very different way than almost any stores do currently.

“There’s two things at the heart of the rule: merchants and vendors can’t charge more of a surcharge than they are being charged by the credit card companies themselves, and the other is this idea that the consumer has to be aware before they decide to purchase the item what the total price, including the surcharge, would be,” said NYS Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who ultimately voted in favor of the bill.

“The debate over the law at the time was between the consumers’ right to know the full price of what they are paying for and not be surprised afterward, and the burden put on small businesses by this mandate.”

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The Springs Historical Society hosts its fourth annual benefit art show and celebration, “Arts & Archives 2024” this weekend beginning today through Sunday. The event features more than 50 contemporary artists from Springs, a curator’s forum, historic tour and opening reception.

The show, organized by the historical society’s Arts & Archives Committee, supports the Springs Community Library, Elizabeth Parker Anderson’s former home donated to the historical society for use as a library to serve the Springs community.

Curated by Teri Kennedy, this exhibition is the only major invitational exclusively for Springs artists. This year’s showcase is inspired by James Brooks’ 1973 Fisherman’s Fair poster from the Springs Historical Society’s archival collection. It features more than 50 contemporary artists from Springs, working in a variety of mediums, from paintings to ceramics, jewelry to glassworks, on display today through Sunday at Ashawagh Hall at 780 Springs-Fireplace Road.

The exhibition “explores the works borne from the unique environment Springs fosters and its creative partnerships that shape a home and artistic legacy,” according to the historical society.

The exhibition will be on view to the public today from 1 to 5 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A reception for Springs Historical Society members will be held today from 5 to 7 p.m. and a public reception will be held tomorrow from 5 to 7 p.m.

For more information about this weekend’s activities and how to support the Springs Historical Society and Community Library, visit springshistoricalsociety.org.

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Shelter Island Friends of Music welcomes back award-winning pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner tomorrow at 6 pm in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church. Sanchez-Werner previously played for Shelter Island Friends of Music to a standing-room only crowd at the Presbyterian Church in February 2023. The brilliant virtuoso will perform the music of Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven and Gershwin.

Admission is free; donations are...

Customers are returning to the Long Island Rail Road, with ridership up 17% in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period last year and expected to climb even higher now that the summer season is concluding, the LIRR’s president said.

Though still below pre-pandemic levels, MTA officials and experts attributed the railroad’s recovery to the increased capacity and service that came with the completion of two major capacity-expansion projects, the Third Track in Nassau County, and the LIRR’s new Manhattan terminal, Grand Central Madison. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that the 35.8 million passengers transported by the LIRR in the first half of 2024 was well ahead of its forecasts and about 80% of the total for the first half of 2019 — a year in which the railroad went on to set a modern annual ridership record.

The recovery of the LIRR, whose ridership plummeted to just 3% of 2019 levels at the height of the pandemic, is outpacing all Metropolitan Transportation Authority agencies, including New York City subways, which are around 70% of pre-COVID levels. Metro-North has recovered about 76% of its riders, according to MTA statistics.

LIRR President Robert Free said the railroad’s numbers remained strong even through the summer months, when ridership tends to dip. The 271,784 customers carried by the LIRR on June 25 was the most for any day since the start of the pandemic in 2020. For the month of June, LIRR ridership reached 83% of pre-COVID levels.

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This past weekend, Southampton Village officials sought to set the record straight about the decision to open drainage pipes from Lake Agawam and Old Town Pond that lead into the ocean after record-breaking rainfall and flash flooding that occurred August 18 and 19.

Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the Village of Southampton defended its decision to drain the overflowing water from the lake and pond into the ocean, acknowledging that while it is not ideal to drain that water — which has been polluted by harmful algae blooms — into the ocean, it is the only option for preventing flooding, and has also been standard practice for years after large rain events that produce the type of flooding seen last month. “While this is not the best solution, it has been done for decades to prevent flooding of these bodies of water into parking lots and roads,” a press release sent out by village officials on Saturday stated. “In the aftermath of the record rainfall, the Lake Agawam parking lot and several roads were flooded, creating stagnant pools of water where people walk, bike and walk their pets. Because of this public safety issue, there was no alternative than to drain the lake and pond through a pipe into the ocean and temporarily close the beaches.” Before taking that step, the village notified the Southampton Town Trustees and the Lake Agawam Conservancy, a nonprofit that raises money and puts together initiatives to help clean up the lake, and posted it on the village website and social media channels, while also putting up signs near the beaches to alert beachgoers that they should not swim in the ocean while the draining was occurring.

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The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society has organized “A Springs Celebration: Pollock-Krasner, Springs Historical Society and Curator’s Tour of Arts and Archives 2024,” a 1.5-mile walk, to take place this coming Saturday, September 7, at 9:30 a.m. Starting at the Pollock-Krasner House, where Director Matt Ward will discuss its mission, the walk will continue to the Springs Library for a talk about the building’s history and to view a “Small Works” show curated by John Haubrich. The walk will conclude at Ashawagh Hall, with a tour of Springs Arts and Archives 2024 with curator Teri Kennedy. Meet walk leader Irwin Levy at Talmage Farm Lane, just off Springs Fireplace Road.

For more information, call Irwin...