This article was written by Newsday's James Madore

A developer’s plan to build a $98 million warehouse across from the Long Island Hilton in Melville — with tax breaks from Suffolk County — is imperiled because out-of-state contractors are putting up another warehouse nearby for the same developer.

With 200 people in attendance, including New York State Attorney General Tish James and State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, as well as the New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento, the Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, representatives from Long Island’s unions passed and introduced multiple resolutions, but one of the most pressing was their commitment to protecting the immigrant community from this weekend’s upcoming ICE raids. 

Mastic and Babylon voters approved two sewer projects that will cover 6,500 homes on Tuesday, Suffolk County's largest sewer expansion since the 1970s, while Great River voters rejected a measure to expand sewers into their community.

The $360 million worth of approved sewer expansions would use federal and state grants. Construction is expected to start next year.

"This is a major victory for water quality in Suffolk County," said Peter Scully, a deputy county executive under County Executive Steve Bellone. "

Change is in the air.

Or, more specifically, it’s in the wind.

Wind energy is coming to New York. And that’s good. It’s an important part of the state’s power portfolio in the fight against climate change. We’ve already seen the impacts of warming temperatures here on Long Island. The rising seas that threaten our coastline provide frightening evidence for the need to stop burning fossil fuels and start harnessing renewable forms of energy — like wind.