Bethpage-Tribune_1987-03-12

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Island Trees Plainedge
also serving
Seaford Old Bethpage Plainview
VOL. 31 NO. 46 March 12,1%7 to March 18,1987 20 cents per copy
Nassau County Unemployment Rate
At New Record Low
Nassau County Executive
Thomas S. Gulotta today
announced that unemploy­ment
in the County reached
a record low of 3.1% in Jan­uary
1987. Gulotta termed
the low rate another practi­cal
demonstration of the
strength within the local
economy of the County.
"The figures indicate that
only 3.1% of the County's
civilian workforce were
without jobs during the
month", Gulotta said.
"Economic experts consider
such a low rate as full
employment. This augurs
well for our County and our
residents, who continue to
ride the crest of one of the
country's most spectacular
success stories."
During January, accord­ing
to statistics provided by
the New York State
Department of Labor, only
23,000 out of a total civilian
work force of 751,804
County residents were
unemployed, leading to the
unemployment rate of 3.1 %.
The previous record County
low was in December 1986,
when 3.2% (corrected State
figures) were unemployed.
"The strong local econ­omy
which has provided
these astonishing statistics
did not happen by accident
... it is the result of a joint,
effort between our local
government officials and the
private sector. Together we
have worked hard to pro­vide
the type of atmosphere
conducive to attracting new
businesses to our County,
expanding existing busi­nesses
and modernizing
retail shopping centers.! am
confident that by working
together, we will continue to
provide the type of economy
which has made Nassau
County one of the most
desired areas in the entire
country in which to live,
work or establish a busi­ness,"
Gulotta concluded.
Major Rate Relief For Long Island
The State Senate has
approved legislation that
would save Long Island
electric ratepayers at least
$45 million over the next
three years, the sponsor of
the legislation. Senator
John R. Dunne (R-Nassau)
has announced.
The bill, which was cos-pons6fed
by the entire Long
Island Senate delegation,
would let the Long Island
Lighting Company burn oil
with a sulfer content slightly
above allowable state levels
at four of its electric generat­ing
plants on the east end of
Long Island.
Senator Dunne said that
under the 1984 state Acid
Rain law, which he
authored, LILCO was
granted a special permit to
burn the higher sulfer fuel
through 1996. But the State
Department of Environ­mental
Conservation, late
last year, refused to renew
LI LCD's permit forcing the
utility to burn more expen­sive
fuel oil.
"The DEC acted in total
disregard of the 1984 Acid
Rain law which clearly
allowed for LlLCO's special
permit," Senator Sunne
said. "Their decision cost
Long Island ratepayers at
least $3 million last year and
this year, ratepayers will be
forced to pay another $15
million. In the future years,
the cost could top over $70
million annually, " he
added.
Senator Dunne noted that
a recent statewide plan by
Ice Skating Competition Champions
County Executive Ihomas S. Guiotta (center) congratulates the winners
of an ice skating competition for the disabled, held at Cantiague Park.
Pictured with the county executive are (second row, from left to right)
Peter de la Lastra of Bethpage, Paul Hores of Farmingdale, Marie Chiques
of Woodbury, Steven Goldman of Wantagh, Rosemarie Pinto of Plain-view,
Michelle Caracappa of Hicksville, and (front row) Matthew Mila­nese
of Farmingdale, Jeannette Hoermann of Hicksville, and Matthew T.
Mclnnis of South Farmingdale.
the DEC targeting reduc­tions
in pollutants that cause
acid rain found that no sig­nificant
environmental
damage would result uf
LILCO continued to burn
fuel with a slighlty higher
sulfer content. He added
that the Senate-approved
legislation would only
extend LILCO's special
permit until 1990 instead of
additional tests and studies
to ensure that emission lev­els
stayed well below tar­geted
levels.
"The cumulative savings
to ratepayers as a direct
result of LILCO'S special
permit - estimated at over
$500 million up to last year -
certainly justify the permit
extension" Dunne said.
"And the fact that the DEC's
own air quality experts
believe that the environmen­tal
impact will be minimal,
gives even more legitimacy
to our claim that the permit
extension should never have
been denied in the first
place."
Dunne said he will be
working closely with spon­sors
of the legislation in the
Assembly, which include
most of Long Island's
Assembly delegation, to
gain final legislation appro­val
for the bill which will, if
enacted, provide a signifi­cant
measure of relief for
beleaguered ratepayers on
Long Island.
BFD Wins Unit
Award
The Bethpage Fire
Department has won a
unit award in the 1986
FIREHOUSE MAG­AZINE
HEROISM
AND COMMUNITY
SERVICE AWARDS
program, plus $100 in
prize money. This is the
most prestigious
U. Women Receive
NYPIRG Citizen Awards
ypiRG
The New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc.
(NYPIRG) announced today that Alice Weinstein, of
Woodbury, (left) and Marion Weisfelner, of Plainview-, were
two of the 1987 receipients of the NYPIRG Citizen Awards.
NYPIRG, New York State's largest consumer organization,
said that Weinstein and Weisfelner were being honored for
their work in fighting for the recall of the Audi 5000s, an
automobile plagued by numerous cases of sudden
acceleration.
"Alice Weinstein and Marion Weisfelner are two of the
great unsung heroes for citizens in New York State," said
Tom Wathen, NYPlRG's Executive Director, in presenting
the awards at the group's annual conference in Albany.
"Their work has doubtlessly saved lives and prevented injur­ies
and has shown people everywhere that they can fight
back when a giant company negligently endangers their
lives."
Weinstein and Weisfelner are founders of the Audi Vic­tims
Network, a group of people who have had sudden
acceleration accidents with their Audi 5000 cars. The car has
the highest accident rate for any auto defect ever investi­gated
and is the subject of a government investigation.
Wathen said that "Weinstein and Weisfelner have been at
the forefront of efforts to publicize the dangers with this car
and to pressure the company to fix the defect." Weinstein
and Weisfelner appeared in a CBS "60 Minutes" program on
the Audi 5000 last November and have been quoted in
numerous other television, radio and newspaper stories
about their campaign against the defect.
"These accidents were happening since 1978, but it wasn't
until Weinstein and Weisfelner started organizing victims of
this accident last year that people became aware of the
problem," said Wathen. Weinstein had two accidents in her
car in 1984, with the second resulting in serious injuries to
her and her daughter. Weisfelner had an accident in 1986,
where her car hit a tree.
Wathen said that the NYPIRG Public Citizen Awards go
to individuals each year who volunteer their time to be
leaders in causes that defend the rights of citizens. Past
recipients have included Harry Chapin, for his work on
world hunger, and Lois Gibbs, for her work at Love Canal.
National Consumer Activist Ralph Nader was present for
the awards ceremony. Jhe third award went to Dr. Paul
Connett of St. Lawrence, New York.
awards program in the
country, with $20,000
in prizes being pres­ented
nationwide.
Twenty-two mem­bers
of the Beth­page
Fire Department
responded to a working
fire in a multi-family
dwelling where an
invalid was reported to
be inside. Several res­cue
attempts were
made through both the
interior and exterior
building. The victim
was located and
brought to safety.