A recommendation in Riverhead Town’s draft comprehensive plan update to allow private schools in industrial zones will be removed from the draft plan in response to complaints from residents opposed to the Riverhead Charter School, Supervisor Tim Hubbard announced Wednesday night. “We heard you loud and clear,” Hubbard told a group of about 20 charter school opponents at the start of a meeting convened to hear public comments about the draft generic environmental impact statement on draft comprehensive plan update. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the draft plan accepted for review and comment by the Town Board on April 25 included a recommendation that the Town of Riverhead allow private schools in all industrial zones within the town by special permit. If implemented by an amendment to the town’s zoning code, the change would allow the Riverhead Charter School to seek a special permit for the construction of a new high school on industrially zoned land near the school’s main campus in Calverton. That recommendation drew loud opposition from the Riverhead school district community. District officials and the labor union representatives have been opposed to the Riverhead Charter School since its founding in 2001. Charter school opponents packed the Town Hall meeting room for the May 22 public hearing on the draft comp plan, and dominated the discussion that night. The supervisor’s announcement this past Wednesday was met with applause from the audience. “We heard you loud and clear,” Hubbard continued. “We agree with a lot of the points. And there is land available in the town where, if the charter school should choose to build a school, that it would be zoned appropriately for that,” he said. “We’re not going to give away industrial land for the use of the charter school.” The entire board supports the change, the supervisor said. It is unclear what this change will mean for the charter school’s plan to build a new high school.

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Commercial truck drivers have joined the long list of opponents who’ve filed lawsuits to block the controversial first-in-nation congestion toll to enter parts of Manhattan.

Carl Campanile reports in THE NY POST that the Trucking Association of New York (TANY) slammed the congestion pricing program as unconstitutional and a “scheme for which there is no prior precedent in this country” in a suit filed Thursday against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the state in Manhattan federal court.

Motorists would pay a $15 toll to enter Manhattan’s business district south of 60th Street — but truckers would pay $24 to $36 depending on the size of their vehicle.

Barring judicial intervention, the MTA plans to impose the new toll on June 30.

TANY claims congestion pricing violates the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution granting Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce.

The lawsuit argues the high toll “imposes a financial burden … which is excessive.”

The trucker’s litigation follows lawsuits filed by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the United Federation of Teachers, lower Manhattan residents and small business, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Congestion pricing is being implemented because of a state law championed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2019, and the toll has been championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to curb congestion and pollution in Midtown, while generating revenue to boost mass transit.

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Cybercriminals are realizing there’s a better chance you’ll open their email than you’ll answer your phone. Peter King reports on Newsday.com that the Federal Trade Commission says frauds that begin via email or text accounted for 40% of scams last year, up from 19% in 2020. Scams via phone calls, meanwhile, fell from 67% of all reported frauds in 2020 to 32% last year.

More than half the reported scams were “impersonation frauds.” The scammer tries to get the victim to divulge financial information by pretending to represent a business such as Amazon contacting you about a suspicious charge, a bank claiming there has been unauthorized activity on your account or a government employee needing to verify account information because of a problem with your taxes or Social Security.

So, beware of emails or texts trying to get you to divulge financial information by pretending to represent a business, bank or government employee.

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Many high school students are familiar with the stress of getting into college or a technical school — the pressure to earn good grades, star in extracurriculars and file application after application, hoping for a chance to succeed in the program of their dreams. When the good news arrives, the stress often melts away, replaced with relief. But for some, a new anxiety takes its place.

Michelle Trauring reports on 27east.com that at five local high schools — Hampton Bays, Southampton, Bridgehampton, Pierson and East Hampton — 44 percent of the seniors come from economically disadvantaged families, which forces some to drop out of college after their freshman year due to lack of funds, according to Vivian Shapiro. That’s where the Road Forward Scholarship Fund comes in, the nonprofit organization’s vice president said. “The only way to rise out of poverty is through education, and we can help them.” Since 2022, the organization has gifted nine scholarships to deserving students from the participating high schools. The number, and amount, for this year’s graduating class will be based solely on the amount of money raised, explained President Sherri Lippman — in part decided by its second annual benefit, “Cabaret for a Cause,” on June 15 at LTV Studios in Wainscott. “This is a communitywide effort,” Lippman said. “We are the boots on the ground, and we’re raising the funds. We’re getting the applications, we see the need, we’re connecting with them and mentoring them. But without the support from everyone else, we would have no scholarships to give.” The idea for the scholarship fund was born among members of the Social Justice Committee at Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, who were helping families that lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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An anticipated public hearing on an application seeking an exemption from the moratorium on the licensing and construction of battery energy storage systems, which was scheduled for Tuesday, was adjourned to June 25, the Southampton Town Board announced when it met on Tuesday evening. Christopher Walsh reports on 27east.com that Canal Southampton Battery Storage, a project of Rhynland Energy, is seeking the exemption from the moratorium the board implemented last August and extended in February. It is the same company that proposed such a facility, known as a BESS, at 24 North Road and 27 Starboard Road in Hampton Bays, the very proposal that spurred the moratorium after widespread community opposition. That site is close to Montauk Highway, the Long Island Rail Road track, and the Shinnecock Canal. The hearing is a nondiscretionary act with which the board must comply to ensure due process. The board had expected members of the public to offer comment on the application. But due to a communication hitch, the applicant received a notice of the hearing date “extremely late,” Keith Archer, an attorney representing Canal Southampton Battery Storage, told the board via video conference on Tuesday. He said that he had requested an adjournment in two letters. “We appreciate that the board set the hearing date and would request the board set an adjournment date for this hearing,” he said. The hearing will instead be held at the board’s June 25 meeting, which starts at 6 p.m.

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On the North Fork tomorrow, the New Suffolk Civic Association holds its annual meeting beginning with coffee at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting at 10 a.m. at the New Suffolk School at 1245 Fourth Street.

Beth Young in EAST END BEACON reports that also on Saturday, the Southold-Peconic Civic Association holds its annual meeting, with coffee and donuts at 9:30 a.m. followed by the meeting and a presentation on emergency management at 10 a.m. in the Southold Town Recreation Center at 970 Peconic Lane in Peconic.

And on the south fork tomorrow, the third Annual Hamptons Pride Parade in East Hampton Village steps off at noon from Main Street near Herrick Park. A ballon-free, flag-filled, family-fun event is planned.

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What would ocean cruising be without its exotic ports of call? Alaska, Puerto Vallarta, Grand Cayman, Sag Harbor …

That’s right, for the first time, Sag Harbor, already deluged by a seasonal onslaught of jitneys, helicopters and mile-long traffic on nearby Scuttle Hole Road, now has something else to contend with: 100 or so passengers arriving at its shores courtesy of American Cruise Lines’ eight-day, seven-night Yankee Seaports cruises. Scott Vogel reports on Newsday.com that indeed, the American Eagle made its inaugural stop just offshore on May 7, at which point passengers boarded a 25-person tender for the final leg of the journey to Long Wharf. A second ship, the American Independence, sets sail from Boston on May 27, stopping at Sag Harbor five days later.

“Sag Harbor is a beautiful coastal village and is just the sort of off-the-beaten path place our customers love exploring,” Alexa Paolella, the cruise company's public relations manager, tells Newsday. As with ACL’s other East Coast sailings, she added, the goal of the Yankee Seaports cruises is to highlight “the local character, fun, and most intriguing attractions in every place we visit.”

There is only one other ACL sailing from Boston in the weeks ahead (the American Eagle, departing June 25). The next ship won’t make its way to Sag Harbor shores until after summer on Sept. 30, as part of a 15-day and 14-night fall foliage cruise leaving from Portland, Maine. After that, three more cruises will follow this year, on Oct. 4, 14 and 21. Six cruises are planned for 2025 and 12 in 2026.