The value of New York State’s pension fund shrank in the year ended March 31 because of stock market losses — and that will likely result in higher taxes as state and local governments replenish the fund. James T. Madore reports on Newsday.com that NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, the Common Retirement Fund’s sole trustee, said the investment return was -4.14% and the fund is now valued at $248.5 billion. It was valued at $272.1 billion in the year ended March 31, 2022.

Still, DiNapoli (D-Great Neck Plaza) said the negative investment return doesn’t endanger the benefits owed to 1.2 million government employees, retirees and their beneficiaries. He said they “can rest assured their pensions are secure.” The investment loss was the largest since 2009’s loss of 26.4% in the Great Recession, records show. The fund has a long-term target for returns of 5.9%.

In 2022, the return was 9.51%; in 2021, 33.55%, and in 2020, -2.68%. Last year, the pension fund provided checks totaling $15.4 billion to nearly 515,000 retirees and their beneficiaries in New York State and elsewhere. On Long Island, more than 64,800 people received a total of $2.5 billion. The Common Retirement Fund is one of the largest of its kind, along with funds in California and New York City.

Fire departments from across Suffolk County marched up Route 58 in Riverhead Saturday morning in the 150th Suffolk County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Parade. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that parade judges said 25 departments participated, with firefighters marching in formation, some accompanied by department marching bands, followed by fire trucks and rescue vehicles.

Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller drove the lead vehicle in the parade, followed by a black Ford Mustang convertible carrying the parade’s grand marshals, Riverhead Fire Department Ex-Captain Robert Kujawski (58-year member) and Riverhead Firefighter Conrad Dabrowski (56-year member.)

The Riverhead Fire Department, as parade and drill host, was the first department in the long lineup of fire companies. The parade route took marchers from the Route 58 traffic circle at Roanoke Avenue to the Riverhead Fire Department drill track’s Route 58 entrance, next to the former N.Y. State Armory.

Soldier Ride - The Hamptons, a 24-mile Wounded Warrior Project community event, returns to East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and Amagansett this coming Saturday, July 15, starting at 8:45 a.m. As reported on 27east.com, in 2004, local volunteer and resident Chris Carney first bicycled 5,000 miles across the country to help raise awareness for the needs of injured service members.

Registered cyclists ride alongside injured veterans and raise critical funds as the veterans build confidence and strength through shared bonds of physical activity, connection, camaraderie, and military service. The ride empowers warriors to find solace and healing to help them reach their potential.

Wounded Warrior Project is a national nonprofit organization to support post-9/11 service members whose 18 programs also include benefits services, family support, financial education, mental health and wellness, peer support, physical health and wellness, and Warriors to Work. All programs are provided at no cost to wounded warriors and their families.

For more information and to register, go to soldierride.org/hamptons.

When Mary Woodhouse spurred the community of East Hampton to build Guild Hall, which opened in 1931, she envisioned that it would serve as an arts town hall, a central hub that would invite the community to participate both in the arts and in the conversations that help create community. Beth Young of EAST END BEACON reports that Guild Hall’s current renovation is attempting to do just that, creating more public spaces, gardens and a café where the community can gather both while programming is underway and at times when the building is closed.

The galleries and gardens opened to the public again earlier this month. Renovations of the John Drew Theater in Guild Hall will continue into 2024.

“Nothing would make me happier than to hear people say ‘meet me at Guild Hall,'” said Guild Hall’s Executive Director, Andrea Grover, of the community-centered redesign of the spaces in the hall at a June 29 press walk-through of the renovated space. “Mary Woodhouse had a very civic-minded vision — the founding purpose was to make us better neighbors by participating in the arts.”

Ms. Woodhouse’s donation of $100,000 led to the construction of the hall, but at its unveiling in 1931, she noted that a broad swath of the community matched her commitment to build the East Hampton Museum and theater.

After 50 years performing in front of the American Legion Hall on Bay Street in Sag Harbor, the Sag Harbor Community Band has announced a new location for its summer concert series: Marine Park in Sag Harbor Village.

The band, led by music director David M. Brandenburg, which sounded as robust as ever performing near the reviewing stand at this year’s Independence Day parade in Southampton, will open its 65th summer season tomorrow, with a concert from 8 to 9 p.m. Admission is free but donations are accepted. Audience members are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair. Weekly concerts will continue every Tuesday through August 29.

The Sag Harbor Community Band’s repertoire includes show tunes, classical, jazz, marches, ragtime, and more.

“It’s an exciting new season for the Band, celebrating our 65th summer of concerts under the stars and moving to a new venue. We’ve been rehearsing all spring and will have some old favorites as well as great new repertoire ready to perform,” said Music Director David M. Brandenburg.

The Sag Harbor Community Band, a nonprofit organization, is seeking financial support to cover the significant new costs of performing in Marine Park, including renting a mobile stage and other equipment. For more information, visit sagharborband.org/donate.

A surge in travel after the pandemic has combined with a shortage of federal staff to create a long backlog in obtaining passports. The logjam has forced Long Islanders to go to great lengths to obtain passports, and some have missed planned trips. Hundreds are in the hiring pipeline, the State Department says, and it has authorized extensive overtime to try to catch up. Nicholas Spangler reports on Newsday.com that people traveling internationally within 14 days can get urgent travel service at a passport agency, but those facilities only serve people by appointment, so would-be travelers sometimes go to whatever facility can offer them one, even if that means traveling out of state.

The U.S. State Department advises that you:

• Apply at least six months before planned travel or passport expiration.  
• If you are contemplating booking a vacation, wait until you have gotten a new passport.  
• Travel nine weeks away or longer and have not yet applied? Submit a first-time application at an acceptance facility or renew by mail. Select expedited service and 1-2-day delivery of the completed passport.
• Travel within 14 days? Call the National Passport Information Center, 877-487-2778. 

The wildly popular energy drink PRIME should be investigated by the FDA for marketing its potentially dangerous “cauldron of caffeine’’ to kids, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said yesterday. Jorge Fitz-Gibbon in THE NY POST reports that a single 12-ounce can of the flashy energy drink — peddled by powerhouse influencers including Logan Paul — packs more caffeine than nearly two Red Bulls or about a six-pack of Coke, according to Schumer - the Senate Majority Leader and senior Democrat from New York. “One of the summer’s hottest status symbols for kids is not an outfit, is not a toy — it’s a beverage,” Schumer told reporters at Sunday’s Manhattan press conference. ”But buyer and parents beware, because it’s a serious health concern for the kids it so feverishly targets. “PRIME is born from the wheels of social media and the enigmatic world of influencers,” stated Senator Schumer. “Kids see it on their phone as they scroll, and then they actually have a need for it. And the problem here is that the product has so much caffeine in it that it puts Red Bull to shame. “Most parents haven’t even heard of this stuff that their kids are begging for,” Schumer said. “But kids have heard about it because of this advertising campaign.”

The colorfully-packaged-drink company was founded by Logan Paul and fellow YouTube star KSI and features kid-friendly flavors such as Ice Pop, Tropical Punch and Strawberry Watermelon — along with a discreet warning label on its energy drinks saying they are not recommended for consumers under 18. But Schumer said the warning gets lost in the ad campaign for the energy drink. Dr. Edith Brancho Sanchez, a pediatrician from Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center who joined Schumer at Sunday’s announcement, echoed the senator’s concerns. “This is not a good night’s sleep followed by a nutritious meal,” she said. “What this drink is giving you is a caffeine rush. It is a high followed by a crash.”