The Miller Place and Rocky Point school districts have suspended their requirements that students who have childhood vaccination records from a pediatric practice convicted of forging COVID-19 immunization documents obtain proofs of vaccination from other health care providers. David Olson and Tiffany Cusaac-Smith report on Newsday.com that the superintendents for the districts said this week they are awaiting information from a state investigation before deciding whether to re-institute the requirements that could potentially exclude children from school.

The moves came after parents in those districts and at least several others on Long Island challenged schools' mandates that children with records from the pediatric practice provide further proof they are vaccinated against diseases like measles and hepatitis B, as required by state law. In some cases, attorneys threatened legal action against districts that did not reverse such policies. The Suffolk and Nassau health departments recommended that districts require additional vaccination records, including requiring a blood test. Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville and its owner, Julie DeVuono, sold thousands of fake COVID-19 vaccine cards, DeVuono’s Garden City lawyer, Jason Russo, acknowledged. But Russo said that DeVuono, whose practice, he said, vaccinated up to 1,000 children a year, never falsified non-COVID vaccination records.

In September, DeVuono pleaded guilty to two felony charges in connection with the COVID-19 fraud, and to another felony charge of illegally obtaining oxycodone prescriptions for herself. She agreed to shut down her practice and surrender her nursing licenses. She is awaiting sentencing.

The state health department is investigating whether Wild Child forged immunization records for other diseases.

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The Riverhead Central School District is joining a federal class action lawsuit against technology companies to pursue damages for the harm social media platforms have on adolescent mental health. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the Riverhead Board of Education Tuesday night authorized “social media” litigation against confidential parties and approved a contract with Frantz Law Group, a California-based personal injury law firm to represent the district, and the district’s counsel, Guercio & Guercio LLP.

Riverhead School board president Colin Palmer confirmed the district was joining the class action against major social media companies such as Facebook, Google, TikTok, Instagram, Roblox, Snapchat and other affiliated people and companies. The lawsuit alleges the platforms are designed to addict children and teens, lack meaningful parental controls and other safeguards, and knowingly harm kids. Frantz Law Group joined the litigation on behalf of other school districts earlier this year. More than half the states in the country have joined the lawsuit, including New York State.

Under the agreement with the district, Frantz Law Group will receive 25% of any settlement or recovery obtained in the lawsuit and Guercio & Guercio will receive 25% of net attorney fees for acting as co-counsel. The district is not responsible for paying any money to Frantz Law Group other than what is recovered in a settlement.

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The Sag Harbor Village Board, which is considering new legislation to address the affordable housing crisis, will hold a forum on the topic at 5:30 p.m. this coming Monday, December 18, at the Municipal Building. Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that representatives from the village’s environmental consulting firm, Nelson Pope Voorhis, will be on hand to explain a draft planning study the firm completed for the village in October that recommends the creation of a floating zone that would allow the village to approve affordable developments anywhere in the village, provided they meet a list of requirements, including fitting into the surrounding neighborhood. Trustee Ed Haye, who has led the affordable housing drive, said the forum is intended to give the public an opportunity to comment to the board before it finishes drafting legislation. The meeting will also be available on Zoom, with the link to be posted on the village website.

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An off-duty police officer who left his personal gun in a bathroom at the Eastport-South Manor Junior-Senior High School didn't break state law when he brought the weapon onto school grounds, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said yesterday. Janon Fisher and Nicholas Spangler report on Newsday.com that Officer David Samartino, 47, who is also a school board member and a parent of two students at the school, left his personal weapon in the lavatory at about 6:30 p.m. on Monday during a special session of the school board, according to the district superintendent, Joseph A. Steimel. In an interview Thursday, Tierney said the officer was exempt from a 2022 state law that forbids carrying firearms in sensitive places, including schools. Asked whether the officer action's in misplacing the gun, now under investigation by the county police department's Internal Affairs Bureau, was subject to prosecution, Tierney said, “If we receive a referral, we would investigate it.” However, Jerold Levine, an attorney specializing in New York firearms litigation, said Samartino broke the law. “Under federal law, you can’t bring a gun into a school. He wasn’t in the performance of his duties,” Levine said. Other legal scholars were less certain Samartino broke the law. “Off-duty and on-duty lines are blurry,” Columbia Professor Jeffrey A. Fagan, who specializes in Second Amendment issues, said. “He is liable for the gun offenses, but I doubt any prosecutor would actually bring charges.” Eastport District officials wouldn't comment on whether the officer's actions violated school policy and referred comment to law enforcement, saying the matter was under investigation.

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Southampton Town is on the cusp of buying one of the two Pond Lane parcels of land in Southampton Village owned by the Paulson Family Foundation. The deal not only will preserve an additional 4.8 acres of open space on the bucolic lane in the heart of Southampton Village, it also will assure that a proposed parkland “swap” that was arranged in the NYS Legislature to allow for the placement of a $10 million algae harvester system to clean up Lake Agawam can come to fruition. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that the fate of the other Paulson Foundation-owned piece of land, at 153 Pond Lane, remains up in the air, however — and with it the fate of a plan that was introduced in August by the Lake Agawam Conservancy to expand Agawam Park by creating a vast public garden, to be designed, for free, by world-renowned architect and landscape designer Peter Marino. That plan became controversial because it called for the complete closure of Pond Lane to vehicle traffic. Many residents have expressed opposition arguing Pond Lane is a valuable and cherished thoroughfare in Southampton Village.

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Santa Claus isn't the only celebrity coming to town this holiday season. The iconic 1-ton sleigh featured in the film "Elf," complete with its Kringle 3000 Jet Engine and Clausometer, is set to make its spirited return to New York City from its Suffolk County home on Sunday, in honor of the film's 20th anniversary. "If people have seen the movie, it's gonna bring a smile to their face," said Larry Northcote, fire manager and volunteer firefighter with the Halesite Volunteer Fire Department, located in the Town of Huntington. Maureen Mullarkey reports on Newsday.com that the sleigh will temporarily leave the firehouse around 8:30 a.m., receiving a VIP escort from New York State Police. It will travel through the Queens Midtown Tunnel — reminiscent of how Will Ferrell's Buddy the Elf entered New York City by walking through the Lincoln Tunnel in the 2003 Christmas comedy. It will be on display in front of Bergdorf Goodman at 754 Fifth Ave. from noon until 6 p.m, and open for photo ops. The sleigh permanently resides at the Halesite firehouse. Every holiday season, it is taken out of the station's lower level by truck and polished. It attracts hundreds of visitors.

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As developers line up in preparation for dozens of battery storage facilities across Long Island to replace a generation of small fossil-fueled power plants, they likely will face growing unease from residents about potential fire hazards and whether they're being provided enough information. Mark Harrington reports on Newsday.com that a list of proposed facilities that have signed up for grid connection through the New York Independent System Operator shows developers eyeing sites from Southold and Quogue to Far Rockaway, many at or near LIPA substations that house small power plants. All will require state and local approvals that some municipalities already are wary of providing. Southold and Southampton have moratoriums on battery systems, and at least one other Long Island town is considering such a move. Battery storage plants are an important pillar in plans by the state and LIPA to transition the electric grid to all green energy by 2040. The battery plants house structures packed with lithium-ion cells, which can store power to help stabilize the grid when wind and sun power aren’t available. The plants include sophisticated battery management and fire suppression systems that proponents say make them safe. Long Island already has two battery storage units, both rated at 5 megawatts and costing some $110 million, located near LIPA substations in Montauk and East Hampton. The latter has been out of commission since a May 31 fire that was contained within the barnlike structure, but which will require a full replacement and a spill remediation overseen by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The East Hampton unit isn’t expected to be back in service until next summer, officials have said. The facility is only a few hundred feet from nearby homes and businesses.