Quannacut Outpatient Services held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, Nov. 6 — three months after opening its doors on East Main Street. It was attended by around 30 people, including Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital leadership, clinic workers and local elected officials.

So far, 25 people have registered for the clinic, SBELIH chief administrative officer Paul Connor told The Suffolk Times at the ceremony.

The clinic offers telehealth, co-occurring and primary care medical services. It also provides medication for addiction treatment, psychiatric evaluations and acts as a New York State Department of Motor Vehicle treatment site for driver’s license reinstatements.

Quannacut Outpatient provides highly specialized programs that address both immediate and long-term substance use and mental health needs, as well as the impact on families, significant others and support systems. It offers individual and group therapy for mental health and substance use.

The clinic is an arm of SBELIH, and recently received licensure from the New York State Office of Mental Health. The license has expanded the hospital’s ability to provide comprehensive behavioral health care to the region.

Assistant vice president of neurosciences and psychiatry Dr. Kristie Golden Campo, who started working as a case manager at 21, praised the clinic’s efforts. When she started, she said she had a case load of clients from Huntington to Port Jefferson. She drove one of her clients out to Greenport to get services at the time from SBELIH, formerly known as Eastern Long Island Hospital, for treatment of her co-occurring disorder.

“There is no better place for this integrated license to exist,” Ms. Golden Campo said. “This has been something that Eastern Long Island Hospital has done for a long time, and they’ve done it better than any other facility that I can remember.” 

Mr. Connor added: “Here on Long Island, where our communities stretch across rural and suburban landscapes, the lack of access has real consequences.”

The OMH license will allow the clinic to “close the gap” of services and connect people to the help they need closer to home, he said. It can be reached at 631-369-8966.

“I think a lot of us know people who could use these services, and I think that gives us great comfort knowing that they can be offered,” Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said of the clinic. “And, it gives us even more comfort knowing the people who are here are the ones who offer those services.”

Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi lauded the hospital’s achievements, calling health care one of Southold’s greatest exports. 

“This is something that affects many of our friends and family,” he said. “I’ve certainly seen it in my family as well.”

The clinic opening comes at a time of need: One in five U.S. adults live with mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health as recently as 2022. 

Nearly 49 million people in the U.S. over the age of 12 struggled with substance abuse in 2023, only 6% of whom received treatment, according to a 2023 survey by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That same survey found that nearly 21 million American adults suffered from both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders. 

For more information on treatments available at Quannacut Outpatient Services, visit elih.stonybrookmedicine.edu.

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In the interim, Mr. Krupski’s Monday press release said the Southold Police Department will focus on “maintaining public safety and will continue to treat all residents with respect, regardless of race, national origin, citizenship or any other matter which may define us.”

“The Town of Riverhead stands firmly behind the new immigration policies set forth by the Trump administration,” Mr. Hubbard’s stated in a Tuesday press release. “Immigration, however, remains a federal matter, handled by the appropriate federal agencies — not the Riverhead Police Department.” 

He explained in a Friday press release that Riverhead Police Department policy is that police personnel will not stop, question, interrogate, investigate or arrest people based solely on suspected immigration status, and will not detain anyone for suspected civil violations of federal immigration laws or a related civil warrant. 

Not even a week into his presidency, President Donald Trump has already signed 10 executive orders impacting the country’s immigration policies, including ending the 2011 protections to restrict federal immigration agencies — such as ICE — to make arrests in schools, churches and hospitals. 

For general information about what rights you have if ICE approaches you or a loved one, visit bit.ly/KnowYourRightsICE. 

In the Friday release, Mr. Hubbard said that “detention for criminal immigration violations shall only occur pursuant to a duly issued judicial warrant” in Riverhead.

“The Riverhead Police Department may field requests for local agency assistance in connection with federal immigration operations within the town,” Mr. Hubbard said. “Such assistance, consistent with policy, would be limited in scope to support services such as traffic control or peacekeeping efforts.”

President Trump also signed an executive order that would redefine birthright citizenship, which could impact the American-born children of non-citizens. As of Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked this order, according to multiple news reports.

“While recent federal executive actions have directed greater or enhanced enforcement of certain federal immigration laws, those enforcement efforts remain federal agency functions,” Mr. Hubbard said. “The town police policies described above are consistent with federal and state laws, and it is not the town’s intention to alter such policies in response to recent federal executive actions.”

A community informational session will be held Thursday, Jan. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Southold Town Recreation Center, 970 Peconic Lane, Peconic to educate and update the public. 

“This way there will be a more accessible environment for people to ask questions,” Mr. Krupski said in a phone interview Monday. 

Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan, Greenport Village Mayor Kevin Stuessi, Greenport Village trustees, representatives of the Southold Anti-Bias Task Force and the police advisory committee were also invited to take part in Thursday’s discussion and respond to residents’ concerns. 

“We’re trying to be proactive and provide information to the community, and we’re trying to make it clear what our policies are as police commissioners,” Mr. Krupski said.

For more information about the upcoming informational session, call the supervisor’s office at 631-765-1889.

Additional reporting by Ana Borruto.

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Local lawmakers want to prevent what Mr. Krupski’s letter calls a “solid waste disposal crisis affecting over 3 million residents of our towns.”

The lawmakers are trying to underscore to Albany the importance of Long Island’s four waste-to-energy facilities, located in Islip, Hempstead, Babylon and Huntington. According to a 2023 letter to the federal Environmental Protection Agency from Martin Bellew, president of the Islip Resource Recovery Agency, these facilities were built and began operations between 1989 and 1992, and all currently operate under long-term service agreements with municipalities and receive residential waste streams from nine of Long Island’s 13 towns.

“Collectively,” Mr. Bellew told the EPA, these facilities “provide Long Island’s only ‘on-Island’ disposal capability for 1.5 million of the more than 2.6 million tons of municipal solid waste generated here each year.”

Mr. Krupski’s recent letter notes that this waste produces 970,000MWh of electricity for the region annually.

The idea for all town supervisors to write to Ms. Hochul emerged from a meeting of the Suffolk County Supervisors Association a few months ago, Mr. Krupski said. They support an Aug. 19 letter to the governor from Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine on the same topic. The letters were all sent together as one package as the end of September, Mr. Krupski added.

“All the supervisors are very concerned about this,” Mr. Krupski said in a recent interview. “I think 75% or 80% of the solid waste is shipped to the incinerators right now. They burn the garbage and generate electricity on Long Island. If New York State decides that these incinerators have to close, then we have to ship all the garbage off. They said it’d be another 180,000 trucks a year on the road. It’s a tremendous amount of garbage so we’re trying to prevent that.”

The letters identify some immediate priority action issues for Gov. Hochul to address. The first item requests that public and private waste management facilities not be designated as “obligated entities” under the New York Cap and Invest Program, which is meant to encourage consumers, businesses and other entities to transition to low-carbon alternatives by applying a price on pollution.

The second item urges that the Long Island Power Authority should renew and provide long-term extensions of Power Purchase agreements with the four Long Island WTE facilities, “with a rate not less than the average cost of purchased power paid by LIPA from all sources, escalating annually and preferably closer to the rate LIPA has agreed to pay for offshore wind energy.”

The letters’ final request calls for designation of the energy produced at WTEs statewide as a “renewable source, as it is by the federal government and in most other states. WTE facilities must be able to continue to sell their electricity to the grid post-2040.”

The letters conclude that failure to address these issues will only add to the already increasing costs of solid waste management — particularly for households — and will directly result in town budgets that exceed the 2% cap on tax levy increases.

Finding ways to reduce the waste stream is one way of taking action immediately, Mr. Krupski said.

“We’re looking for more of a regional solution. We’re working on seeing if we can do a better job with food waste, which takes up about 20% of the waste stream, and do anything we can do locally so it doesn’t have to be shipped,” he said.

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The primary pits Catherine Stark, 59, of Riverhead, who was the Republican committee’s choice, against Greg Williams, 50, of Cutchogue, a former member of the Southold Town Trustees who owns a bicycle store in Mattituck. 

The Republicans had successfully convinced a state Supreme Court judge to invalidate petitions for Mr. Williams, but the Appellate Division of that court reversed the ruling and put Mr. Williams back on the ballot. 

The longtime incumbent in that seat, Democrat Al Krupski, decided not to seek reelection, as he is running for Southold Town supervisor. Ms. Stark has been an aide in Mr. Krupski’s office for 10 years. 

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Catherine Kent, a former Riverhead councilwoman, in the Nov. 7 general election. 

Early voting in the primary election started Saturday, June 17, and will continue through Sunday, June 25. 

The 1st Legislative District covers all of Riverhead and Southold towns, along with Shelter Island, Flanders and a portion of Brookhaven Town. 

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Financial exploitation accounts for up to half of all scams targeting the elderly in New York state, said Jennifer Milito, an assistant district attorney in the financial crimes bureau of Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, at the briefing at the Riverhead Senior Center.

A second session was held Wednesday afternoon at the Southold Human Resources Center. County legislator Al Krupski, who introduced the law enforcement team, and Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar, were also on hand at the Riverhead briefing.

The officials offered some sobering statistics: citing a federal National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, they said that 92% of elder scam victims are women, and that only one of every 24 cases is reported to authorities, for a variety of reasons, including shame and embarrassment.  

Officials said that senior citizens are targeted because most have a steady, predictable stream of income from either Social Security or a pension, and that often perpetrators will steal checks from the mail, or in some cases even dig up private financial information by going through people’s trash.

Suffolk County Police Detective Thomas Gabriele said that scams targeting the elderly are one of the fastest growing categories of crime over the past decade. He told the Riverhead seniors that above all else, they should protect their Social Security number. 

“Social Security numbers are the be all and end all of identity theft.”

Assistant District Attorney Jessica Whitestone, who also serves in the financial crimes bureau, said that when mailing bills, any financially-related documents or anything that contains private information, seniors should exercise extra caution.

“If you have important information in your mail that has your personal information, go in to the post office instead of just dropping it in a mailbox,” she said. “If you’re disposing of something with your information on it, invest in an inexpensive shredder and shred it. There are people that go through garbage cans” looking for discarded personal information.”

The officials — who between them have decades of experience investigating and prosecuting financial crime on Long Island — provided handouts including the top ten ways to avoid fraud (see .pdf below).

The recommendations include: 1) Spotting imposters — beware of those claiming to be government officials or charities or representatives of major retailers; 2) Put any phone number provided by a stranger contacting you into a search engine — in quotes — to see if the number may be connected to scams; 3) “Never, ever, ever believe your caller ID,” Detective Gabriele said, describing how easy it is for criminals to “spoof” a number so it appears on caller ID to be coming from a legitimate company or agency; 4) Don’t pay upfront for a promise, whether it be debt relief, loan offers or home improvement work. 5) Don’t pay with a wire transfer, gift cards or cash —these are the three most common methods of transfer that scammers use get your money.

The officials suggested that a senior who is suspicious or in doubt should 6) Ask a trusted friend’s advice before turning over money or personal information over the phone, online or in person; 7) Hang up robocalls immediately; 8) Be skeptical of free or trial offers, and research cancellation policies, especially for subscription services — whether it be a magazine subscription or any online service with recurring charges; 9) Never deposit a check for a stranger and then wire the individual money or hand over cash. 10) Sign up for Federal Trade Commission scam alerts.

The officials also talked about how criminals will use stolen personal information to leverage victims’ assets, like using a person’s personal information to take out a second mortgage on a victim’s home without their knowledge, or even trying to sell a property out from under a victim, as was the case earlier this year on Shelter Island.

The law enforcement officials encouraged those in the audience to take advantage of a free alert program offered by the Suffolk County Clerk’s Office. The system will alert a resident to any new records filings related to their property or properties. To sign up for the alerts, call the clerk’s office at 631-852-2000, the officials said.

The Federal Trade Commission regularly updates its Consumer Alerts page, which notifies readers of the latest scams and how to avoid them. You can also file a complaint about a scam with the FTC via ftc.gov/complaint or by calling 877-FTC-HELP (382-4357).

Proactive internet security is another way to avoid being scammed, Detective Gabriele said. He cautioned seniors to never click on a link in an unsolicited email, which could allow the perpetrator remote access to a target’s computer and all their online files. This also applies to text messages, even if they appear to be coming from your bank or a company with which you regularly do business.

Keeping computer and cell phone software updated is also vital. The well-engaged crowd of Riverhead seniors laughed out loud when the detective told them what the two most common passwords are: “1234” and “password.” He said they are the first two that most criminals try.

“Use strong passwords!” Detective Gabriele urged. He also advised destroying or digitally wiping hard drives before discarding or giving away a computer. Finally, he said, be cautious about what you share on social media. Burglars nationwide scour popular social media like Facebook and Instagram, looking for families on vacation, for instance. 

The county officials also distributed the Suffolk County Police Department Identity Theft Unit’s guide to protecting yourself against identity theft and fraud. The guide offers an extensive set of best practices for anyone who either fears they are or have been the victim of identity theft. The guide, which is embedded below and printable, includes instructions and sample letters that demonstrate how to put a security freeze on your credit, how to most effectively dispute fraudulent charges on your accounts and other valuable guidance on reporting and documenting financial fraud.

The officials said that seniors should continuously monitor and scrutinize billing statements and if they have concerns, check their credit bureau reports for any irregularities. They were also advised to be on the lookout for unexpected communications, like being contacted by a collections agency or receiving news that a loan they never sought has been denied.  

One of the most vicious and pervasive telephone scams targets grandparents at their most vulnerable pressure point.

A caller will contact a senior citizen claiming to be a bail bondsman or a law enforcement official and claim the target’s grandchild has been arrested. The caller will insist that the grandparent send or surrender large sums of money immediately to get their relative out of custody. Urgency is a big red flag.

Detective Gabriele said the perpetrator will usually insist on cash, and cited two such cases that unfolded recently in Suffolk. In one instance, the victim gave $15,000 to a perpetrator who arrived at their home. The other victim met the perpetrator in a public place, and turned over $20,000 in cash.

The detective said that the bail scam and other telephone contact crimes are often perpetrated from outside the country by criminal organizations that are working with local thieves who meet the victim, pick up the cash and send it abroad to their bosses. 

That makes it difficult if not impossible for local or even federal law enforcement to recover cash, wire transfers or transferrable funds like gift cards.

Prior to the presentation, as the seniors streamed into the Riverhead auditorium, a cheerful and energetic volunteer from the statewide Senior Medicare Patrol — which distributes literature, tips and best practices for older residents to protect themselves — kept reiterating a valuable series of warnings.

“Remember, folks, Medicaid never calls,” said SMP volunteer Ronnie Avnet Stoll. “Social Security never calls,” she said, urging those in attendance to hang up on anyone who claims to be calling from either of those federal agencies, or anyone seeking immediate payments in cash, via wire transfer or by any other method beside traceable transactions.

“These scammers just want your Medicaid number,” Ms. Avnet Stoll said. “They say they want to send you a brand new Medicaid card.”

She said that Medicaid and Social Security scams are a lucrative international criminal enterprise.

“On the dark web,” she told the seniors, stolen “Medicaid numbers cost more than Social Security cards.

“You’ve got to be on your toes.”

New York state residents can also call in reports and complaints to an elder abuse hotline at 844-697-3505.

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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will provide $375,000 per year for five years through the “Partnership for Success” (PFS) grant. The second grant will come from Suffolk County opioid settlement funds and will provide $225,000 a year for three years, according to a press release.

“The purpose of the PFS grant is to create sustainable prevention and early intervention services in Riverhead,” Felicia Scocozza, CAP’s executive director, said in a statement. “We know that the three most important environments affecting young people’s development are families, school and communities. This funding will allow us to address all three with a strategic approach.”

Riverhead’s CAP is one of nine community organizations nationwide to receive funding through the PFS grant, which focuses on preventing and reducing substance misuse through community programs.

The organization works with the Riverhead Central School District, Riverhead Police Department, Northwell Health and the Suffolk County Office of Health Education to strengthen prevention efforts throughout the school district and community.

Riverhead School District Superintendent Augustine Tornatore applauded the organization for their work in the district. “We deeply value our partnership with CAP, and the services they provide have a markedly positive influence on our students and the entire community,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to all of the exceptional programs they will put this funding toward.”

CAP is also one of 34 organizations to receive monetary support through the first round of county opioid settlement funds.

In January, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced CAP as one of the organizations set to receive funding as part of a multi-million dollar settlement against pharmaceuticals that manufactured and distributed opioids as the crisis loomed on Long Island and around the nation.

The county has allocated around $25 million for organizations to curb opioid addiction through education. Officials have estimated that settlements could total $180 million over the next two decades.

Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski helped support CAP’s application to receive funding through the opioid settlement.

“These awards reflect the organization’s effectiveness in the schools and their importance to the entire town,” Mr. Krupski said in a statement. “I am gratified these grants will help CAP continue their important work in preventing drug abuse and addiction in young people living in the Riverhead community.”

According to Ms. Scocozza, CAP has been proactive in reducing the availability of prescription medications and opioids in the community.

In 2014, CAP launched a medication take-back initiative as part of a decade-long federal Drug-Free Communities Program grant, which is set to end at the end of this year. Through that program, known as the Riverhead Community Coalition for Safe and Drug-Free Youth, more than 11,000 pounds of medication were collected, preventing potential abuse and overdoses.

Ms. Scocozza said the funding streams will help CAP increase programming within Riverhead schools, provide community and retailer education about safe adult marijuana storage, hold trainings in Screenings, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) alongside Northwell Health, increase parent outreach and participation, as well as bilingual support and services.

While CAP officials say research indicates that most youth who engage in substance use will not develop substance use disorders, studies show that there is a link between early initiation of alcohol and marijuana use and opioid misuse in young adulthood. 

A policy brief by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute notes that the development of such substance use disorders is “often preceded by a variety of other problems including academic failure, antisocial behavior, anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress” and that early intervention programs are useful in prevention.

Programs such as SBIRT and mental health first aid training, which CAP is already providing under a SAMHSA grant, are also effective tools against substance abuse, according to the policy brief.

For more information, visit riverheadcap.org.

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Mr. Krupski (D-Peconic) has long been whispered as a public figure destined for the top job in Town Hall, and he made it official this week. His announcement comes in the final year of Supervisor Scott Russell’s term in office. Mr. Russell, who has served as supervisor since 2005, has said for months he would not run for reelection.

Over Mr. Krupski’s years in public office, he has been one of the strongest voices for preservation of open space — particularly farmland — and has been a strong advocate for the health and well-being of the Peconic Bay estuary.

“I live in this town and I think it’s a great place to live,” Mr. Krupski said in an interview Monday. “I’m very familiar with its workings and its people, and I want to keep it that way, so it will be the same for my grandchildren.”

Mr. Krupski has been a Suffolk County Legislator representing the North Fork since 2013, when he overwhelmingly defeated then-Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter in a special election to fill a vacant seat, winning 67% of the vote. In terms of his winning elections, Mr. Krupski has been one of the biggest Democratic vote getters in the county. 

Mr. Krupski has had a long career in public service, all of which pointed to an eventual run for town supervisor. He served as a Southold Town councilman for seven years and a town Trustee for 20 years. All along, he has kept his family’s farm in Peconic going. The Krupskis have been farming on that rich soil for four generations. 

“We’ve kept the farm going, but we have considerably cut back the operation,” he said. ”As a public servant, I can’t dedicate the time to it that I did decades ago.” 

Mr. Krupski said he screened before the Southold Democratic committee a couple of weeks ago. It’s been common knowledge in town politics that Mr. Krupski would not run for supervisor if Mr. Russell stayed on the job. In an interview, Mr. Krupski praised Mr. Russell for his service to Southold.

“Scott did a very good job,” Mr. Krupski said. “He was a dedicated public servant and he was great to work with. And I worked with him for a long time.”

He praised his decade on the County Legislature, saying, “It was a great experience to serve on the County Legislature. I worked with a lot of great people there. It’s a great diverse county and I liked the experience. I’ve just been really blessed to represent great communities all these years — with Southold, all of Riverhead and eastern Brookhaven — they are really great people.” 

Asked if there are any specific projects he wants to work on should he be elected supervisor, he said, “I’ve always run on my environmental record. Land preservation and water quality are really the main driving issues. And obviously, traffic is always a big concern.” 

Asked to comment on Mr. Krupski’s candidacy, Mr. Russell joked: “I figured he was [running] when he started stenciling his name over my sign in my parking space. Seriously, when he wins, the people of Southold will be electing the best supervisor this town has ever had. Serving as supervisor for Southold is the greatest honor someone can be given. I can’t think of anyone who deserves that honor more than Albert.”

Peter McGreevy, the chair of the Southold Republican committee, said, “Albert is the most conservative Democrat you will meet, and rumors of his running (for supervisor) were circulating for well over a year. As Scott Russell’s final four-year term ends, and Albert’s term limits in the county Legislature approach in two years, this is his opportunity to step back in to Southold politics.”

Kathryn Casey Quigley, chair of the Southold Democratic Committee, said, “I’m thrilled that he screened and the Democratic screening committee does intend to nominate him. He’s a phenomenal elected official who’s very passionate about this town and the community, and we’re excited about his bid.”

She said the screening committee has finished interviewing candidates and the overall committee will nominate its candidates on March 2. 

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 to include comment from the chairperson of the Southold Democratic Committee.

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Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue), who represents Riverhead and the North Fork, said the day prior he had a Zoom meeting that had to be canceled, the first indication that something was amiss. Soon after, the reality of a large-scale ransomware attack that has plagued the county began to come into focus. More than 10 days later, county email accounts and web sites remain down as investigators work to identify the source of the attack and safely restore the system.

“This is a bigger, longer disruption than anyone could have imagined,” Mr. Krupski said in an interview Monday.

In a press conference last week, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said the initial investigation did not directly point to a ransomware attack — in which hackers threaten to disable a system or publish stolen data unless paid a sum of money — although the malware detected had “hallmarks of ransomware.”

Three days later, however, the source of the attack was allegedly disclosed when a ransomware team called ALPHV or “BlackCat” claimed responsibility for the attack on the its dark web site, according to databreaches.net, a blog that has been published since 2009 on data breaches.

Databreaches published a copy of a post the hackers wrote, where they claimed to have extracted more than 4 terabytes of data.

“Due to the fact that Suffolk County Government and the aforementioned companies are not communicating with us, we are publishing sample documents extracted from the government and contractor network,” the post read.

It included samples of extracted files from Suffolk County court records, Sheriff’s Office and contracts with the State of New York and “other personal data of Suffolk County citizens.” It said the hackers have obtained “huge databases of Suffolk County citizens from the clerk.county.suf domain.”

Officials have not disclosed whether a specific monetary request has been made.

At a press conference Monday outside the Suffolk County Police headquarters in Yaphank, police Commissioner Rodney Harrison provided little insight into the current state of the investigation when asked about the types of documents the attackers obtained and how residents could be affected.

“I wish I could share that with you,” he said, citing an active investigation. “A lot of things are still ongoing. As we get closer to identifying things, we will share with the media and public.”

Mr. Harrison and Mathew Lewis, the police chief of operations, spoke about how the department has shifted its emergency call system to an old way of operating. Call details have been recorded by hand with information handed by “runners” to a dispatcher, rather than going directly into a computer system.

Mr. Harrison said the NYPD has provided the county call center five additional emergency call operators per tour, “helping to reduce some of the stress on our current call takers.”

The NYS Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services has also provided the department “highly sophisticated technology that will provide additional firewall protection, enabling us to bring our [computer-aided dispatch] system back online safely and securely while the county’s overall system continues to be addressed,” Mr. Harrison said.

He added that the system with “runners” relaying information has not slowed down responses for officers in the field. Radio systems among officers are not affected, he said.

Police expect the CAD system to be up and running by the end of the week.

Mr. Lewis highlighted a case early Monday morning where an NYPD officer took a call of an active maternity in Coram. The call ended up in the hands of the Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, where a dispatcher guided the father through the delivery. The baby was born before first responders could arrive and “baby and mom are doing fine,” he said.

Suffolk police have also partnered with the New York State Police, who are assisting with fingerprinting and other processes after an arrest at one of several barracks in the county, including Riverside.

The cyber attack so far has had limited ramifications locally on the town governments in Riverhead and Southold. Both town supervisors said their IT systems have been operating normally.

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said Mr. Krupski has remained in contact with the town office.

“The communication has been fine,” he said in an email. “We just do it the old fashion way and use a phone.”

“There may have been a short delay in their ability to process pending applications but, there is nothing that couldn’t wait while they sort through and fix their technical issues,” he added.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said the town’s system is independent has not been affected and the town has taken steps to “strengthen our IT protocols.”

Mr. Bellone announced last week the county had set up a temporary landing page to provide county residents with information at suffolkcountyny.gov. The town’s 311 phone service remains intact and residents are encouraged to call for any questions related to any of the county services.

Mr. Krupski said his office has fielded an uptick in calls in the past week with people seeking information typically available online.

“People have become reliant on the technology,” he said. “If it’s not there, then what do you do?”

Some departments are more reliant on the technology than others, he said.

“I think departments have been very good at trying to keep the wheels turning,” he said.

Last Thursday, the county IT workers came to the legislator’s office to go through four desktop computers and a laptop to examine if anything had malware. He said the computers appeared to be clean and then members of the IT returned Monday morning while he was at a meeting.

Mr. Krupski said he was unsure what kind of information was stolen and noted a lot of the information the county stores is public information available via the Freedom of Information Law.

“We’re not quite sure of the extent of this yet,” he said. “We really don’t know.”

Mr. Bellone emphasized last week that the county remains up and running and tried to reassure residents that they can expect the same level of service.

“We’re doing everything we can, even in this challenging circumstances, to keep it as business as usual for residents,” the county executive said.

Mr. Bellone said the county implemented “aggressive containment measures” when the attack was detected to eradicate the intrusion and restore systems “in a safe and secure manner.”

Ransomware attacks have often targeted school districts in recent years. The Riverhead Central School District in late 2021 and the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District earlier this year both endured cyber attacks.

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