Alek Lewis

The Suffolk County Criminal Court complex in Riverside has been evacuated pending an investigation into a report of a suspicious package left in the building.

Riverhead Town Board members signaled they will move to expand the town’s moratorium on commercial solar applications to include all renewable energy systems, in anticipation of applications for new types of facilities, like anaerobic digesters, that are not addressed by the current zoning code. 

The Riverhead school board in a 5-1 vote, with one member absent, appointed a new assistant superintendent for business Tuesday night, Rodney Asse. He will start in his new job July 1.

The Riverhead school district's new STEM director, Jeannine Campbell, will integrate a MakerSpace program in the district.

Splish Splash in Calverton will open for the 2022 summer season on Saturday, with a new tube ride called 'Hyperlight' and cashless service throughout the park.

Riverhead Superintendent Augustine Tornatore said the new assistant superintendent, whom Tornatore hired last year while at Liberty K-12 School District in Newburgh, “was not the top financial person“ in the Rochester City School District when it overspent its revenues by $42 million in 2018-19, leading to a state comptroller’s audit and the appointment of a state monitor. Rodney Asse did “a fantastic job” at Liberty as its business official, Tornatore said, and has “a good reputation.”

The new expansion is set to increase critical care capacity by more than 75% and implement a dual-bay trauma unit, additional cardiac response services, and a dedicated pediatric treatment area, incorporate advanced radiology capabilities and enhance patient privacy, according to PBMC. The hospital hopes to open its doors in the first quarter of 2024.

The Riverhead Town Board is considering increasing the fines for littering violations in an effort to crack down on neglect from commercial property owners.

The Rev. Mary Cooper at a ceremony Saturday marking the dedication of Riverhead's first heritage area, Bell Town, a community founded by Cooper's father Mansfield Bell and his three brothers, grandsons of slaves who migrated from Powhatan County, Virginia during the Great Migration in the 1930s, a historical period marking the movement of approximately 6 million Black Americans away from the Jim Crow South to escape racial discrimination, violence, segregation and poor economic conditions.

Prospective members of Riverhead’s new downtown civic association on Saturday laid out their vision for the civic’s role in the town, including maintaining their neighborhoods’ beauty and collectively advocating for residents in town government.