Denise Civiletti

RiverheadLOCAL doesn't tell you who to vote for. We believe informed voters don’t need endorsements — just honest, in-depth reporting on the issues that matter.

Riverhead Town officials are denying a vote that authorized demolition at 127 East Main Street — despite video and public documents proving otherwise. In this column, Denise Civiletti exposes how the Town Board tried to gaslight the public and shift blame to the press.

The first candidates forum of Riverhead’s 2025 "silly season" took place with three empty chairs where the derrières of the Republican incumbent Town Board members would have been parked in more ordinary times.

There’s been a lot of talk about the need to “dial it back” and engage in civil discourse. Our Town Board members stood together and prayed for this on Sept. 11. Attending meet-the-candidate forums is their chance to put those words and prayers into action.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk may go down in history as a turning point for our country. It may lead to political violence like we’ve not seen since the Civil War or it may lead us to “disagree better.” The choice is ours. Heed the words of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

If a factual report of the records obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request makes officials unhappy or uncomfortable, we’re sorry but our job as a news organization isn’t to protect their feelings. Our job is to report the facts.

Column: Coronavirus changed so many things about our world and how we live our lives. It deepened my gratitude for the people we now call essential workers.

Column: "It’s summertime on Long Island. It’s hot and humid and there are too many annoying mosquitos. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. Is this something to worry about now?"

Today, Justice Thomas said the quiet part out loud. The reasoning of the Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade can be applied to the right of same sex couples to marry, or have private consensual sex, or even the right to buy contraceptives. They are rooted in a legal doctrine Thomas said is “demonstrably erroneous” and the Court has a duty to “correct” them.

Opinion: No, gun control laws won’t prevent all gun violence. And yes, every mass shooter is by definition mentally ill. But focusing on one of these to the exclusion of the other is as effective as “thoughts and prayers” are for healing the hearts of grieving parents, siblings and other family members of the 19 little children and their teachers whose bodies were shredded by hundreds of rounds of bullets in a Texas classroom this week. It does next to nothing. And that's exactly what the gun lobby wants.