U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon will join local officials at Massapequa High School today to make an announcement related to the findings of an investigation into the NYS Board of Regents' ban on Native American imagery in public schools, according to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's office. Darwin Yanes reports in NEWSDAY that the U.S. Department of Education launched the probe last month to determine if the state Department of Education's threat of withholding funds from the Massapequa district if it did not change its mascot violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, it said. The department initiated the investigation after President Donald Trump publicly expressed support for the district as it fights to keep its nickname, the "Chiefs," and its mascot.

The state Board of Regents in 2023 banned the use of Native American mascots, team names and logos in public schools. The regulation affected 13 districts on Long Island; nine have taken steps to retire their mascots and names. The state has said that school districts that do not comply with the ban by June 30 risk losing state aid or facing the removal of school officers.

A federal judge in March ruled against Massapequa and three other Long Island districts — Connetquot, Wyandanch and Wantagh — that had sought to either keep their names or nullify the state regulation.

The Massapequa school district filed an amended complaint last week in its ongoing challenge to the ban.

Secretary McMahon is expected to tour Massapequa High School during her visit today.

In a letter to the community, Massapequa school officials said McMahon "will visit select locations to participate in important conversations and observe how our students and educators are engaging in meaningful work centered on real-world skills, leadership and lifelong learning...Friday’s visit is an opportunity to share the incredible stories of our students, staff and community, and to highlight how our commitment to excellence ensures that every child thrives."

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

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New York State Attorney General Letitia James and law enforcement officials from 15 other states sued the Trump administration this week, seeking to block millions of dollars in cuts to National Science Foundation programs. Maura McDermott reports in NEWSDAY that the cuts imposed on research and diversity programs “will devastate critical STEM research at higher education institutions,” the NYS attorneys general said in the 38-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday.

James said in a statement, “This administration’s attacks on basic science and essential efforts to ensure diversity in STEM will weaken our economy and our national security.”

Under the Trump administration, the foundation has cut grants aimed at increasing the numbers of women, people of color and people with disabilities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

The National Science Foundation said in a statement on its website that the work it supports “should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups. Research projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.”

It also said it would support science and engineering projects “that focus on protected characteristics when doing so is intrinsic to the research question and is aligned with Agency priorities."

The state attorneys general lawsuit seeks a court order blocking the cuts to indirect costs and diversity programs.

In addition to New York, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Washington.

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The daily pay for jurors is set to increase on June 8 from $40 to $72 — the first such hike in New York State in 27 years as the court system attempts to keep up with inflation and make serving more economically feasible. Robert Brodsky reports in NEWSDAY that the state budget increases by 80% the per-day wages for New Yorkers serving as jurors.

Trial and grand jurors who receive their regular wages from their employer during jury service are not paid by the state.

In a statement, Joseph A. Zayas, chief administrative judge of the New York State Unified Court System, which advocated for the increase, said the hike was overdue.

"The juror per diem payment has not been increased since 1998," Zayas said of legislation signed by then-Gov. George Pataki raising the rate from $15 to $40. "Considering the sacrifices that persons serving on juries are routinely asked to make, the value of their service, and the importance of juries reflecting a fair cross section of the community, it is good public policy for the state to ensure that juror compensation is periodically adjusted."

As was the case in the past, companies with 11 or more employees must pay employees the daily rate for each of their first three days of jury service. If jury service continues past three days, and employers do not pay the wage allowance, the state will make the payment.

Employees of companies with 10 or fewer workers who are not paid their regular wages will be paid the daily allowance by the state for each day of jury attendance.

Funding for the wage increase will be borne by the Judiciary’s annual budget, officials said.

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As the Southold Town Board unanimously approved a one-year extension of a moratorium for hotel development applications on Wednesday, the board is continuing to weigh an application for an exemption from that moratorium from the developers looking to build an 81-room hotel on the site of the former North Fork Bank headquarters on the Main Road in Mattituck. Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said the board has “a lot to consider here” before taking a vote, which could occur as soon as the board’s next meeting June 10. “We have an applicant looking for relief, and we are considering this seriously,” he added.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the “Mattituck Hotel” project, proposed by the Cardinale family’s Limited Liability Companies, has been controversial for years — a 2018 proposal called for 200 rooms, and another iteration unveiled two years ago proposed a 121-room resort motel, with an indoor water park. It was roundly rebuked by residents of Mattituck. In 2024, the applicants brought a new proposal, working within the footprint of the existing building, to the Southold Town Planning Board, but it has not proceeded due to the moratorium, in place while the town works to update its zoning code.

On Wednesday evening several residents of Mattituck spoke against granting a waiver for the new proposal citing traffic issues. But, Supervisor Krupski said the plan is “quite scaled back” from what the applicants originally proposed, and that “what’s being asked is not to approve it, only to be allowed to apply” to the Town of Southold’s Planning Board, which would review the project. He added that the Town Board had earlier in the meeting approved about 100 weddings in Southold, implicating that those wedding guests would need places to stay.

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The Southampton History Museum says it plans to sue the Town of Southampton over the recent redrawing of tax maps on property at Conscience Point, which the museum’s attorney claims was an “unconstitutional, fraudulent” seizure of land and part of a “conspiracy” to protect the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery from being evicted by the museum. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that in a May 19 filing in Suffolk County Supreme Court, the Southampton History Museum’s attorney filed a notice of claim — the legal precursor to a lawsuit — saying that members of the Southampton Town Board, the town attorney, an attorney for the shellfish hatchery and other town officials had conspired to convince county officials to redraw the tax maps, giving the town ownership of the land where the hatchery stands.

“These acts constitute … fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud … breach of fiduciary duty, slander of title, conversion, negligence, wrongful interference with property rights, trespass, and an unconstitutional taking and deprivation of property without due process,” the notice of claim says.

The new map shows the Town of Southampton as the owner of the southern parcel, closest to North Sea Road, which contains a public boat ramp and a dirt parking lot where the hatchery building stands. The Southampton Colonial Society, the parent organization of the Southampton History Museum, is shown as owning only the northern portion of the property, comprised mostly of wetlands, and a trail to the historical marker commemorating the first landing of European settlers on the South Fork in 1640.

In late April, the Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency issued a new tax map that divides the land at Conscience Point in North Sea into two parcels — one owned by the town, one by the museum.

Southampton History Museum attorney, Sheila Tendy said the museum will be filing the lawsuit referenced in the notice of claim within the next 90 days.

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New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, a member of the Agriculture Committee, recently welcomed committee Chairwoman Donna Lupardo of Binghamton to the North Fork for a tour of local farms and agricultural sites. The tour highlighted the region’s diverse farming operations and the challenges facing East End agriculture.

Southold Town Supervisor Albert Krupski led the tour last Friday and Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio joined for the first leg, which included visits to Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue, 8 Hands Farm in Cutchogue, Little Ram Oyster Company in Southold, Oysterponds Farm in Orient, and a U.S. Geological Survey test well site in the Oysterponds School District.

“This tour was an excellent opportunity to showcase the East End’s unique and vital agricultural economy to Chair Lupardo,” said Schiavoni. “Our farms are leaders in innovation and sustainability, and they play a critical role in feeding our communities and protecting our environment.” Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo of the 123rd Assembly District represents the Southern Tier in Albany.

Both Lupardo and Schiavoni are Democrats.

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A New York school district was mired in a pitched battle over its Native American mascot.

The school board in Lancaster, a small district near Buffalo, had voted to banish its “Redskins” imagery and nickname. But parents protested that the mascot was a source of pride. Teachers arrived to class sporting outfits with the logo. And students regularly ran into reminders of the old mascot in classrooms, gyms and locker rooms.

The year was 2015.

Troy Closson reports in THE NY TIMES that the school district was accused of violating students’ civil rights when it persisted in showcasing the mascot, and the U.S. Education Department opened an investigation. The imbroglio eventually ended with an accord between the district and the federal government to halt the use of the mascot.

A decade since the battle began in Lancaster, the elimination of Native American mascots from public schools has re-emerged as a contentious political issue, and New York again finds itself at the center of a firestorm. The state has required districts to abandon mascots that appropriate Native culture, or risk losing funding.

But this time, the federal government’s stance is very different.

The Education Department recently began a civil rights investigation into the state’s mandate to banish certain mascots after the Massapequa School district on Long Island refused to forgo its decades-old “Chief” mascot, a Native American man wearing a feathered headdress.

Today, the federal education secretary, Linda McMahon, is expected to visit the district to announce whether by restricting the use of Native mascots, the state violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funds from engaging in discriminatory behavior based on race, color or national origin.

The Trump administration’s approach to the issue reflects a stark shift in the application of federal civil rights protections, legal experts said, and illustrates the transformation of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, which is charged with investigating complaints and ensuring an equal opportunity to education for the nation’s children.