The Legislative Task force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment released proposed voting district maps 10 days ago.

The maps, says Daniel Altschuler, coordinator for the Long Island Civic Engagement Table, follow a familiar pattern of leaving downstate New Yorkers at a disadvantage compared with voters upstate. He says that’s particularly true of the proposed Senate districts on Long Island.

“For instance, in Suffolk County, we know that all of the demographic growth has been in communities of color – and yet we see that the map is strikingly similar to what it was before, suggesting that those who are making the map did not take those demographic changes into account.”

Suffolk County’s population, Altschuler says, would have dropped in the latest U.S. census were it not for the influx of tens of thousands of Latinos and people of color, and the county’s Senate districts should have shifted as a consequence. His group is co-sponsoring a forum tonight in Brentwood to help community members respond to the proposed redistricting plans.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants an independent commission to draw the new political boundaries. Cuomo may have to follow through on a threat to veto lines the Legislature is proposing, says Luis Valenzuela, executive director of the Long Island Immigrant Alliance, because those lines heavily favor incumbent lawmakers.

“It coincides with voter suppression and disenfranchisement, so Cuomo is going to have to deliver on his statement to veto any lines that have a negative impact.”

Tonight’s forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at 1090 Suffolk Ave. in Brentwood. Its purpose is to prepare citizens, particularly those from communities of color, for stating their case to the task force, which is to hold a hearing Thursday at the Suffolk County Legislature.

Disclaimer: This report was compiled by the New York News Connection, which is fully responsible for the editorial content within

Second Precinct police officers responded to a call reporting a gunshot victim at Los Campos Deli, 161 Depot Road, in Huntington Station at approximately 10:18 p.m. When they arrived, they discovered that the victim, Michael Fredericks, 26, of Huntington Station, had been transported by a friend to Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Homicide Squad detectives are continuing the investigation. Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.

Canine Section Officer Robert Fanwick observed a 2011 Nissan Frontier swerving between lanes on County Road 19 in Holbrook at 9:36 p.m. Officer Fanwick pulled over the vehicle and the driver, Justin Mullany, 34, of Blue Point, appeared confused and was unable to locate paperwork.

Mullany’s vehicle was equipped with an ignition interlock device due to a prior DWI conviction. Mullany told police that he was swerving because he was attempting to blow into the interlock device.

SAFE-T (Selective Alcohol Fatality Enforcement Team) Section Officer Ari Hirsch arrested Mallany and charged him with Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs.

Mullany was scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on February 3.

Brightwaters, NY (SmithtownRadio.com) – A trailer that was used to transport equipment for a local Cub Scout troop was found in Brightwaters this week.

A jogger spotted the missing trailer on Wohseepee Drive in Brightwaters on Sunday January 29, at 10 a.m. The jogger told police he recognized the trailer from a media report. All property inside the trailer including a video monitor, video projector, barbecue grills, and Cub Scout flag and memorabilia were still inside the vehicle.

The Suffolk County Police Crime Stoppers Section released a Crime Alert about the trailer being stolen between January 16-18 of last month, from an unfenced lot located at the corner of Moffitt Boulevard and Commack Road in Islip. The words “Boy Scouts of America Troop 439 Ronkonkoma NY” was written on the outside of the trailer.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact the Third Squad at 631-854-8352 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.

Anthony Cole, 22, of 289 Broadway, called 911 to report that he had been robbed of his backpack by a man who fled the scene on a BMX bicycle on Union Avenue in Holbrook at 1 p.m. Upon interviewing Cole, the responding officer ascertained that Cole had not been robbed and he had fabricated the story so he could obtain a police report for stolen medication.

Cole was charged with Falsely Reporting an Incident 3rd Degree and will be arraigned at a later date.

Second Precinct Officers William Moldovan, Claudia Delgado and Christopher Fezza responded after a 911 caller reported that a toddler was alone in a 2010 Toyota Prius in the parking lot of Bed Bath and Beyond, located at 340 Walt Whitman Road.

Officer Fezza was attempting to gain access to the vehicle, which was locked, when Stella Wu, the child’s mother, exited the store and unlocked the Toyota.

Wu, 28, was arrested and charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child. She will be held overnight at the Fourth Precinct and arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on February 3.

The child was released to family.

James Garside, who is an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician, was able to restore the heartbeat of a heart attack victim in Huntington on Tuesday, police say.

On Jan. 19 Garside helped save an overdose victim, police say. Five days later, he helped revive a heart attack victim.

Newsday obtained police department news releases dating back to 2004 where Garside is named as playing a role in lifesaving operations.

On Tuesday, police received a call from a man reporting his wife was not breathing, police say. Second Precinct Police Officer John Fenelius and an off-duty Cold Spring Harbor firefighter, Matthew Renz, responded and found the husband performing CPR.

The woman is listed in critical condition at Huntington Hospital.

Second Precinct Patrol officers responded to an alarm call at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church located at 11 Ogden Ct. at 2:18 a.m. Arriving officers found broken windows and an open door to the church. After an investigation, it was determined the suspects entered the school portion of the church, caused damage to the school area and stole food.

Second Precinct officers established a perimeter and requested a Canine unit. Canine Officer John Mallia and his dog Blue responded and tracked the subjects for more than a mile. The track was approximately two hours old. Officer Mallia and Blue eventually located the three subjects in a boat located in the front yard of a house on Brompton Place in Huntington Station at approximately 4:15 a.m.

Javier Hernandez, 21, of  Huntington Station, Edwin Diaz-Hernandez, 16, also of Huntington Station, and a 15-year-old juvenile were charged with Burglary 3^rd Degree and Criminal Mischief 3^rd Degree.

The juvenile was taken to Family Court after being charged as a juvenile delinquent. Hernandez and Diaz-Hernandez are being held at the Second Precinct and are scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on February 2.

Mallia and his dog Blue were the first to discovery remains along Long Island’s South Shore in December of 2010 while looking for Shannan Gilbert.

Police received a 911 call reporting shots fired outside of Maggie’s Bar, located at 995 Straight Path, at 3:13 a.m. today. The victim was apparently shot twice in the left calf during the incident, which detectives believe occurred at the entrance to the bar’s parking lot. The victim transported himself to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injures.

The investigation is continuing.

Detectives are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact the First Squad at 631-854-8152 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.

A woman, identified only as a 43-year-old Islandia woman, was driving a Volkswagon Jetta south on Brentwood Road in Bay Shore at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday when she mistakenly turned onto the Long Island Rail Road tracks near Union Boulevard. The woman attempted to dislodge her vehicle from the tracks but was unsuccessful.

Arriving police officers contacted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority via police dispatch but were told an approaching train was too close to stop.

Suffolk County Police Third Precinct Officers Christopher Palazzo and Jereme Matthews coordinated an evacuation plan to get people in the area to safety before pulling the woman from her dislodged car, police say.

As they ran to safety, the train struck the vehicle sending it flying across the tracks, police say.

MTA Police are investigating and have arrested the woman for driving under the influence.

No one on the ground or on the train was injured.