🌱 Smithtown Daily: News 12 Shakeup + Student Loan Pay Back

Diane Witek
·4 min read

Happy Saturday, neighbors! Diane Witek here with everything worth knowing today in town.

First, today's weather:

Breezy and much colder. High: 19, low: 11.

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Here are the top stories in Smithtown today:

  1. Big shakeup at News 12 lands four anchors and reporters out of a job! Among the latest cuts are veteran anchor Jackie Lukas, sports anchor Jamie Stuart, and reporters Christine Insinga, and Shari Einhorn, who took to social media to announce their departures from News 12 due to Altice's reorganization of it's newsroom. (Daily Voice)

  2. If you have a student loan with Navient loan company, you are in luck! New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Navient has been ordered to pay back more than $1.7 billion in debt cancelation nationwide for deceptive practices, including $110 million to around 4,300 New York student borrowers. If you will have your loans canceled, you will receive a notice from Navient by July 2022, authorities said. Refunds on any payments of the canceled loans made after June 30, 2021, will also be refunded. No action is required from loan borrowers to receive these funds. (Smithtown Patch)

  3. In Suffolk County, 1,176,064 people have received at least one vaccine dose, an increase of 1,723. On the whole, Long Island's COVID-19 positivity rate continues to a steady decline. New cases are still at a little over 8,500 per day with nearly 2,200 Long Island residents being treated for COVID at hospitals. (Press Release Desk)

Today in Smithtown:

  • Take and Make-Let's Fly (Smithtown Library). (9:30 a.m.)

  • Learning to Code with Python (Smithtown Library-Smithtown Building). (10 a.m.)

  • Chess and Checkers Buddies Volunteers (Smithtown Library-Nesconset Building). (11:15 a.m.)

  • Chess and Checkers Buddies (Smithtown Library-Nesconset Building). (11:30 a.m.)

  • Winter Story Stones (Smithtown Library-Nesconset Building). (2:30 p.m.)

  • Toasty Tales (Smithtown Library-Smithtown Building). (3 p.m.)

From my notebook:

  • Sweetbriar Nature Center: "Eleanor is in deep hibernation sleep mode even though she is an indoor ambassador and isn’t exposed to cold temperatures. Eleanor is blind so perhaps that has mixed up her internal clock?"(Facebook) (Website)

  • Smithtown Performing Arts Center: "Audiences loved our 2017 production of 'It Shoulda Been You' and we sure did too!💍#spac, #longisland, #longislandtheatre, #itshouldabeenyou, #musicaltheatre."(Facebook) (Website)

  • Smithtown Historical Society: "The 2022 Annual Meeting of the Smithtown Historical Society will be VIRTUAL, members will be notified via email with a link to join our meeting on Friday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m."(Facebook) (Website)

  • Nextdoor Neighbor, Smithtown Pines: "Anyone have an old Harley or sports bike they don’t ride or don’t want anymore I’m having a hard time with money right now and would like a little sense of happiness! Even if the bike needs work I’ll take it off your hands message me."(Nextdoor)

  • Nextdoor Neighbor, Smithtown Pines: "Does anyone who lives off of or near Wyandanch Boulevard in Commack hear a dog barking all night long? I’m just praying this dog is not outside."(Nextdoor)

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Alrighty, you're all caught up for today. I'll see you soon!

— Diane Witek

About me: Impassioned Writer, Website Designer, Social Media Marketer and newly proclaimed Baker. Lover of nature and animals of all kinds.

This article originally appeared on the Smithtown Patch