President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on his global tariff plan sparked mixed reaction on Capitol Hill, with Long Island’s congressional Democrats blasting the president for recent market turmoil while Republicans praised Trump for seeking new trade deals. Laura Figueroa Hernandez and Candice Ferrette report in NEWSDAY that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate minority leader, said at a news conference after Trump’s announcement yesterday that the president was "feeling the heat" from those opposed to his tariff agenda.

"This is chaos. This is government by chaos," Schumer said. "He keeps changing things from day to day. His advisers are fighting among themselves, calling each other names. And you cannot run a country with such chaos."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), appearing alongside Schumer, said Trump’s approach was a "manufactured crisis" that was causing companies to reconsider their expansion plans.

"Businesses will now not invest in new products or expand their workforce, because they have no idea of what is coming next," Gillibrand said.

However, U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) who represents the east end, called Trump's pause a "smart, strategic move," saying it put "tougher pressure on China" for "using slave-like labor and stealing our intellectual property."

"In a time of economic uncertainty, the pause, and focus on China’s bad trade practices, has brought clarity and renewed confidence in the fight to make America’s economy work for Americans," LaLota said.

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Disruptions in the state's testing system persisted in schools on Long Island and statewide for the second consecutive day yesterday, a situation that education officials in Albany called "unacceptable." John Hildebrand and Robert Brodsky report in NEWSDAY that the issues were being felt in elementary and middle schools that had scheduled computerized English Language Arts testing this month for tens of thousands of students. Glitches first broke out Tuesday morning, in some cases leading to postponements for students either in the midst of testing or waiting to be assessed.

NYS Department of Education spokesman JP O'Hare issued a statement Wednesday apologizing to schools, students and families and acknowledging that some systems had suffered "the loss of two testing days." O'Hare placed the blame on the state's testing vendor, NWEA, a private nonprofit testing agency based in Portland, Oregon.

"We have been in contact with NWEA leadership to demand answers for why this situation has occurred and solutions to ensure that students will not be impacted any further during the spring 2025 testing window," O'Hare said. The window for this year's tests has now been extended by one week, to May 23, a state education department spokesman said.

In Suffolk County, problems were reported in Bayport-Blue Point, Brentwood, Shoreham-Wading River and South Huntington school districts.

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Applications are open for ReWild Long Island’s South Fork summer program to Fight Hunger and Climate Change in East Hampton. Students in 8th-12th grade are eligible to sign up as interns or volunteers now and get experience in environmental stewardship at a dozen non-profit organizations in and around East Hampton including: Share the Harvest Farm, the Village Green, Methodist Lane Bioswales, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton Compost and the Matthew Lester Memorial Garden at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum.

All students earn community service credits, get training, and if they contribute over 60 hours in the summer, a $300 intern scholarship from ReWild Long Island. Hours and days are flexible with 2-hour shifts at each location, giving students the opportunity to fit in summer jobs, summer school or family vacations. The program will run from June 26 to August 31. Students can opt to continue on weekends after Labor Day, when the school semester starts.

Applications are due May 1, 2025, and are available at https://www.rewildlongisland.org/summer-program-south-fork

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There is a nationwide shortage of accountants due to work burnout, more options for college graduates in high-paying careers, lagging salaries, stringent educational requirements, and a growing number of baby boomers retiring, experts said. Nationwide last year, there were 1.8 million accountants and auditors, which was 186,000, or 9.5%, fewer than the number five years earlier. On Long Island, 41.8% of accounting professionals are at least 55 years old, compared with 33% of the overall workforce. "The accounting community, the accounting professions, had what we call a pipeline challenge for quite some time. It's become more pronounced and a lot more obvious as we're seeing more and more businesses, particularly small businesses, have difficulty finding accountants," said Calvin Harris, CEO of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, which is headquartered in Manhattan. Tory N. Parrish reports in NEWSDAY that while there has been an increase in the number of students pursuing college degrees in accounting in the past several years, the numbers are not increasing at a fast enough rate to replace retirees, experts said.

In New York State, the 150-hour college credits requirement typically is met by completing an accounting degree after five years of undergraduate studies or having a combination of a bachelor’s degree in accounting and one year of study for a master’s degree.

The requirement was intended to improve students’ critical-thinking skills but, not only has it not proved to be beneficial, it also is an expensive barrier to entry into the accounting field, according to critics.

Salaries for accountants are starting to increase after lagging for years, experts said.

This year, salaries are projected to increase an average of 8.9% for public accountants, 8.4% for tax services roles and 9.5% for audit and assurance positions, according to CPA Practice Advisor, a Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin-based publication.

On Long Island, average starting annual salaries for new accounting graduates working at large firms range from $85,000 to $90,000, while the range is $75,000 to $85,000 at midsize firms and $65,000 to $75,000 at small firms, local experts said.

The median annual wage for all accountants on Long Island is $101,227, according to the state Department of Labor.

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The Town of Southampton approved plans to close sand mines near residential areas, giving operators up to 7 years to wind down operations. Tara Smith reports in NEWSDAY that the law, approved Tuesday in a 3-1-1 vote, targets sand mines in residential areas and in special groundwater districts where water recharge is deepest. The “intensive” use of sand mines in these areas “jeopardizes” the region's drinking water, drawn solely from the underground aquifer, according to a town resolution.

The board's vote capped a contentious monthslong debate. Environmentalists say mining is harmful because the sand works as a protective layer covering the aquifer. The act of breaking the sand up can cause pollutants to taint the groundwater, backers of the measure have argued. But opponents of the bill say it will deal a devastating blow to the construction and mining industries because sand is a key component of concrete and asphalt. The measure sets deadlines for sand mines to close depending on how much state-approved excavation work has already occurred.

“This is not a law to shut down the mines in one year,” Supervisor Maria Moore said before the vote. The law allows the town to “eliminate the nonconforming mine uses over time, and bring all into conformity so that everyone lives by the same rules," she said.

Southampton Town officials count seven mining sites that would be affected by the legislation, though not all are currently active. The town code outlawed new sand mines in 1983, and existing facilities were grandfathered in, town officials said. Public hearings on the proposal, introduced last October, sparked debate that pitted property rights and the region’s economic dependence on sand as a building material against threats to water quality.

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Three of the six candidates who had been chosen by the Democratic and Republican parties to run in the Southampton Town Board election this fall withdrew from the race this week. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that both of the Democratic candidates for the two Town Council seats up for election this year, John Leonard and Willa Bernstein, declined their nominations on Monday, the final day for candidates nominated by the political party to remove their names from consideration. They were joined by the Republican supervisor candidate, Patrick O’Connor, who said yesterday that, “after careful consideration,” he had also declined his previous nomination. The unprecedented ejection of half the candidates for the major town offices left the party leaders with the opportunity to unilaterally appoint replacement candidates. State election law requires that nominees for elected office secure the signatures of hundreds of voters registered with the party to which they have been nominated to earn a spot on the ballot. But in the event that a candidate who has secured the requisite signatures and been nominated by the party committee then decides to withdraw from the race, a party subcommittee may appoint a person to replace them on the ballot.

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While late budgets are nothing new in New York, one thing has always kept talks moving forward: Until a deal is reached, state lawmakers go without pay.

Carl E. Heastie, the speaker of the State Assembly, wants to change that. Grace Ashford and Benjamin Oreskes report in THE NY TIMES that with this year’s budget talks now a week past the April 1 deadline, Assemblyman Heastie has introduced a bill to reduce a governor’s leverage to force legislative leaders to come to a budget agreement by essentially withholding their pay.

At issue is the long-running practice of governors’ shoehorning contentious policy priorities — such as criminal justice reforms or the number of charter schools — into state budget negotiations they oversee.

Under Mr. Heastie’s proposal, lawmakers would only go unpaid during overtime budget talks if negotiations remained policy-free and anchored in fiscal matters.

A spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul…who does continue to get paid during overdue budget negotiations…derided the proposal. “If the highest-paid state legislators in America are worried about their paychecks, there’s a much easier solution: Come to the table and pass a budget that includes Governor Hochul’s common-sense agenda,” said Avi Small, the governor’s press secretary. The pay dispute carries high stakes in New York, where state lawmakers, who earn $142,000 annually, are the highest paid in the United States. Ms. Hochul, who is paid $250,000, also has the highest governor’s salary in the country.

Unlike the omnipresent threats of shutdown at the federal level, late budgets at the state level rarely affect everyday New Yorkers, as lawmakers regularly pass budget extensions to pay for state operations, legislative staff members and even Ms. Hochul’s salary. Only lawmakers feel the sting of missed paydays.

Even if the bill were to pass both houses however, it is unlikely to earn the signature of Ms. Hochul. That means Democratic lawmakers, who hold a narrow supermajority, would need to override her veto.