New York education leaders and advocates are pushing Gov. Kathy Hochul to overhaul the state’s decades-old school aid formula in her budget proposal this month — a formula that currently would cut funding for hundreds of districts if not for a safety net policy.

The complex formula, known as Foundation Aid, was enacted in 2007-08 and is the single largest source of financial support for public schools in the state, sending billions of dollars to Nassau and Suffolk counties alone.

Parts of the formula are regularly updated, but others are frozen and haven’t kept up with rising costs, education leaders and advocates told NEWSDAY. The calculation also doesn’t consider the state’s 2% cap on property taxes, which limits how much districts can raise locally.

Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that a safety net policy, known as "hold harmless" or "save harmless," ensures districts that otherwise would see cuts under Foundation Aid receive at least as much as they did the previous year. More and more districts are relying on the policy, due largely to declining enrollment and rising income and property wealth, which reduce the state aid districts are eligible for according to the Foundation Aid formula. This school year, more than 56%, or 378, of the state’s 673 school districts fall under "save harmless," according to data from the Association of School Business Officials of New York.

On Long Island, 67 of the 121 school districts are on "save harmless" — including 42 in Suffolk County.

"The higher that number goes, the greater the risk is that you really don’t have a functioning formula," said Robert Lowry, deputy director for the New York State Council of School Superintendents. "Fewer and fewer districts are actually on the formula and thereby dependent on getting some sort of minimum percentage increase."

The state budget for 2025-26 guaranteed at least a 2% increase in aid for all districts and maintained the "save harmless" policy, but neither is guaranteed this year.

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New York State’s plans for scores of battery-energy storage plants by 2030 face new headwinds this year after another fire at an upstate battery plant in December, Suffolk County’s rejection of a variance for a proposed plant in Holtsville and the federal government’s freeze on wind-energy arrays designed to feed the batteries. Mark Harrington reports in NEWSDAY that developers who had planned large battery plants for Long Island had already faced waves of opposition from most Long Island towns with moratoriums on construction of the plants, following fires at three plants in New York State in 2023. One of those, in East Hampton, has been back in operation since summer after a devastating 30-hour fire that required a near complete reconstruction.

Proponents of the batteries, which are part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan for a carbon-free grid by 2040, say battery-plant fires have been greatly reduced in recent years and new plants in the state are subject to strict new fire codes that went into effect this month. The codes mandate intense scrutiny of the plants’ designs, continuing inspections and faster emergency response plans.

The battery facilities planned for Long Island vary in size from less than an acre for a facility operating on Brookhaven Town land in Patchogue to more than six acres for the planned Holtsville plant. The plants feature row upon row of large storage containers, each filled with hundreds of thousands of AA-size lithium-ion batteries like those used in other electronic products. The batteries are used safely in countless rechargeable electronic products and utility storage systems, but improper use, poor design or damage can cause them to catch fire and, in the worst scenario, experience an extremely high temperature thermal runaway process that is exceedingly difficult to extinguish.

LIPA last year said it would defer to the state to arrange new contracts for battery-energy storage plants, which store hours of energy to operate sections of the grid.

Governor Hochul, whose vision for 6,000 megawatts of batteries across the state by 2030 is the driving impetus for the plants, has defended the need for them in spite of recent events.

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Riverhead’s First Baptist Church will hold its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Breakfast on Monday, Jan. 19 at 8 a.m. (doors open at 7:30 a.m.) at the Hyatt Regency Long Island at 1717 Motor Parkway in Hauppauge. Rev. Dr. David L. Kelley II, Senior Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Brooklyn will be the keynote speaker.

Organizers will recognize the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2026 honorees, including:

• Lifetime Achievement Award: the Rev. Charles A. Coverdale, senior pastor of The First Baptist Church of Riverhead.

• Meritorious Award: Vanessa Baird-Streeter, president/CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, and Dave Gallo, president/co-founder of Georgica Green Ventures, LLC.

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Southampton Town plans to buy an oceanfront mansion in one of the Hamptons’ most expensive neighborhoods for $25.8 million, then demolish it to create public beach access.

If the sale goes through, the town would raze the three-story, 11-bedroom luxury home and in-ground pool that sit on 2.2 acres on Meadow Lane. Alek Lewis reports in NEWSDAY that Southampton would remediate the property to protect its maritime dune habitat, said Jacqueline Fenlon, director of the town's Community Preservation Fund. The Town of Southampton would look to create a public beach access point there using the property’s 172 linear feet of ocean frontage, she said.

The planned sale is part of an overall effort to expand beach access in an exclusive part of town and preserve more waterfront property from environmental threats, officials said. At $11.7 million per acre, the land would be the most valuable the town has bought using the Community Preservation Fund, which generates revenue from a 2% real estate tax. According to town records, it would be the town's second-largest purchase using CPF money. In 2023, the town paid $30 million to buy and preserve 27.3 acres of farmland in Bridgehampton.

Southampton has an agreement with the seller to buy the property, but the town board needs to authorize the sale, Fenlon said. A hearing on the purchase is scheduled for tomorrow.

Fenlon said the property is a “rare opportunity to be able to preserve such pristine ocean frontage.”

“We have been trying to, throughout the town, prioritize coastal properties for coastal resiliency practices, habitat restoration and habitat preservation,” Fenlon said.

The home on Meadow Lane, with views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Shinnecock Bay, is one of the most expensive in the Hamptons. At the west end of the road is Southampton Village’s public heliport, which many wealthy residents use to fly to and from New York City.

Southampton Supervisor Maria Moore said the town is "eager to complete this purchase to preserve beach access for our town residents."

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As the use of images created by artificial intelligence explodes, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced yesterday that she would seek limits on how political campaigns can employ the technology before elections. Benjamin Oreskes reports in THE NY TIMES that Ms. Hochul specifically wants to prohibit campaigns from spreading A.I.-generated images of people, including opposing candidates, without their consent in the 90 days before an election.

The new measures, which Governor Hochul will mention in her State of the State address tomorrow, would also outlaw the deliberate dissemination of false information about elections, including their date and time.

“It’s easier than ever for bad actors to spread misinformation in critical moments, including those that can decide elections,” Ms. Hochul said in a written statement.

“Now is the time to take action and protect our democracy or risk a slippery slope,” she added. “We’re leading the nation in setting strong and sensible standards for A.I. use in elections, protecting voters across the state.”

Ms. Hochul’s proposal, if passed by the State Legislature, would allow people or groups to sue if they see images or information that runs afoul of the new rules. The measures build on an array of recent laws passed in New York and across the country that have forced campaigns to disclose how A.I. is used by political candidates in the run-up to elections.

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Peeko Oysters Founder Pete Stein will discuss “How Oysters Shape Our Shores” in a talk at the Cutchogue Civic Association’s monthly meeting this coming Thursday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. in the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library 27550 Main Road in Cutchogue. He’ll discuss how oysters are grown in the Peconic Bay, why shellfish farming helps local waters, what daily life on an oyster farm looks like and a quick introduction to sustainable aquaculture in the community.

This event is free.

That’s this coming Thursday evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library 27550 Main Road in Cutchogue.

For further info visit cutchoguecivic.org

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It is a big year for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and the kickoff of the 2026 legislative session could lay the foundation for how it ends. Yancey Roy reports in NEWSDAY that Hochul is facing a tight budget and federal financial cuts from the Trump administration. She will face political pressure from the left in trying to accommodate a new and popular New York City mayor and from environmental activists frustrated by some of the governor’s recent actions.

She will face it from the right in the form of a Republican gubernatorial challenger eager to make Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani a punching bag. And she’ll have to do all of it with an eye toward November, when she not only will try to win reelection but also be a strong enough candidate to impact down-ballot congressional races that could tip the balance of power in Washington.

“It’s not pure hyperbole to say that there never has been more at stake now for New York State, politically and policy-wise, than any other modern-day midterm election cycle,” said Lawrence Levy, dean of suburban studies at Hofstra University. “Thus, every line of every budget proposal and bill will be directed toward gaining ground in November and that, in turn, will drive a focus on affordability — particularly on housing, energy and food — public perception of crime and the appeal of the party brands.”

Hochul will outline her agenda in two important speeches this month. Tomorrow, she will deliver the annual State of the State address in which a governor presents an aspirational and thematic view of enacting policy. On Jan. 20, those themes have to be backed by real dollars and cents as the governor proposes a state budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Hochul is sounding more confident than in 2022, when she won a closer-than-expected election over then-Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Long Island Republican. Now in her fifth year as governor, the Buffalo Democrat has a comfortable lead in the polls and analysts point out that midterm election years — when a president isn’t running — tend to favor the party not in the White House, which means Democrats this time.

“Excellent. Really strong,” Hochul answered in response to a media question about how she is feeling about heading into an election year.