TWF 319 - Freeport Schools Going Remote, Jan 3rd-Jan 7th (CoViD update #13)

 Hello, friends,

Fresh off of yesterday's CoVID update comes news that the Freeport Public Schools are shifting to a week of online instruction/remote learning for Monday, Jan 3rd - Friday, Jan 7th.  While there's a whole missive that was sent out, and is available on their webpage (I can't link to it for some archaic reason), I strongly urge you to check out this clip of the big bit of information:

I'm wishing everyone in the community well through these trying times.

Jesse Pohlman is an author from Long Island, New York, born and raised in Freeport.

TWF 318: Rising Cases, Free At-Home CoViD Tests At Mitchell Field. (CoViD Update #12)

 Hello, friends, and a big hat-tip to old TWF friend Jason Bass for a tip-off,

I hope you're all doing well this holiday season.  I know many of us simply aren't, thanks largely to the Omicron strain of CoVID-19 (CoVID-21?), and I know we're all looking for some idea of what's next, so let's start by taking a quick assessment of contemporary reporting: 

Current CoVID Situation: 

According to Long Island Press, Nassau County had about 4,457 positive cases on Tuesday, December 28th.  That's, yanno, yesterday.  News 12's reporting claims that Heckscher State Park in Islip's testing center shut down very early today due to testing demand, suggesting we should expect an increase in positivity rates.  I checked Nassau County's CoVID Website but it's honestly underwhelming and seemingly only displays cumulative data, not daily?  

I dunno.  I do know you should probably cancel any indoor social events you've got planned, and should be following NYS Mandates and CDC Guidance on wearing masks while indoors.  If you aren't already, get vaccinated.  Save yourselves as much sickness and heartache as you can - I know too many people with Long CoVID to suggest taking this lightly.

Free Tests At Mitchell Field:

As per County Executive Laura Curran:

Don't ask me how long 20,000 test kits are going to last.  Don't even ask me if it's a good idea to go out to a place where you know someone is CoVID positive, since you might just take CoVID back home with you.  This is why we need the government (Could be state, could be Federal, I'll accept them from either or both) to mail each individual, I dunno, like six tests to keep in case they're needed.  But, that's a topic for another day.

The point is:  There are free at-home test kits available at this place at this time.  If you can in any way get there, get there.

Jesse Pohlman is an author from Long Island, New York, who was born and raised in Freeport.  He's a Sci-Fi/Fantasy author, so you can check his website for his works.  The Weekly Freeporter is a free, amateur blogging and reporting service.  If you'd like to ask him a question about The Weekly Freeporter, he's doing a 2021 Q&A at this link.

TWF 317 - Praise For The Freeport Memorial Library

Hello, friends.

Libraries around Nassau County are amazing places.  Not only do they have books, but they have digital books.  They provide access to computers for those who might not have working internet connections.  They host classes.  They also provide services for children's enrichment.

Growing up, I remember spending hours upon hours at the Freeport Memorial Library's computer desk.  I remember having to sign in and wait my turn to work on some tremendous CRT monitor and - well, let's be honest, I went there to play games.  My parents encouraged me, since it gave them some time off and it trained me to operate those machines-of-the-future.  You know, like the one I'm writing this on?

I can still see flashes of images in my head from that time.  They're very welcome.

Image courtesy of the Memorial Library webpage.

Yet all is not well as we approach January of 2022.  CoVID-19 has continued to be mainline threat to all of, yanno, Humanity (maybe worthy of a hyper-local update article?).  As a result, in-person community events are largely suspended.  Yet, thanks to the proliferation of technologies such as Zoom (far from the first, but arguably the most widespread), the Library has continued to provide events.  Here's the list for tomorrow, 12/22/2021, and Thursday 12/23/2021:

Click the link near the top of the article to check out the full library schedule!
 - Also, I believe the Chorale Holiday Caroling was cancelled.  Bummer.

There's really no greater purpose to this post than to praise the Library.  Libraries are one of the last great free services provided by our society to our society, and while we really do need more of those, we also need to praise the ones we've still got.  Times are tough.  I know first-hand that librarians at all levels, from the NYC system down to your local elementary school, work extremely hard.  I know CoVID has taken a toll on them.

So, for no particular reason, thank you for everything.

Jesse Pohlman is an author from Long Island, New York, who spent his formative years and many more in Freeport.  He's presently thinking of his parents and good memories because it's his first Solstice without his father, and that's rough.