President Donald Trump has formally stepped into the ongoing contract fight between the MTA and five Long Island Rail Road unions, assigning an “emergency” mediation board to try to resolve the dispute. The White House yesterday published an executive order “establishing an emergency board to investigate disputes between the Long Island Rail Road Company and certain of its employees represented by certain labor organizations.” Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that the move came in response to a request made Monday by five labor organizations representing around half of the LIRR’s 7,000 union workers. The request delayed a potential strike by the unions that could have otherwise begun as early as tomorrow morning..“Ask and you shall receive,” Kevin Sexton, national vice president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and spokesman for the coalition of LIRR unions involved in the dispute, said in a statement Tuesday. “We are confident that the members of that board will find our coalition’s contract proposals exceedingly reasonable.”The unions represent several LIRR trades, including locomotive engineers, machinists, ticket clerks, signal workers and electricians. The MTA wants the organizations to accept a three-year contract with 3% raises in the first and second years, and a 3.5% raise in the third year — the same terms accepted by several other MTA unions, including at the LIRR.But the holdout unions say the 9.5% total wage increase doesn’t keep up with the high cost of living in New York and on Long Island and effectively amounts to a wage cut. Union leaders on Monday said they've accepted the three-year, 9.5% terms, but want a fourth year at a 6.5% raise.The board will come up with nonbinding recommendations on a resolution to the dispute. As dictated by federal law, the establishment of the board delays a potential work stoppage for 120 days, or through mid-January 2026. A second board could then be empaneled, pushing a strike deadline to mid-May of next year.***Governments on the North Fork are seeking out the best way to address the preponderance of short-term rentals in the upcoming weeks. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the public will have a chance tomorrow during a Greenport Village Board public hearing at 6 p.m. to address Greenport’s latest proposals regarding short-term rental codes.Meanwhile, the Southold Town Board is expected to hold a Sept. 30 code committee meeting to discuss changes to its code, which currently sets a minimum stay at 14 days but has proved to be difficult to enforce. A task force last year recommended a permitting process to allow individual people to provide short-term rentals in their homes.While both Greenport and Southold have long been areas where the housing mix has included seasonal and full-time residents, short-term rental websites that make it easy to pair property owners with renters have led to the commercialization of residential neighborhoods and decreased the stock of long-term housing, according to the town. Southold’s task force found last year that more than 40 short-term rentals listed in Southold are listed by just four property management companies.***The Riverhead Community Awareness Program (CAP) is seeking community volunteers to teach the Too Good for Drugs Prevention Program to fifth and sixth grade students at Pulaski Street Intermediate School in Riverhead. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the volunteers would teach eight monthly presentations at Pulaski Street Intermediate School assisted by peer leaders in grades 8-12, according to a Riverhead CAP press release. The commitment to the program is approximately two hours per month during the 2025-2026 school year, with a flexible training schedule. Both English and Spanish speaking volunteers are needed.The program is an...

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