By Mike White 🇺🇸 May 7, 2026

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☕ Good morning, Long Island!

📰 I'm toying around with old-school newspaper sections today, instead of my typical More headlines to highlight. The suggestion came from GLI reader Robert Ditta. 🙏🏼

✍🏼 Feel free to respond to this email with feedback!

Today's weather: A 30 percent chance of showers before 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy mid-morning, then gradual clearing. High near 66. Source: NWS

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MEET OUR SPONSORS

Let's give a warm welcome to the new, exclusive sponsor of all of GLI's Greater Port Jeff coverage: ConnectOneBank. These good people are helping bring subscription-free local news to you, every day.

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1. LIU hit with 3-year NCAA probation for widespread eligibility violations

FIRST IN GLI: The NCAA classified the case as Level I-Mitigated — its most serious category — and determined LIU “failed to monitor” its eligibility certification process.

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2. Leapfrog awards 7 Long Island hospitals straight A’s for safety, one gets a D

⚕️ Leapfrog's biannual rankings, released today, evaluate hospitals across the United States on more than 30 measures of preventable harm, including medical errors, accidents and infections.

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3. Medford baseball tourney bans travel teams, pushes back against ‘money grab’

⚾ “Travel ‘name your sport’ is out of control,” said Anthony Frascogna, a tournament organizer who also coaches Patchogue-Medford High School’s varsity baseball team. “It’s a money grab perpetrated on parents who think they are missing out on something.” Click here to read more.

The News Sections

FOOD & DRINK

🍖 Patchogue BBQ staple Bobbique is celebrating 20 years of smoke, sauce and survival on Main Street. This is their story.

🥖 Mademoiselle in Patchogue is making a comeback — this time as a sourdough-only bakery.

🌮 Dive Taco is bringing a fast-casual beach menu to Kismet ahead of summer on Fire Island.

🎷 Amsterdam in Patchogue has launched a new jazz brunch with towering cocktails and indulgent comfort food.

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

🎤 Hicksville’s Billy Joel was left off The New York Times’ list of the greatest living American songwriters — and fans aren’t happy.

🏌️ A Cold Spring Harbor golfer is headed to the PGA Championship after qualifying against the nation's top talent. He's Long Island's only representative.

EAST END

🏖️ Southampton’s Cooper’s Beach is unveiling upgraded showers, foot rinses and a new accessible deck.

🦪 Shellfish harvesting has been temporarily banned in Shinnecock Bay over marine biotoxin concerns.

💧 Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine is demanding federal action over groundwater contamination tied to the former Grumman-Navy site in Calverton.

FEATURED EVENTS

🎻 May 17: Cello prodigy Emily Sun will perform with the Island Symphony Orchestra in Bay Shore after winning the orchestra’s 2026 Young Performers Competition.

🎸 May 17: A massive spring festival with live bands, food trucks, a mechanical bull and more than 100 vendors is taking over Nesconset’s Gazebo Park.

🥕 May 22: The Bay Shore Farmers Market is returning to the downtown bandshell after community demand for a more walkable location.

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Greater Babylon coverage is funded in part by The Argyle Theatre, where Broadway comes to Babylon Village. Click here for tickets to The Prince of Egypt, starting April 16 and running through June 7.