The White House budget office is instructing federal agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown, specifically targeting employees who work for programs that are not legally required to continue.

This month, Long Island achieved an important victory: ensuring that critical projects including addressing the terrible Oakdale Merge and the interchange of the Southern State and Meadowbrook Parkways were included in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council's Transportation Improvement

The investment is "huge news" for Long Island, and it will help advance the region's plans for a research corridor that connects academic institutions and helps create new startup companies, said Kevin Law, who chairs the Stony Brook University Council.