🌱 Omicron Numbers Flattening + New LIRR Bay Ridge Branch

Get on up, Five Towns! Here's everything you need to know to get this Monday started off right.

First, today's weather:

Colder; breezy in the morning. High: 31 Low: 17.

Here are the top three stories today in Five Towns:

1. On Long Island, COVID-19 rates have started to decline. Northwell Health reported flattening numbers and fewer employees out sick, more signs that omicron could be plateauing. (Subscription: Newsday)
2. A proposal to build a new rail line between Brooklyn and Queens, the "Interborough Express,"would use 14 miles of LIRR tracks to transport commuters between Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Astoria, Queens on the discontinued Bay Ridge Branch. (Subscription: Newsday)
3. Cork and Kerry, a Rockville Centre bar that opened in 2018, is set to close later this month. The business owners cited pandemic difficulties. (Patch)

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Today in Five Towns:

• N.M.E.A. All-County Division 2-5, Hewlett-Woodmere School District
• SEPTA PTA Meeting, WEC, Hewlett-Woodmere School District, 9:30 a.m.

From my notebook:

• Valley Stream UFSD 13 will save $275,246 in energy expenses after switching to a solar contract with Honeywell Building Solutions. (LI Herald)
• Check out this Hewlett Harbor home for sale, on Wateredge Place, with six bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Each room has water views. (Patch)
• Nextdoor Neighbor, Franklin Elementary: "Where can we get Covid tests? Where do they have at-home Covid tests?" (Nextdoor)

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Thanks for following along and staying informed. I'll catch up with you bright and early tomorrow morning with another update!

— Jackie