Factor Adrian Curup had just left a 7-Eleven with a case of beer, taking a nighttime walk home when, according to Cocoa Police, the fatal ambush came surveillance cameras captured images of a man — in a distinct white jacket with blue sleeves and the words “Good Luck” emblazoned on the back — running in the area where Curup had been walking bleeding and dying just a few feet away from where four freshly fired bullet casings were scattered across the pavement The number was a marked decrease from the previous year when 45 homicides were reported on the Space Coast which is a good thing,” Assistant State Attorney Michael Hunt said adding that a multitude of factors were involved in the cases “But one is too many,” Hunt said of homicides reports from the medical examiner’s office and court records the same downward trend has been noted by the FBI with the release of the agency's crime statistics released earlier this year Murder and non-negligent manslaughter saw a decrease of 11.6% in 2023 as compared to 2022 Eight of Brevard's 2024’s homicide investigations involved domestic incidents including the one that claimed the life of Curup who investigators said jumped from the bushes to carry out his attack told police that Curup put up a struggle when the deadly robbery attempt happened Two homicides were part of multiple shootings including a mass shooting that took place Jan was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of first-degree premeditated murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the deaths of Lisa Suglam including Taylor’s 15-year-old nephew and a 59-year-old man A court-ordered evaluation found Taylor had schizophrenia and had no understanding of legal proceedings involving the case Other psychologists who evaluated Taylor found he was incompetent to stand trial and recommended he be committed to a facility for further treatment Five of the year’s homicides were officer-involved cases where law enforcement agents were confronted by gun-wielding individuals In a case that involved both multiple and officer-involved shootings were shot and wounded as Kapas tried to flee When Palm Bay police tracked the car Kapas drove to his family's house they found it registered to Father Robert "Bob" Hoeffner were found shot to death in their shared home by officers conducting a welfare check about 6 p.m. just hours after Palm Bay police confronted Kapas Two deadly officer-related shootings in DecemberMost recently in the second of two deadly officer-related shooting to happen in December deputies attempted to talk with 55-year-old Robert Barry of Viera stepped out of his home on Egret Lake Way with a handgun pointed to his head Barry pointed the handgun toward the officers you just guaranteed yourself a trip to the hospital or more likely the morgue,” Ivey said who works patrol and who served in the Marines two of the officer-involved shootings in 2024 have been ruled as justifiable in the use of deadly force by the state attorney’s office Most of this year's homicide cases involved guns Some of the defendants also had criminal histories Others were already on the radar of law enforcement because of previous run-ins with police In the case of Kenydrick Anderson and the April 12 homicide Cocoa police were already familiar with the shooter's father Kirkman was convicted in the death of Darice Knowles during her visit to Brevard in March 2006 and his death penalty case is expected to go before a jury again is being held at the Brevard County Jail Complex the same facility where Anderson awaits trial in connection with the fatal shooting of Curup Both father and son will have hearings on their cases in January J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop. Sarah and Madison Curup live in the city of Franklin and battled rising energy bills throughout last year the couple decided to add solar panels to their home viewing it as a way to offset rising utility bills and as an investment for their 1-year-old daughter’s future ‘This is gonna be a great investment,’” said Madison Curup They began researching local companies and eventually signed a contract with Waukesha-based Sun Badger Solar in mid-2022 putting down a roughly $20,000 deposit on a solar system While Sun Badger came to inspect the Curups’ house twice after the contract was signed the couple hasn’t heard from the company in months and still has no solar panels to show for their investment trying to call and reach out to the people but nobody picked up the phone ever since,” Madison Curup said very upsetting — very sad to know that there are people out there not caring about people’s hard work and savings.” Many residents in Wisconsin and neighboring states have been left scrambling after Sun Badger Solar ceased solar installation operations and furloughed employees last month and customers say they haven’t heard from the company in over a month customers don’t know whether they’ll be refunded for tens of thousands of dollars in down payments on incomplete projects while employees and suppliers say they’re still owed thousands themselves Sun Badger Solar now faces a flurry of lawsuits from customers three in Minnesota and one federal lawsuit in the Illinois Northern District Court At the same time, the company’s rating from the Better Business Bureau has fallen from an “A” to an “F.” The bureau has received and processed at least 67 complaints against Sun Badger many of which the company has not responded to a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau has received at least 50 complaints against the company since the start of the year according to department spokesperson Caleb Kulich DATCP has launched an investigation into Sun Badger Solar but officials couldn’t comment on the specifics The Wisconsin Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment regarding possible criminal investigations into the company Sun Badger Solar’s national lender changed from financing projects on the front-end to paying on the back end according to company President Trevor Sumner “That caused a massive shortfall in our cash flow for the week of Dec but when you have a 120-person company and you miss payroll two days before Christmas One of the employees impacted by the missed payroll is Ted Beringer of Hubertus who worked as a supervising electrician for Sun Badger “My holidays were destroyed without those checks That’s my livelihood,” he said Beringer said he continued working for Sun Badger even after not being paid for the Dec but hasn’t been compensated for any work completed since that period “I’m gonna be seeking other employment I don’t even want to tell people I worked here,” he said saying it was pausing projects because the company “overestimated our ability to fulfill some of our commitments in a timeframe that meets our standards.” Sun Badger said it would reach out to customers with a status update on projects “in the coming weeks.” But the company still hasn’t contacted many of the customers with incomplete solar projects When Sun Badger sent that communication to customers Sumner said he thought the company was going to find a way to navigate the lending issue and continue projects One week after the notice to customers went out, the company furloughed its “nonessential positions,” according to a Jan “It created a situation where we did not have the staff to keep up that commitment of communication (with customers),” Sumner said That lack of contact, coupled with news of the company’s financial struggles has left many customers worried about their investments One such customer is Phil Woodworth of Evansville who invested $20,000 for a 33 panel system but only has a railing on the roof of his home and an electrical box to show for it but I do feel sorry for the people that it’s probably really going to affect,” Woodworth said Woodworth has been in touch with a local lawyer but said he doesn’t plan to sue the company because of the additional cost involved in litigation who sued Sun Badger in Columbia County Circuit Court last week According to the civil complaint the Senkowskis entered into a contract with Sun Badger in December 2021 to “substantially complete” installing a solar system on their property “inside of four months.” They paid the company over $88,000 in January 2022 “Sun Badger has not installed any solar equipment provided any services or even stepped foot on the Senkowskis property in over six months,” the civil complaint said “The Senkowskis have reached out to Sun Badger multiple times in the past six months with no response.” Sumner said Sun Badger was a reputable company until it ran into financing problems in December He said it has installed solar on more than 1,500 homes since 2018 DATCP only received three complaints against Sun Badger while the Better Business Bureau received one complaint in 2020 But some former employees said they noticed difficulties months before December and state officials in Minnesota also heard complaints about the company prior to its financing challenges While many employees quit when Sun Badger missed payroll Beringer ended up working for the company until he was furloughed his budget for solar projects became “very limited,” which made it difficult to obtain supplies to complete projects “There were multiple jobs that we couldn’t go to because we didn’t have the materials to do them,” he said “And they weren’t allowing me to purchase the materials to do the jobs On Dec. 16, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office sent a notice to Sumner and Sun Badger that said the office had reason to believe Sun Badger could be violating state laws “This office has received complaints indicating that Sun Badger may be accepting consumer funds for solar panel installations despite knowing that Sun Badger is not able to complete already-accepted solar projects in a timely fashion,” the letter read Prior to launching Sun Badger Solar, Sumner was a regional sales representative for the defunct Minnesota-based Able Energy Co Able Energy’s former chief executive Michael Harvey has been charged in Minnesota with theft-by-swindle According to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office Harvey allegedly cheated 53 customers out of over $1 million with false promises of providing and installing solar panels from January 2017 through July 2018 Sumner said Able Energy was his first experience working in solar But he said the situations at Able Energy and Sun Badger couldn’t be more different “(Able Energy was) selling a good or service that they were completely incapable of even fulfilling,” Sumner said “There is not even a comparison to the situation that we are in at Sun Badger because up until Dec we had a 120-person strong solar energy company across multiple states Department of Labor to find a way to pay employees for uncompensated work Customers who used one of Sun Badger’s financing partners are “insulated” in the sense that if the company defaults or if the project is not completed Sumner said those who made self-financed deposits for solar projects are not protected the same way but it’s unclear whether those solutions will involve refunds or completing some solar projects “For the customers who have placed a down payment of their own funds we are looking for a solution,” Sumner said “That is really what I am focused on is trying to figure out how to save these customers’ investments And just trying to do right by those people who invested in our company and in green energy.” But for customers who have invested thousands and have yet to see results “I don’t believe him — I don’t believe that he’s sorry,” said Madison Curup nobody’s talked to us,” she said “We’re trying to just communicate And all lines of communication have vanished Editor’s note: Sun Badger Solar has been a Wisconsin Public Radio business sponsor Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board Show Breaking News BarCloseLocal News Christie Zizo COCOA – A Cocoa man is accused of shooting and killing a man who tried to fight off a robbery attempt was arrested Saturday for the Friday incident Police say Anderson was seen on surveillance video from Friday night trying to conceal himself behind bushes near a 7-Eleven on Dixon Boulevard He then began following Factor Adrian Tejax Curup as he left the store with a case of beer Curup was found a short time later with gunshot wounds at an apartment complex off Crestview Road He was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead Police say detectives were able to identify Anderson from the surveillance video and from previous encounters officers had had with him They executed a search warrant at his home on Warren Avenue where they arrested him and recovered a handgun police say Anderson admitted to trying to rob Curup police say Anderson told them that he fired the gun three times at Curup Anderson is facing charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 21 Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved Christie joined the ClickOrlando team in November 2021 TV Listings Email Newsletters RSS Feeds Contests and Rules Contact Us / Follow on Social Media Careers at WKMG Closed Captioning / Audio Description Public File Current EEO Report Terms of Use Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Info FCC Applications EEO Report Disability Assistance Copyright © 2025 ClickOrlando.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group WAUKESHA, Wis. — In February, the I-Team first told you about a Waukesha company, Sun Badger Solar. Customers called the I-Team's Jenna Rae stating they've paid the money for solar panels, but the work isn't complete. After that story aired TMJ4 received messages from more customers who said they're experiencing the same thing more than a month later customers are still asking 'where's my money?' and 'where are my solar panels?' the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) confirmed there is a tax warrant filed against the company DOR told the I-Team this means a lien is placed on Sun Badger and the solar company owes the state nearly $100,000 We sat down with several upset customers and former employees it's not just an oversight," Jim Zahn said "It's hard to believe that you will fall victim," Madison Curup added Zahn and Curup are both Sun Badger Solar customers in Southeast Wisconsin Both of their contracts were signed in May 2022 but both contracts state "typical installations reach substantial completion inside of four months." Zahn and Curup shared receipts with the I-Team showing they paid the company thousands Lawsuits in Wisconsin allege similar issues with other Sun Badger Solar customers a Poynette couple is also suing for nearly $90,000 Their suit claims Sun Badger failed to complete the solar panel system and installation "Do you think that you're going to get solar panels from Sun Badger Solar?," I-Team's Jenna Rae asked Zahn "I don't think there's any way possible we're going to see a solution from Sun Badger," Zahn responded Zahn recently received an email from Sun Badger confirming he will now work with another company with a new installation agreement and a new contract price After talking to customers across Minnesota the I-Team tracked down Sun Badger's President Sumner said there is currently a delay in projects after the company had a shift in the way their solar lending company managed their existing credit line Sumner claimed this resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash flow employees started leaving Sun Badger in December after he admitted there was a delay in pay Internal emails show several weeks of that backlog the office kept giving everyone excuses and there was emails 'oh there's just a little Beringer worked as an electrical supervisor at Sun Badger's Waukesha branch A letter obtained by the I-Team confirms employees were furloughed in January 2023 "I'm not comfortable working for a company like that that's when I went to file my small claims court case," Shane Koehler said He was the electrical supervisor at the company's Bloomington We asked Sumner why employees weren't being paid and where the company's money went Sumner said the company made $30M in revenue last year He said they used that money to hire more staff and buy work vehicles In addition to Sumner claiming the company lost money due to a third-party lending business Sun Badger hired Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory to assist with an internal investigation into certain allegations of potential impropriety regarding a former employee The Deloitte Report states more than $500,000 of potentially improper disbursements and payments were identified This includes potential company checks issued to the employee and her family potential improper expense reimbursements for travel in addition to potential improper insurance benefits provided to the employee and her nanny who the I-Team is choosing not to identify We called Sumner several times after our original conversation in Mid-February We've talked to several Sun Badger customers who are now asking 'How do I get my money back?' The I-Team talked to the state agency that handles consumer protection Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more. Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip Report a typo A 19-year-old Cocoa man who police said jumped from the bushes at an apartment complex before shooting and killing a man in a botched ambush-style robbery attempt was arrested over the weekend Kenydrick "Pooh" Anderson was charged with first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm in connection with the April 12 shooting death of 43-year-old Factor Tejax Curup Anderson was held without bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes The shooting death is one of 14 reported homicides to take place in Brevard County this year Cocoa detectives said that Curup was walking home along Crestview Road when he was shot at least three times in the abdomen Curup was transported to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne for treatment but was pronounced dead by doctors Cocoa police reviewed surveillance camera footage from several nearby stores and spotted a man later identified as Anderson stepping out of the bushes as an unsuspecting Curup walked by Detectives later identified Anderson on the video and sought out a warrant to search his home Officers found several guns along with a jacket with the words "Good Luck" written on the back along with shoes seen on the various videos leading up to the shooting More: Palm Bay teen changes mind, pleads no contest to slayings of 2 at 'The Compound' A black 9mm handgun was found beneath Anderson’s mattress leading to a possession of a firearm charge by a person under 21 Anderson later told police the gun was given to him by a friend prompting him to pull the trigger at least three times J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Indonesia (Reuters) - An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced to death the leader of a gang of men and boys who raped and murdered a schoolgirl in a case that prompted the president to take steps to impose harsher punishments for attacks on children.The gang leader was sentenced to death in a court on Sumatra island Four other men were jailed for 20 years for their roles in the April attack on the 14-year-old in the western island by a group of 14 males including eight boys.Sexual violence against women and children is common in Indonesia but gang rape is unusual.The case shocked the world's fourth most populouscountry and prompted President Joko Widodo to sign a regulation allowing for harsher punishments for child rapists including death and chemical castration.The regulation is pending approval in parliament."Because of the sadistic nature of the crime .. the court sentences Zainal to death," said presiding judge Henny Faridha.The youngest member of the gang was 13 years old.They attacked the girl as she was on her way to school Her battered body was found in a rubber plantation a few days later after her parents reported her missing.Seven gang members were earlier jailed for 10 years while one was ordered into a rehabilitation program for a year according to police.The victim's parents said the sentencing was inadequate."They should all get the death penalty," Yana told reporters as she broke down in tears.The attack was reminiscent of a 2012 fatal gang rape of a female university student in India's capital which provoked a national outcry and soul-searching about the treatment of girls and women in Indian society.Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Robert Birsel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved A 19-year-old male is in custody less than 24 hours after he killed a man during an attempted robbery (DOB 05/20/2004) is facing charges of 1st degree murder and possession of a firearm by a person under age 21 He is currently in the Brevard County Jail without bond officers responded to the area of Crestview Rd and Monopoly Lane for reports of a male that had been shot later identified as Factor Adrian Tejax Curup was airlifted to the hospital where he was later pronounced deceased as a result of his wounds Detectives responded to the scene and began interviewing witnesses the suspect was brought in for questioning and confessed The firearm believed to have been used in the crime has been recovered Photo Photo Re-offending Child molester convicted, sentenced to life in prison - The Space Coast Rocket Photo Photo A 19-year-old Cocoa man who police said ambushed a man walking from a store with beer has been formally charged by the state attorney’s office A grand jury this week returned a first-degree murder indictment against Kenydrick "Pooh" Anderson who is also charged with attempted robbery with a firearm in the April 12 shooting death of 43-year-old Factor Tejax Curup Anderson could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on the charges Cocoa detectives said Curup was walking home along Crestview Road and carrying a case of beer at the time of the shooting Police reviewed multiple surveillance videos with detectives saying Anderson jumped from the bushes and confronted Curup Anderson then shot Curup at least three times in the abdomen More: Cocoa teen, 19, charged in shooting death of 43-year-old man in suspected robbery attempt Curup was transported for treatment at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne The shooting death is one of 17 reported homicides to take place in Brevard County this year Anderson remains held without bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex The Suffolk Times Constantine Curup’s life as a farm worker would hardly be considered enviable The Guatemalan immigrant left his family in 2002 to work in the fields of Long Island But his English skills have improved in his 11 years here which helped him in picking up some better-paying landscaping work He hasn’t seen his wife and three children — two girls and a boy Curup said as he waited to pay for a sports drink at a Polish Town deli one recent afternoon Local farmers say the number of people willing to live a life like Mr Curup’s is dwindling — and not due only to the long hard hours and time away from their families Immigrant farm workers look at working in the fields as a stepping stone to more lucrative and more comfortable jobs so they’re not likely to return after landing positions in other industries It’s also becoming more problematic to hire such workers if they’re not in the country legally Scrutiny of national immigration policies has intensified in recent years and farmers have experienced greater pressure from more scrupulous government monitoring of illegal hiring practices Many immigrants have also returned to their home countries because of the prolonged downturn in the U.S “Usually you have lots of people knocking on the door and this spring there was nobody,” said Paulette Satur owner of the 180-acre Satur Farms in Cutchogue her field worker staff is down by 40 percent pushing her to change which crops she grows and when she grows them Philip Schmitt of the 165-acre Schmitt Family Farms in Riverhead said he had to leave some crops to wilt in the fields this year — lettuce and turnips both labor-intensive crops — due to a lack of farmhands “We basically stopped taking orders [on parsley] because we didn’t have time to bunch it,” Mr some [immigrant workers] have gone to working for catering halls where the money is better and they are working in air conditioning.” Schmitt usually needs 20 to 25 workers during busy times but he’s been trying to get by with just 15 to 18 Immigration reform advocates have championed recent efforts in Washington, D.C., specifically the Senate’s passage of a reform bill in June immigrant workers and the overall economy by getting more people on the tax rolls But local farmers say the revamped guest worker programs included in the bill come with the same fundamental flaw as the current program: it’s too expensive for the growers especially at the smaller farms that dot Long Island’s East End Joe Gergela of the Long Island Farm Bureau a nonprofit advocacy group based in Calverton said local farmers simply cannot afford to pay workers higher wages small farm operations are much more sensitive to the slightest changes in the cost of growing and preparing products for market Larger companies like Dole and Green Giant — or “big agriculture out west,” as Mr Gergela calls it — have lower overhead costs because they use machinery and automated production procedures instead of relying on bodies to care for and harvest crops Because local farms must compete with larger operations they can’t raise their prices to make up for higher wages the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program allows farmers to bring in foreign workers for up to one year with extensions available for up to three years total Although there is no cap on the number of workers who can enter the country legally through the program it’s under-used because of the high costs associated with it According to data from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services New York State farmers petitioned for 3,953 guest workers in 2012 Only 23 of those petitions — less than one-half of 1 percent — came from farmers in Suffolk County expensive and farmers do not want to deal with that type of program,” Mr H-2A program requirements also make farmers responsible not only for the guest worker’s room and board here but also for their round-trip travel costs to the U.S There are about 5,000 agricultural workers on the East End are undocumented workers from other countries While there is currently no official limit on the number of agricultural guest workers allowed annually under the H-2A program, only 183,860 visas were granted in 2012, according to the Department of Homeland Security website, dhs.gov Yet close to 1.4 million workers are needed annually nationwide would cap the number of agricultural guest workers at 112,333 annually for the first three years those numbers would be re-evaluated and adjusted Farmers would still foot the bill for room board and travel under the proposed program the hourly wage rate for some workers would drop to a national minimum of $9.19 per hour — at least for the first year But wages would also vary with a worker’s job description; equipment operators The proposed law also includes a new Blue Card provision The Blue Card would give agricultural workers who “have performed agricultural employment in the United States for not fewer than 575 hours or 100 work days during the 2-year period ending on Dec they would be able to earn American citizenship Schmitt warned of unintended consequences under the bill which he said could actually further deplete the available workforce they are going to move on to other things,” Mr Most migrant workers now coming to Long Island are from Guatemala according to a state Department of Labor spokesman there were about 2,100 migrant workers in Suffolk County with about half living here year-round and the other half traveling the country or internationally during the off season according to an earlier article published in the Riverhead News-Review roughly 80 percent were Hispanic and 20 percent African-American A current racial or ethnic breakdown of the local migrant worker population was unavailable found his first job on a Long Island farm when he arrived here some 10 years ago He said migrant workers see working in the fields as a stepping stone in the local workforce Pirir said from a Griffing Avenue store in downtown Riverhead recently where he had been speaking with his mother by phone “They learn some English and then they start looking for other jobs.” he found work with a contractor and now does carpentry but it’s really hard work and they do not pay enough money,” Mr [The farmers] only get a few dollars for a pound of tomatoes It’s not easy to pay $20 an hour to have a man pick tomatoes all day.” He blamed the unstable economy and competition among East End farms for the current shortage of farm workers on the North Fork Pirir said “In Southampton or Bridgehampton they give you $15 an hour If you go to Sound Avenue [on the North Fork] you’re going to get $10 or $12 Amagansett farm owner Alex Balsam didn’t deny that farms on the South Fork often pay more He said his $15 hourly wage helps him keep the workers he needs — and that he needs to pay those rates “We’re in a situation on the South Fork where everything is more expensive,” he said it’s just all part of the game out here” on the South Fork where the cost of living is higher than other areas in the region He also said there are so many farms on the North Fork that workers can be harder to come by The migrant worker population has increased over the past two decades in part because of the burgeoning wine industry And vineyard owners say they are facing their own challenges year-round employees,” said Ron Goerler Jr. owner of Jamesport Vineyard and president of the Long Island Wine Council trade group “The real issue has become the part-time people that we need to harvest and if you’re trying to make the best quality wine you still need the bodies to get the work done.” He also said vineyards are trying to pool resources noting that he’d received a call just this past Friday from a neighboring winery asking to borrow four or five workers for harvest the trend can be alarming to the entire industry “A lack of workers presents a lot of different challenges in terms of the future,” Mr which means you’re not in a healthy situation.” Scrutiny of hiring practices has intensified in recent years which has also hurt the availability of immigrant workers adding that farmers are being audited to ensure paperwork is complete and Social Security cards are available and it’s happening more frequently than in the past “It happens every few years,” he said of the average crackdown on farmers “The government has stepped up pressure on employers,” he said “We have to be careful that workers are who they say they are Documentation issues on farms may also be pushing migrant workforce into other sectors and with them stepped-up enforcement efforts have already hurt agriculture in other states “In Alabama they lost around 40 percent of their workers when they passed an immigration law, and a similar pattern was repeated in Georgia,” said John Rizzo, an economics professor at Stony Brook University and chief economist for the Long Island Association “So we can expect that if it happened on Long Island the agricultural industry would suffer significantly these undocumented immigrants who are agricultural workers are they taking jobs away from immigrants who are documented or U.S.-born citizens?” he continued “I think the evidence suggests that people are not beating down the doors to take these jobs the agriculture sector is going to suffer.” As for the social and public services undocumented workers use Rizzo said much evidence suggests that government health care spending for undocumented immigrants — often cited by the public and media pundits — is about 40 to 60 percent below what is spent on other populations “The challenge is that undocumented workers aren’t evenly distributed across geographic areas “So areas with high concentrations of undocumented immigrants like Texas and Arizona and some areas of Long Island may incur substantial net costs to their local and state governments Undocumented immigrants are going to use public assistance medical care and schools and with areas of high concentrations those areas may bear those costs disproportionately.” a professor of sociology at Hofstra University who specializes in day labor markets on Long Island said there is much evidence that shows a net economic benefit of the overall immigrant workforce in the county “I think this emphasis on all take and no giveback to the community is misleading,” Mr They are effectively subsidizing the farmers who are using them who are getting cheaper produce as a result.” As for the immigration reform measure passed by the Senate whose district spans the entire East End and Brookhaven Town “There’s no such thing as a perfect bill.” He said he believes the bill stands little chance of approval in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives where GOP leaders in July declared it ”dead on arrival.” House Republicans are largely against “path to citizenship” provisions that give immigrants who came here illegally preferential treatment over those living here with proper documentation The House will likely be looking at immigration in a piecemeal approach taking sections from the Senate’s comprehensive bill – which includes the agricultural worker program — and passing them over time With the conflicts in Syria and fiscal issues taking precedence “immigration will be pushed to a very distant back burner.” Thirty-four thousand acres of farmland can be found in Suffolk County, contributing close to $300 million annually to the state’s agriculture economy — more than any other county in the state, according to the American Farmland Trust It’s an industry that could be severely affected by a lack of action in Washington to fix a “broken system,” Mr “I have been working with the Long Island Farm Bureau for years on immigration and I will collaborate closely with them as comprehensive reform continues through the legislative process,” he said of the local farmers’ criticisms with the bill passed in June “The Senate bill is not the law of the land but it represents progress towards the ultimate goal of delivering farmers the legal and taxpaying workers they need to operate.” Stressing the local importance of some sort of resolution to the immigration dilemma Bishop said that if costs and labor shortage issues drive more and more East End farmers to get out of the business the region “could have open space preservation issues.” cmiller@timesreview.com Curup : The leader of an Indonesian gang who murdered and gang-raped a schoolgirl was sentenced to death Thursday in a high-profile case that led to the introduction of tougher punishments for child sex offenders Zainal was handed the death penalty at a court on western Sumatra island while four other men were sentenced to 20 years each over the case The murder and gang-rape of the 14-year-old who was attacked by a group of men and boys in April as she made her way back from school shocked the country and sparked a national debate about a failure to tackle endemic sexual violence President Joko Widodo responded to growing anger about the case in May by introducing tough new punishments for child sex offenders chemical castration and forcing convicted paedophiles to wear electronic monitoring devices. Following the discovery of the teenager's body tied up and naked in the woods police arrested 13 people over the attack while one alleged perpetrator is still at large a 23-year-old who like many Indonesians goes by one name was sentenced to death for premeditated murder which was a crime already punishable by death before the new laws were introduced "This sentence was handed down because the defendant was the one who persuaded other defendants (to commit the crime)," presiding judge Heny Farida told the court in the town of Curup The mother of the victim shouted in protest after the verdicts were handed down demanding all the defendants be sentenced to death chairman of government-backed rights group the National Commission for Child Protection welcomed the decision to hand down the death penalty and said it highlighted that child sex attacks were "an extraordinary crime" have already been jailed with most receiving 10-year sentences The attack captured national attention when reports of the incident went viral on social media prompting tens of thousands to sign online petitions and sparking protests in the capital Jakarta It has drawn comparisons with the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012 which sparked mass protests and led to an overhaul of India's rape laws