A Newsday headline this morning reads:

Long Island-Area Public Broadcasting Feeling Pinch From Trump Budget Cuts.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith reports in Newsday that public radio and television stations with a vast Long Island audience say they are facing significant funding gaps and assessing ways to move forward after the Republican-led Congress' approval of more than $1 billion in cuts targeting NPR and PBS.

Neal Shapiro, president and CEO at The WNET Group, part of the Public Broadcasting System and the parent company to Long Island-based WLIW, said the cuts will have a “devastating impact on all public media stations.”

Last week, Congress approved a rescission package that pulls back funding for 2026 and 2027 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit that funnels upward of 70% of its resources to more than 1,000 community-owned public media organizations, according to its website. The package also claws back roughly $8 billion in funding for foreign assistance.

About 10% of The WNET Group’s operating budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants, Shapiro said in a statement sent to Newsday on Monday, noting “we will not be able to make up the loss of all those funds.”

“We are currently assessing how we move forward in this new reality,” said Shapiro – president of The WNET Group…the parent organization of this listener supported public radio station.

Experts fear the funding cuts to public media could be disastrous, leading to the closure of news outlets in places where there are few local options and less emergency alerts. Funding from the federal government averages roughly 1% of NPR’s budget, about 8% to 10% of public radio stations’ and nearly 15% of PBS' along with its member stations, NPR reported.

Congress’ approval of the funding cuts comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May saying NPR and PBS were unfair and biased and calling for the CPB to stop funding them.

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An event held by Long Island Head Start yesterday to announce its plan to build a new facility on property it owns in Riverside, ended with a $2.25 million surprise for the organization. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that when Head Start’s presentation was concluded, New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, who was accompanied at the event by his invited guest, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, took the podium. “On behalf of Speaker Heastie and the New York State Assembly, we will be committing $2.25 million to this project,” Schiavoni said to whoops of joy, applause, cheers and tears. Long Island Head Start CEO Debrah Everett-Garcia was overcome with emotion, as were members of her staff and board of directors in attendance. Some were visibly shaken. “Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts— and from our children and community and from Suffolk County. Thank you” Everett-Garcia said, wiping away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. After being coaxed to the podium to say a few words, the speaker said he worked in daycare as a college student at Stony Brook. When he returned home during school breaks, he worked for the Williamsbridge NAACP Early Childhood Center, Heastie told the audience gathered for the presentation event. “Young people and children— I have such a soft spot. So anything that is beneficial to them is important to me,” Heastie said. The state funding announced Tuesday will cover a little more than half the projected cost of the new building planned for the site at 77 Goodridge Avenue in Riverside, adjacent to Phillips Avenue Elementary School.

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After hearing just over an hour of testimony from the public last night, the Riverhead Town Board has closed a public hearing on whether its chosen master developer for its Town Square project, J. Petrocelli’s family of companies, is qualified and eligible to build the town square...

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was on the east end yesterday to harshly criticize the proposed $8 million in funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget for the National Estuary Program, which supports clean water initiatives, including those on Long Island.

Deborah S. Morris reports in NEWSDAY that Senator Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) announced she helped write a bipartisan letter to her colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee in May, seeking $50 million — $10 million more than the 2025 operating plan — for the program, including $1 million for each National Estuary Program site and $4 million for a competitive grant program. Gillibrand said the letter offers detailed information on the program and potential negative impact of a funding cut.

“A lot of the spending cuts by this administration up until now have been almost blind spending cuts, just cutting everything in half,” she said. “There’s no analytical rigor to any of their decisions.”

The National Estuary Program is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect and promote 28 nationally significant estuaries in the United States. The Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound are included in the program, organizers said.

A 736-page document released by the EPA last month, titled "Justification of Appropriation Estimates for the Committee on Appropriations" and provided to Newsday by Gillibrand's office, shows Trump cutting the program's funding to $32 million for 2026.

The program is a vital resource for its participants to maintain clean water and protect it from environmental threats such as “excess nitrogen pollution, pathogens, and harmful algal blooms,” Gillibrand said.

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A key public hearing for the town square project will take place this evening at 6 p.m. in Riverhead Town Hall, where the Riverhead Town Board will hear testimony to determine whether the town square designated master developer is a “qualified and eligible sponsor” to fulfill the requirements of state law. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that a company owned by Joe Petrocelli, who has successfully restored and/or developed various downtown properties, including the Long Island Aquarium, Hyatt Place East End, the East Lawn building, the Preston House and Howell House, was designated by the Town Board as the master developer for the Riverhead Town Square in April 2022.

Since then, the Town of Riverhead has worked on additional designs and plans for the town square project and has negotiated a master development agreement with Petrocelli and is now ready to move forward with the sale of town-owned property, including the building at 127 East Main Street to Petrocelli for redevelopment, and with the buildout of other features of the town square project that are to be undertaken or managed by Petrocelli.

The agreement contemplates Petrocelli’s construction of a five-story mixed-use hotel/condominium building with up to 76 hotel rooms, 12 condominium units, ground-floor retail and restaurant space and 12 underground parking stalls.

The town also plans to enter into a consulting agreement with Petrocelli’s company to perform the services of construction manager for other Riverhead Town Square features, including an amphitheater, a playground, a public gathering space, walkways etc. for a fee of 7% of the total project cost for construction.

That public hearing is this evening at 6 p.m. in Riverhead Town Hall.

***

Six recent graduates from four local high schools have been selected for an intensive training program through the Construction Career Charitable Fund (CCCF) — an East End initiative that supports students pursuing careers in the skilled trades over traditional college pathways.

The 2025 CCCF cohort includes Brandon Morales, Matthew Criollo, Edwin Ochoa Castro, Jorge Esteves, Davon Palmore, and Kalea Robinson....

Taxes should go down for the average Long Islander under the new federal megabill, tax analysts told Newsday, with the biggest benefits going to people with high incomes and large mortgages. The sweeping “big beautiful bill” President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4 extends and builds on a number of changes put in place during his first term under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It keeps lower tax rates, boosts the child tax break for families and increases the standard deduction, making it easier for taxpayers to file their taxes without having to itemize. The measure includes deductions and credits aimed at everything from assisting seniors through a new tax break to promoting American-assembled cars by allowing filers to deduct car loan interest. It cuts taxes on tips and overtime, potentially helping Long Island taxpayers from landscapers to waitstaff, police officers to construction workers.

Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the vast majority of Long Islanders take the standard deduction and will likely continue to do so, said Joseph Perry, a national tax leader in the Melville office of CBIZ, a national adviser of tax, accounting and other services.

Because of the increased deduction many won’t need to take the additional deductions in the megabill, and fewer may choose to itemize, tax analysts said. This applies in particular to low- to middle-income taxpayers.

For those who do itemize, the megabill increases the cap on state and local taxes to $40,000 for those with an income of $500,000 or less and raises it by 1% annually — a win for high-tax blue states like New York and especially on Long Island.

The SALT deduction is one of the five main categories of itemized deductions, along with mortgage interest, medical or dental expenses, charitable contributions and casualty, disaster and theft loss.

***

About 40 former soldiers, as well as a few hundred civilian supporters, participated in the Hamptons' Soldier Ride on Saturday. Organizers said the annual event, which started two decades ago, has proved to be not only a fundraising tool for Wounded Warrior Project, but also a means of rehabilitation for service members assimilating back to civilian life.

"The hardest part of surviving conflict and military service is living," said Walter Piatt, chief executive of Wounded Warrior Project.

Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that The Wounded Warrior ride began with a 17-mile ride in Manhattan Thursday, followed by a 22-mile trip in Babylon on Friday.

Shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday, bicyclists departed the Amagansett Fire Department parking lot. About 3½ hours later, the riders returned under warm, sunny skies to celebrate the completion of the three-day event.

The annual Hamptons ride brings the organization back to its roots.

Peter Honerkamp, a co-founder of Wounded Warrior Project and owner of the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, recalled how a benefit concert in 2003 for Rocky Point's John Fernandez, who was injured in Iraq, inspired East Hampton native Chris Carney to bicycle across the country in 2004.

That grew into a three-person trip the following year, when a pair of former Army sergeants injured in Iraq — one a single-leg amputee, the other a double-leg amputee — joined Carney. Soldier Rides are now held across the nation.

WWP CEO Piatt...a retired Lt. General...cheered the Soldier Riders as they departed. He then hopped on his own bicycle to join them.

Before the ride, he reflected on the organization’s promise to bring every warrior home, including their “mind, body and soul.” He said the founders of the Soldier Ride provided the avenue to fulfill that promise.

“This is much more than a ride," he said. "It is our road home."

***

Alive on 25 drew throngs of people to downtown Riverhead Friday night to enjoy live music, food, craft beverages, kids’ games...

Not enough daylight. Not enough space. Not enough track capacity. Not enough entrances or exits. Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that even after hundreds of millions of dollars on upgrades in recent years, Penn Station in Manhattan still has more than its share of shortcomings. And, there are several competing proposals to address them.

President Donald Trump’s administration in April took over the effort to transform the 115-year-old station "into a world-class facility while safeguarding taxpayer dollars," a spokesperson told Newsday in a statement. Hosting three railroads and six subway lines, Penn Station is the busiest rail facility in the United States. And the stakes are particularly high for the 140,000 Long Island Rail Road customers going into and out of the station each day, more than any other agency.

Former New York City Transit president Andy Byford, now a board member for Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, has been tapped by the U.S. Department of Transportation to lead the effort and evaluate several competing visions for Penn Station. Some proposals aim to create space by removing all or part of Madison Square Garden, which sits atop the station — and has an agreement with New York City to stay in place at least through 2028. Others focus on maximizing train capacity, either by adding new tracks, or by taking some away.

Two major questions — when work would begin on a new Penn Station and how it'd be paid for — remain unclear, and will largely depend on which proposal is chosen. Gov. Kathy Hochul previously estimated the cost of rebuilding Penn Station at $7 billion, but the Trump administration has said it wants to shrink the cost of the project, in part by leaning on "private sector expertise."

MTA Board member Sammy Chu, of Plainview, wants the MTA to stay involved in the plan to ensure its riders' needs are looked after. "Your goal as a commuter is to spend sub-five minutes at Penn Station. Your goal is to get in, pee, grab something to eat if you're hungry or grab a bottle of water, and get on your train as quick as possible."

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Prosecutors say a modest house on Brown Street in Riverside doubled as a round-the-clock open air drug market. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney yesterday announced the indictment of several Riverhead-area residents for their alleged roles in an extensive cocaine trafficking network run out of the Brown Street home. Law enforcement launched an investigation into 36 year old Timothy McKay Sr. and his home at 20 Brown Street in Riverside in July 2024; McKay allegedly operated a drug market at the residence 24/7, according to the Suffolk D.A..

Members of law enforcement surveilled the home and observed individuals walking up the driveway and into the yard of the residence, where they allegedly purchased narcotics from several of the people indicted. An undercover detective with the district attorney’s Fentanyl Task Force purchased cocaine at the home on 26 different occasions from several members of the organization.

The alleged head of the operation was Robert E. “Boy” Love, 71, of Riverhead, according to the district attorney. Love’s home in Riverhead was searched by warrant in June; police recovered over 14 ounces of cocaine from the home and over $11,000 in cash. Love was previously arrested in 2012 after being accused by prosecutors of being the leader of a Bronx-to-Riverhead cocaine trafficking ring. He pleaded guilty to two felony charges in 2013.

In total, 18 search warrants were executed across Suffolk County, Nassau County, and Queens County as a part of the investigation; police recovered 14 ounces of cocaine, over 100 pounds of illegal cannabis, eight operable firearms, ammunition, over $170,000 in cash, and drug paraphernalia such as a kilo press, scales, dilutants used in the manufacturing of crack cocaine, and...

Employees at elder care facilities on Long Island and across the state who have Temporary Protected Status are receiving deportation letters from the Trump administration, putting already understaffed nursing homes and assisted living communities at risk of being unable to care for their most vulnerable residents, according to advocates and trade groups.

Robert Brodsky reports in NEWSDAY that a central focus of President Donald Trump's mass deportation policy includes winding down TPS, a program expanded under former President Joe Biden that allows people already living in the United States to stay and work legally if their home countries are deemed unsafe due to civil unrest or natural disasters.

Workers from many countries with TPS status are overrepresented in elder care roles, experts said, including Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Stephen Hanse, president and chief executive of the New York State Health Facilities Association, which represents the nursing home industry, said elder care employees with TPS status, including those working in Nassau and Suffolk, have begun receiving letters stating that their temporary work visas have been revoked.

There have been no confirmed reports of ICE raids at nursing homes or assisted living facilities in New York.

DHS said it could not provide information on the arrest, detention or removal of employees working at elder care facilities but in a statement this week defended ending TPS protections.

"Temporary Protected Status was designed to be just that — TEMPORARY," the agency said. "Granted for 18 months under extraordinary circumstances. It was never meant to last a quarter of a century. For many of these countries, TPS was granted in the 90s after natural disasters. Now that conditions have improved, it is time to return home."

***

The word Dr. Peter Sultan’s family associates him with is love. He loved his two children and his family. He loved his patients. He loved playing the piano. He loved athletic pursuits. And, they said, he loved helping people. Olivia Winslow reports in NEWSDAY that Sultan, an orthopedic surgeon at Northwell Health’s Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, where he specialized in hip and knee replacements, died while participating in the Jamesport Triathlon this past Sunday. He was 54.

"He collapsed during the third leg of the triathlon, and they were unable to revive him," said one of his three sisters, Dr. Marla Sultan, of Short Hills, New Jersey. "Very unexpected."

Dr. Agostino Cervone, director of robotic surgery at Peconic Bay Medical Center, said Sultan was a regular Jamesport Triathlon participant.

Sultan's sisters said his death was "devastating." They highlighted their brother's legacy of devotion to family and to the wider community. "He really loved helping people," said another sister, Jessica Fields, of Northport. "He was good at everything. He played piano by ear. He was a cyclist ... There’s so much to say," she said.

Peter Sultan, who at the time of his death lived in Westhampton, was born in Mineola, Long Island.

Dr. Cervone said Sultan had practiced at Peconic Bay Medical Center for "at least 20 years." He said the mood at the medical center was "somber" after Sultan's death. "Everybody's still trying to come to the realization that Dr. Sultan's not going to be there anymore," Cervone said. He said "memorials are starting to come up in the hospital in different places."

A prayer service for Sultan is scheduled for today from 11 a.m. to noon at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home in Riverhead.

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Shelter Island Friends of Music invites you to a concert free of charge in the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church this coming Sunday at 6pm featuring Sam Reider and the Human Hands.

“Led by Latin Grammy-nominated accordionist, pianist, and composer Sam Reider, the Human Hands is a...

Consumer prices in the New York area, including Long Island, rose at a faster pace in June than in May, driven in part by higher costs for child care, housing and groceries, such as meat and eggs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that its Consumer Price Index for the 25-county region covering parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania increased 3.5% in June compared with a year earlier. That year-over-year jump was higher than May’s 3.4% but below April’s 3.9%. The index is a key measure of inflation.

James T. Madore reports in NEWSDAY that grocery prices rose 1.8% in June, led by a 4.7% increase in the meat, poultry, fish and eggs category and a 2.9% rise in cereals and baked goods. Those increases, along with rising child care and housing costs, were partially offset by an 11.3% drop in gasoline prices. Nationwide, consumer prices also rose more quickly in June than in May. The national Consumer Price Index increased 2.7% in June from a year earlier, up from May’s 2.4%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Restaurant meals were up moderately in the New York area — 3.1% in June year over year — and that could boost Long Island's tourism industry, said John A. Rizzo, an economist and Stony Brook University professor.

Restaurants, beaches, museums and entertainment venues generate more than $7.5 billion in annual consumer spending across Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to the research firm Tourism Economics.

Rizzo said the latest metro-area inflation data don’t yet show any major price pressure from federal tariffs.

“There is little evidence of any inflationary effects of the tariffs yet,” he said. “But that could change in the coming months.”

***

Engineers returned to the Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays this week to begin an extensive new assessment of the condition of the bridge’s concrete structure as the county tries to devise a game plan for what could be a years-long, multi-million-dollar repair job.

Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Suffolk County engineers will be working beneath the bridge, utilizing an under-bridge truck that lowers workers from the roadway above, over the next two weeks. Two-way traffic will be maintained at all times, but while the workers are on site just one lane will be open with flaggers directing alternating traffic. Delays are expected and town officials are asking motorists headed to the beach, Shinnecock Inlet and the restaurants on Dune Road to plan accordingly.

A New York State Department of Transportation inspection in October determined that deterioration of the concrete in portions of the girders that support the bridge’s roadway, 55 feet above the waters of Shinnecock Bay, had progressed to the point of threatening the structural integrity of the bridge.

State DOT engineers have noted gradually worsening cracked and crumbling concrete, exposed steel rebar and failed joint seals in the bridge’s roadway since at least 2020, according to state inspection reports.

The Ponquogue Bridge is a 2,812-foot-long bridge over Shinnecock Bay in Hampton Bays, New York. Maintained by the Department of Public Works for Suffolk County, the 29-span bridge carries two lanes of County Route 32 over the bay, connecting Hampton Bays to the eastern end of Westhampton Island.

Local officials have said Ponquogue Bridge repairs will be exceedingly complicated and the county has offered no timeline yet for when or how the issues will be addressed.

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A rally organized by a group who calls itself “Indivisible” is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon from 4pm to 5pm in the MACY’S HAMPTON BAYS PARKING LOT.

“We will unite in honor of John Lewis and the democracy he fought for. This rally will have a visibility of 360 degrees at the intersection of Route 24 and Route 27A in Hampton Bays. Hope you can join us in fighting for...

New York is among 24 states and the District of Columbia — all led by Democrats — suing the Trump administration for "illegally" freezing nearly $7 billion in education funds affecting after-school care and summer programs for children, teaching English to children who are non-native speakers, and programs to recruit and train teachers in low-income areas, among others.

"This illegal and unjustified funding freeze will be devastating for students and families nationwide, especially for those who rely on these programs for childcare and to learn English," New York State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement yesterday announcing the lawsuit regarding the freeze imposed by the U.S. Department of Education.

"Congress allocated these funds, and the law requires that they be delivered," James said. "We will not allow this administration to rewrite the rules to punish the communities it doesn't like."

Olivia Winslow reports in NEWSDAY that James said the coalition of attorneys general and governors argues that the funding freeze violates the Constitution and federal law, adding that "the administration offered no reasoned explanation for a drastic policy reversal and failed to consider states' reliance on long-established funding processes."

The money was supposed to be distributed July 1, but then the department announced the freeze.

According to a notice The Associated Press obtained earlier this month, the administration's Education Department said the money would not be released while a review was underway of the programs. “The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities," the AP reported the notice said.

James said more than $463 million in funding for the 2025-2026 school year has been frozen in New York, which she said was 13% of the state's total K-12 education funding.

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A major coalition of labor unions has called for the release and end of deportation proceedings against a Suffolk County Community College honors student who was arrested by immigration agents as part of an escalating nationwide crackdown.

Bart Jones reports in NEWSDAY that the heads of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, an umbrella group of unions that represents about 300,000 workers, said yesterday that Sara Lopez Garcia should be released from an immigration jail in Louisiana and returned to Long Island to continue her studies.

"What we know is that Sara Lopez Garcia is a promise. She is a promise of what this country can be when we lift up hardworking students who contribute to our communities and try to make a better life for themselves, in this case through higher education," John Durso and Ryan Stanton, president and executive director of the group, said in a statement.

They noted that Lopez Garcia, 20, a native of Colombia, had protected legal status in the United States through a special immigrant juvenile status visa. The visa is granted to young people who have been abused, abandoned or neglected by a parent.

Lopez Garcia and her mother were arrested on May 21 when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came to their house in Mastic, long Island. Her 17-year-old brother was allowed to stay because he is a minor.

In a telephone interview with NEWSDAY on Saturday from the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana, where she has spent the last month, Lopez Garcia said she is grateful for the outpouring of support she has received from the college community and others. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) said he is bringing her case to the attention of the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.

"I think that that's really important to show people that we are not criminals and I am not a criminal," she said. "They can see my record."

In the...

Middle-income New Yorkers aged 65 and older are likely to see a tax break next year from the sprawling federal tax and spending legislation, but tax analysts say Social Security income won’t be tax free, contrary to Trump campaign promises.

Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, includes a $6,000 tax deduction for seniors starting in the 2025 tax year and expiring by 2029. The deduction phases out for higher income levels, so single filers earning $175,000 or more and married filers earning $250,000 or more will not benefit.

In New York State, 3.7 million residents, or about 1 in 5, receive Social Security benefits, according to AARP.

Trump promised to eliminate the tax on Social Security benefits in his 2024 campaign, but tax analysts say that’s not what this bill does. Instead, it reduces income taxes for seniors on all incomes including Social Security, according to tax analysts.

"There’s some miscommunication," said Joseph Perry, a national tax leader in the Melville office of CBIZ, a national adviser of tax, accounting, advisory, benefits, insurance and technology services.

The bill will mean fewer seniors have to pay taxes, particularly when coupled with an increase in the standard deduction of $750 for single filers and $1,500 for married couples, Perry told Newsday. However, Barry A. Kaufmann, president of the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans, a senior advocacy group with 670,000 members representing retirees across the state, tells NEWSDAY, "Overall it’s a lousy bill. If you throw in a $6,000 sweetener, that doesn’t get rid of the pain that’s caused to seniors." Kaufmann also noted that the deduction ends in 2028, adding, "This is not a forever thing. It’s very limited in scope."

With more seniors paying less income taxes on their benefits, it means less revenue going toward Social Security’s two trust funds, policy experts and tax analysts said. Taxes on benefits make up a very small portion of the program’s total revenue, but the trust funds already are projected to run short if Congress doesn’t act, according to AARP.

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A pop-up event set to last three days ended after just 40 minutes this past Wednesday when East Hampton Village officials walked over to Herrick Park and found what one said looked like a car dealership with General Motors vehicles. East Hampton Village Administrator Marcos Baladron later described the move as a “trojan horse,” as the village had permitted an educational event. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that Wednesday morning, General Motors event organizers began unloading equipment and supplies from trucks, as the company planned to showcase about a half dozen cars from its subsidiaries, including Cadillac and Chevrolet, for the next three days. The idea was to show the company’s portfolio of electric vehicles. Less than a minute into the first day, Larry Cantwell, a former village administrator and town supervisor, walked by and realized it was a pop-up marketing event for General Motors. Cantwell told Brad Billet, the president of the East Hampton Village Foundation, that he thought the event inappropriate. Not long after, Cantwell took to Facebook to ask: “New General Motors dealership opened today on Herrick Park. When will the exploitation end?” At around 2 p.m., Mayor Jerry Larsen announced on the village’s official Facebook page that leadership had revoked the permit for the car event because it was outside the scope of what it had originally permitted. By evening, the company had vacated the space.

The original application did not list General Motors. Instead, it gave the name of a limited liability company. The Village of East Hampton, then, gave the green light for an electric vehicle education program...not a sales event. General Motors provided a statement that said the company wishes to...