The East Hampton Town fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a fire that broke out in the basement of a house at 21 Old Stone Highway in Springs on Sunday afternoon. Officials are looking into whether there was an electrical problem in the area, because the Springs Presbyterian Church and Ashawagh Hall, which are nearby, reported electrical problems.

The fire, which originated in the basement, burned a hole in the first floor of the two-story house before firefighters arrived, Springs Fire Department Chief Ryan Balnis said on Monday morning. “The house was locked up,” he said, and no one was home. “Smoke was coming from the soffits and chimney . . . you could tell the place was full of smoke.”

Firefighters broke into the house through the front door and extinguished the little bit of fire they found. The chief said there was mostly smoke. About three feet into the house, they realized there was a hole in the first floor, in the center of the living room.

“There was zero visibility,” Chief Balnis said. “Luckily, the guys we had go in on the first line, they checked the floor and found the hole and backed out.”

Dwayne Denton, an East Hampton Town fire marshal who investigated with Tom Baker, said the hole was about 10 by 12 feet. “Springs did a good job. They relied on their training,” he said. Had they not been careful to check that the floor was sound, they easily could have fallen through and been injured, he said.

Since the first floor was compromised, the firefighters found another way into the basement through a Bilco door on the side of the house and doused the fire from there.

“It was a great stop for us,” Chief Balnis said of saving the house. Aside from the hole in the floor, there was mostly smoke and water damage.

The cause of the fire remained undetermined as of yesterday, according to Mr. Denton. He said there was “a little electrical issue” at the church and at Ashawagh Hall, which is 200 to 300 yards away from the house. At both places, he said, the lights went dim and then got very bright. At the church, the electrical service wires got hot, melted, and dropped from the structure, he said.

The Springs Fire Department received assistance from the Amagansett and East Hampton Fire Departments. No injuries were reported.

Tax records show that Kevin Bishop owns the property. He has not been home recently, Mr. Denton said.

An East Hampton Town police officer rescued a 21-year-old man from inside a burning car after he hit a tree in Springs in the early morning hours on Nov. 15. 

Police received a report of a vehicle fire on Springs-Fireplace Road, just north of Shadom Lane, with an occupant still inside at about 2:30 a.m. Officer Michael A. Gomez found Pedro J. Palaciosbedoya, the driver, inside the 2011 Nissan sedan, which had a fire under the hood. One of his legs was fractured, the accident report said. 

The officer removed the driver’s seat belt and pulled him from the car. Meanwhile, Officer Juan Buitrago used an extinguisher to put out the flames. 

A Springs Fire Department engine responded to ensure the fire was out, according to Chief Ryan Balnis. The department’s ambulance personnel treated Mr. Palaciosbedoya and transported him to East Hampton Airport to a waiting 

medevac helicopter that flew him to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. 

Chief Balnis said it was a serious accident, calling the driver “very lucky.”

According to the accident report, speed was a factor. Only one vehicle was involved, and there were no passengers.

Also on Nov. 15, a bicyclist was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital for multiple injuries. She was treated and released days later. 

Town police said Katherine Persky, 61, of Manhattan was riding north on the shoulder of Route 114 in East Hampton when she was hit by a car that was traveling in the same direction at about 12:45 p.m. Brad Beyer, 67, who has a post office box in Bridgehampton, told police he took his eyes off the road for just a moment. 

No tickets were issued and no charges were filed. A hospital spokeswoman said Ms. Persky was discharged, but offered no further information.

Three years ago, George Lombardi survived being crushed in an accident at a building supply yard. He spent nearly 100 days in the hospital and endured dozens of surgeries and countless hours of physical therapy. Throughout it all, he never forgot those who came to his aid.

“I owe my life to those people who rushed me to the hospital,” the now 79-year-old said last week of the first responders who took care of him in that first critical hour. He suffered life-threatening injuries in what police referred to at the time as a freak accident.

On May 8, 2015, a couple of hundred sheets of wallboard fell on him during a visit to the Riverhead Building Supply yard on Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton, East Hampton Town police said at the time. In an interview last week, Mr. Lombardi, a builder for 25 years, recalled walking through the warehouse with one of the R.B.S. employees when he was directed up the steps to the second floor to inspect some new insulation materials. 

“I remember walking through and I remember the Sheetrock falling on me,” he said. He was trapped from the waistdown and was in and out of consciousness during the rescue effort that ensued. “If my head was under it, I would have been gone,” he said.

Under the direction of Gerard Turza Jr., then the second assistant chief of the East Hampton Fire Department and now the fire chief, the department’s heavy rescue squad worked meticulously to free him. “It took 25 people, one sheet at a time, to remove it,” Mr. Lombardi said. Each sheet weighed about 90 pounds. 

Everyone’s first instinct was to get the sheets off him as fast as possible, but they had to slow down; removing an estimated 20,000 pounds of material that is crushing a patient too quickly could actually be detrimental if the paramedic did not stabilize him first, the chief said. They had no idea at first what was going on under the sheets and had to be prepared for amputations and life-threatening bleeding. 

They also had to ensure their own safety. An adjacent shelf had toppled over too and there were still items teetering overhead. “Everything had to be coordinated,” Chief Turza said. “Everybody did what they are trained to do.”

The endeavor took about 20 minutes, and then the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association, led on scene by Nick Calace, a paid paramedic, transported him to a waiting medevac helicopter at East Hampton Airport, and he was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital, the area’s only level-one trauma center. The ambulance crew, all volunteers, consisted of Barbara Hansen, Suzy Dayton, Olgar (QuiQue) Araya, and Ian Hoyt. 

“Those people got me there as soon as they most possibly could,” Mr. Lombardi said. “The people at Stony Brook told my family that had I not gotten there, if I had gotten there just a little bit later, they would not have been able to save my life.”

Mr. Lombardi was in the intensive care unit for several days. His left foot was crushed, his knees were severely damaged, his left femur bone was sticking out of his skin, and eight ribs were broken. “I was banged up pretty bad,” he said. 

For three days it was “touch and go,” he said. His blood pressure was dangerously low and he was placed in a medically induced coma. 

Michael Tousiani, a friend he had built a house for, arranged for his transfer to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where five different surgeons were put in charge of his care. His wife, Antonia, remained at his side throughout his 96-day hospital stay. There was always someone with him, he said. She took one day off a week to drive back to East Hampton and then his son or daughter would take over. 

When he was discharged, the surgeries continued — 36 in all. He spent many months convalescing at home in Springs under the care of a nurse. “I lost like three years of my life,” he said. 

Mr. Lombardi is thankful though. He does not place blame or complain about the injuries that he still suffers from. He said he was a customer of Riverhead Building Supply for many years. “They always treated me well. It wasn’t their fault. They were very supportive of me after the accident.”

In the days and weeks that followed the accident, the first responders heard different stories about his condition, but it was not until about a month and a half ago that they heard from him directly. Chief Turza was working his shift as 911 dispatcher in the Village of East Hampton’s Department of Emergency Communications, housed in the same building as the Fire Department, when Mr. Lombardi walked through the door looking to get in touch with those who had helped him. 

Rarely do those whom fire and emergency medical services have helped return to say thank you. Even more rare is someone turning up years later. “I shook his hand. He hugged me,” Chief Turza recalled. “He just wanted to thank us.” 

“I can probably count on one hand in the 26 and a half years I’ve been doing this that that’s happened.” The chief said it has been “humbling and exceptionally gratifying.” 

“It’s pretty awesome to see how well he is doing and that someone that had such a traumatic event came out doing so well,” Mr. Calace said, adding how nice it is to see that Mr. Lombardi has remained so positive and grateful.

Mr. Lombardi said he thought often throughout his recovery about the members of fire and emergency medical services who helped him. He wanted to wait until he was feeling well enough to express his appreciation and give them “a heroes’ dinner,” as he called it. 

“I was remiss in letting this go,” he said of the time that lapsed during his recovery. “I wanted to sit with them and be able to talk to them and be relaxed,” he said. 

And that’s just what they did over a meal two weeks ago. They spoke about what happened and they were eager to hear about the extent of his injuries and how he had recuperated, he said. “They all knew I was in very bad shape. They couldn’t believe anybody could recover from that.” 

Mr. Lombardi said he has 85 to 90 percent of his strength back. He still cannot walk very far. “I’m trying to build myself up as much as I can,” he said.

“He probably had the hardest job of all,” Chief Turza said. “He had the will to keep on surviving. He had to have the willpower to do this. He could have easily . . . given up. He didn’t.”

His family threw him an early 80th birthday party a week ago — he will reach the milestone in January.

Many people rallied around him from the moment the accident happened, he said. He spoke of the cooperation between the various emergency agencies that responded and the people at Riverhead Building Supply to safely and quickly free him, and the quality care he received, started at the accident site in East Hampton to the hospital, and even prayer groups that prayed for him.

“It gave me a taste of the real community we live in,” he said.

East Hampton Town police are investigating two accidents that happened overnight. 

Route 114 in Sag Harbor was still closed Monday morning after an accident on Sunday night, and the only access to Sag Harbor from East Hampton was via Sagg Road. East Hampton Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson said the driver of a sport utility vehicle fled on foot after crashing into the Jewish cemetery on Route 114 and bringing down a utility pole at about 9:50 p.m. The owner of the 2010 Ford Explorer later reported it missing to Sag Harbor Village police. 

Town police are still looking for the driver. Meanwhile, P.S.E.G. Long Island was still replacing the pole during the Monday morning commute, leaving drivers to find an alternative route. 

On Monday at about 2 a.m., another driver crashed her car in Amagansett. Captain Anderson said Eileen Michelena, 54, of Mineola was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after she rolled over a 2013 Ford Focus on Cranberry Hole Road near Napeague Meadow Road. She said was headed east, but said she was heading home to Mineola, the captain said. 

Ms. Michelena was taken to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, where she was admitted with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. She was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and released on an appearance ticket.

Kristy LaMonda of the East Hampton Presbyterian Church has been helping with her congregation’s annual community Thanksgiving dinner most of her adult life — first as a volunteer and, more recently, as an organizer of the event. One of the realizations that have struck her over the years is how there are a lot of ways to feed people, whether it’s filling their stomachs with food or warming their hearts with fellowship or providing volunteer opportunities to make somebody else’s holiday special.

“We have people come to us for all different reasons,” Ms. LaMonda said this week, “and what I’ve found is the need people feel to volunteer is almost bigger than the needs of the people who need the food sometimes.”

“People come to us and say, ‘I need to do something, I want to give back,’ or ‘I want to show my kids how to give back to the community.’ We have people who literally just show up the day of the dinner and say, ‘Put me to work. I want to do something.’ And I do my best.” 

This year’s dinner is scheduled to run from noon to 2:30 next Thursday at the church’s Session House, at 120 Main Street in East Hampton. The menu is traditional and straightforward: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing and green beans, home-cooked apple and pumpkin pies. 

Ms. LaMonda said the church is still willing to accept help making the food, serving the meal, or pitching in with the cleanup. Volunteers needn’t be church members to take part. People who contribute food have been asked to buy it, cook it at home, and coordinate with Ms. LaMonda about how to take it to the church building. Workers there will warm it and prepare it to be served.

“The dinner is not a need-based type of thing, per se, because although we might provide food for someone that doesn’t have food, more importantly what we’re trying to do is provide an opportunity for people to come together and find fellowship,” Ms. LaMonda said. “We do have people from the senior center, people from St. Michael’s and Windmill Village. We also have people that just drop in and say, ‘Hi, I was visiting and didn’t have anyplace else to go.’ Or maybe they’re working and they say, ‘My family is away, and I didn’t want to be alone.’ ”

Because the Meals on Wheels kitchen here is closed on Thanksgiving Day, the East Hampton Presbyterian Church fills that gap, too, providing meals for delivery to people who can’t make it to the community dinner. All told, Ms. LaMonda said, the church served about 170 meals a year ago.

“The majority of the food is still provided by members of our congregation, but we’re looking to expand that out,” she said.

To participate in the dinner, Kristy LaMonda can be emailed at [email protected], or called or texted at 631-374-8375. To make a reservation for seating or takeout, the church office can be called at 631-324-0711 through Tuesday.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said Thursday he is not ready to concede the race for Suffolk County comptroller, even though his incumbent opponent, John M. Kennedy Jr., declared victory on Tuesday night. 

Mr. Schneiderman ran on the Democratic ticket for the county post. He said that although the election returns showed a narrow margin of victory for Mr. Kennedy, there are enough uncounted absentee ballots to reverse the outcome.

"The board of elections has not yet counted some 30,000 absentee ballot votes," Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement from his campaign. The absentee ballots are "disproportionately from registered Democrats," he said. 

Mr. Kennedy leads Mr. Schneiderman by 8,623 votes out of a total of 484,757 cast on Election Day.

“It’s important that every vote gets counted,” Mr. Schneiderman said. “I am interested in getting this resolved however it goes. If and when it becomes statistically impossible for the race to be called in my favor, I would then be prepared to concede.”

Mr. Schneiderman has one year left in his term as supervisor. 

A teenager who pleaded guilty to raping a young woman he knew in the parking lot at the Springs School earlier this year was sentenced to six months behind bars and 10 years of probation. A Suffolk County Criminal Court judge also ruled that his criminal record will be sealed.

Justice Barbara Kahn granted Bryan Siranaula youthful offender status last Thursday before she handed down his sentence. Justice Kahn agreed with Mr. Siranaula’s attorney, Daniel G. Rodgers, that he was a good candidate for youthful offender treatment, a provision under the law for those who commit crimes when they are between 16 and 18 years old.

On Feb. 4, when Mr. Siranaula was an 18-year-old senior at East Hampton High School, he persuaded a young woman to wait for him at the school via a text message in which he pretended to be someone else. Officials said the two had a prior relationship but were no longer in contact.

Mr. Siranaula allegedly dragged the woman from her car in front of a 7-year-old relative — identified in court on Thursday as her brother — who was with her. The rape allegedly took place in his Nissan. Afterward, prosecutors said during his arraignment in criminal court, he allowed her to go back to her car to comfort the child, who was watching from the car and sobbing. She told police she gave the child a video to watch and that Mr. Siranaula then forced her back to his vehicle and raped her again.

In September, Mr. Siranaula pleaded guilty to all counts: first-degree forcible rape and aggravated sexual abuse, which are felonies, and to misdemeanor charges of criminal obstruction of breathing, acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, third-degree assault, and criminal impersonation in the second degree over the internet. A second rape charge had been dismissed previously.

Facing a maximum of 25 years in prison, he essentially threw himself on the mercy of the court, Mr. Rodgers said after the sentencing. The Suffolk County district attorney’s office, he said, had not offered a plea deal.

Mr. Rodgers had submitted a memorandum of mitigating circumstances — mainly age — although Nicholas Santomartino, an assistant district attorney in the sex crimes unit, opposed his application for youthful offender status because of the seriousness of the crime.

In her decision last Thursday, Justice Kahn referred to evidence-based development and psychology and brain science. She noted, court transcripts show, “the now accepted premise for the criminal justice system, that the brain of an 18-year-old is not the same as the brain of an adult. That young people who commit offenses are, presumptively, developmentally and morally different than adults.”

“Our highest court,” she continued, “has recognized that society’s understanding of juvenile brain function, and the relationship between youth and unlawful behavior, has significantly evolved. Studies have shown that brain development in adolescence is not complete, that young people often possess an undeveloped sense of responsibility which can result in impetuous and ill-considered actions.”

“Impulsivity and shortsightedness are often the hallmarks of adolescence,” she said.

The criminal justice system has accepted that rehabilitation, rather than punishment, is the goal. “This is particularly true with young people who commit sexual offenses. The nature of the crime does not transform an adolescent into an adult,” she said. Such principles, she said, “yield better outcomes than the knee-jerk responses of former times.”

In deciding to grant him youthful offender status, she also considered his lack of a criminal history, his age, his compliance during his supervised release on $50,000 bail, his cooperation with law enforcement, his apparent remorse, and “his willingness to accept responsibility for his conduct.” She also made reference to an evaluation from Barry Winkler, a forensic psychologist. Mr. Rodgers said he was impressed with how much brain development research the judge had done.

“In the interest of justice, therefore, youthful offender treatment is being granted to you, Mr. Siranaula, in the hopes that without the burden of a felony criminal record, you can be rehabilitated and lead a constructive and productive life,” Justice Kahn said.

Despite giving the defendant youthful offender status, the judge chose to keep the courtroom open to the public and the press throughout the proceeding.

The victim, whose identity is protected by state law, sat quietly in the courtroom with her parents and a family friend. She did not wish to address the court, according to the assistant district attorney. He said that she had handled herself with “grace and compassion far beyond her years.” He said she had not wanted the defendant to get the maximum sentence of 25 years, but did want him to register as a sex offender to protect others.

The D.A.’s office asked for a 10-year prison sentence, followed by 15 years of post-release supervision on the top count of first-degree rape.

The judge did not require Mr. Siranaula to register as a sex offender, but said that as part of his probation he would be subject to strict sex offender conditions, unlike regular probation, computer monitoring and psychological conditions, and drug and alcohol conditions. He would also have to appear in court to show compliance. His next date is scheduled for May 21, though it will be before a new judge; Justice Kahn retires next month. If he violates probation, he faces incarceration, Justice Kahn said.

Mr. Rodgers told the court that his client had never tried to minimize the seriousness of what took place on Feb. 4. “He knows what he did was wrong and he’s doing his best to take responsibility for that, today, by appearing in court and accepting his medicine,” he said. He had “shown genuine remorse, not for himself, but for the pain and suffering he may have caused to this young lady he knows well.”

The judge granted the D.A.’s request for a permanent stay-away order of protection for the victim and her brother. Mr. Siranuala also has to pay a $300 mandatory court fee and $25 crime victim fee.

He will remain on probation for 10 years without the possibility of getting off probation early, Mr. Rodgers said. That is double the amount of probation that any other felon would be subject to, the judge said. “There is no early discharge.”

With regard to the misdemeanor counts he pleaded guilty to, he was sentenced to three years’ probation and 60 days of incarceration, which will run concurrently to the 10-year probation and six months in jail.

Mr. Siranaula, who sat with his parents, family members, and friends in the back of the courtroom until his case was called, thanked Justice Kahn. “I know you took the risk with me, and everything. I appreciate it and I won’t let you down.”

After signing some paperwork, he was handcuffed by court officers and taken into custody. A GPS tracking device would be cut off of his ankle once he was at the jail. He was allowed to take a small paper bag with some belongings, including a toothbrush and medication, with him as he went off to serve out his prison sentence in the Suffolk County jail.

This article has been updated with the version that appeared in print on Nov. 15, 2018. 

East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys, who was appointed to the town board in January, was elected in his own right on Tuesday, defeating his challenger, Manny Vilar, with a decisive 69.3 percent of the vote. 

An unofficial tally on the Suffolk County Board of Elections website had Mr. Lys winning 6,177 votes to Mr. Vilar's 2,728. Appointed to fill the seat occupied by Peter Van Scoyoc following his election as supervisor last November, Mr. Lys will now serve the final year of Mr. Van Scoyoc's term. He will have to stand for re-election next year, should he wish to seek a full four-year term.

In the race for New York's First Congressional District, the incumbent Republican, Lee Zeldin, triumphed over the Democratic challenger from East Hampton, Perry Gershon, with nearly 53 percent of the vote.

Back in East Hampton, when Cate Rogers, chairwoman of the East Hampton Democrats, announced that Mr. Lys was clearly in the lead with 15 of 19 election districts reporting, Mr. Lys addressed the crowd at Rowdy Hall, where the Democrats had assembled to monitor the election returns. He thanked his wife, Rachel Lys, and the "campaign team" that surrounded him, including his colleagues on the town board and committee members, acknowledging their "support, guidance, knowledge, and wisdom" and calling them "the cornerstone, the blocks I needed."

"I'm going to be so bold to say that this is a mandate, that the Town of East Hampton and residents have put upon myself and have put upon the board to continue the actions we have started. . . ." He said that the board will continue to work to improve water quality and increase the stock of affordable housing in the town. "We have to continue to make this place special," he said. "I really look forward to going to work tomorrow." The town board is not just laying the groundwork for tomorrow or next week, he said, "but for 5, 10, 15, 20 years out. I look forward to continuing that."

Mr. Vilar, running on the Republican and Conservative Party lines, waged an unsuccessful race for supervisor last year. Mr. Lys, who changed his party registration from Republican to Democratic before his appointment to the town board, appeared on the Democratic/Unity Party and Working Families Party lines.

Tuesday's election followed a protracted dispute among East Hampton Democrats. Mr. Lys's appointment angered many on the town's Democratic Committee, who did not consider him a true Democrat. He fought off a primary challenge from David Gruber, who headed up a splinter group calling itself the East Hampton Reform Democrats. Mr. Lys easily won the primary with 61 percent of the vote. Most of the Reform Democrats' candidates for the Democratic Committee were also defeated in the primary election.

Mr. Lys and Mr. Vilar, both sons of immigrant fathers and both a resident of Springs, conducted upbeat campaigns devoid of attacks on the other. In debates and voter forums, they agreed with one another far more than they disagreed.

"I grew up in the community," Mr. Vilar said Tuesday night at the Springs Tavern, where he gathered with supporters to tally election returns. "I love the community and I wanted to fix problems that the board was glossing over. . . . But the most important thing is getting to use your voice to bring up issues and ask why."

Mr. Vilar, 59, is the founding president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York State and a 34-year veteran of the State Parks police. He emphasized his experience in negotiating and working across political parties, and told voters that that experience was an advantage over the younger Mr. Lys. Democratic Party officials see Mr. Lys, who is 42 and a former member of the town's zoning board of appeals, as a leader who will attract younger voters to the party.

With his election, Democrats maintain a 5-0 supermajority on the board.

"Stay with me, please, continue on," he told the assembled. "I have to do this next year!"

On the eve of Tuesday's vote, Representative Lee Zeldin's campaign announced that he would cast his ballot with his wife and children at 7:15 a.m. at the Mastic Beach Firehouse. Mr. Zeldin will attend a Suffolk Republican Committee watch party at Stereo Garden in Patchogue as the results come in.

Perry Gershon, the Democrat challenging Mr. Zeldin, had three campaign events on Monday and plans to attend an election night gathering at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Hauppauge after voting in East Hampton.

Mr. Zeldin's front-runner's approach to campaigning has been to make his pitch to groups, such as the Middle Island and Ridge Civic Associations, the Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Association, and the Three Village Chamber of Commerce. He made a single public visit to East Hampton Town in the past two months — attending the Montauk Seafood Festival in September. Throughout the campaign against Mr. Gershon, he has been favored to win re-election by political handicappers. He was ahead by nine points in a New York Times-Siena College Poll of 502 voters conducted from Oct. 4 to 8.

Based on his official House Facebook posts and two verified Twitter accounts, Mr. Zeldin made about 25 public appearances in the First Congressional District in September and election eve. Chris Boyle, a spokesman for Mr. Zeldin's campaign, said that the public events mentioned on the incumbent’s social media accounts were fewer than the actual total.

Mr. Zeldin and Mr. Gershon debated most recently on Oct. 29 in Hampton Bays.

The pace of Mr. Gershon's campaign has not slackened since he won a five-way Democratic primary in June. His last day off was June 27, Ali Dakich, his press secretary, said.

"As of Election Day eve, I have officially driven 39,000 miles across New York 1. This has been a long road, but I am energized every day by the voters. That is why I have not taken a single day off since winning the Democratic primary, 132 days of listening to the people I hope to represent. Part of why Lee Zeldin has been such an abysmal representative for this district is because he refuses to get out and actually meet with constituents," Mr. Gershon said in an emailed statement. 

Among other October events in the First District that Mr. Zeldin attended were tours of Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Moriches Inlet dredging operation and a ceremony at Calverton National Cemetery. The rare overtly political event mentioned among his social media posts was an Oct. 13 campaign rally with Mark Molinaro on the North Fork.

In September, he had mobile office hours in Medford, attended a Gold Star parents' event in Bartlett Pond Park in Middle Island, and "Lunch With Lee" at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Rocky Point.

Mr. Zeldin's most high-profile September event was a round table on MS-13 gang violence with law enforcement and other officials. The congressman attended Brookhaven Town's annual veterans appreciation lunch on Friday and spoke to a class at the Laurel Hill School in East Setauket on Monday.

Mr. Gershon was at the Centereach V.F.W. on Sunday and spent Saturday knocking on doors. On Friday, he and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone greeted commuters at a Long Island Rail Road station, starting before sunrise. Mr. Gershon spoke at a Brookhaven N.A.A.C.P. barbecue on Sept. 15 and, with David Lys, an East Hampton Town councilman who is also on tomorrow's ballot, attended the Montauk Fall Festival on Oct. 6. 

Polling places are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

As of Oct. 17, a blue-green algae bloom in Montauk's Fort Pond had cleared, according to Concerned Citizens of Montauk, which has been monitoring the pond in partnership with the Gobler Lab at Stony Brook Southampton, "but the risk of a bloom remains."

C.C.O.M. assigned a medium risk to the Industrial Road side of Fort Pond and a high risk to the boat ramp area on the south side of the pond. Samples will be tested again next week.

C.C.O.M. is also partnering with the Surfrider Foundation's Blue Water Task Force to test water bodies in Montauk, Amagansett, and East Hampton for the enterococcus bacteria. Testing this week showed improvements over samples taken the week of Oct. 8, with only six of 23 test sites showing medium to high bacterial levels (earlier this month 14 of 25 sites had medium to high levels).

High entero levels were detected at one site on Lake Montauk, at Pussy's Pond in Springs, in Hook Pond near Dunemere Road, and in Georgica Pond near the kayak launch off Route 27. Medium levels were found at a separate site in Lake Montauk and on the beach side of Georgica Pond.

High entero levels, which are considered a risk to human health, can be caused by heavy rains, extreme high tides, and warm temperatures. With the most recent round of tests, "A full moon high tide most likely explains the elevated bacteria in the creeks at the south end of Lake Montauk, as well as Pussy’s Pond," according to Kate Rossi-Snook, an environmental advocate with C.C.O.M. The next sampling for enterococcus will be done the week of Nov. 5.