Editorials

’Tis the season to be jolly, whether you like it or not, and East Hampton’s overheated (and occasionally silly) civic discourse on holiday lights has arrived right on time. 

For the first time in more than a decade, the official map of plant growing zones has changed — and it affects Long Island.

The brawl over the black paint job at Rowdy Hall reminded us this week how aesthetic taste isn't just totally subjective, but shifts with the passing of years.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s veto of a bill that would have jump-started an overdue effort to right a wrong done to the Montaukett people was disappointing and part of a long string of similar rejections coming from successive New York governors.

For many of us, the holidays can be a time of shortened tempers, sadness, or feeling like not getting out of bed. But there are ways to brighten up the days, if only a little.

The mission of any chamber of commerce is to promote and strengthen local business, but how can the chamber here do that at a time when locally owned businesses are fewer and farther between?

With lots of Thanksgiving cooking about to take over kitchens, it is a good time to take another look at gas stoves, for health reasons and for the environment.

It is time to ask whether the daily responsibilities of town board members may serve to maintain the status quo and prevent adequate forward thinking.

We are always pleased to see women in greater roles in government, and Tuesday night’s results on the East End bode well for where the country may be headed.

Builders seem driven by an investment mind-set, one that dismisses any sense of continuity and community scale in favor of more bedrooms, more square footage, and more amenities. Now a cross-section of East Hampton residents is demanding new limits.

Ann Welker for County Legislature has been a strong advocate for the environment. For county executive, Ed Romaine should be a steady hand.

Kathee Burke-Gonzalez will probably cruise into the supervisor’s office, David Lys will most likely hold onto his spot on the town board, and Tom Flight is the standout among the other candidates. But to provide constructive dissent, the G.O.P. must step up its game.