Grind

Local organizations are helping communities here grapple with race and identity through film screenings and conversations.

Racial Justice East End, Canio's Cultural Cafe, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, and the Eastville Community Historical Society have come together for the Confronting Racism virtual film series. The movies will be shown on Zoom, followed by small group dialogues that create "space for honest, heartfelt conversation."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has announced an online job board for both employers and job-seekers, with employment fairs, hiring events, and career exploration -- a virtual employment center that he called a one-stop shop.

Four poets will pay a virtual visit to the Shelter Island Library for a mini poetry festival on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. Reading from their work via Zoom will be Fran Castan, Carole Stone, George Held, and Gladys Henderson.

For Saturday night only, the Maidstone Hotel in East Hampton Village is offering a contactless takeout or picnic paella dinner prepared in-house by Fernando Saralegui of The New York Times-starred restaurants Alva and L-Ray.

After hitting a low of 45 new cases per day in mid-June, confirmed Covid-19 numbers have moved slowly upward in Suffolk County.

There have been about 60 new coronavirus cases reported each day in July, with a high of 102 cases on July 13. Case counts reflect the date on which they were provided to New York State by reporting laboratories.

Visitors have been given the green light to return to nursing homes and long-term care facilities on a limited basis.

The East Hampton Library is planning a virtual art exhibit to showcase the work of local teens, and has put out a call for entrants.

Eleven of the 39 South Fork water bodies regularly tested by the Concerned Citizens of Montauk were found to have had medium to high levels of harmful bacteria, it said in its most recent reporting.

Hamptons Film Drive-In, in partnership with the Hayground School, will show Tina Fey's "Mean Girls," from 2004, as the Monday retrospective film, and Jordan Peele's "Get Out" as the Scary Wednesday film. 

East Hampton Town's Junior and Nipper Lifeguard programs for kids will begin this week with reduced capacity and new safety protocols in place.

Upcoming events and news in Montauk.

The Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce has canceled the village’s annual HarborFest fair, scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13, because of the ongoing pandemic.