Villages

For communities with lower Covid-19 infection rates right now (like many of ours here on the East End) compared to hot spots elsewhere in the country, it can be particularly tempting to seize an opportunity for normality and plan to trick-or-treat as usual. But this could be risky.

Trucks and cars bedecked with American flags, Trump 2020 banners and signs, and Blue Lives Matter flags cruised along the South Fork's main artery throughout the afternoon during a MAGA-Gras parade for Donald Trump on Sunday as bystanders honked and cheered in support or booed in protest.

From the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the biggest concerns for the health care community has been not only the actual effects of the novel coronavirus itself but also the secondary impacts upon people's health and well-being. There were concerns about how increasing numbers of patients with Covid-19 might overwhelm the clinics and hospitals in terms of simple numbers, but the impact upon preventive health was also very worrisome. 

That the former Morpurgo house, a.k.a. the Captain John Hulbert house, hadn't been sold yet amid the pandemic was serendipitous for its owners, Max and Michelle Breskin, who, with their three children, are its first legal occupants in many years. Once a wreck, now tip-top after a major restoration completed by Breskin Development, it is on the market for just under $6.5 million.

With county approval of a moratorium until March 1 on commercial redevelopment in Sag Harbor Village's waterfront areas, the village board voted in favor of it Tuesday. 

Not so long ago Springs residents and many others in East Hampton Town were fearing the worst for the future of the combined Springs Library and Historical Society, but now it looks as though the mid-1800s building housing them may even get a new cedar roof this year or early next.

Since a Labor Day fund-raising trip to the East Hampton area, an UpIsland youth group has come under scrutiny for allegedly allowing a 13-year-old to canvass neighborhoods alone to sell candy.

Leon Goodman of Bay Shore set out nine days ago to walk the entire length of Long Island — from the foot of the 59th Street Bridge in Queens to the Montauk Point Lighthouse — in an act of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The department of stolen surfboards caught a break this summer when a good Samaritan did something that you don't normally see in a story about a missing board. He returned it.

A dead whale that washed ashore at Kirk Beach in Montauk on Tuesday and a dead gray seal that was found there on Wednesday were both so severely decomposed that further study is needed to determine the causes of death.

Emily McCachren and Peter Billings were married on Sept. 5 in Lawrenceville, N.J., in the backyard of the groom's mother, Lorna Ballard. The bride's father, the Rev. Scot McCachren, the pastor at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church, officiated.

Voters on the South Fork have an unusual opportunity to support their preferred candidates and at the same time good causes.

For the first time since July 13, more than 100 new cases of coronavirus infection were reported in a single day in Suffolk County last week, with 104 people testing positive on Thursday and 103 on Friday. After dipping to 49 on Sunday, by Monday the number of new cases in the county was up to 89, and on Tuesday 109 new cases were reported, according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office.

The novel coronavirus causing Covid-19 has the ability to affect many body systems and can lead to such a wide variety of symptoms that it is difficult to say without a test whether certain symptoms are those of a cold or Covid.

East Hampton Village Police Chief Michael Tracey presented the village board with a proposal to change parking regulations on several village streets at a board meeting last Thursday. 

On the north side of Newtown Lane, from Osborne Lane to the Long Island Rail Road tracks, he recommended extending the time limit for parking from one hour to two. The change would benefit businesses in the area, including a barbershop and hair salon whose customers, he said, often find themselves exceeding the one-hour limit.

Two mysteries hang over Montauk's Fort Pond this week: What happened to 26 laughing gulls found both dead and injured, all in the same manner and all oddly clustered in an area near PSEG-Long Island's Montauk substation on Industrial Road? And was that really an alligator people saw in Fort Pond late last month? The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has looked into both matters.

Walleska Ramirez, who is known as Wally, is someone who those on the East End will get to know more and more as the harsh effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to emerge.

Ms. Ramirez has been appointed to the new position of crisis response coordinator by Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island, according to an announcement this week by the nonprofit group.

The American Red Cross in the Greater New York Region is seeking up to 1,000 new volunteers to be part of its inaugural Hurricane Season Reserve Corps. A minimum of three hours' training is provided virtually for this new group of team members, who will be prepared to support affected communities in the event of a major disaster.

The East Hampton Farmers Market, which had ended its summer season on Sept. 1, was back in business on Sunday in East Hampton Village's Reutershan parking lot. It will be held there weekly from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Dec. 20.

An interior designer turned social worker, Lora Tucker is studying for a master's degree in creative writing at Stony Brook Southampton. Now, the Sag Harbor writer has landed a new job as the poetry editor of African Voices magazine.   

The Hamptons Realty Group, a fixture on Main Street in Amagansett since 1984, rolled up its signature red awning and vacated the space it has long occupied this week. The firm is still very much alive and prospering, said its owner Htun Han, but the pandemic has changed the way it is doing business.

The call came in that a dog lost at sea needed rescuing. He was 300 yards out between Egypt and Wiborg's Beaches in East Hampton and it looked like he was going to go under.

Monte Farber, Amy Zerner, and Jeff Pulver share something in common with Jimmy Fallon, John Krasinski, actors from the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton," and the "Saturday Night Live" sketch comedy ensemble: During the Covid-19 pandemic they have all been using Zoom to reach their respective audiences in some way, tapping into the connective power of the app.

The homeowners selected from among more than 30 applicants across the county will be Anthony LaFountain and Cheyenne Banville, volunteer first responders with the Springs Fire Department. Mr. LaFountain and Ms. Banville live in Springs and work in East Hampton.

Rachel Blatt and Jordan Werbe Fuentes were married at East Hampton Town Justice Court on Friday. Justice Steven Tekulsky officiated.

The Jewish Center of the Hamptons in East Hampton and Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor will live-stream Yom Kippur services on Sunday evening and Monday, the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons, based in Bridgehampton, will hold its services via Zoom, services at Chabad of the Hamptons in East Hampton will be held outdoors in a spacious tent, and Chabad of North Haven will hold its services outside and in.

Anita Boyer and Joe Pallister had June marked on their calendar for nearly a year. Both of them mused on an intimate wedding at what they considered the most idyllic venue: Disney World.

"I am so obsessed with Disney," Ms. Boyer, a dance and acting coach, and co-founder of Our Fabulous Variety Show, said in a phone interview. "Both of my grandparents worked there. I grew up visiting all the time. I have Disney in my blood."

East End Ocean Rescue, which focuses on warning the public of the dangers of rip currents, recently donated 1,000 rip current cards, along with a warning sign, to the Ocean Vista resort on Napeague, which is near a stretch of beach where a Brooklyn man drowned earlier this summer.

In his first week in office, Jerry Larsen, who ran on a platform to bring change to the village and won in a landslide in the Sept. 15 election, discussed his new proposals for parking, the renovation of Herrick Park, sidewalk repair, police reform, and more.

After having wrapped up 20 years of service on the East Hampton Village Board, and following an unsuccessful run for mayor in last week's election, Barbara Borsack, who was the first woman to be elected to the board, said she is now deciding how best to apportion a sudden surplus of free time.