A Good Growing Year
After a sopping wet spring that interrupted planting schedules, turned fields into small ponds, and had farmers quaking in their proverbial boots, the growing season on the South Fork turned out to be one of the best in recent years for some local farmers.

HOSPITAL: Facing The Dollar Gap
While an aura of uncertainty persists in and around Southampton Hospital following the announcement of a $49 million shortfall over three years, its new top executive, Thomas B. Doolan, promised this week that its financial "mess . . . will absolutely never happen again."

ELAINE BENSON, GALLERY PIONEER
Elaine Benson, art gallery owner, weekly newspaper columnist, fund-raising powerhouse, and Hamptons legend, died on Monday at Southampton Hospital at the age of 74.