In order “to streamline the regulatory process without sacrificing meaningful environmental review,” the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed amending the State Environmental Quality Review Act, which dictates close scrutiny of projects that could have negative  environmental impacts.

The law, known as SEQRA, was originally enacted to “incorporate the consideration of environmental factors into the existing planning, review, and decision-making processes of state, regional, and local government agencies at the earliest possible time.” It requires that all agencies determine whether their actions, such as approval of a development, could have a “significant impact” on the environment. If so, an environmental impact statement, in which the possible effects and ways to mitigate them are examined, must be prepared by those seeking review.

The proposed changes to the law would expand the list of activities that are not subject to review under SEQRA, or classified as Type 2. The intent, as described in state documents, is that in “the protection and enhancement of the environment, human and community resources should be given appropriate weight with social and economic considerations in determining public policy, and that those factors be considered together in reaching decisions on proposed activities.”

Construction of certain buildings on previously disturbed sites in municipal centers, which meet zoning standards and are to be connected to existing public water and sewer systems, would be exempt, as would redevelopment of a building that meets zoning codes.

The revised law would also exempt from additional review the granting of area variances or lot-line adjustments that do not increase density, and certain subdivisions defined as “minor” under municipal codes, involving 10 acres or less, as long as they are not “substantially contiguous” to a critical environmental area.

Exemptions from SEQRA would include the retrofitting of an existing structure or facility to incorporate “green infrastructure,” such as stormwater management processes like rain gardens, the installation of fiber-optic or other broadband cable technology in existing highway or utility rights of way, and the installation of cellular antennas or repeaters on nonhistorical structures.

Also among the projects that would be exempted is the installation of five megawatts or less of solar energy arrays at such locations as industrial sites, landfills, above-ground parking facilities, or on nonhistorical buildings.

The proposed revisions were developed through a series of meetings between state staff and representatives of some municipalities, environmental groups, and developers.  East Hampton did not participate.

Marguerite Wolffsohn, the town’s planning director, and town attorneys are reviewing the proposed changes to determine their possible implications on planning board review and other permitting processes.

According to the D.E.C., the “stakeholders” who participated in the discussions agreed that the SEQRA process “continues to play a key role in ensuring that environmental concerns factor into agency decision making.” They also agreed, the agency said, “on the need to update the regulations to make the process more efficient and less frustrating to the regulated community.”

The “most recurrent concern,” the state agency said, was expressed by business and industry representatives about the time some environmental reviews take to complete; it is an impediment to businesses considering relocating to New York, it said.

To address these concerns, the draft of the revised law includes a timeline along with a framework for preparation of environmental impact statements.

Also proposed would be a provision requiring what is known in planning circles as a scoping session for every environmental review. Such sessions are not now required for all reviews. 

During the scoping process, potentially significant adverse  environmental impacts of a proposed action are  to be identified, so that the impact statement can focus on them rather than on insignificant impacts. The process is meant to ensure that the concerns of all involved agencies are addressed, including members of the public, who must be allowed to participate.

Comments on the proposed amendments can be submitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Permits, Attention: James J. Eldred, Environmental Analyst, 625 Broadway, Albany, N.Y., 12233-1750, or by e-mail to: [email protected] through May 19. A hearing is coming up in Albany on March 31.

In the first week of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, a flurry of executive orders drew protests around the country. One order, signed on Friday, which called for an immediate, temporary ban on travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries to the United States by noncitizens, as well as banning entry by refugees from any nation, brought large crowds of protesters, and many lawyers, to several of the nation’s airports last weekend, including Kennedy International Airport, as travelers were detained or turned back. Public demonstrations against the ban followed marches that took place around the country, and the world, on Jan. 21, the day after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.

Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican who defeated former Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst with 59 percent of the vote in November, defended the executive order barring entry by citizens of the seven countries, but at the same time said he would ensure that any misapplication of the order would be corrected.

In a press release on Sunday, and in written comments to The Star, Mr. Zeldin reported that he was directly involved in the release of an Iranian student, Vahideh Rasekhi, who is the president of Stony Brook University’s Graduate Student Organization. She had been detained for more than 24 hours at J.F.K. on Saturday and Sunday as she returned from a visit to her home country. The university is in the First Congressional District, which Mr. Zeldin represents.

Meanwhile, national protests directed at Mr. Trump have been mirrored, on a small scale, in Mr. Zeldin’s district. On Saturday, an estimated 150 to 200 constituents, including at least three from East Hampton, were outside the Sunset Harbour restaurant in East Patchogue, where Mr. Zeldin was honored by the Rotary Club of Shirley and the Mastics. On Tuesday, approximately 87 people protesting the executive order barring refugees and travel from the predominantly Muslim countries gathered at the Riverhead Library, where Mark Woolley, Mr. Zeldin’s district director, met with constituents.

A request to Mr. Zeldin’s communications director, Jennifer DiSiena, for a telephone conversation with The Star was declined. Instead, she provided written answers to questions.

To a question about the First District protests, Mr. Zeldin said he always appreciates hearing from constituents and is willing to work with anyone for the betterment of the community, state, and nation. He called for unity, pursuit of common ground, and the overcoming of differences.

Mr. Zeldin also said that lawful permanent residents who are not United States citizens, such as those holding green cards,  should not be “adversely impacted” by the executive order on travel. The implementation of that order, however, has resulted in chaotic scenes at airports and the detention of green card holders as well as visa-bearing professionals who have jobs in this country and others who had worked for the U.S. in the countries targeted, including Iraq, in addition to students. Mr. Zeldin defended Mr. Trump for firing the acting attorney general when she declined to defend the executive order, writing that Mr. Trump had nominated Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, for the position and that Senate Democrats should allow a vote on the nomination.

The congressman also supported Mr. Trump’s pledge to launch a major investigation of the between three and five million people who, he has alleged without offering evidence, voted illegally in November for his opponent, Hillary Clinton. The president has said such an investigation would help strengthen the country’s voting system and “protect the integrity of our democracy.”

Meanwhile, not long after the election, Stephen Bannon, the president’s chief strategist and a former executive of Breitbart News, a so-called alt-right website, told The New York Times that the media is “the opposition party” and should “keep its mouth shut.” Mr. Zeldin commented  that while many American journalists are “very professional” many others “have a very clear bias in their ‘reporting.’ ”

The spirited group of Sag Harbor parents and residents, victorious in December’s shutout of plans for a synthetic turf field at Pierson Middle-High School, will return to vote Wednesday, Feb. 15, on a proposal for an all-natural grass field instead.

“It’s a redirection of funds,” explained Katy Graves, Sag Harbor's superintendent. “We need a majority approval since the 2013 vote was earmarked for a turf field.”

While the new proposal’s money is still allocated for athletic needs, the revised version includes the use of natural grass as well as several multipurpose surfaces and a new playing area for the elementary school. The vote on this change-of-use proposition will determine whether the community grants permission to the school for the money to be redirected.

Sag Harbor’s “turf wars,” as the often contentious 2016 campaign came to be known, regularly drew 40 to 50 vocal parents and residents to school board meetings and forums. Emotions ran high with Main Street and social media abuzz with impassioned cries from both sides, and persuasive yard signs everywhere. Ultimately, the vote against a synthetic field was a resounding 1,016 to 135.

By stark contrast, last week’s presentation of the back-up plan for the grass field was attended by only two parents. Although this could be interpreted as a victory in the bag for the “Keep It Real” side, as proponents of the natural field are calling their campaign, Ms. Graves believes that the Feb. 15 vote will be well attended.

Sag Harbor School District voters can cast ballots in the Pierson High School Gym from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

An East Hampton attorney who was barred from the practice of law in August for “mental incompetence” has been charged with stealing over $500,000 from the estate of a North Fork woman, and with several more crimes including theft from another lawyer.

Kyle Thomas Lynch, 42, turned himself in yesterday morning at the district attorney’s office in Riverside to face charges of second-degree felony grand larceny. He was then transported to East Hampton Village police headquarters for processing, and to East Hampton Town Justice Court, where he was arraigned ion six felony charges before Town Justice Court before Justice Lisa R. Rana. His lawyer, Craig McElwee, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

According to the D.A.’s economic crimes bureau, which has been investigating the matter in cooperation with village police for a year and a half, Mr. Lynch took money from the estate of Helen Chalmers, who died in the fall of 2013, and deposited it into the business account of his law firm, Bainton Lynch, specialists in real estate.

While the alleged thefts were happening, he was also donating money from the Chalmers estate to various governmental organizations. Those donations were documented by The Suffolk Times in July 2014. “Shortly before last month’s vote on a resolution to accept a $150,000 bequest from the estate of Helen Chalmers, Greenport School District Superintendent Michael Comanda asked the Board of Education if anyone knew of the recently deceased Orient resident,” The Times reported. “No hands were raised.”

Village police charge that Mr. Lynch did not limit his alleged thievery to the dead woman’s estate. Another victim was another lawyer, Carl Irace, who was an associate in the Bainton Lynch firm. The police indicated yesterday that Mr. Lynch had drained most of the firm’s equity funds. Bainton Lynch was on Much­more Lane, in village jurisdiction.

Mr. Irace contacted police after he noticed a discrepancy on two of his credit card statements. “He came in and made a complaint to us,” Detective Steve Sheades said yesterday. Mr. Lynch allegedly took out two credit cards in Mr. Irace’s name, running up charges of over $50,000, the detective said.

Another victim was said to have been a client of the firm, Thomas Rudegeair. His case involved money held in escrow; police say, among other things, that $80,000 of that money was diverted to the firm.

The charges include second-degree felony grand larceny, identity theft, illegal possession of another person’s identity information, and grand larceny third degree.

In addition to the Greenport School District’s 2014 windfall, The Suffolk Times reported that “Oysterponds School District, Eastern Long Island Hospital, and St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Greenport each received $10,000. Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport and the Orient Fire Department received $5,000 each. So did the woman who delivered Ms. Chalmers’s mail.”

The grievance committee of New York State’s Ninth Judicial District barred Mr. Lynch from practicing law last summer “based upon his admitted mental incapacitation due to mental infirmity or illness.” Bail was set at $50,000 which was not immediately posted.

This story has been updated from its original version.

Update, 1:30 p.m.:  In the hours since East Hampton Town and Village declared a state of emergency, other municipalities have followed suit.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone declared a state of emergency at 11 a.m. The Town of Southampton did so at noon, Supervisor Jay Schneiderman announced. Mayor Sandra Schroeder declared a snow of emergency, effective 2 p.m. 

Parking on public streets is probited during snow emergencies. Motorists are asked to stay off the roads.

Originally, 9:50 a.m.: With the snow steadily falling, officials are telling residents to stay off the roads and let highway crews do their work without vehicular traffic. 

On his Facebook page, East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell advised constituents that parking on public roads is suspended, town offices and recycling centers are closed, and people should stay home. "With snowfalls forecast up to three inches per hour later this morning and afternoon, and a foot or more accumulations in blizzard conditions, the Town of East Hampton has declared a snow emergency," he said. 

East Hampton Village is also under a state of emergency. All South Fork schools are closed.

There was at least one accident in East Hampton Thursday morning. A two-car crash on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road, near Gann Road, at about 8:40 sent one person to the hospital, according to fire officials. No serious injuries were reported.

Suffolk County Transit canceled all bus service ahead of the storm, and the Hampton Jitney canceled all operations until at least late this afternoon. 

A blizzard warning for Suffolk County remains in effect until 6 p.m. The latest update from the National Weather Service forecasts 10 to 16 inches on the South Fork, with lesser amounts possible. Heavy snow and strong winds could provide whiteout conditions and power outages, and downed trees are possible.

In the Town of Southampton, town offices and transfer stations are closed. Residents with storm-related emergencies can call the Emergency Operations Center at 631-728-3400. Power outages can be reported directly to P.S.E.G.-Long Island at 1-800-490-0075.

Government officials in North Haven and Noyac have two decisions to make; whether to green-light a PSEG-Long Island plan to erect taller utility poles as part of federally funded project to strengthen the electric grid across Long Island and whether to continue to explore the idea of burying the lines along Long Beach, one of the most scenic vistas in the area.

After a million Long Island residents lost power in Hurricane Sandy, a $730 million, three-year project using money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was developed. PSEG-Long Island identified the 300 poorest performing circuits along 1,000 miles of overhead mainline distribution circuits across the system. Work on a circuit in North Haven and Noyac would begin soon with completion expected in May, Chris Hahn, a director of external affairs, told a crowd that gathered at North Haven Village Hall on Friday for an informational session.

Vulnerable poles, about 20 to 25 percent of them, would be replaced with ones that meet post-Sandy standards and can withstand up to 135-mile-per-hour winds. They are not the 65-foot poles that other communities have railed against, but rather 40 to 45-foot poles. The new poles will be about three to five feet taller and about two to three inches wider than existing poles and will be installed deeper into the ground, Mr. Hahn said.

The poles are to be pressure-treated with a wood preservative, chromated copper arsenate, not pentachlorophenol or penta, a controversial preservative used on poles recently installed between East Hampton and Amagansett.

In 2001, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission received petitions to ban the use of C.C.A. in playground equipment due to potential health concerns, largely centered around arsenic. It was never officially banned, but manufacturers voluntarily stopped using it on outdoor residential structures, like playgrounds.

North Haven Village Mayor Jeff Sander said he understood that C.C.A. was no longer allowed in bulkheads and docks. Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said when he was a county legislator, the county passed legislation that prohibited C.C.A.-treated wood from being used in water, but he said it is a very common material used in outdoor lumber.

Left untreated, Mr. Hahn said, the poles would only last four years, even less in wetland areas. The treated poles are expected to last 45 years.

While the meeting was held on North Haven, the Long Beach causeway between North Haven and Noyac, outside of the village limits, was a major focus of the discussion on burying the lines. However, after the meeting, PSEG officials confirmed that three-quarters of the 1.4-mile road along Foster Memorial Town Beach would not get new poles at all. New poles would be installed along Ferry Road and portions of Noyac Road.

April Gornik, an artist and activist who lives on North Haven, asked the PSEG representatives why they would not consider burying the lines instead of installing new, larger poles.

Mr. Hahn said, and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., also in attendance, confirmed, that FEMA does not allow the funding for this project to be allocated toward a project to bury lines underground, even along the same circuits. He estimated that it costs between $4 and $6 million per mile to bury the lines, and it was not clear whether that figure includes burying other utilities that use the same poles or not.

The average cost to strengthen the electric grid in this project has been about $625,000 to $650,000 per mile, PSEG officials said at the meeting.

"It's one of the most beautiful vistas in the area. It's the gateway to North Haven and Sag Harbor," the mayor said of his concerns.

The mayor said that with the help of Representative Lee Zeldin's office he thinks he could negotiate allocating the FEMA money to burying the lines instead. "I may be optimistic — I don't know," he said.

"I wouldn't overstate my optimism of that bearing fruit," he said, adding that in his experience FEMA will not budge.

Mr. Thiele and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle have proposed special legislation that would provide a legal mechanism by which funds would be available to bury the lines. Once that legislation is passed, the Southampton Town Board could approve burying the lines, subject to a permissive referendum, which means voters could petition for a public vote.

"We're not here to force this project on you," Mr. Hahn said. "We'll do everything we can to keep you having reliable service . . . but if you don't want us to do this we'll go down to another circuit on Long Island."

The mayor finished up the meeting by saying he felt a decision has to be made in the next week or two. "I think we all want to improve the service; we don't want to necessarily stop an improvement to the line," he said, adding that "long-term, we need to really drill down these numbers," on how much it would cost to bury the lines and see "if the sentiment is strong enough to bear the responsibility to really make it happen."

"This community has over and over again been willing to tax themselves to preserve what they love," Mr. Schneiderman said.

Despite quick action by the Montauk Fire Department Saturday just before noon, a pickup truck parked in the beach access area by Sloppy Tuna on South Edison Street was totaled in a fast-moving fire.

Chief Vincent Franzone said the interior "melted into a lava ball," with the steering column becoming one with the truck cabin's floor. The chief said the owner, a Montauk woman, had just parked and walked down to the beach with a friend. They turned around and saw white smoke pouring out from under the dash. That smoke soon turned black, as the fire spread to the bed of the truck, and billowed up into the sky, visible across downtown Montauk.

A big part of the problem confronting the firefighters was that the truck bed had a fiberglass cap, and was loaded with camping equipment, including Sterno, all adding fuel to the fire.

The response was almost immediate, with two assistant chiefs on the scene within two minutes. A pumper manned by five firefighters and backed up by a 3,500 gallon tanker doused the blaze.

The truck's gas tank was full, Chief Franzone said, which is actually safer than if it was empty. It is quite rare for vehicles to explode in a fire, he explained, saying that it was more "Hollywood" than reality. However, what is dangerous during a vehicle fire, he said, are the bumpers, which have small shock absorbers inside, for minor collisions. When those explode, pieces of the bumper become projectiles. That is why firefighters approach a burning vehicle from the side.

The owner of the truck told firefighters that she had shut the engine off but had left her keys inside the cabin. Firefighters searched for them in vain.

This was the second fairly serious fire in Montauk since the beginning of the year. An electrical fire broke out in a shed on West Lake Drive Jan. 14 when service running to the building shorted out and caught fire, the chief said. It presented a special challenge for firefighters because water cannot be used on electrical fires. "It was particularly difficult, because PSEG did not have a repair crew anywhere from here to Patchogue," the chief said. "It was a two-hour wait."

He wondered why the utility company does not have a repair crew standing by, perhaps in Bridgehampton, or, at a minimum, "someplace in the Hamptons?" To fight this type fire without the aid of the utility, the Montauk Fire Department used "pretty much everything in our arsenal," the chief said, in the way of fire extinguishers. Some of those extinguishers were used multiple times, the chief said. The department has about a dozen on hand, ready to go at any one moment.

The stories of immigrants and refugees, particularly Muslims displaced by war from Middle Eastern countries, took center stage last weekend after an executive order signed by President Donald Trump suspended refugee admissions and banned arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries, prompting widespread protests. 

But in the midst of the worldwide migration of refugees, one small story documented in a just-released picture book for children carries a spot of sunshine amid so many tales of upheaval and struggle — the story of Kunkush the cat, a beloved pet that a family fleeing Mosul, Iraq, found it impossible to leave behind.

“Lost and Found Cat: The True Story of Kunkush’s Incredible Journey,” by Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes and illustrated by Sue Cornelison, was published this week by Crown Books for Young Readers, a division of Random House. 

Its happy ending defied all odds and buoyed hope, not only for the Iraqi mother and children who were reunited with their pet, but for all those who witnessed or closely followed the news of the thousands of refugees who had to flee bombed-out Syrian neighborhoods or the Taliban in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Kuntz, an East Hampton photojournalist, and Ms. Shrodes were among the hundreds of volunteers from around the world who were part of a grassroots humanitarian aid network on the island of Lesvos, Greece, in the fall of 2015. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of refugees were arriving daily after paying smugglers for space aboard crowded rubber dinghies and old wooden boats that set out from Turkey onto the Aegean Sea for a six-mile crossing to Greece.

It was a constant stream of sad stories, a steady flow of people in need. Dry clothes were handed out, and tea, hot soup, and critical medical care delivered to refugees on shore, but despite everyone’s best efforts the ability to provide all that was needed would fall short.

Some days were better than others; all of them were emotional and exhausting. There were days when volunteers took heart in their ability to provide creature comforts and moral support to displaced families, and then the ones when the sea was rough and boats continually foundered, when volunteers waded into water slicked with diesel fuel to catch babies handed over the edge of sinking boats and to drag people ashore. And some days, when rescue efforts failed, were worse than that. 

When Sura, along with her son and four daughters, arrived on the beach in Lesvos, Kunkush, who had been carried hidden in a basket all the way from Iraq, was set down for a moment while everyone was helped to shore. He jumped out of his carrier and ran away.

Volunteers helped search for hours, but finally the family had to move on. No one could imagine that day that the family and their pet would be happily reunited four months later in Norway.

After working all day, through the night, or even around the clock, volunteers on Lesvos often gathered at two tavernas in the center of Skala Sikaminia, a tiny cobblestoned fishing village along the shore. Skala’s resident cats — dozens, of all colors and sizes — prowled along the harborfront and sallied up against diners’ legs or jumped onto tables looking for crumbs. 

Several days after Kunkush’s heartbroken family had to leave him behind, Ms. Shrodes noticed a bedraggled white cat sitting a distance away from the feral group and concluded it was the family’s lost cat.

She took it to the vet and then took it home, determined to find Sura and her family and reunite them. On the internet and through news reports, people in many countries shared information about the cat.

Finally, on Valentine’s Day last year, Sura’s family saw their cat on a news website. Through a Skype connection online, Kunkush heard the voices of Sura and her children and responded, looking into the screen for his lost family.

Mr. Kuntz stepped in to fly the cat, with its own passport, to Norway. The tear-jerking moment when he knocked on the family’s door and passed the cat into Sura’s arms was captured on video by The Guardian, a British news site. In the book, Mr. Kuntz is depicted, as in life, holding his hand to his heart, full of emotion as he stands in the doorway holding Kunkush.

“The odds of finding that family — they were a million to one,” Mr. Kuntz said last year in a phone interview from Norway, still incredulous even as he was ready to deliver Kunkush to his family. The reunion was “probably one of the most emotional moments of my life,” Mr. Kuntz said last year. 

The family had more than a year with Kunkush before the cat, unfortunately, succumbed to a feline virus. But the tale still shines.

The picture book, with beautiful, soft illustrations in rich colors, tells the story in a straightforward way that is appropriate for children of all ages. 

It concludes with a map showing the length of Kunkush’s journey across Europe, several pages of Mr. Kuntz’s photographs of refugee landings and Kunkush in Greece as well as the emotional reunion and the cat in its new home in Norway, and an authors’ note. The story, the authors say, is about making the choice “to reach out and help.” 

“Imagine how much his family loved Kunkush to carry him out of a war zone,” they write.

The book, which has a growing number of positive reviews that underscore its positive message of “belief, faith, and hope” (as mentioned on the Life With Cats website), can be purchased on Amazon and is expected to be available at local bookstores. 

It was written with the cooperation of Sura and her family, who will share in its proceeds. With its publication, Random House made a contribution to Doctors Without Borders, which works internationally to bring medical aid to people in need. 

Author visits, book signings, and interviews can be arranged through the website lostandfoundcat.com.

Mr. Kuntz spent Sunday afternoon photographing a massive protest at Manhattan’s Battery Park against President Trump’s executive order affecting Muslim and other refugees. 

Kunkush’s story, he said Monday, especially against the current climate of fear and uncertainty among refugees and others now barred from entering the United States, demonstrates the potential for a positive outcome, even in the face of great odds, when people work together and refuse to give up.

For Dakota Quackenbush, an East Hampton fifth grader who is beginning a six-month national tour with "The Sound of Music," the past few weeks have been a whirlwind.

Following an open audition in New York the weekend of the big snowstorm in early January, she made it to final callbacks, got word just over two weeks ago that she had gotten the part of Brigitta, and finally flew to Iowa City with her mother on Monday to join the cast.

At an all-school meeting on Friday at the John M. Marshall Elementary School, the principal, Beth Doyle, announced what she called the "bittersweet news" that Dakota would be leaving school for the rest of the year to tour with a professional Broadway musical. It was not until Tuesday that the name of the musical could be revealed.

This production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic is directed by Jack O'Brien, who won Tony Awards for his direction of "Henry IV," "Hairspray," and "The Coast of Utopia." After its run in Iowa City, it will play in a dozen more cities, including Nashville, Memphis, West Palm Beach, and Washington, D.C., with its closest stop in Waterbury, Conn., between March 7 and 12.

At 10, Dakota is already a veteran stage actor, in both school and professional productions. Fellow John Marshall students remember her as the lead in "Annie" in the fall of 2015. She appeared this fall in the Bay Street Theater's Literature Live! production of "The Scarlet Letter," and got her start in professional theater in the Bay Street production of "Grey Gardens: The Musical" in the summer of 2015.

She has also appeared at Guild Hall's John Drew Theater in a number of Our Fabulous Variety Show offerings.

"I could tell at a very young age that she could carry a tune," her mother, Danielle Quackenbush, said by phone from Iowa City Tuesday. As early as kindergarten, it was obvious she had a way with the audience, and after she wowed a crowd -- and her parents -- at the Harbor Grill, her mother decided to enroll her in voice lessons. A star was born.

She studied dance at Dancehampton in East Hampton, too. In 2015, Anita Boyer, a dance teacher and founder of Our Fabulous Variety Show, heard her singing during a dance class and offered her a part in her Christmas production at Guild Hall. Once again, she nailed it.

"Everyone had tears in their eyes," her mom said. John Sullivan, an associate producer at Bay Street, was in the audience and asked for Dakota's contact information. Not long after, Stewart/Whitley, the agency casting "Grey Gardens," called her in for an audition.

Ms. Quackenbush said her daughter shines onstage, and when a show ends, she almost falls into a funk. "She's more herself and purely happy when she's performing."

So Ms. Quackenbush transformed herself into stage mom-manager-agent and kept on the lookout for child roles that might be right for Dakota. "I knew that I just needed to keep trying for something." They have been in and out of the city for auditions. For "The Sound of Music" audition, 350 children tried out; only 7 would be chosen. "I hate to say I didn't think we stood a chance, but. . . ."

After landing the part, mother and daughter had two and a half weeks to arrange everything. "This was a big life-changer," Ms. Quackenbush said. For Dakota, it means leaving behind friends at John Marshall and skipping a competition dance trip to Walt Disney World with her Dancehampton team. They will be away from Dakota's father, James, and her 4-year-old sister for weeks at a time, and will miss a planned family cruise. Her sister and an au pair will join them on tour after the vacation.

Dakota will study with a tutor to keep up with her schoolwork. On that front, her mother is not worried. "She's always been a bright student. She's a major bookworm," and because she is so happy when she is involved in a production, she is better at juggling her time and getting her work done.

The tour wraps up in July. For now, Ms. Quackenbush expects Dakota to start the 2017-18 school year at the East Hampton Middle School, but who knows what future roles await.

 

Concerned Citizens of Montauk announced this week that its president, Jeremy Samuelson, would be leaving the environmental organization at the end of March to join the Nature Conservancy as the director of the Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island.

Mr. Samuelson has headed C.C.O.M. since 2012, taking the post after working as a staff member at the Group for the East End.

During his tenure at the Montauk nonprofit, according to a release from the C.C.O.M. board of directors, he has "overseen its successful growth from an all-volunteer group to a professionally staffed environmental advocacy organization."

The C.C.O.M. board has begun its search for a new director, the release said.

"C.C.O.M. has come a long way under Jeremy's leadership," Ed Braun, the board's president, said in the release.

"C.C.O.M. is proud of our work protecting Montauk's fragile environment and looks forward to continuing our leadership in cleaning up Montauk's local waters and developing a long-term coastal resiliency plan that protects Montauk's natural shoreline and our economy."

Mr. Samuelson said that he would miss working in Montauk but that he looks forward "to continuing to partner with C.C.O.M. and the many organizations working to ensure Montauk remains a natural wonder."

"The environmental threats facing Montauk and the entire Peconic Estuary are complex and require long-term, comprehensive solutions," he said.