Update: The East Hampton Town Marine Patrol, which is part of the town's Police Department, is investigating a boating accident that happened off Montauk Point on Thursday night. 

In a statement issued Friday night, Chief Harbormaster Ed Michels said that "a 21-foot Sea Swirl Striper was struck by another boat, disabling it." The accident occurred in the ocean one mile north-northeast of Montauk Point. 

Chief Michels confirmed that the second boat left the scene. The Coast Guard responded and escorted the two occupants back to Lake Montauk.

Anyone with information on the accident has been asked to call the Marine Patrol at 631-537-7575.

Originally: The Coast Guard is investigating an incident that left one boat damaged and two men in the water late Thursday night. 

According to the Coast Guard public affairs office in New York City, a vessel was struck off Montauk around 11 p.m. One boat was taking on water, and another one left the scene. A third boat phoned in the accident to Sector Long Island Sound and picked up two people from the water. No one was injured. 

A crew from Coast Guard Station Montauk arrived and assessed the damage. Two people who had been rescued from the water were brought aboard the Coast Guard vessel, and their boat was towed to the Coast Guard station. 

The boat that fled is believed to be a 26-foot vessel, but no other information was available. 

The investigation into what happened is continuing. 

Update, 9:40 a.m.: Nicholas J. Louvel has been identified as the man who was killed in an accident on Thursday. East Hampton Town police said Mr. Louvel, a 34-year-old who lived in New York City and Wainscott, was pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Hospital. 

Mr. Louvel was a film editor and producer, according to his IMDb page. He directed "The Uncondemned," a documentary about the first time rape was prosecuted as a war crime, which was to be featured the Hamptons International Film Festival next month. He also worked on "The Thomas Crown Affair."

Police said he was traveling north on Route 114 when his vehicle crossed over to the southbound lane, left the road, and struck sevearl trees at 1:06 a.m.

The Honda Accord he was driving has been impounded for a safety inspection. Detectives are asking anyone with information on the accident to contact police at 631-537-7575. 

Originally, 8:43 a.m.: A man was killed in a one-car accident in East Hampton overnight.

East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said the lone occupant died at Stony Brook University Hospital. He had been airlifted there after firefighters extricated him from the car, which had been found on its side on Route 114, near the Hansom Hills development. The man's name had not been released as of Thursday morning. Detectives are investigating.

A taxi driver called 911 about a car that had hit a tree and rolled over south of Stephen Hand's Path just after 1 a.m. Police and fire officials found a 2005 four-door Honda Accord on its side with the driver pinned inside. 

"The driver appeared to be the sole occupant," East Hampton Fire Department Chief Richard Osterberg Jr. said. The heavy rescue squad was called to extricate the driver, who was stuck in the mangled wreckage. 

The car was so badly damaged that fire officials "found the engine of the car 50 feet away in the woods," Chief Osterberg said. The only reason they knew where it had landed in the darkness was that it ignited a small brush fire in the woods, he said. "There was stuff all over the place. It was like an explosion." 

Firefighters were able to free the driver in 10 to 15 minutes, which was quick, given the extent to which he was trapped inside.

The East Hampton Village Ambulance Association treated him at the scene and transported him to meet a medevac helicopter at East Hampton Airport. He was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Firefighters easily extinguished the brush fire with a water can. Fire police personnel helped close Route 114 to traffic as town police conducted the accident reconstruction portion of their investigation. 

East Hampton Village police also assisted. 

A proposed 2016 East Hampton Town budget released today by East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell calls for $73.5 million in spending, up from $71.5 million this year.

The tax-levy increase in the proposed budget is below the New York State-mandated 2-percent cap by $176,732. If adopted as proposed by Mr. Cantwell, the spending plan would result in a 1.8-percent tax increase.

It would include money for several new full-time employees in the Police Department and the town's Public Safety Division, as well as additional seasonal help and overtime for enforcement.

"The 2016 Budget increases enforcement personnel and our ability to enforce the law and codes throughout the community, " Mr. Cantwell said in a statement.

One fire marshal, one code enforcement officer, and three additional police officers would be hired. Salaries for positions filled this year — a new assistant town attorney and a new building inspector — were included. The positions, Mr. Cantwell said in a budget message, "will improve the town's ability to identify violations, enforce the codes, prosecute offenders, and draft new legislation." The additional salaries and benefits would add up to $625,000.

The budget also adds two seasonal Parks Department workers to expand the summer garbage and litter programs. It also adds $825,000 for part-time seasonal help and overtime costs in the Marine Patrol and Police Departments.

Also included in the budget is $50,000 for engineering for infrastructure improvements, $22,000 to upgrade the town website, and $155,000 for water quality monitoring and improvements.

According to Mr. Cantwell's budget message, a proposed 2.76-percent increase in spending next year will be "offset in part by $900,000 in cost savings from lower debt payments and employee retirement contributions." Mr. Cantwell's budget would make use of just over $1 million in money from surplus funds and reserves.

Mr. Cantwell said the tentative operating budget was designed to provide funding to "bolster enforcement of the town code and laws" as well as to address "planning needs for infrastructure improvements." Meanwhile, he said, the budget maintains "strong financial and budgetary controls that have resulted in the town achieving its highest credit rating in nearly 10 years."

The town board will review Mr. Cantwell's plan and discuss potential changes. A preliminary budget will be the subject of a hearing that, according to state law, must be held before Nov. 15. The formal 2016 budget must by adopted by Nov. 20.

Shauna Stonemetz, the granddaughter of Glen Stonemetz Jr., who served as the Village of East Hampton’s chief of police from 1977 to 2000, was honored in a ceremony to mark her hiring as a public safety dispatcher at the village board’s meeting on Friday. Family members, including her grandmother, her parents, and her aunt, were present.

“I can’t compliment her enough,” Chief Gerard Larsen of the village’s Police Department said of Ms. Stonemetz, who has worked as a traffic control officer since 2009. He described her as “a leader, a kind person, and one of the best employees we’ve ever had.”

Glen Stonemetz, Mr. Larsen said, “was a great chief, mentor, and my personal friend. I owe my entire career to him.” Mr. Stonemetz died in 2005.

“Glen and I forged a personal bond when he was a patrolman and I was a sergeant,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said. “He went from patrolman to chief overnight, a very meteoric rise. . . . All through that transition, we continued to be friends and lifelong partners as it related to enforcement. It’s an honor for me to be part of this ceremony.”

Mr. Larsen added that he had worked with Ms. Stonemetz’s mother, Colleen, who served the department in various capacities in the 1980s, and that her grandmother Audrey also worked for the department as a crossing guard and matron. Ms. Stonemetz’s father, Bruce, has served the Amagansett Fire Department for 37 years, and her aunt, Diane McNally, is clerk of the East Hampton Town Trustees.

“No wonder we have such a wonderful new employee,” Mr. Larsen said.

Later in the meeting, the board formally voted to employ Ms. Stonemetz as a full-time public safety dispatcher with a start date of Oct. 1 and a starting base salary of $44,379.

Two men escaped injury by leaping overboard just before their boat was struck by another vessel off Montauk Point last Thursday night. The boat that rammed Nicholas T. Sorbi’s 2001 21-foot-long Seaswirl Striper did not stop and has not been found.

According to Senior Chief Eric Best, the commanding officer of the Montauk Coast Guard station, Mr. Sorbi and his passenger, whose name has not been released, jumped overboard when they realized that the other vessel, approximately 30 feet in length, was going to hit their boat.

The impact damaged the stern and port side of the Striper and disabled its engine.

There were many other boats in the area that night, Chief Best said, and the Coast Guard responded, sending out a 47-foot rescue craft.

The men were out of the water within minutes, he said, and the disabled Striper was towed to the Star Island Coast Guard Station, where it remained as of yesterday. Mr. Sorbi and his passenger returned to Massachusetts, where they live.

Mr. Sorbi’s father, Randall Sorbi, spoke briefly about the incident on Tuesday, saying that he believed police have identified the operator of the vessel that fled. East Hampton Town Police Captain Chris Anderson declined to confirm that investigators know the identity of the missing boat operator.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact police at 537-7575.

Lester Forbell, known as Zeke to most, is generous with his friends and family, particularly with his automotive skills. “If anybody has car problems, he’s there to help people out,” Jamie Bennett, the mother of his two grandchildren, said.

Diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer this summer and unable to work while undergoing aggressive treatments, Mr. Forbell, 60, now finds himself the one in need of help.

A mechanic with the East Hampton Town Highway Department since 1995, Mr. Forbell has used up all his allotted sick time. He went out on family leave, which, according to Ms. Bennett, provides half-pay, but on Sept. 15 that too ran out. For now, the East Hampton native and his wife, Marianne, are living on just her income. She is a secretary at Otto Glass in Wainscott.

While insurance is covering his treatment, he is worried about making ends meet. Though it is not in his nature to ask for help, Ms. Bennett convinced him to let her start an online GoFundMe campaign in his name to raise money for his living expenses while he fights for his life.

Mr. Forbell started experiencing stomach pains in June, and a trip to the emergency room led to a CT scan that showed a tumor on his pancreas. At Stony Brook University Hospital a biopsy revealed that the tumor had spread to both his lungs. Chemotherapy was the only treatment option. He is undergoing it at Southampton Hospital once a week for three weeks, followed by one week off.

A reserved and stoic man, Mr. Forbell “doesn’t really say very much about it,” Ms. Bennett said. “Every time I ask him how he feels, his answer is always, ‘So-so.’ He doesn’t complain very much.”

Stephen Lynch, the highway superintendent, agreed, saying by phone on Tuesday that Mr. Forbell has stopped by the highway barn every once in a while. “He keeps going like nothing’s wrong, other than being out of work.”

He described Mr. Forbell as a good worker who can be entrusted with big projects. “When it was done, it was done right,” said Mr. Lynch, who has known Mr. Forbell most of his life. “We hung out when we were younger. The day I met my wife I was with Zeke,” he said.

It has been a difficult year for the Forbell family. Over the winter, his only son, Lester, who has Crohn’s disease, nearly died after becoming septic following surgery to repair his intestines. He was in the intensive care unit for several days and had to undergo two more surgeries. He has made a full recovery and is back at work at NAPA Auto Parts in Bridgehampton.

The GoFundMe account has raised $6,180 in the 13 days since it was created. Seventy-one people have donated, including one anonymous donor who gave $1,000. Donations can be made through the site at gofundme.com/lforbell.

Donations can also be sent to Lester Forbell, P.O. Box 518, East Hampton 11937. The couple live on Queens Lane. ­

Seventeen months after applying to the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals for permits and variances for a construction project at her 5.9-acre oceanfront property at 165 Lily Pond Lane, representatives for Loida Lewis, the widow of the first African-American billionaire, returned to make their case anew.

Ms. Lewis seeks a coastal erosion hazard permit and area variances to allow a pre-existing, nonconforming cottage to be reconstructed and expanded as an addition to the existing residence, with a porch; the continued existence of both a 605-square-foot game room with half-bath, converted from a garage, and 400 square feet of decking and stairs on its north side, and the replacement of 150 linear feet of a wood retaining wall with one made of brick.

The proposed 1,400-square-foot addition to the existing house would have a breezeway on the first-floor level and connect to the house at the second floor. It would have a partial basement with exterior stairway and a 180-square-foot screened porch at the first floor. The proposed improvements are seaward of the coastal erosion hazard line and within the required side property-line setback.

While Ms. Lewis’s April 2014 application was ultimately withdrawn, the board, as it had then, asked for extensive additional information at a meeting on Friday. Board members were also irritated by a request to overlook a 2012 stop-work order that was ignored.

Ms. Lewis’s husband, Reginald Lewis, was the chief executive officer of Beatrice Foods International. The couple and their two children previously lived at Broadview, the 1916 mansion at the Bell Estate in Amagansett, which was destroyed by fire in 1991. Soon after, they bought the Lily Pond Lane house. Mr. Lewis died in 1993.

Ms. Lewis has taken all reasonable measures to mitigate impacts on the environment, Elizabeth Schmid, an attorney representing her, said. Project-limiting fencing will be installed, hay bales will direct storm runoff away from the bluff, and all excavation will be done by hand and a mini-excavator on the landward side of the structure, she said.

Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said that the attorney for an adjacent neighbor, the investor Ronald Perelman, had sent a letter asking that if variance relief is required to expand the cottage, “we ask that the project be reduced as not to require relief,” as the two-story structure would overlook his client’s property.

Also of concern, Mr. Newbold said, was “what happens on the crest of the dune.” Can the required excavation be confined within the existing foundation to minimize disturbance?

“I don’t think we’re doing anything to the dune,” answered Scott Dobriner of InterScience Research Associates, a consultant to the project. “There’s going to be approximately eight cubic yards of excavation.”

Board members worried aloud as to whether the weight of a second-story addition would damage the bluff. “It’s so close to the edge of the dune,” said Craig Humphrey, “it’s hard for me to believe that putting more weight on there is not going to do something.” Three additional bathrooms, board members said, could stress what may be an antiquated septic system, also situated close to the dune. An analysis will be submitted, Ms. Schmid said.

The garage had been converted to a game room without the required permits, Ms. Schmid conceded, but Ms. Lewis had relied on flawed information from her contractor.

“Just to be clear,” Mr. Newbold said, “the stop-work order was issued July 20, 2012, saying you needed a permit and a variance, but the work was completed despite the stop-work order, and it’s been used by your client for the last three years illegally. It’s the homeowner’s responsibility, not the contractor.”

“She’s now requesting that the permit not be denied because of this transgression,” Ms. Schmid said.

“We should just look the other way?” asked Linda Riley, the village’s attorney. “We should just not care?”

Had the application come before the board prior to the work being done, it  probably would have been denied, Mr. Newbold said. Further, a game room is liable to create noise, and the large deck is just feet from the property line with Mr. Perelman’s lot.

“Part of your proposal,” Ms. Riley said, “could be to undo, literally, that work that was done right on the boundary line with the illegal expansion.”

Mr. Newbold suggested, as a possible solution, returning the structure to a garage. “The gaming room,” he said, “is not a popular option.”

The hearing was left open, with Mr. Newbold instructing Ms. Schmid to submit the requested information and to speak with her client about modifying the application to reflect the board’s concerns.

Two Determinations

The board also announced two determinations. Donna Symer of 17 Sherrill Road was granted variances to allow the continued maintenance of a shed and bin within the required setbacks, and lot coverage and accessory-structure gross floor area exceeding the maximum permitted.

The board determined that removal of phragmites and other nonnative vegetation from wetlands at 40 West End Road would not have an adverse effect on the environment, and granted a freshwater wetlands permit to the estate of H. Frederick Krimendahl II allowing its removal, to be followed by revegetation with native noninvasive species.

Another portion of the application, for extensive landscaping and the addition of structures, is ongoing.

Early on the morning of Sept. 5, outside the Memory Motel in Montauk, East Hampton Town police arrested Anthony Antorino, 22, of Huntington, accusing him of possessing cocaine. Police said the contents of the plastic bag they found in his pocket weighed over 500 milligrams, large enough to trigger a felony-level charge.

 “I don’t know where that came from. My friend must have put it there,” Mr. Antorino allegedly told the arresting officer. He was released later that morning on $750 bail.

About two hours later, across the street in front of The Point, police took David M. Osorio of East Hampton, 21, into custody on the same charge, though at a less serious level. Mr. Osorio attracted their attention by shouting in the street, police said, and when he was asked to stop yelling and go home he unleashed a stream of obscenities. Charged with disorderly conduct as well as misdemeanor possession, he was released later that morning after posting $300 bail.

On Sept. 3, Matthew J. Schmitt, 27, an Amagansett resident, was similarly charged. He was arrested on Edgemere Road, about 100 yards from the Surf Lodge. “I’m assuming that is cocaine,” he reportedly told the officer who found a small plastic container in his pocket. “I didn’t do any. Someone must have gave it to me.”

Also in the easternmost hamlet, this time on West Lake Drive, Mark S. Rose II, 21, of Blue Point was arrested Aug. 31 on misdemeanor charges of heroin possession, as well as possession of a controlled substance, suboxone, after his 2008 Kia was pulled over in a traffic stop. Police allegedly found a loaded hypodermic needle on the floor of the car, leading to a third misdemeanor charge. Mr. Rose posted $250 bail at the Montauk police substation; he will be arraigned at a future date.

Selena K. Seri of Medford, 20, a passenger in Mr. Rose’s car, was also charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, Xanax. She was released after putting up $50 bail.

Also in Montauk, Peter Louis Zarcone of East Northport, 36, was charged Saturday evening with two felony counts of criminal mischief following an incident that began at the 7-Eleven. According to police, Frederick Schrank of St. James was standing in line there behind Mr. Zarcone. Mr. Schrank later told police that Mr. Zarcone was being abusive to a Latino man.

Mr. Schrank said nothing initially, but as he was leaving the parking lot, he said, he saw Mr. Zarcone. “I told the guy he didn’t have to say all those things to the Spanish guy,” Mr. Schrank told police. In response, he said, Mr. Zarcone, cursing, threw his cup of coffee into his car, a 2013 Mercedes-Benz. The coffee splashed around the dashboard and onto the floor as Mr. Schrank drove away.

After he dropped off a passenger, he decided to try to find Mr. Zarcone’s vehicle and report him to the police. Mr. Zarcone was wearing a T-shirt with a fishing logo, so Mr. Schrank drove to the dock area to check the marinas. When he got to Snug Harbor, he said, he saw Mr. Zarcone. Mr. Zarcone saw him too, Mr. Schrank told police, and hurled a large rock at his car, denting a front panel.

After Mr. Schrank spoke with police, they checked the surveillance tape at the 7-Eleven. A little after midnight, about six hours after the confrontation, police placed Mr. Zarcone under arrest. The first felony charge was for causing more than $250 damage to the interior of the Mercedes; the second was for the damage to the vehicle, estimated at over $1,500.

Bail was set Sunday morning at $5,000, which was posted.

Shoppers who have grown accustomed to taking their own reusable bags into the grocery store will have to put those hard-working totes to more extensive use as a ban in East Hampton Town on the use of thin, “single-use” plastic bags goes into effect Tuesday.

All retail establishments will be prohibited from packaging goods for customers in the bags.

In a press release issued Tuesday, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, who sponsored the legislation, called the new law “an exciting opportunity to make a significant environmental impact,” as the town has worked with neighboring municipalities to jointly adopt similar legislation. A ban on thin-ply plastic bags has been in effect in East Hampton Village since 2011, and the Town of Southampton enacted its own ban on Earth Day in April of this year.

“It is one step towards solving the bigger problem of environmental deterioration and climate change,” said Ms. Overby in the release. “Locally, litter along our streets, woodland trails, and surface waters, as well as the impacts to wildlife, will be reduced.”

Under the new law, only the thin plastic bags typically used at checkout counters are banned. Plastic bags of a 2.25-milliliters thickness, or greater, are considered reusable bags and not banned; additionally, the thin plastic bags used for produce are also still allowed. Paper bags are permitted as long as they are made of 100-percent recycled material and display the words “recyclable” or “reusable.”

The legislation was passed by the town board, with Councilman Fred Overton dissenting, late last year after two hearings at which members of the public endorsed the ban. A supermarket industry representative opposed the ban at the hearings, and Mr. Overton called for more investigation before enacting legislation. The board chose the September date for its enactment in order to give retailers time to prepare — to use up their existing plastic bag inventory and convert to alternative packaging materials.

Businesses seeking more information have been asked to contact John Sousa-Botos at the East Hampton Town Department of Natural Resources; he can be reached by email at [email protected].

The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 104 billion thin-ply plastic bags are used each year in the United States, each for an average of only 12 minutes, Frank Dalene, the former chairman of East Hampton’s energy sustainability committee, reported to the town board last fall. “But they remain in our landfills for years,” he said.

The plastic, which does not disappear or break down in the environment, “is now entering the human food chain,” Dieter von Lehsten, a co-chairman of Southampton Town’s Sustainable Southampton Green Advisory Committee, had told the board.

Nationwide, 133 municipalities have adopted bans on the use of thin-ply plastic bags, including a number of big cities such as Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. A statewide ban was enacted in California last year.

The latest edition of the renowned “Best American Poetry” anthology is out, and in its pages is a name familiar here: Meredith Hasemann.

Ms. Hasemann, who lives in East Hampton, is a writer, teacher, musician, and artist who has worked at the East Hampton Middle School for the last 14 years. Her poem “Thumbs,” which weaves together reflections on her divorce and growing tomatoes, first appeared in The Southampton Review before being recognized by and published in “Best American Poetry.” She wrote it three summers ago after a particularly inspiring nature hike in Ripton, Vt.

In the anthology, Ms. Hasemann’s poem happens to be sandwiched between work by two acclaimed poets whom she admires immensely, Louise Gluck and Terrance Hayes.

She learned of the honor just a day after a fire burned her house to the ground in January. “I had nothing. I didn’t know where I was going to live. But then there was this letter in the mail,” she said on Tuesday, the day the anthology’s 2015 edition was formally released. “It was serendipitous. I had something to feel good about.”

Over her years in East Hampton, Ms. Hasemann has counted several noted writers as her mentors, including David Ignatow and Robert Long, the late poet who was also an editor at The Star. She has several degrees, having studied at Antioch College, Southampton College, New York University, and Middlebury College.

She hopes the honor will open doors for her, particularly when it comes to publishing a book of her own poetry and three young-adult novels she has written.

“It motivates me to keep writing,” Ms. Hasemann said.

She teaches eighth-grade English in a classroom filled with couches and tables instead of desks. A broken guitar is mounted on one wall, and strung from the ceiling are hand-decorated T-shirts from the annual “Word Up!” event she organizes in conjunction with Guild Hall.

“One of the best things for me is teaching poetry to eighth graders,” she said. “I tell my students there is inspiration in everything. Inspiration is everywhere. You just have to keep your eyes open.”

“Professionally, having such a teacher at the middle school benefits our kids, and we are so proud of her,” Charles Soriano, the middle school’s principal, said in an email.

“It’s great for students to see their teachers practice the craft that they teach. . . . She’s an asset to her students in helping them to grow as writers, readers, and thinkers.”