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 Lewis’s April 2014 application was ultimately withdrawn, the board, as it had then, asked for extensive additional information at a meeting on Friday.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.”

Amagansett’s decades-old call for a public restroom in its town-owned parking lot behind Main Street, the existence of which would relieve not only tourists but the staff of the Amagansett Library, the business district’s only public facility, remains in limbo, but there may be other hope ahead.

At its meeting on Monday, East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell told the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee that the parking lot proposal still awaits a permit from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. The stumbling block is the septic system at Sotto Sopra, a restaurant at 231 Main Street owned by Randy Lerner.

The town board granted an easement for the installation of the system, which is on town-owned property, in 2009. However, Mr. Cantwell explained, the survey accompanying the restaurant’s application to the county failed to disclose the existence of a well on the adjacent property, at 247 Main Street. Its owner is Tina Piette, an attorney who practices at that address. It turns out that the restaurant’s septic system is too close to the well, a violation that precludes the Health Department from issuing a certificate of occupancy for a restroom on any part of the town-owned parking lot, which in bureaucratese is considered as a single parcel. “The Health Department has a responsibility to enforce their regulations,” Mr. Cantwell said.

The county asserts that the town is responsible for providing public water to Ms. Piette’s building, but the town has refused to pay to connect private property to public water. Mr. Cantwell displayed a blueprint of the lot showing the proposed restroom, and said the town would continue to press the county for a permit, “but that will be dependent upon correcting a violation for the property owner that built a septic system in the parking lot.”

Meanwhile, the restaurant owner, Mr. Lerner, has submitted a preliminary application to the town’s planning board for a structure that would house two unisex restrooms, as well as a retail space and storage area, across the street at Amagansett Square. The application is expected to be heard on Wednesday.

The site plan presented for reviewcalls for a 368-square-foot structure with a 96-square-foot covered porch and two 80-square-foot stalls, lined with what is described as white subway tile, each housing a toilet and a sink, with an A.T.M. machine between them. A 209-square-foot retail space would be on the other side of the building, which would have an attic and a basement limited to mechanical use, according to the plan.

The site is one of nine lots in the complex, also owned by Mr. Lerner, a billionaire who is a major player in Amagansett real estate. Britton Bistrian of Land Use Solutions, who noted this week that “the restroom/retail building is being constructed and paid for 100 percent by Amagansett Square,” will shepherd the proposal through the planning process.

The restroom would be on the same lot as the Salon and Day Spa, near the southwest corner of the parking lot, which wraps around the property. A second structure on the lot is allowed under business zoning.

JoAnne Pahwul, assistant town planning director, began working on a memorandum on the plan for the planning board on Monday, and would not comment.

While apparently straightforward, the plan could face some obstacles, chiefly with regard to parking. In 2005, according to documents on file at the Planning Department, when Mr. Lerner sought approval for the Meeting House restaurant at the Square, the town calculated that 118 parking spaces were required. The lot has only 110 spaces, according to the 2005 survey, but the planning board waived the additional spaces.

The new retail building would require another three spaces, so a new waiver may be needed. The question of additional parking may also arise in connection with the spa’s massage therapy business, which apparently was added after the spa first went before the planning board.

Also at Monday night’s A.C.A.C. meeting, a subcommittee was appointed to make recommendations to the town board on alleviating the parking crunch in the commercial district. Ms. Piette, Michael Cinque, and Herb Field agreed to serve on the subcommittee. Mr. Cantwell asked that any additional volunteers contact Vicki Littman, the committee’s chairwoman, so that a meeting can be scheduled ahead of the next committee meeting, on Oct. 19.

The subcommittee should ponder “how can we maximize the current system, and what should regulations be, if any,” Mr. Cantwell said.

Current parking regulations on Main Street, in the municipal lot, and at the Long Island Rail Road station should be considered, he said, “so if we want to make changes, we can make them before next summer.”

A proposal for East Hampton Town’s first solar energy farm surged closer to reality on Sept. 2, after a site plan review before the town’s planning board produced little static.

SunEdison, a company based in Missouri, first went before the board in June for a preliminary review. At that time, the board seemed open to the proposal, but requested more specific details. Several neighbors of the proposed site, concerned about noise and screening, spoke at that meeting.

The site is a long, 11-acre rectangular piece of land, bordered to the east by Accabonac Road in Springs and beyond by preserved open space, which continues around the entire southern border. To the north and west are residential lots.

The town-owned site was once a brush dump. Before that, as Job Potter, a board member, said, “it was the town dump, back in the 1950s.” The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has deemed the site as safe to be developed as a solar farm.

SunEdison is asking to be allowed to install 3,528 solar panels on the site. They would stand up to 11 feet tall, with each generating 330 watts of electricity. PSEG would pay SunEdison for the power produced.

Eric Schantz, a senior planner for the town, told the board that the changes to the site plan it asked for in June had been made. The applicants have agreed to preserve a trail that runs through the property, and to use only vegetation recommended by the Planning Department, with no use of herbicides.

The revised application calls for black vinyl fencing around the perimeter, along with white pine and cedar trees for screening. As for noise, an inverter — the sole device on the property that actually makes noise while sunshine is converted to electricity — has been moved. It now is about 450 feet from the nearest house.

The facility would only operate when the sun is shining, said Jason Funk, a SunEdison development manager. There would be no noise at night.

The original proposal called for over 101,000 square feet of clearing. That has been reduced to about 88,000, about two acres. While the amount of land cleared would still require a variance from the zoning board, “the Planning Department commends the applicants for this amendment,” Mr. Schantz wrote.

A few issues remain to be resolved before the plan becomes reality.

Mr. Potter and the board’s chairman, Reed Jones, wondered whether the trees would still be an effective screen in winter, when they have lost their foliage. Also, the Planning Department wants an electrical meter to be moved 30 feet farther away from Accabonac Road; Mr. Funk indicated SunEdison would likely comply.

A PSEG meter-reader would visit the site monthly, as with any residence or business that consumes electricity, only in this case to determine how much electricity was generated.

The Springs Fire Department, in a letter from Chief David M. King to David Browne, the town’s chief fire marshal, asked if it was possible to add a second access road to the site, as well as a fire hydrant at the northwest corner, where Highland Boulevard hooks into Grant Avenue.

“Having a hydrant there would be extremely helpful if there was a brush fire,” Mr. Potter said.

Mr. Funk, however, pointed out that in the event of an electrical fire, firefighters would have to use foam rather than water. And putting in a hydrant would increase the project’s cost, he said, since it would require a water line to be run. As for a second access road, he said it meant more clearing and a bigger variance request.

“They were pretty soft in their request,” Ian Calder-Piedmonte, a board member, said of the hydrant. He encouraged the applicants to meet with both chiefs to determine what is really needed.

Despite the mitigating steps taken by SunEdison to reduce noise to what Mr. Funk said would be “the level of a whisper,” one or two board members expressed continuing concern. Even a whisper is more noise than the neighbors currently hear, and the noise issue is likely to be brought up again when the proposal gets its public hearing, Kathleen Cunningham warned. The hearing will be scheduled after the board deems the application complete, which will require another site plan session, likely a couple of months from now.

As the session concluded, Mr. Calder-Piedmonte complimented SunEdison for working with the board, particularly over neighbors’ concerns. Diana Weir encouraged Mr. Funk to get together with both the Fire Department and the neighbors, which he said he would do. She called such meetings a “mutual education,” as the town moves closer to approving its first solar farm.

The East Hampton Village Board considered expanding the requirements for large groups to obtain permits for events on public property, including beaches, at a work session last Thursday, focusing on litter and suggestions from the village beach manager and town trustees. The board also heard details of a request from the East Hampton Town and Village Disability Advisory Board for expedited review of permits for construction or renovations that would allow the disabled to remain in their houses.

Ed McDonald, the beach manager, had requested that all catered parties, regardless of size, be required to obtain a large-assembly permit, Richard Lawler told his colleagues. The village now requires a permit for assemblies of 50 or more people in which accumulated litter will exceed what is normally provided at the site and/or when parking will be on public roads or property.

Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, told the board that 19 of the 39 large-assembly permits issued for beach events this year were for catered parties. (The village issued 163 large-assembly permits this year.)

The board amended its code last year, adding a provision that such permits include a $250 security deposit. “Have we ever kept any of these?” asked Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor, presiding in place of Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., who did not attend. No, Ms. Molinaro said, the deposit is for damage to village property.

“When you’re talking about a security deposit,” Linda Riley, the village attorney, told the board, “you’re going to have to quantify what they left and what it cost you” to remove. Bruce Siska asked if that cost could be calculated. “Couldn’t we come up with a number and bill them after the event, for however long it takes one of the guys to pick up all the garbage?” he asked.

Scott Fithian, the superintendent of public works, spoke up, saying he didn’t want the department to get involved in picking up party garbage. “How do you tell whose it is? That’s the dilemma now.” Large assemblies are already required to take refuse off the beach when the event is over, Ms. Borsack said. “The issue is if they don’t, how do we take some of that deposit and make use of that for the cleanup?”

It would be simpler to charge a flat fee, Ms. Molinaro said. But Ms. Borsack said a fee would serve as a disincentive. “If we charge a fee, they’ll say, ‘They’re charging us anyway, why should we take it away?’ ”

The board circled back to Mr. McDonald’s request that a large-assembly permit be required for all catered events. “The proposals are very fluid at this time, and will need more vetting,” Ms. Molinaro said in an email on Tuesday.

Mr. Lawler also spoke about the trustees’ request that balloons be banned on beaches, citing both litter and their danger to wildlife. He and his colleagues were amenable to the idea.

With regard to construction or renovation affecting the disabled, Ken Collum, the code enforcement officer and fire marshal, described a set of building practices known as universal design which allows municipalities to prioritize building permits for one and two-family houses that meet certain criteria to accommodate the disabled. “In other words,” he said, “we’d be able to put that permit at the head of the line. That’s the basic incentive.”

Building plans would have to accommodate the wheelchair-bound by including a first-floor bedroom, zero-step height to enter the structure, 34-inch interior doorways, and a 36-inch entry width, as well as 5 of 13 additional criteria including 17 to 19-inch-high toilets, adjustable handheld showerheads, and pull-out bases of kitchen cabinets.

“If we can make some accommodations on renovation and new construction,” Mr. Collum said, “I don’t think it’s going to be any burden on the Building Department. . . . I think it’s the right thing we should be doing. The community is getting older. If you want to stay in your home and are no longer as mobile as you used to be, this would enable you to stay in your home.”

Board members agreed.

The signs that school is back in session are all around town — traffic control officers posted on Newtown and Gingerbread Lanes, the yellow buses flashing their red lights, and of course those “drive safely” reminders that recently popped up near many of the schools.

Students in the East Hampton School District were among the thousands of kids across Long Island who returned to classes on Tuesday morning, but unlike most of those peers, they started out with a two-hour delay.

It was business as usual at the East Hampton Middle School, where the principal, Charles Soriano, shook hands and high-fived students as they arrived. “We’re ready to rock and roll,” he said.

Rob Jahoda, a traffic control supervisor with East Hampton Village, said things were “so far, so good, as to be expected” Tuesday morning as cars slowed to allow students to cross the street.

At the John M. Marshall Elementary School, Lynn Charveriat of Wainscott waited with her camera ready to catch her sons, Dylan Hepburn, a fifth grader, and Alexander Hepburn, a fourth grader, as they got off the bus. “Alexander said he is really nervous today but also really excited to be in the big kids’ school,” Ms. Charveriat said. “I hope they have a great year, meet new friends, and enjoy school.”

Over in Springs, Eric Casale, the school principal, said the first day went smoothly. “Staff was well prepared and out at different locations this morning to help any student or parent who needed assistance,” he said. “It was one of our better openings.”

The Bridgehampton School welcomed 200 students on Tuesday, an enrollment that the superintendent, Lois Favre, said was “the largest number in many years.” The secondary students heard from a motivational speaker, Paul Failla, who talked about setting goals, preventing bullying and racism, and proper cellphone use. A professional job coach, Everlette Taylor, also addressed the students.

“As part of the day’s events, all students took a career inventory that will help us to enhance our efforts at college and career readiness,” Ms. Favre said in an email. “Each class developed a class theme and banner, and we started the year off on a positive note, thanks to the very thorough planning by our Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions team.”

In Wainscott, Stuart Rachlin, the superintendent, reported that the school’s two teachers, Kelly Yusko and Mark Carlson, “were wonderful in their getting-to-know-you activities.”

“There were the usual opening day tears, but the returnees were excited to be home,” Mr. Rachlin said.

With a fresh coat of red paint, and new floors, lights, furniture, and decorations, the Sagaponack School also welcomed its students back on Tuesday. This year the school is serving kindergarten students. “The first day ran smoothly as the students toured their new classroom, made new friends, and became familiar with our school rules and procedures,” Aimee Campbell, the lead teacher, said in an email. “We are off to a wonderful year full of learning and fun.”

Eleanor Tritt, the Amagansett School’s superintendent, said it felt like the students never left for the summer. “We had a very smooth opening and everyone enjoyed greeting the children,” she said. “Classes are in full swing. Walking into classrooms, you see the children fully engaged.”

Students at the Montauk School started school last Thursday, with Jack Perna, the superintendent, also reporting a good start to the year. “Everyone seemed to be okay with the start before Labor Day, but I don’t think that will happen again because this year’s calendar was just too tight for everything,” he said in an email.

Students in Sag Harbor returned to classes yesterday morning.

New York State has temporarily halted shellfishing in many Long Island waterways following heavy rain on Thursday. Excessive stormwater runoff can contaminate shellfish, making it hazardous for use as food.

Clamming and the harvesting of other shellfish has been prohibited in portions of East Hampton, Southold, Southampton, Huntington, Babylon, and Islip. James J. Gilmore, the chief of the Department of Environmental Conservation Bureau of Marine Resources, issued the ban Friday morning, citing runoff from rainfall that exceeded three inches in some locations. According the National Weather Service, 3.83 inches of rain fell at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach.

Shellfishing in East Hampton Town was declared uncertified in Three Mile Harbor, Hog Creek, and Accabonac Harbor. Napeague Harbor and Lake Montauk were unaffected by the state order.

In Southampton Town Noyac Creek, the Sag Harbor coves, and Shinnecock Bay west of the Ponquogue Bridge were declared no-harvest zones.

All of Southold's waters west of Conkling Point and all of Cutchogue Harbor and its tributaries lying north of a line extending northeast from New Suffolk Point to the northernmost point of land at Horseshoe Cove have been closed.

All areas on the south shore of Nassau County in the Towns of Hempstead and Oyster Bay were closed on Thursday.

Notice of reopenings of the various waterways will be provided on the D.E.C. website and its shellfish closure information line: 631-444-0480.

Lisa Mulhern-Larsen, one of the East Hampton Republican Party's choices for town councilwoman, will also run on the Independence Party line following her victory in that party's primary on Thursday.

Ms. Mulhern-Larsen, a registered Independence Party member, forced a primary for the Independence nomination; the party had already given its nod to the incumbent Democratic candidates Peter Van Scoyoc and Sylvia Overby by the time Ms. Mulhern-Larsen entered the race. She won the most votes in Thursday's primary and will appear on the Independence ticket along with Mr. Van Scoyoc.

She won 80 votes, or 36 percent of those cast, to Mr. Van Scoyoc's 72, or 32 percent, according to the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Ms. Overby got 71 votes.

Ms. Mulhern-Larsen, a political newcomer who runs a security and property management business in East Hampton, was a late addition following the withdrawal of two candidates previously selected by the Republican Party.

Elaine Jones, chairwoman of the East Hampton Town Independence Party, said last week that her party's previous endorsements stand. "We have sent letters out supporting Sylvia Overby and Peter Van Scoyoc," she said. "They both have experience, and they both came to be screened" at the party's two-day screening event held in the spring. The Republicans selected Ms. Mulhern-Larsen in June.