Robyn Berger’s question was simple and honest, but perhaps terrifying, and it went unanswered.

“How are you feeling?” Ms. Berger, a director with the Family Service League, asked the group of about 40 who had assembled for a discussion of youth mental health at the Montauk Firehouse last Thursday.

Ms. Berger’s question came just over a year after the death of Tyler Valcich, a 20-year-old volunteer firefighter and Montauk resident who had graduated from East Hampton High School in 2011. His death led to the formation of the Tyler Project, a campaign to improve youth mental health services and end the epidemic of suicide among young people, currently the second leading cause of death among those ages 15 to 24. The Tyler Project and the Family Service League co-sponsored last Thursday’s gathering.

When no one offered a response to her question, Ms. Berger and colleagues from the Family Service League posed some more: “What did you need last year from us? What do you need now?”

Then, the silence slowly yielded to candid conversation, in which a small group of those young people — including a high school senior and a handful of Tyler Valcich’s friends and peers — asked for more mental health education in schools and more safe places in the community for those who are at risk or who are already facing some kind of crisis.

Fallon Bloecker, who knew Mr. Valcich, advocated for schools to do more and compared the need for mental health education to the talks about drunken driving or texting while driving that students periodically see. “You need to incorporate that more than one time a year,” Ms. Bloecker said. “If we started worrying about mental health younger, it would be so much more helpful.”

To those in attendance — many of whom could have been her parents’ age or older — Ms. Bloecker, 20, also called for age-appropriate support. “No offense, but there’s no way I would sit and spill my guts to 75 percent of this room,” she said.

Pat Fallon, 23, who also knew Mr. Valcich, said support systems need to go beyond the traditional idea that merely providing a 24-hour hotline for crisis intervention is helpful.

“That’s not how you talk to people of this age,” Mr. Fallon said. “You have to engage with these people in a way that’s meaningful.”

He laid out his vision for a comfortable, private space — one with a couch, a coffee maker, and a real person trained not only to listen but also to help — that could be available at a community center, church, or other publicly accessible place in town, pretty much anytime of the day or night.

Dr. Larry Weiss, chief program officer of the Family Service League, replied by saying it is called the “living room model” and that it is being talked about as a possibility.

Ms. Berger urged those in attendance to sign up for a program called safeTALK, which trains people — real, everyday folks, not just credentialed mental health professionals — to understand the warning signs that show someone may be suicidal. SafeTALK then shows people how to carefully and properly speak to him or her to be able to get that person through the immediate crisis. By the end of last Thursday’s forum, 25 people had signed up to receive the training. The three-hour program is free and local, with more information available by calling 369-0104.

During the forum, Mr. Weiss announced that a successful family health program in the Springs School District will expand to the Montauk School District beginning in September. Dubbed the Community Behavioral Health Collaborative, the idea behind it is to help parents support their children’s mental health and identify kids who are at risk of related behavioral problems.

“The ideal place for that is schools that have elementary-aged children,” Dr. Weiss said. “If you catch it early and you provide parent support, education, and counseling, we can avoid the more costly and difficult-to-obtain mental health services later on.”

Ronit Reguer, one of the two social workers who run the Springs program, said the Montauk program will be closely modeled after the one in Springs. The biweekly program consists of a parent resource night and a “family strengthening program,” in which families have dinner and do therapeutic activities together. It is an offshoot of the South Fork Behavioral Health Initiative, which recently received an additional $175,000 from New York State.

“It’s the nip-it-in-the-bud mentality,” Ms. Reguer said. “It’s helpful for both the parents and the kids to know there is support.”

After the forum ended last Thursday, Thea Grenci, who was a close friend of Tyler Valcich’s before his death, said she was pleased with the openness of the discussion, but wished that more young people were there to witness it.    “One year later, the feelings are stronger,” Ms. Grenci said. “We want people to be more aware of what’s going on today. . . . You have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

A walk for awareness of suicide prevention, sponsored by the Tyler Project and the Greater East Hampton Education Foundation, will take place on Sunday. The event begins at 10 a.m. at the Montauk Pavilion and will take participants around Fort Pond.

Uber, the nationwide on-call ride-sharing service, suspended its operations from Wainscott to Montauk following a meeting with East Hampton Town officials on Friday.

Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell made the announcement on Friday morning after he and town enforcement officials met with Josh Mohrer, an Uber general manager, and other staff to discuss the influx of Uber drivers working within town limits. Uber cars, which can be summoned with a smartphone app, do not meet all of the town's standards for taxicabs. A taxi law adopted several years ago and revised in 2014 requires cab companies to have a town business license, licenses for each of their vehicles, which triggers inspections by town ordinance enforcement officers, and licenses for individual drivers. A New York State chauffeur's license does not suffice.

Last week more than 20 drivers who were partnered with Uber were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly operating vehicles for hire without the town license. 

The town ordinance requirement that each driver register a business license in their own name that corresponds to a physical business office in East Hampton, is an impossibility, Uber representatives said. 

"For the last several summers, Uber obtained local licenses from the Town of East Hampton so residents could get reliable and affordable rides with the push of a button. Unfortunately, the East Hampton Town supervisor and town board have changed the rules, banning Uber from the town and denying their constitutents access to our service," said Matthew Wing, a spokesman for Uber New York. 

“We applaud Uber for taking the responsible step of suspending their operations until such time that they comply with the town’s licensing requirements,” Supervisor Cantwell said in a press release. “The town will not tolerate any vehicles not complying with our regulations, nor will we allow drivers to be sleeping in vehicles for hire, obstructing traffic, and taking up limited parking spaces in hamlet centers that should be available for residents and visitors.”

Mr. Wing said the situation is an unfortunate one, particularly for summer visitors, due to "an unquestionable need and demand for Uber in the Hamptons because taxi service has been historically unreliable."

Uber has notified its customers and drivers, claiming that the town supervisor had banned the company.

"As a result riders like you will be unable to get reliable, safe rides in any part of East Hampton out to Montauk — effective immediately," the email read. "We need your help to bring Uber back. Make your voice heard and contact Town Supervisor Cantwell today — tell him you need Uber in East Hampton," it said, followed by a link to send the supervisor an email with a prepared message.

With Uber drivers off the road, there remain more than 220 licensed taxis and vehicles for hire, as well as other public transportation options available, the supervisor said. 

Ed Petrie, the man who gave this town, and Sag Harbor before that, so much to cheer about over his half-century career as a high school boys basketball coach, died on Sunday at Southampton Hospital at the age of 82.

A gathering at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton is to be held today from 4 to 7 p.m.

Bill McKee, who played for Mr. Petrie when he was in high school, who was his assistant, along with Tom Bubka, for 22 years, and who succeeded him as East Hampton’s varsity boys basketball coach in 2010, said of his death, “It’s hard . . . I looked upon him, as many of his former players did, as a coach first, later as a second father, and still later as a close friend. That’s why it makes it so hard. He had such a positive effect on this entire community — it was about much more than basketball.”

“It’s a tremendous loss,” Howard Wood, a former professional player who won a state championship under Mr. Petrie in 1977, and who is now coaching the high school’s varsity girls basketball team, said. “He had two sons named Petrie, but he had dozens of other sons. He taught them so much about a lot outside of basketball.”

Michael Sarlo, East Hampton Town’s police chief, who played on the varsity in the 1980s and on Mr. Petrie’s Biddy Basketball teams from the age of 8, said, “He was tough on us, but we all knew why, and the results backed him up. We have a proud tradition and extendedamily of Bonac basketball alumni . . . thanks to Coach. He always found a way to get the most out of his team. . . . He used to love bringing back alumni to scrimmage with the varsity. It was a thrill to play against the guys we watched win championships — guys like Mike and Ed, Howard, Jerome Jefferson, Scott Rubenstein. . . . We saw their passion and it pushed us to work harder.”

“How do you write a letter about a legend,” another member of that 1977 state-championship team, Scott Rubenstein, wrote to The Star on the occasion of Mr. Petrie’s retirement. “Does anyone have any idea what an honor, what a privilege we felt to be able to say we played for Coach Petrie? He stands tall among the likes of Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Phil Jackson, John Wooden, Tom Landry. The finest kind. He took a small town and gave it a big heart.”

“Billy McKee was like a third son to Ed,” Nancy Petrie, Mr. Petrie’s wife, said, adding that her husband, who “loved life, and got up each morning with a smile on his face,” had died unexpectedly. A bacterial blood infection had caused his death, she said.

With 754 wins, Mr. Petrie was the winningest public high school boys basketball coach in New York State.

In 2006, he was among four high school coaches honored by the Frank McGuire Foundation at the New York Athletic Club. On the way to that ceremony, Bob Vishno, the first person Mr. Petrie met when he came to Sag Harbor from Hamden, Conn., in 1958, said, “As long as I was able to walk, I was going. Ed Petrie is one of those guys who come along only once in a while, who has instilled in his players the persistence, dedication, and sense of loyalty that he always had. I’ve always been impressed by the loyalty he showed to his coaches, to Jack Hasley at Rye Neck High School and to Honey Russell at Seton Hall. Ed gets that same kind of loyalty from his players, which is very rewarding.”

Also at that ceremony, Paul Babcock, a Vietnam veteran who played for the “mighty, mighty” Whalers in Mr. Petrie’s early coaching days, said, “The big thing about him as a coach was his ability to size up another team. He was always prepared. He’d say, ‘This guy can only go to his right, don’t worry about that guy, we’re going to double-team this guy. . . .’ He taught small guys how to compete with big guys. He taught you the importance of doing your homework, how to assess a situation, to know who you were and who your opponent was, and that you should play with purpose . . . all the things, really, that you need to increase your chances of being successful in life. That’s why everyone who has played for him has so much respect for him.”

“What I learned from Coach Petrie saved my life, and saved others’ lives in Southeast Asia.”

In January of 2011, when East Hampton’s basketball court was dedicated to him, the gym was packed with well-wishers, including four of his first Pierson team’s starting five — Mr. Bubka, Jack Youngs, Bob Jacobs, and Mr. Babcock. Mr. Bubka, who went on to work with Mr. Petrie for a quarter-century, serving as his assistant, as East Hampton’s junior varsity coach, as the scorer, and even as a driver to away games, said that day, “The best thing was having him as a friend. He was great on and off the court. He got the most out of every one of his players. They all respected him. There should be one more banner here: ‘Thank you, Coach,’ signed ‘Your Players.’ ”

Seconding that, Mr. Wood said, “Some of you may not know he was also a great vocabulary teacher. Once he called us ‘prima donnas.’ That night I went to a dictionary and looked it up!” Whereupon, the former University of Tennessee star and 10-year professional turned to Mr. Petrie and said, “Thank you so much for being there for us. Thank you for all you’ve done . . . for me, my family, and for East Hampton basketball.”

“We all grew up in the Biddy basketball program that Coach put into place over 42 years ago,” said Mr. Rubenstein. “We all played in the summer rec evening programs he would run, and we cherished those times when he would show up at the park and watch our pickup games. We felt so special that he would take his time to do so.”

During his 52-year career, which included 19 years as a physical education teacher at the East Hampton Middle School and a year, when the East Hampton School District was on austerity, helping his good friend Roger Golden coach the Bridgehampton High School team, Mr. Petrie won 20 league titles, three county championships, and two state titles. Besides the McGuire Foundation, he was inducted into the New York State Hall of Fame, the Suffolk County Hall of Fame, the East Hampton High School Hall of Fame, and the Rye Neck (the school was known as Bellows High School when he led it to two county championships in 1950 and ’51) Hall of Fame. He captained Seton Hall University’s team in 1956 and played in two N.I.T. tournaments.

“Oh, I still like to win,” Mr. Petrie said, with a smile, during an interview in 2004, correcting a writer who had observed that he had once said winning mattered less to him as he grew older. “But as I’ve gone along, I’ve made so many friendships with my former players. I’ve had so many good kids who have become friends of mine, who have been successful, who I still talk with a lot. That’s pretty much what it’s all about.”

“In lieu of flowers,” said Mrs. Petrie, “we decided that Ed, who loved animals, would have loved it if people would make donations to the Animal Rescue Fund.”

Besides his wife, Mr. Petrie is survived by two sons, Ed Petrie Jr. and Mike Petrie of East Hampton, by two daughters, Cynthia Petrie and Miriam Petrie, both of Knoxville, Tenn., and by three stepdaughters, Susan Morris of West Chester, Pa., Joanna Brinker of Portland, Me., and Karen McQuiston of New York City. He is also survived by three grandchildren and by seven step-granddaughters. 

With Reporting by Taylor K. Vecsey

Montauk's Surf Lodge got into hot water with the Town of East Hampton at the start of Memorial Day weekend thanks to a colorful mural.

The Eric Firestone Gallery’s first show at the Surf Lodge displays work by Jen Stark, with a painted mural on the side of the building and a paper sculpture installation in the small gallery space just off the hotel lobby. (Mr. Firestone is profiled in this week's Star.)

On Friday, the town's code enforcement department slapped the Surf Lodge with a court summons for failure to obtain architectural review board approval for the mural. Julien Bizalion, the director of operations at the Surf Lodge, received the violation, which is punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, according to Betsy Bambrick, the director of code enforcement. Mr. Bizalion has to answer the summons in East Hampton Town Justice Court on June 1. 

Ms. Stark, like Mr. Firestone, grew up in Miami; she now lives in Los Angeles. Her wide bands of Day-Glo color, reminiscent of Peter Max, are adaptations, she said, of her typical mural approach, modified to suit the building’s Fort Pond Bay location. “Usually my drippy style is a lot more detailed, but I wanted you to be able to see it while driving by,” she explained.

As of last Thursday it was still a work in progress, even having worked a number of 10-hour days, with a group of assistants, to complete it. The artist was happy to report, though, that it was visible earlier in the week from a restaurant across the lake where she and Mr. Firestone had had dinner.

She has shown with him previously at the UNTITLED fair during Art Basel week in Miami, as well as in some group shows in the gallery. The future may bring a solo show in the New York City space.

There were 11 alcohol-related arrests in East Hampton Town over the past week, mostly over the holiday weekend, and two more in Sag Harbor. Many of those arrested had high blood-alcohol readings, according to police

One arrest took place outside the residence of an East Hampton Town Justice. At about 7:35 a.m. on Sunday, as Justice Lisa R. Rana was preparing to leave for court, a 2009 Toyota crashed through her split-rail fence and into her front yard on Three Mile Harbor-Hog Creek Road. The driver, later identified as Luis T. Marin-Castro, 28, drove off, leaving behind a trail of debris. Witnesses wasted no time in calling the police.

Lt. A.J. McGuire described what followed. Squad cars were dispatched to investigate. One of them was on Three Mile Harbor Road, headed toward the house, when the Toyota, with “major front-end damage,” sped by in the opposite direction, clocked at 77 miles per hour in a 40 m.p.h. zone. The squad car made a quick U-turn and pulled it over.

Back at town police headquarters in Wainscott, Mr. Marin-Castro’s blood-alcohol content reportedly registered .23, almost three times the legal limit. He was arraigned on Monday morning. Because Justice Rana is a potential witness or victim in the case, she recused herself from the proceedings.

Mr. Marin-Castro was charged with aggravated drunken driving, as well as speeding, leaving the scene of an accident, and changing lanes illegally. Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $300, which was posted.

On Sunday night, a founding partner of Montauk’s Surf Lodge was similarly charged; that arrest took place just yards from the popular nightclub. Police said Stephen G. Kasuba, 49, after peeling out in reverse from a dead end near the train station, had driven his 2014 Volkswagen at an “unsafe high speed along the pedestrian-lined” Edgemere Street before making a hard right onto Industrial Road, almost colliding with an oncoming vehicle.

He reportedly told the arresting officer that “I had some cocktails at the Surf Lodge.” In addition to drunken driving, he was charged with seven moving violations.

Mr. Kasuba, who told Justice Rana at his arraignment on Memorial Day that he was a publicist, was released on $300 bail.

Another man arraigned on Memorial Day on a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated was Dane Murphy, 29, of Redding, Conn. He was stopped in Montauk at 3:45 a.m. that day approaching Carl Fisher Plaza; police said his 2005 GMC ran a stop sign at the plaza without signaling and swerved into the oncoming lane.

He told the arresting officer he had had “a couple of Jamesons.”

Justice Rana suspended his license because of his .21 blood-alcohol reading and asked him what he did for a living.

“I play soccer,” he said, “for the New York Cosmos.” He told her he was just visiting the Hamptons for the weekend.

According to the Cosmos website, Mr. Murphy is also the team’s headscout. Bail was set at $300, which his sister, who was also here for the holiday weekend, later posted at Wainscott police headquarters.

Lauren A. Behning, 25, who said during her arraignment that she was in Montauk for an art show on the Plaza, was pulled over in a 2007 Toyota on West Lake Drive early Sunday for speeding; she told the officer she had had “a couple of Martinis” at the Gig Shack on Main Street. Her breath test at headquarters, according to police, produced a reading of .23. A Massachusetts native, she was freed on $500 bail, and must return to town for a future date in court.

The two Sag Harbor arrests also ended in charges of aggravated D.W.I. Marlo Sinchi, 21, a village resident, was arrested on Hampton Street early Sunday; police said his 2005 Subaru had no lights and was swerving across the yellow lines. A 2006 Ford Mustang convertible driven by Robinson G. Guiracocha of East Hampton, also 21, was swerving, police said, before they stopped it on Division Street. Neither driver, reportedly, had a valid license. Both were later freed on $750 bail, with dates on the Sag Harbor Village Justice Court’s criminal calendar.

An Uber driver from the city was arrested at about 5 a.m. Saturday on Amagansett Main Street. Rafael J. Cabrera, 30, of Manhattan was driving a 2015 Toyota without benefit of headlights when he was pulled over, police said. His blood-alcohol registered .13, and Justice Rana warned him at his arraignment that if he is licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York, his authorization to drive for a living is likely to be revoked.

Before the arraignment began, Mr. Cabrera said he didn’t know who to call to post bail. Seated near him, also waiting to be arraigned on D.W.I. charges, was Jacqueline K. Ash of La Jolla, Calif. She turned to Mr. Cabrera, whom she did not know, and said she would post his bail.

Ms. Ash, 30, had a reading low enough, below .11, to possibly allow her lawyer to have the charge reduced to driving with ability impaired, a simple violation. She was as good as her word to Mr. Cabrera, posting the $300 bail set for him along with the $500 set for her.

An 18-year-old from Montauk, whose name was withheld by police because of his age, faces a drunken-driving charge after being arrested last Thursday on Indian Wells Highway in Amagansett. On Friday, Justice Tekulsky told him he was not going to yell at him because he was sure his father, who was seated in the courtroom, would do plenty of that.

Also arrested last Thursday was Tara M. McKernan, 61, of Bedford, N.Y., who had been stopped on West Lake Drive in Montauk. Like the previous defendant, she was released without bail, but with a future date on Justice Tekulsky’s calendar.

David Ferris Betts, 30, was pulled over early Sunday morning on Edgemere Street near Carl Fisher Plaza after making two illegal turns, according to the police. Mr. Betts told Justice Rana he was newly unemployed, having just returned from Africa. He spent a year and a half in Ethiopia, he told her, and four years in Kenya, helping poor farmers obtain loans for their land. He now lives in Spokane, Wash., and was here visiting his brother, who has a house in East Hampton.

Normally a return date of several weeks later is set following an arraignment, to allow time to hire a lawyer. But Justice Rana took account of Mr. Betts’s need to return to Spokane, as well as his fairly low reading of .11, and set his return to court for today.

Ivan R. Morocho-Pucha of Springs, 28, was also arrested early Sunday morning, after being stopped on Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton for several traffic violations. Police said he had an open container of alcohol in his 2005 Chevrolet, no driver’s license, and a breath-alcohol reading of .15. Justice Rana set his bail at $350, which was posted by family members.

Bladyn Guillermo Yanchaguano-Chan­­goluiza, 30, also of Springs, was stopped early Monday morning on Three Mile Harbor Road; police said he had committed several moving violations. He too was charged with unlicensed driving. His breath-alcohol reading was reported at .11, and he was released on $300 bail with a future date in court.

Recently promoted officers, from left, Sgt. Barry Johnson, Sgt. Chelsea Tierney, and Lt. John Claflin, with Chief Michael

Sarlo at East Hampton Town Hall on May 21.                                                                                                   Beth Johnson

With the most recent round of promotions, the East Hampton Town Police Department got its first female supervisor in its history.

Chelsea Tierney, one of seven female officers on the force, became the department’s first female sergeant when she, Sgt. Barry Johnson, and Lt. John B. Claflin were promoted in a ceremony at an East Hampton Town Board meeting last month.

Chief Michael Sarlo described Ser­geant Tierney as “a very professional and detailed investigator who has shown great work ethic in following through on patrol cases.” The Suffolk County district attorney’s office got in touch with the department to compliment her investigative work, he said.

“She has been a top-producing officer and has handled many serious cases during her time on patrol,” Chief Sarlo said.

An officer for six and a half years, Sergeant Tierney holds a degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in criminal/forensic psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. An East Hampton native, she is a Ross School alumna. She is married to Officer Tim Tierney of the town police.

While a formal police presence in East Hampton Town dates back to 1909, women have been on patrol only since 1985, when the first female police officer joined the force. Tina Giles, the fourth woman hired, was the first to make detective. She retired in 2013 after 27 years on the force.

Of the other officers, Sergeant Johnson is a veteran of the police force and has become one of its most decorated patrol officers over his 17-year career. He is also a leader among the rank and file, as a field training officer, a firearms, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, and defensive tactics instructor, and a member of the emergency services unit.

“Barry has always been a top-producing officer, earning numerous awards, including several D.W.I. and ‘top cop’ awards, as well as our Police Officer of the Year in 1999. He is a leader amongst the patrol division and a dedicated, professional officer who is committed to the community,” Chief Sarlo said.

Sergeant Johnson, an East Hampton High School graduate, is a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician with the Springs Fire Department. The late Lee Hayes, a well-known East Hampton resident and a Tuskegee Airman, was his grandfather.

Lieutenant Claflin spent about three years as a sergeant before his promotion. He has been a member of the department for 14 years. A Springs resident and East Hampton High School graduate, he is a former Springs fire chief.

A new judge has been assigned to the lawsuit between the East Hampton School District and Sandpebble Builders, causing a new delay in the trial.

According to Richard Burns, the district's superintendent, Justice Jerry Garguilo has been appointed to replace Justice Thomas F. Whelan. Mr. Burns said no reason was given for the change. Jury selection will now begin on Nov. 5, with a trial immediately to follow. May 4 was to have been the original date for jury selection.

"The district has no say as to the date of the trial," Mr. Burns said in an email on Friday. "The date is solely determined by the court. The district is at their mercy."

The lawsuit stems from a 2006 disagreement between the district and the builder. East Hampton entered into a construction contract with Sandpebble but later, after the project's scope was increased, it axed the contract and brought in a different builder. Sandpebble then sued the district for $3.75 million, saying the district had wrongfully terminated the contract.

By February of 2012, East Hampton's legal fees had escalated to about $2.3 million. On Friday, Mr. Burns said those fees have leveled off, with no recent increases. The newly approved 2015-16 school budget includes a decrease in the overall amount budgeted for all of the district's legal fees, from $398,000 down to $213,000.

The district switched legal representation in 2011, trading Morgan Lewis & Bockius of Philadelphia for Pinks Arbeit & Nemeth of Hauppauge.

Representatives of Sandpebble could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

After getting her morning coffee on Sunday, a woman decided to take the scenic route home, walking down a less-trafficked Water Mill road, when she was struck by a vehicle, Southampton Town police said.

A jogger discovered Joanne Mercer, 62, lying on the side of the road in the vicinity of 179 David’s Lane, south of Montauk Highway, but just north of the intersection of Halsey Lane, at about 7:45 a.m., and called 911. Initially on Sunday, police weren’t sure exactly what happened to the woman. Dr. Mercer was in a semiconscious state and had blood on her, police said.

Detective Sgt. Lisa Costa said that while Dr. Mercer was a victim of a hit-and-run, it’s possible the driver did not realize anyone was struck. “At this junction we have no reason to believe it’s criminal,” Detective Costa said. “This could be totally accidental.”

Dr. Mercer, who lives and practices nearby, had been “reading and walking” and was distracted, Detective Costa said, adding that Dr. Mercer had decided to take “the back road so she didn’t have to walk on the highway.”

The Southampton Volunteer Ambulance responded, along with a paramedic working for the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and transported her to Southampton Hospital. She was listed in fair condition as of Monday.

The investigation is ongoing. Detectives are asking anyone with information on the accident to call 631-702-2230.

The incident occurred about a mile from the site of a July 2012 hit-and-run accident that left a Catholic nun dead. Sister Jacqueline Walsh was found lying on the pavement on Rose Hill Road (David’s Lane turns into Halsey Lane, which runs into Rose Hill Road). A damaged 2009 Volkswagen Toureg belonging to Andrew Zaro, a member of the Zaro’s Bakery family who owns a house at the end of Rose Hill Road, was found half a mile away. Police identified Carlos Armando Ixpec-Chitay, who worked for Mr. Zaro, as a suspect. An undocumented Guatemalan immigrant, he fled the country, and was never arrested.

An early-morning altercation Saturday between a Bridgehampton man and an 83-year-old Northwest Woods woman ended with her hospitalization for a fractured skull. The man is in county jail, charged with felony assault.

The man and the woman gave police starkly different narratives, but in both, Irene Foster ended up on the kitchen floor after cracking her head on the refrigerator, either pushed or punched down by Bronte E. O’Neal. Their statements are on file with the East Hampton Town Justice Court.

East Hampton Town police charged Mr. O’Neal, 50, with assault in the second degree and criminal mischief. He allegedly tossed Ms. Foster’s cellphone across the room as she was trying to dial for help, bringing on the second charge.

Detectives interviewed the woman at Southampton Hospital later Saturday morning as she was being treated for her injuries. She told them she had known Mr. O’Neal for about a year, and that he does handyman jobs for her. She had picked him up Friday morning at the East Hampton train station, she said, and he worked for her that day, doing landscaping work around the property at 29 Hands Creek Road. According to Det. Sgt. Greg Schaefer, that property was formerly a bed and breakfast; more recently, he said, Ms. Foster has been renting rooms in the cottages to tenants.

On Friday evening, she told detectives, Mr. O’Neal asked her if he could stay overnight rather than take the train back to Mastic-Shirley, where he has been staying.

Mr. O’Neal provided a different version of events when interviewed by detectives on Saturday afternoon prior to his arrest. He and Ms. Foster have known each other for about three years, he said, and he would work for her on occasion. They were friends, he told police.

The altercation began at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, when, Ms. Foster told detectives, she went into the kitchen and found $200 missing from her wallet. “I told him he had taken the money,” she said in her complaint. “I told Bronte that if he did not leave, I was calling 911. That is when he punched me as hard as he could, right in the face.” She fell backward, she said, hitting her head on the refrigerator. “I heard him take my car keys off the counter, and Bronte left.”

Detectives later put out a “be on the lookout” call to East End police departments for Ms. Foster’s missing white 2015 Hyundai Elantra.

Mr. O’Neal told the detectives that Ms. Foster had given him the $200 the night before as payment for his work, and said she had been drinking heavily. He claimed that she had consumed three bottles of Bogle Vineyards California wine during Friday afternoon and evening.

According to Mr. O’Neal, at 6:30 Saturday morning, “I started towards the door. She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.” Then, he said, she swung an empty bottle of wine at his head. “I ducked and she missed me,” he is quoted as saying. “I pushed her right in the face.” He admitted taking the keys to the car, which, he told detectives, he had permission to use when he was at the property. On his way to the car, he stated, he threw the phone into the bushes, then drove to Mastic-Shirley.

At 7:04 a.m., police received an emergency call reporting an injured female, “lacerations to the head,” at 29 Hands Creek Road. The call came from a tenant in one of the cottages, whom Ms. Foster had alerted. “She woke him up,” Detective Schaefer said. She was soon taken to Southampton Hospital, where detectives interviewed her, before being transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital. Detectives then called Mr. O’Neal and asked him to return to town to be interviewed.

He was at police headquarters in Wainscott that afternoon. He told detectives, as he finished his statement, “I didn’t want to hurt her.” At 4:14 p.m., when the interview ended, he was placed under arrest.

According to Detective Schaefer, who spoke about the case yesterday, Ms. Foster suffered “a fractured skull, lacerations to her head, and a broken collarbone.” Police allege that Mr. O’Neal kicked her repeatedly while she was on the floor.

When detectives finished interviewing her in Southampton, Ms. Foster told them that “I cannot sign the statement, because I am in too much pain.” Her condition was upgraded yesterday, according to George Filiano, a hospital spokesman, from serious to good.

In court on Sunday morning, Mr. O’Neal was arraigned before East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky, who set bail at $50,000. “You have a fairly extensive criminal record,” the justice told him, “though none are felony convictions.”

Justice Tekulsky explained to Mr. O’Neal what this week held for him if he were unable to make bail. If he is not indicted by tomorrow he will, under state law, have to be released. He was still in county jail in Riverside as of yesterday morning.

Detective Schaefer said the department was in touch with District Attorney Thomas Spota’s office regarding the timing of an indictment. He described the investigation as ongoing, saying that police intend to interview Ms. Foster again after she recovers.

Ms. Foster herself was arrested earlier this year in East Hampton, charged with petty theft on Feb. 24 for allegedly shoplifting at Waldbaum’s. The outcome of that case is not clear.

One of Mr. O’Neal’s previous arrests is also said to have involved an elderly woman. In May 2012, Southampton police accused him of taking a car that belonged to a recently deceased woman and selling it to an unwitting buyer. He was charged with grand larceny. That case is still open, according to the court clerk’s office.

Americans donated $335 billion to charitable causes last year, and according to GuideStar, an organization that tracks the nonprofit world, there are 1.8 million organizations in this country that rely on donations, grants, and fund-raising events for the good work they do.

 In East Hampton, one company has found a way to localize those numbers. It is GoodCircle, and it was launched a little over a year ago by Fred Doss and Joan Overlock, who are friends and business associates. Its model is part “cause marketing,” a term that refers to cooperation between for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations, and part crowdfunding, which, thanks to websites like Kickstarter.com, GoFundMe. com, and IndieGogo.com, is now a part of everyday language. Its goal is to connect businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the community at large to accomplish beneficial projects.

Most recently, GoodCircle partnered with Hampton Racquet, Smart Sports Surfacing, and the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center to raise money for a $17,000 new sports and play area and equipment at the center. Groundwas broken last week. Businesses like the Hampton Jitney and Main Beach Surf and Sport have jumped on board, pledging in-kind services or matching donations from individuals.

“What we are is a tool for businesses. We maximize businesses’ charitable donations,” Ms. Overlock said in an interview Tuesday. “We do that in a way that gives them a very tangible and measurable outcome. . . . They know how they’re affecting change.”

Ms. Overlock and Mr. Doss have dubbed their company GoodCircle because what comes in ultimately winds up going out to a nonprofit. Most campaigns have been local so far, such as one for the David E. Rogers M.D. Center at Southampton Hospital, which helps patients with H.I.V. and AIDS, and another to restore the front porch of the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum.

“The donors win,” Ms. Overlock said. “They’re demanding transparency. Their donations are going farther.”

Having met through a mutual friend in 2010, Mr. Doss and Ms. Overlock decided almost immediately that they could create something big by combining her background in advertising and marketing and his in business management and nonprofit work. They began brainstorming in the summer of 2013.

“We started here intentionally. We know the community, and . . . the East End has embraced us,” said Mr. Doss, who is also a co-founder of the local organization Paddlers for Humanity, which supports mental health services for children.

Lars Svanberg, the owner of Main Beach Surf and Sport in Wainscott, who is about to launch his fourth project with GoodCircle, said working with Mr. Doss and Ms. Overlock has “enabled me to do certain projects that I wanted to raise money for in a seamless way” while still devoting most of his time to business.

 “I didn’t have the background in marketing and platform building that it takes to be successful in fund-raising,” he said. “We all have these different friends, and friends of friends, and GoodCircle can get the word out. It goes out like a big net, and they catch everyone who’s interested in donating to your cause. They’ve been really good to work with.”

GoodCircle’s latest effort is for I-Tri, which encourages self-esteem, proper nutrition, and leadership in preteen girls and trains them to compete in the Hamptons Youth Triathlon. It hopes to raise $27,535 by June 8, with Paddlers for Humanity pledging up to $7,268 as a dollar-for-dollar match of other donations and the Hampton Jitney providing the rest to support 72 sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade girls from Montauk, Springs, Sag Harbor, and Southampton in the triathlon.

Among other costs, the donations will fund professional trainers’ fees for the triathlon, which GoodCircle calls ­“critical to the girls’ reaching the starting line for a life-changing ex­perience.” Prospective donors can visit goodcircle.org/projects/i-tri to learn more.

 Theresa Roden, the founder and executive director of I-Tri, said, “With GoodCircle, we hope to continue and build on this in the coming years. They have been so wonderful to work with. . . . Everything that they promised they have delivered on, and we feel so fortunate.”

GoodCircle’s local work is only part of the picture. Mr. Doss and Ms. Overlock have set their sights on a national presence. They said they don’t see Kickstarter as a competitor, and believe GoodCircle is on a different level than GoFundMe, which doesn’t always benefit nonprofits. While GoodCircle builds a small fee into project goals to support its work, it does not yet have a full-time staff or an official office, although they are expected to be possible soon. 

Mr. Doss said he and Ms. Overlock have found their work very satisfying. “We come back and say how did we get so lucky? We just meet incredible people on both sides of the equation. We meet phenomenal business owners and great people doing great work at the nonprofits.”