East Hampton Town police have a suspect in custody in connection with a robbery that took place over the weekend at Springs Wines and Liquors in the Springs hamlet of East Hampton.

Police said they arrested John X. Tracy III of King's Point Road, Springs, on Monday morning.

In a press release issued Monday afternoon, they said that a witness's description and video surveillance footage, as well as tips from the public, led them to Mr. Tracey, 19, whom they caught up with while he was driving on Norfolk Drive in Springs.

Mr. Tracy is suspected of being the person who walked into the Springs-Fireplace Road liquor store at about 4:50 p.m. Saturday and told a clerk he had a gun and wanted money. He did not show the clerk a weapon, but kept his right hand stuffed into his vest, indicating there was a gun in the pocket.

After taking $1,500 from the store's cash register, police said, Mr. Tracy left, heading west on Fort Pond Boulevard toward Three Mile Harbor Road.

Detective Lt. Chris Anderson said that Mr. Tracy was stopped while driving a 2004 gray Dodge Ram pickup truck at about 9:50 Monday morning after leaving his house. The truck was "used in the commission of the crime," Detective Anderson said.

Mr. Tracy is expected in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Tuesday to be arraigned on a single count of first-degree robbery, a class-B felony.

Police said the investigation was ongoing. They have asked that anyone with information phone them confidentially at 537-7575.

    East Hampton Democrats continued to lead in the fund-raising race in the lead-up to the town election on Tuesday, although Republicans have closed the gap in current fund-raising efforts.

    Campaign 2013, the Democrats’ primary campaign funding committee, in a filing with the New York State Board of Elections that covered donations and spending between Oct. 5 and Oct. 21, reported total contributions of $24,815 plus a $1,450 donation from the separate East Hampton Democratic Committee.  Campaign 2013 spent $30,692 for the Democratic slate during that period and had $4,440 in outstanding bills and $8,648 on hand, with 11 days to go before voting takes place.

    The Friends of Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, a separate committee dedicated to helping her win a town board seat on the Democratic and Working Families lines, reported contributions of $7,700 and expenditures of $3,950, leaving it with a balance of $8,534.

    The Friends of Larry Cantwell, the committee supporting the former East Hampton Village administrator’s unopposed bid for supervisor, has slowed down its own activities. The committee, which was a leading donor to other candidates earlier in the race, reported that it had received only $250 during the latest filing period, while spending $1,252. It still had a balance of $44,238 on hand for the homestretch.

    The East Hampton Town Republican Committee, on the other hand, reported that it had received $14,650 in contributions and spent $6,844 in early October, leaving it with a balance of $9,264.

    The Friends of Fred Overton, which backs the Republican town board candidate who also is running on the Independence and Conservative Party lines, reported total contributions of $6,685 and expenditures of $8,600, with a closing balance of $4,077.

    The Friends of Dominick Stanzione, the fund-raising committee for Councilman Dominick Stanzione, who is seeking re-election on the same lines that have endorsed Mr. Overton, reported $8,370 in contributions as well as a loan of $1,500 from Mr. Stanzione. It has spent $8,618 and had a balance of $3,179.

    The Independence Party reported total contributions of $8,200 and expenditures of $6,184, leaving it with $6,311 in the bank.

    The East Hampton Conservators, a political action committee that usually supports Democratic candidates, reported negligible fund-raising in the first weeks of October. Its only large expenditure reported was a $5,000 donation to the Democrats’ Campaign 2013.

    Also giving big to the Democratic cause was Mary Stone of Amagansett, who gave $5,000. Campaign 2013 also received $2,000 from Job Potter, the Democrats’ other town board candidate, and $1,450 from the Democratic Committee.

    Campaign 2013 received $1,000 donations from David Kelley of Sag Harbor, who is the brother of the Democrats’ campaign manager, Christopher Kelley, Anthony Liberatore of Wainscott, Ben Zwirn of East Hampton, the party’s supervisor candidate in 2007, David Koepp of Amagansett and Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Thomas Ogdan of Wainscott. Mr. Ogdan made a separate donation of $1,000 to the Democratic Committee.

    The Democrats also reported $750 donations from Richard Prins and Corinne Steensma of New York City and $500 donations from Charles Ehren of East Hampton, Preston Phillips of Bridgehampton, Rick Del Mastro of Wainscott, Donald Zucker of New York City, Ron Delsener of East Hampton, Devon Fredericks of East Hampton, Janet Ross of East Hampton and New York, and Vincent Cavello of East Hampton.

    The Friends of Kathee Burke-Gonzalez received $2,000 from Campaign 2013 and another $1,000 from the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, which is based in New York. The committee received $1,000 from Barry Raebeck of Wainscott and $750 contributions from Richard Prins and Corinne Steensma and $500 donations from Ksasha Cutter of New York, Georgia De Havenon of New York, and Vincent Covello of Sag Harbor.

    The largest individual donation to Mr. Overton’s committee, $500, came from Richard Haeg of East Hampton, who ran for town board on the Republican line in 2011. His committee also received $1,000 donations from the Royal Atlantic Corporation of Montauk, and RA East Owners Association of Montauk, also of Montauk, both connected to the Royal Atlantic resort, and Pro East Hampton, a Republican PAC.

    Mr. Stanzione’s committee received $1,000 donations from Banshoho Holdings of Bridgehampton, Basa LLC of Warren, New Jersey, Charles Durkin East Hampton and New York City, Carolyn Kotler of New York, Steven Kotler of East Hampton and New York, Peter Brown of Palm Beach, Fla., and William Meyer of Amagansett. The Stanzione camp also received $500 from the Cablevison PAC in Bethpage and Lisa Rosenblum, for whom no address was listed.

    The Republican Committee reported a $1,400 donation from Ben Krupinski General Contractor and a $500 donation from Ben Krupinksi Builder, both of East Hampton, as well as a $1,500 donation from Bonnie Krupinski, the Sabin Metal Corporation, Nora Fithian, Beth Graziani, Barry Bistrian, and Raymond Harden, all of East Hampton, and Stratton Schellinger of Sag Harbor.

    The Independence Party was bolstered by a $5,000 donation from Mort Zuckerman of East Hampton, $2,100 from the Friends of Dominick Stanzione, and $2,000 from the Krupinski Maintenance Corporation of East Hampton.

    The Friends of Joe Bloecker, supporting the Republican candidate for town assessor, reported receipts of $910 and total expenditures of $3,886, which left the campaign with $3,046 in the bank for the home stretch.

    The Friends of Steve Tekulsky, the Democrat for town justice, reported total contributions of $5,750 and expenses of $7,371, leaving it with $5,972 in the bank. Mr. Tekulsky’s committee reported $2,600 in donations from a fund-raising event as its biggest source of revenue. A report for Mr. Tekulsky’s opponent, Republican Carl Irace, had not been filed by this paper’s deadline.

    Early Monday morning, before the weekend had entirely worn off, 14 students filed into Douglas Milano’s numeracy class at East Hampton Middle School.

    Mr. Milano circulated through the room, placing a white sheet of paper face down on each student’s desk.

    “When I give you the signal, you’re going to flip it over,” said Mr. Milano. “Without speaking to one another, you’re going to line up in front of the room, in order from least to greatest. Without speaking.”

    Slight rumblings began filling the room.

    “I do want to mention again that you’re not allowed to speak,” said Mr. Milano, clad in shirt and tie, with a smile.

    Students quickly rose from their desks. With little disagreement, they soon assembled into a number line, in order from lowest to highest — in this case, -20 to the square root of 16.

    “Whether in real life or in math class, number lines are useful. We use them to balance our bank accounts. We use them to measure when we’re cooking,” said Mr. Milano, 29, who also teaches math.

    Numeracy debuted at East Hampton Middle School in September. It’s largely the brainchild of Charles Soriano, the building’s principal. In the absence of either a longer school day or school year, Mr. Soriano is attempting to increase contact time in core subject areas like literacy and math. For seventh and eighth-grade students, numeracy meets every other day and helps enhance mathematical reasoning, whether through problem solving, critical thinking, number sense, or their real-world application.

    “You need to start young with these skills. It makes kids inquisitive,” said Dr. Soriano, who was inspired to create the class after reading “Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences.” “There are mathematical demands in real life. You can no longer say, ‘Oh, I’m not a math person.’ Going forward, everyone needs to be. It’s about learning to think differently.”

    In addition to numeracy, Jonathan Mautschke teaches two sections of coding. Taken together, the classes represent a new direction for some students on the South Fork — one of increased emphasis on quantitative, rather than qualitative, skills.

    So far, the approach is gaining wide support throughout the district.

    “We know that’s where the jobs are. We’re very clear about that,” said Richard Burns, the superintendent. “Any way we can help promote that skill development, we’re all for it.”

    “I’m so happy that we’re doing it,” said Richard Wilson, a school board member and retired science teacher. He frequently emphasizes the need for increased science and technology skills. “And hopefully, in the coming years, the program will expand.”

    Besides using Google Chromebooks, other East Hampton teachers are also experimenting with using a flipped classroom approach — or having students watch pre-taped lectures during the afternoon and evening hours, while saving valuable in-class time for hands-on activities, labs, and discussions.

    Robert Tymann, the assistant superintendent, said there is also a discussion underway at East Hampton High School about students using personal devices, such as smartphones, during school hours. “There’s a logic that this is how students communicate. What they’re doing is pulling back on the archaic rules of not letting students have these devices in school,” said Mr. Tymann. “We have to use it to our advantage, not penalize kids for having them.”

    Nick Finazzo, who teaches numeracy along with Mr. Milano, strives whenever possible to make the coursework relate to real life. Recently, his students worked on a project to replace the flooring in their bedrooms. First, they tabulated the square footage. Next, they went online to compare different types of floors, weighing aesthetics with durability. Finally, students wrote persuasive letters to their parents, attempting to convince them of their findings.

    “There’s a deeper understanding and application,” said Mr. Finazzo, 32, who also teaches algebra. “We have the time to break things down, delving deeper into vocabulary and breaking down concepts we don’t necessarily have time to tackle during math class.”

    Later in the afternoon on Monday, a group of seventh and eighth-grade students huddled in the school’s computer lab, each working in front of a personal computer. This is the third year that Mr. Mautschke, 34, is offering the coding class, though it originally began as a computer skills elective. He also teaches science.

    “Just because they can text doesn’t mean they are tech savvy,” said Mr. Mautschke, who has seen students have trouble attaching a file to an e-mail.

    During coding class, the 25 students, an equal mixture of boys and girls, sat working to create individual games in Scratch, a free, Web-based program that uses pre-made blocks of code in user-friendly, multicolored templates.

    Leah Maffucci, a 12-year-old seventh grader, was creating a maze, with a muffin as the main character. “I like to create things and put things together and see what happens — it’s kind of like chemistry,” she said. When she grows up, she said she wants to do “something with science.”

    Charlotte Kane, also 12 and in the seventh grade, said most of the coding wasn’t difficult to learn. “Some of it can be difficult, but once you learn it, you get it pretty quickly.”

    Students flitted about the room, coming to each other’s rescue whenever someone got stuck.

    “Don’t over-program it,” urged Mr. Mautschke, to no one in particular. “There’s a beauty in the simplicity, something elegant about it.”

    “It’s fun and it let’s you be creative,” said Anthony Genovesi, 12. His game took place at a concert and revolved around the main character not spilling his drink. About a year ago, the seventh grader started teaching himself coding during his free time. “You have an idea and in an E.L.A. class you can write about it but in coding you can turn it into this fully-functional thing you can mold and create.”

    Some days, Mr. Mautschke struggles to keep up with his students, who are eager to learn faster and more economical ways of doing things.

    “Even if they don’t want to grow up and become a computer programmer, this is something fun for them to learn and allows them to be creative,” said Mr. Mautschke. In future quarters, the class will tackle Java programming, HTML, and 3D game development. “And the whole time, they’re unknowingly applying math and logic to it,” he said.

    As East Hampton waits for a report from the Army Corps of Engineers on potential beach restoration projects for downtown Montauk, the question of what to do about the beach at Ditch Plain, where erosion last winter and spring wore the surface down to rock, has taken center stage.

    The town had sand trucked in last summer to replenish the popular surfing beach, a draw for numerous visitors to Montauk, and the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee had recently appealed to the town board to ask the Army Corps to consider replenishing that beach, too, if it has a dredge nearby to pump sand onto the downtown shore.

    The Army Corps has focused its immediate scope of work for the Montauk shoreline — under an emergency authorization through which the federal government will completely foot the bill — on the downtown stretch.

    In the final days of his campaign for re-election, Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione has taken up replenishing the beach at Ditch,  proffering two different possibilities. At a meeting  Tuesday,  he asked the town board to “enable the supervisor to pursue [community preservation funds]” for Ditch Plain restoration.

    The fund, a state-approved tool used by the five East End towns, receives revenue from a 2-percent tax on most real estate transfers. A recent revision to the bylaws governing the fund might allow the town to use money from it to pay for sand replenishment on the public beach at Ditch, Mr. Stanzione said.

    However, the change approved by the State Legislature does not expand the authorized uses of C.P.F. money.

    Mr. Stanzione  had outlined the other possible source of money for Ditch at a recent candidates debate sponsored by the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, saying the town had made a “serious financial commitment” to beach restoration there and would be creating a capital fund for it. A new draft of the capital budget has not yet been discussed or adopted. However, Mr. Stanzione has asked that the draft include Ditch Plain beach replenishment in its list of projects the town board might authorize and borrow money for.

    The community preservation fund can be used for  the preservation of undeveloped beachlands or shoreline, along with other types of land. The revision adds the words “including those at significant risk of coastal flooding due to projected sea level rise and future storms.” The revision was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, surrounding the anniversary of last year’s Hurricane Sandy, has been focusing  on the need to take sea level rise and storm impacts into account when making decisions regarding coastal property.

    New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. said Tuesday that when the C.P.F. program was first authorized in 1999, climate change and sea level rise wasn’t a consideration.  The change to the law, he said, was part of an effort to ensure that state “laws and statutes have a recognition of the need to address sea level rise.”

    As before, the town could potentially purchase shorefront land that has been developed, if there were a willing seller, under the community preservation program, as long as any structures were subsequently removed and the area returned to open space.

    Councilman Stanzione said at the town board’s meeting  Tuesday that he had discussed the new provision with Senator Kenneth J. LaValle, a sponsor with Mr. Thiele of the legislation, and believed the town could use C.P.F. money to put sand on the Ditch beach as long as the fund’s regional opinions advisory board agreed.

    But Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle both demurred. “No. It’s still a land acquisition program,” Mr. Thiele said. In a phone interview yesterday, Mr. LaValle said “it was all about the sea level rise. We wanted to make sure it was clear that land could be purchased.”

    Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson praised Mr. Stanzione at Tuesday’s meeting for seeking a solution to the funding question and not taking a position that it can’t be done. “You go, Dominick,” said Mr. Wilkinson. “Go get that money from the C.P.F. for the people of Montauk.”

    Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, who said he had clarified the legislation by speaking with Assemblyman Thiele, said he would be “happy to pursue the question, but don’t get your hopes up.”

    Mr. Thiele said that one possible use of C.P.F. money along the shore, which is being considered by the advisory board, would be to use the permitted “management and stewardship” provisions of the fund to pay for beach replenishment on properties that have been purchased with the fund. However, work at Ditch Plain would not qualify, since the beach is not a C.P.F. property.

    In a split vote on Oct. 17, the town board had ignored Ditch, voting to relay only one request to the Army Corp: that it include the use of sand-filled geotextile tubes among the options it is considering, which include a sand-covered seawall or sand replenishment alone.

    Councilman Stanzione said  Tuesday that Supervisor Wilkinson’s request to have the entire Montauk shore included was “deemed uneconomic by the Army Corps.”  It was unclear, however, whether the Corps had actually made that analysis, or if it had communicated it to the town. Councilman Van Scoyoc said yesterday that he was unaware of any opinion yet offered by the Corps.

    The board is awaiting the Corps recommendations, which are expected in the coming weeks.

Thomas Ravenel, a former South Carolina state treasurer who had reportedly been contemplating a primary challenge to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said after his appearance Thursday in East Hampton Town Justice Court that he does not see a political future for himself in the Palmetto State.

Mr. Ravenel was arrested in East Hampton Village on July 22 on a drunken driving charge after he allegedly swerved across lane lines. He refused to take a breath test at police headquarters, and has maintained all along that he had not been drinking. In his mug shot, which was released to the press, he appeared calm and composed "because I wasn't drunk," he said.

But that may make little difference when it comes to his political aspirations. "Just the appearance, even though I was not," he said Thursday. "I've gone outside the margin."

Mr. Ravenel was on the South Fork for the summer to play polo. He was driving back to the house where he was staying in Bridgehampton early in the morning on July 22 when he was pulled over by village police. He said Thursday that he had called an attorney in South Carolina from the station and had received bad advice regarding the breath test.

South Carolina law regarding drunken driving is very similar to New York law. In South Carolina, as in New York, a defendant is required to take a breath test if requested to do so by the police, with a mandatory license suspension for failure to comply.

Trevor Darrell, his local attorney, expressed dismay in court and afterward Thursday with the lack of speed with which the Suffolk County district attorney's office is performing discovery, the required sharing of all information held by the prosecutor with the defendant.

"Why is it taking so long?" Mr. Darrell asked outside the courthouse. "I have no idea. This is several months down the road. We requested it three months ago. So I don't know the reason for the delay."

Mr. Ravenel, who flew in Thursday and returned to South Carolina immediately after his court appearance, is the son of former United States Representative Arthur Ravenel Jr. He was elected South Carolina treasurer in 2006, but was indicted by the United States attorney's office less than a year after taking office on charges of buying cocaine with plans to distribute it.

He pleaded guilty to possession with plans to distribute less than 100 grams of cocaine in 2007, two months after resigning as treasurer, but had recently begun to rehabilitate his image in his home state.

Justice Catherine A. Cahill ruled Thursday that Mr. Ravenel will not have to personally appear at his next scheduled court session on Dec. 7, unless a negotiated disposition to the case is in the offing. Unless there are mitigating circumstances, District Attorney Thomas Spota's office rarely plea bargains a driving while intoxicated charge to a lower-level offense when the defendant has refused a breath test.

This story has been updated since it first appeared online on Nov. 1.

     An East Hampton man accused by federal agents of trafficking in child pornography is being held without bail, facing a possible sentence of 15 years in federal prison if convicted.

     Michael S. Bonnet, 28, a registered sex offender, was arrested on the morning of Oct. 30 by combiined elements of the Long Island Child Exploitation Task Force, headed up by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, said Kelly Langmesser, a spokeswoman for the bureau. Mr. Bonnet was arraigned that afternoon by William D. Wall, a United States magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York, who had issued the warrant for his arrest the day before.

     In a complaint filed against Mr. Bonnet, Danielle Messineo of the F.B.I., alleged that on Feb. 24 and 25 of this year Mr. Bonnet had sent an undercover agent pornographic images depicting children as young as under 5 engaging in either masturbation alone or in sexual intercourse with adults.

     Ms. Langmesser lauded the work of Agent Messineo. "She is an unsung hero," who, on her own time and free of charge, leads seminars teaching children how to avoid sexual predators online.

     Ms. Langmesser said that the arrest was made with the assistance of the Suffolk County Police Department, as well as the Suffolk County Probation Department, whose officers "were instrumental in making this arrest happen."

     The arrest itself was originally planned for Oct. 31, but was moved up a day after a report about the investigation was published online, Ms. Langmesser said.

     Agent Messineo, who has been with the F.B.I.'s Internet Crimes Against Children squad since 2003 and with the bureau for 18 years, said in the complaint against Mr. Bonnet that a member of her squad, identified only as "UC," had posted an advertisement on a Web site dedicated to "human sexuality" seeking "Yng HC Pics," meaning young, hardcore pictures.

     The ad, which was posted on Feb. 24, read, "Looking to trade YNG hardcore pics or vids. If u send me soft stuff, older or modeling pics, I will ignore you . . . Yngr=better."

     According to the complaint, Mr. Bonnet responded almost immediately with an e-mail. Using an alias, Bob Jones, he allegedly wrote, "Still want to trade? What you looking for?"

     Then, Agent Messineo said, Mr. Bonnet wrote in a subsequent e-mail, "Yes I know just hoping your not a cop or something don't need trouble could you maybe send one so I know your not?"

     The next day, the undercover agent wrote an e-mail to Mr. Bonnet saying that "Bob Jones" would need to "send to receive." According to Agent Messineo's complaint, that is when Mr. Bonnet sent the first image, later determined to have come from his cellphone, of a prepubescent girl masturbating with a sex toy.

     The agent said in the complaint that she had been extensively trained over many years to recognize the difference between actual images and doctored or computer-generated ones, and to be able to discern whether the subject was, in fact, a child. Such was the case, she said, for the images Mr. Bonnet sent.

     To keep the sting going, the undercover agent then sent an e-mail containing a file that was deliberately corrupted so that it could not be viewed. It appeared to contain a pornographic video, but was in fact blank.

     "Bob Jones" sent the undercover agent two more images, according to the complaint, one of them of an adult male engaged in sexual act with a girl under the age of 5, Ms. Messineo said.

     The complaint states that the task force tracked the e-mails back to Mr. Bonnet's cellphone "using publicly available data."

     The F.B.I. also reportedly found three postings by Mr. Bonnet on topix.com that agents believe were requests to trade pornography online, in which he gave an e-mail address of [email protected], with a posting location of East Hampton.

     Again, using online tools available to the general public, the task force searched for an "M. Bonnet." There was only one in East Hampton, the complaint says, Michael S. Bonnet, with a home address of 29 Cosdrew Lane. The complaint notes that Mr. Bonnet is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in 2008. That conviction would explain the Probation Department's knowledge of Mr. Bonnet.

     The task force interviewed Mr. Bonnet on Oct. 24, after reading him his Miranda rights, which, they said, he waived.

     According to the complaint, Mr. Bonnet admitted to sending the images, as well as actively trading pornographic images from his Samsung Galaxy 4 smartphone, which contained over 100 such images. He allegedly told the F.B.I. that he had more images on another cellphone, and that he would masturbate as he traded the images. Some pictures "depicted children whose identities are believed to be known to law enforcement," according to complaint.

     Under federal criminal guidelines, the prosecution now has 30 days from the time of Mr. Bonnet's arraignment to obtain an indictment from a grand jury or be forced to release him.

            Mr. Bonnet was represented in court on Oct. 30 by Randi L. Chavis, a federal defender, the federal-level equivalent of a Legal Aid attorney. Contacted by phone, Ms. Chavis declined to comment on the case.

    The East Deck Motel at Ditch Plain in Montauk has been sold for a reported $15 million. Alice Houseknecht, who owned the oceanfront motel with her son, Ray Houseknecht, would neither confirm the price nor name the buyer this week, but did reveal that the new owner is someone local who will maintain the integrity of the property but does not plan to operate it as a motel.

    There will be renovations, she said, but a second story will not be added to the flat-roofed building, which has 30 motel units.

    When news of the sale got out, rumors ran rampant in Montauk. Some claimed a group of 17 surfers had chipped in to buy it, others feared it would be subdivided for McMansions, and still others said it would be another Gurney’s Inn with a spa. “None of that is true,” Ms. Houseknecht said with a laugh.

    As for the selling price reported in numerous online publications, she said, “I’m not going to say it’s erroneous, but I’m not going to comment.”

    The property was listed for sale in 2010 for $20 million, but was quickly pulled from the market. There was a lot of interest in that short time. “Most of them wanted to magnify its potential,” Ms. Houseknecht said, adding, “Montauk is my home. I didn’t want to snub my nose at my own community.”

    Sam and Bea Cox, who purchased the five-acre property as a vacant lot in 1949, established the motel there. In 1954, the couple moved some cottages from Navy Road to the site and started renting then out, mostly to fishermen. In the early 1960s the cottages were connected and became a motel, still used by fishermen.

    It was not until the 1980s that Ditch Plain Beach just west of the motel became a mecca for surfers. The hotel has hosted several politicians and movie personalities. Molly Shannon of “Saturday Night Live” was a regular for a while.

    Apparently, Ms. Cox was quite the prankster. When an Olympic-size pool was built on the property it was filled with salt water. One of his jokes was to stock it with striped bass and challenge his friends and guests to dive in and catch the bass with their bare hands. And if one were to even think about parking a vehicle on his side of the parking lot, Mr. Cox would hook a cable to his pickup truck, attach it to the offending driver’s bumper, and tow it away.

    When the Coxes died, they left the property to their daughter, Myrium, and her husband, Fred Houseknecht, who in turn left it to their two sons, Charlie and Steve Houseknecht, Ms. Houseknecht’s husband. Ms. Houseknecht and her son, who lives in Massapequa, inherited it when Charlie and Steve Houseknecht died. 

    During her tenure managing the place, Ms. Houseknecht said she has probably checked in over 12,000 guests, many of whom are writing or e-mailing her, hoping that news of the sale is not true. “I’ve been so busy trying to get back to each one of them,” she said. “This was their home away from home. This is where they vacationed and relaxed.”

    Running the motel was getting to be too much for her to handle, Ms. Houseknect said. Her son, she said, “is very happy” that she decided to sell.

    A member of the congregation of St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, a director of the Montauk Food Pantry, and a private benefactor to local and global charity foundations, Ms. Houseknecht plans to use the money from the sale to do more philanthropic work. “Now, I’m going to do what I always wanted to do,” she said.

Fred Overton may be retiring as town clerk, but he won’t be leaving Town Hall any time soon after coming out on the top in a four-way race for East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday.

Joining Mr. Overton, a Republican with Independence and Conservative Party backing, in victory was a Democratic newcomer, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, while Larry Cantwell, the Democrat who ran unopposed, cruised to victory as town supervisor.

Results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections were unofficial and did not include absentee ballots, which Democrats predicted would give Ms. Burke-Gonzalez an edge over Mr. Overton, but would not change the outcome of the race.

The board of elections sent out 1,104 absentee ballots. To be counted, those ballots must have been postmarked by Monday. As of yesterday, the board of elections had received back 865 of those ballots.

Mr. Overton’s election was one of the few bright spots for Republicans, who, other than the trustee races, saw their candidates defeated to their Democratic opponents in all other contested races.

“I appreciate all the support I’ve had from the community over the years,” Mr. Overton said yesterday. He said he gone to work in the morning and was spending the afternoon picking up campaign signs. “The people know me and feel comfortable that I’ll be their eyes and ears. I look forward to working with the new administration.”

“I’m elated, I’m really excited. I can’t wait to get to work,” said Ms. Burke- Gonzalez, who like Mr. Overton spent much of her day collecting lawn signs. “Fortunately, the hard work paid off and I get an opportunity to serve my community.”

Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said she was overwhelmed by the flood of good wishes coming from voters in the days leading up to the election. “I’m really feeling the love today from the community,” she said.

Mr. Cantwell had not returned calls as of press time.

Mr. Overton received 3,216 votes according to unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. Ms. Burke-Gonzalez, in her first run for townwide office, trailed by only 91 votes, receiving a total of 3,125 votes. Former Democratic Councilman Job Potter, who, like Ms. Burke-Gonzalez also received Working Families Party backing, fell short in his bid to return to Town Hall, receiving 2,764 votes. The only incumbent in the race, the Republican Dominick Stanzione, who also received Independence and Conservative backing, came in a distant fourth place, receiving only 2,293 votes.

“Life goes on. I wish Fred Overton and Kathee Gonzalez all the best. Congratulations,” said Mr. Stanzione yesterday.

“I remain proud of my service to the town. It was sincerely given, and I hope the weight of my work might relieve the burden of those who follow.” “This is what makes politics interesting,” said Mr. Potter, who said he had received positive feedback about his prospects in the election. “You just never know what is going to happen.”

“Fred was almost guaranteed to win in the end, and Kathee worked very hard and ran a great campaign,” he added. “I have no regrets at all, and I wish everyone the best on the new town board.” Mr. Cantwell, who also had Independence and Working Families backing, was named on nearly 80 percent of the 6,034 ballots cast, receiving 4,802 votes.

There were 87 write-in votes, although the breakdown for them was not available.

In one of the most hotly contested races of the year, that of town justice, which pitted two East Hampton attorneys against one another, Steven Tekulsky, with Democratic and Working Families backing, rolled to an easy victory over Carl Irace, who had run a long and sustained campaign with Republican, Independence, and Conservative Party backing. Mr. Tekulsky received 3,487 votes, or 59.6 percent of the total, while Mr. Irace received 2,367 votes, or 40.4 percent.

“Obviously, I wanted to win, and it was nice to win by a lot,” said Mr. Tekulsky.

Mr. Irace, he said, had “set the tone” to the campaign. “Because he was not as widely known, he was a very aggressive campaigner, he had to get his name out there, so he was making some noise.” Mr. Tekulsky said he was confident, though, with an expected heavy Democratic turnout, that he would carry the day.

In another hotly contested race, the incumbent assessor Eugene De- Pasquale, a Democrat with Working Families support, overcame a challenge by the Republican Joe Bloecker, whose name was also on the Independence and Conservative lines. Mr. DePasquale received 3,209 votes, or 56.7 percent of the total, to Mr. Bloecker’s 2,449 votes, or 43.3 percent.

Carole Brennan, the assistant town clerk, who was cross-endorsed by all parties and ran unopposed to take Mr. Overton’s post, received 5,281 votes.

Steve Lynch, the incumbent highway superintendent, who was endorsed by all parties, received 5,345 votes to win another two-year term.

County Legislator Jay Schneiderman won the right to serve his sixth and final term, trouncing outgoing Southampton Town Councilman Chris Nuzzi by a 60.3- to-39.7-percent margin. Mr. Schneiderman, who ran on the Democratic, Independence, and Working Families lines, received 11,329 votes. Mr. Nuzzi, running on the Republican and Conservative lines, received 7,444 votes.

With many races uncontested Tuesday, turnout at the polls in East Hampton was particularly low. Only 6,034 ballots were cast of a possible 16,116, but that number does not include absentee ballots, which will not be opened and counted until next week.

    East Hampton Town will ask the Army Corps of Engineers, which is analyzing the options for a federally funded beach restoration project in Montauk,  to examine the use of sand-filled geotextile tubes to stabilize the beach in addition to the options that the Corps had presented last month, such as using sand alone or installing a buried seawall. A split, 4-to-1, vote on a resolution introduced by Councilwoman Theresa Quigley took place at the tail end of a lengthy meeting last Thursday night.

    The resolution ignores a request from the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee that the town ask the Corps to consider including the Ditch Plain beach in the project, which would be paid for with federal funding. Some board members had previously suggested that the town borrow money for sand restoration at Ditch, and Councilman Dominick Stanzione has asked that the project be included in a draft capital budget being prepared by the town budget officer, Len Bernard.

    The resolution also ignores a request by Councilwoman Sylvia Overby and Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc that shoreline retreat — by acquiring the hotels on the threatened stretch of downtown beach through purchase or eminent domain — also be seriously considered.

    Mr. Van Scoyoc cast the no vote against the resolution, objecting “to the late hour” and what he said was dealing with “probably the most important topic that we will address in our tenure” in a “cavalier” manner. He noted that the board had, at a work session two days earlier, discussed sending a letter to the Corps but could not agree on doing so.

    “I had a change of heart and spoke to Bill about it,” Ms. Quigley said, referring to Supervisor Bill Wilkinson. “I thank you,” Councilman Dominick Stanzione told Mr. Wilkinson. “Excellent option.”

    Councilwoman Overby voted for the resolution, but said she was upset that it did not include a request that work at Ditch Plain be considered. She noted that the resolution “wasn’t in the packet for the public to see” and criticized what she called the “continuing negotiation behind closed doors that’s going on.”

    “This is not a new topic,” Ms. Quigley replied. “But if it had been in the packet there might have been public comment on it,” Ms. Overby said. “There has been plenty of public comment on it,” Ms. Quigley responded.

    Mr. Van Scoyoc said he would like to have the Army Corps complete its analysis of all the options it had presented, excluding the installation of groins, but including the possibility of rebuilding the beach, with a dune built where some hotels are now located.

    “The Corps told us relocation was not a viable option,” Supervisor Wilkinson said. “Actually, I didn’t hear that,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said. They were referring to a  Sept. 26 briefing by Steve Couch of the Corps, who had said that, though the initial cost of acquiring and relocating the hotels, which would be covered by federal funds, would be high, later beach maintenance costs would be lower, offsetting the investment.

    That strategy, Mr. Couch told the board, is being used on Fire Island and is being considered by Brookhaven Town. However, he said, he was unsure if such a project would meet the cost-benefit ratio analysis applied by the Corps.

    “Relocation should absolutely not be focused on,” Ms. Quigley said last week. “It’s a completely unviable option.”

    “So we can’t even make the assessment based on what the actual cost would be?” questioned Mr. Van Scoyoc. “Relocation is the least likely option,” Ms. Overby said, and “not palatable . . . at least to me.”

    “But,” she said, “if we are going to be given the opportunity to get some data” that might be valuable to the town in making future decisions, she said, the town should have the Army Corps analyze that option.

    “Data is critical,” Ms. Quigley agreed. But, she said, that particular information “is completely irrelevant.”

    Mr. Van Scoyoc disagreed, saying it would “inform us all about whether that is a viable option.” He moved to have the request to the Corps include analysis of the land-purchase option. Ms. Overby seconded the motion, but the other three board members voted it down.

    At the work session two days earlier, the board had argued over how to respond to the calls from the Montauk community, which were presented on Oct. 8 and repeated to the board by a resident, Christopher Poli, last week. Ms. Quigley had objected vehemently to writing to the Army Corps at all.

    “At this point we are not a unanimous board,” Ms. Overby had said at that meeting. “We are a board where one member submitted something that the rest of the board didn’t see,” she said of Mr. Wilkinson’s seawall plan. “Thank God he did,” Ms. Quigley said. They were referring to a plan Mr. Wilkinson had prepared by First Coastal, an engineering firm, and submitted to the Army Corps in January, without consulting or informing the board.

    “It’s called democracy,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said, chiding Mr. Wilkinson about his actions. “No, it’s called boring,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “We had an opportunity to get something accomplished in this town; we seized the damn ring,” he said. “I completed what I could deliver to this town. I completed my delivery.”

    “I implore the town board to show leadership,” Mr. Poli had said. “If you show leadership, consensus, you can guide the process, rather than having the Army Corps come to you. In Westhampton Beach, the Army Corps did more harm than good; in Culloden, the Army Corps did more harm than good,” he warned.

    Ms. Overby and Mr. Van Scoyoc continued their criticism during telephone interviews this week of the overall procedure as the board grappled with the Montauk project. “I think the process has been tainted from day one,” Ms. Overby said. “Now everything is under suspicion, as far as I’m concerned.” She added that the board majority’s refusal to ask the Army Corps to consider extending its project to the Ditch Plain beach,  “actually says to the people of Ditch Plain that you don’t matter.”

    The potential for the purchase of shorefront real estate, so as to move buildings out of harm’s way, “was one of the options they brought to us,” Mr. Van Scoyoc reiterated. “And I know that wasn’t in Bill’s plan,” he said. But, since the Army Corps “is doing a cost-benefit analysis. Why shouldn’t we have that information?”

    “First they tried to get me to agree with whatever the Army Corps would propose,” the councilman said. “Now,” he said, “they’re trying to close down the options. Maybe because some of the options aren’t ones they like.” Mr. Van Scoyoc said he supported having the Corps look into the use of geotextile tubes, as the resolution requests, but cast a no vote “against the way the process happened.” When Ms. Quigley presented the resolution for a vote last Thursday, he said, “It wasn’t even typed up in town format. . . . It was like pulled out of her purse or something — with no discussion whatsoever.”

Justin T. Bennett, a 35-year-old Springs man who told police he had been addicted to heroin for two years, was arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court last Thursday on charges of having burglarized 14 houses in East Hampton. He is a suspect in another 13 break-ins in Southampton Town and Sag Harbor Village over the course of many months. He entered a plea of not guilty.

He was arrested on Wednesday after a months-long investigation involving the New York City Police Department as well as those in East Hampton, Southampton, and Sag Harbor. The investigation zeroed in on Mr. Bennett, police said, based on descriptions of an alleged thief, as well a large amount of jewelry recovered by New York City detectives.

The value of stolen jewelry and cash from East Hampton alone is about $126,000, according to the police. Thousands of dollars in cash is long gone, given to a heroin dealer in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, a neighborhood where Mr. Bennett also sold many pieces of jewelry. He also sold stolen items in two neighborhoods in Queens, near the Long Island Expressway. It is not clear whether they were sold to pawn shops or to "fences," people who deal knowingly in stolen merchandise.

The investigation spanned from Montauk to Manhattan, with the New York force playing an active role in recovering at least some of the stolen items. The series of burglaries of which Mr. Bennett is accused run back to January.

"People don't realize the amount of manpower and hours that go into an investigation like this," Detective Lt. Chris Anderson of the East Hampton Police Department said. "Thirty different burglaries, 30 different crimes."

The arrest came after Mr. Bennett was pulled over by East Hampton Town detectives, who zeroed in while he was driving his girlfriend's 2003 black Toyota Carolla, a car he allegedly used when he committed many of the burglaries, according to the detective. Some of the stolen jewelry was found in the car, police said. According to Detective Anderson, it will take time to return the missing items that have been recovered to their rightful owners, as police and victims go through them, one by one.

Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white socks with no shoes, Mr. Bennett hunched over on the defendant's bench, obviously in distress, while waiting to be arraigned on Thursday, and then, again, after the proceedings. He is charged with 14 counts of burglary in the second degree, C felonies, along with two counts of attempted burglary, also felonies, possession of a hypodermic needle, and possession of marijuana.

Seated in the courtroom, just feet away from his handcuffed son, was his father. The two spoke quietly before the arraignment began, at least as quietly as they could, separated by about six feet and monitored by an officer. The father shook his head, meaning no, many times. "Sick?" he asked his son, at one point. "Yep," was the response, as the defendant slumped forward, chest going down towards his knees.

Sheila Mullahy, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, who appears in the East Hampton courtroom on Thursdays to represent indigent defendants, stood to Mr. Bennett's right as he was arraigned. She had been summoned to court because of the serious nature of the charges. Justice Rana asked Mr. Bennett if he was going to hire an attorney or if he was going to request that Legal Aid represent him. "I can't really afford an attorney at this time," he answered.

Dan Cronin, assistant Suffolk Sounty district attorney, asked Justice Rana to set bail at $140,000 $10,000 for each of felony burglary charges. He also pointed out that the defendant had "made a statement to the police which amounted to a confession." Ms. Mullahy asked for much lower bail, pointing out that Mr. Bennett is a lifetime resident of the town.

"He is seeking drug treatment," Ms. Mullahy said. She also pointed out that the man's father was seated in the courtroom. The justice set bail at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond. Mr. Bennett indicated he would not be able to post it.

"This is what I'm hoping is going to happen," the justice said. "I'm hoping this will start you on treatment. These are very, very serious charges here."

"I'm very sorry for what I've done," he said.

She cautioned Mr. Bennett not to say anything else to the court, except through Ms. Mullahy.

Arraignment over, an officer, preparing to take Mr. Bennett out of the courtroom, looked away as father and son embraced, both with tears in their eyes.

Outside the courtroom, Ms. Mullahy explained to the obviously distraught father what was about to happen. "Once we have arranged that, the judge will release him to treatment," she was overheard saying. "It is really going to help him," she said to the senior Mr. Bennett, who clearly was torn as to whether to try to raise the $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond needed to release his son.

When questioned after being picked up by detectives, Mr. Bennett described his method of operation. He told them he would case a neighborhood, always during the day, looking for a house that seemed unoccupied. He then would walk back and forth and try the doors and windows, he reportedly said. He also would search the property for so-called hide-a-keys, and was frequently successful. He found keys in various seemingly creative places, he said: under a plastic squirrel, hidden on a hook at the bottom of a railing, hidden under a two-by-four in a garage, and so on.

Descriptions of Mr. Bennett had been given police by two Springs residents. Craig McNaughton, who lives in the Maidstone Park area, said Mr. Bennett attempted to enter his house on March 6. Mr. McNaughton had told The Star at that time that a man walked into his house, not realizing he and his wife were home. When he confronted the intruder, Mr. Bennett reportedly told him, "I'm looking for my dog." Mr. McNaughton also described the Toyota.

Another time in early March, a Clearwater Beach resident called police after pulling into her driveway and seeing a man on the deck of her house. She also provided a description. Again, police say, Mr. Bennett said he was looking for his dog, and walked away.

Mr. Bennett is due back in court Wednesday. It is not clear if police plan on making any more arrests in connection with the series of burglaries. Detective Anderson said the investigation "is ongoing."