The “apparent decline in our civil liberties and the unusual and extraordinary accretion of executive power that we’ve seen since Donald Trump was inaugurated” were considered with a mixture of gloom and optimism alongside denunciations of the conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court and a spirited call for citizen action to defend democracy at “Guardrails on Democracy,” the first Hamptons Institute discussion of the 2025 season.

“We actually lived off the land. We didn’t have electricity until I was 12. We had cows, steer, pigs. I milked the cows,” said Larry Koncelik, speaking at a public hearing before the East Hampton Town Board on the proposed purchase of a 9.35-acre parcel at 43 Mile Hill Road, along Northwest Harbor.

The Clamshell Foundation's Great Bonac Fireworks Show over Three Mile Harbor is scheduled for Saturday at 9 p.m. with a rain date of Sunday. Because of the increase in boat traffic expected, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the closure of Three Mile Harbor to shellfishing starting at sunrise on Saturday. 

On July 3, Alexandra Giambruno — known to her young patrons as “Mrs. G” — worked her last day as the head of children’s services at the East Hampton Library, a position she had held for 22 years.

Weeks after the “No Kings” rally brought an estimated 1,200 people to East Hampton Town Hall, another demonstration to protest the Trump administration will happen next Thursday, with a nod to the late civil rights icon John Lewis.

This photo from The Star archive shows the F.H. Warner Bakery, built in 1893 and sometimes known as the Montauk Bakery, when it stood next to the Methodist Church, near Hook Mill.

Circus artists in Guild Hall’s next KidFest show, a fun night for kids with Project Most, a fine-arts camp in East Hampton, and a screening of shorts by young filmmakers.