Editorials

New York State lawmakers are likely to revisit a new bail reform law that went into effect on Jan. 1. The law eliminated bail money for most arrests and took away judges’ longstanding discretion on whether or not an individual should be held pending a formal court date or post a sum of cash designed to assure the alleged offender’s return to face charges. In some cases, defendants might be tempted to leave town, hoping to outrun the law; in others, police and critics of the law say, they might reoffend.

It is almost inconceivable that the future of a grand jewel among protected lands on the entire East Coast remains in doubt, but though there is hope that Plum Island could someday be preserved, it is far from certain.

Pity the drivers who must daily wend the pitted hellscape that is the East Hampton-Sag Harbor Road, better known as New York State Route 114.

East Hampton Village has a new official flag depicting a windmill, the ocean, and a passing seagull overhead. It is attractive and it also contains an error.

Among his greatest blunders, President Donald J. Trump’s decision to assassinate the top Iranian army commander may prove to have the longest lasting consequences, both in the Middle East and in this country.

Far be it for us not to comment when a bit of oyster news crosses the transom.

It may be self-serving for us to speak about the role of the local press in today’s closed-loop media ecosystems, but several responses from readers last week to an editorial about the sharp rise of anti-Semitism and its ties to a tone set by the president got us thinking.

Fires in two huge South Fork houses, one in Bridgehampton on Dec. 19 and another in Water Mill on Saturday, should remind residents and visitors of the tremendous commitment of our volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel.

East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. is now former Mayor Rickenbach after stepping down on Dec. 20, closing out 27 years in the post. Mr. Rickenbach first began service when he joined the village Police Department in 1958. He became a village trustee in 1988. He has seen the village in times of boom and bust and ably oversaw and balanced the desires of residents first and foremost with summer visitors and businesses. This has been no simple task, but Mayor Rickenbach handled it with aplomb, and with the continued support of the community.

No matter what the project is, there are always going to be people opposed to it. It is just human nature to watch out for one’s own interests, to suggest that new infrastructure and essential services are fine as long as they are put somewhere else.

As 2019 rumbles to an end, it is fair to think about the year to come and to make wishes about things that we think should change and things that we would like to see improve.

As evidenced by the police-blotter stories in the South Fork newspapers, spray-painted swastikas have turned up with some regularity over the years here — at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor, written in shaving cream on Newtown Lane in East Hampton on Halloween, and on a soccer team photograph at East Hampton High School, among other places.