Officers were called to check on the well-being of a youth running barefoot through the Reutershan Parking Lot on the evening of Dec. 19. Police couldn’t find anyone matching that description.

The day 125 years ago when George Strong, a carpenter working on the Maidstone Inn, plummeted 80 feet without breaking anything. And more drama ripped from the pages of your local paper of record.

Eileen M. Grubb of Springs, a “beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, colleague, mentor, and dedicated professional,” died at home last Thursday of Stage 4 small-cell lung cancer. She was 73.

Walter Schwab, who for 50 years ran a uniform company in New York City that his father had founded, died at home in Sagaponack on Dec. 15. He was 94.

Barbara Randazzo, a retired fashion stylist who had traveled extensively in her career, died in hospice care in Manhasset on Nov. 2. Formerly of Montauk, she was 84.

The time of a graveside service for David Marshall, who died on Dec. 12, has been changed. The service will take place at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in East Hampton on Friday at 11 a.m.

Part of the charm of the Sagaponack Post Office, whose building is now undergoing a major renovation, was the presence of over 600 brass post boxes, opened with a combination lock, and adored by residents. While the new owner has no control over what happens to the old boxes, she has sourced and secured 200 more, so that when the post office reopens, hopefully by the end of next summer, there are enough for every resident.

Near a gap in the 30-foot-tall border wall that separates the United States from Mexico, Elissa McLean and Andy Winter found themselves wrapped up in humanitarian efforts to aid the hundreds of refugees who have been pouring into the U.S. daily, waiting — and hoping — to be picked up by Border Patrol agents so they can begin the process of seeking asylum, having fled extreme violence, corruption, and crime in their home countries.

Forty years after moving to East Hampton Town and more than 20 years after starting a journey in public service that has now reached its conclusion, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby reflected this month on her tenure on the town board, the planning board, and, prior to those, the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee.

Patricia Garcia-Gomez's winter swims, whether in Long Island Sound or on a Greek island, stimulate not only her art but her well-being and mental clarity.

A class-action court ruling on Halloween, stemming from an antitrust trial in Kansas City, Mo., is the talk of the town among real estate professionals here. A federal jury found that the National Association of Realtors and multiple large brokerage firms had “conspired to artificially inflate the commissions paid to real estate agents,” The New York Times reported that day, calling it “a decision that could radically alter the home-buying process in the United States.”

Randy Parsons was first elected to the East Hampton Town Board in 1979, when the population of East Hampton was only 14,000; he will be leaving the planning board, on which he has served for the last seven years, on Dec. 31, and when he leaves, a great deal of institutional knowledge leaves with him.

All but two of the 20 students contacted said the pressures of the college application process this year have weighed more heavily than what they experienced as students during the Covid-19 pandemic, describing their state of being as“ Stressed,” “100 percent the most stressful year of my life,” and “So stressed my hair is falling out.”

The positive impact of art and culture on the economy was examined in a recent presentation by the Long Island Arts at the Southampton Arts Center.

The Sticks and Stones Comedy Club will bring Rob White, a comedian (and tattoo artist), to the Southampton Cultural Center.

LTV Studios in Wainscott is showing paintings by Josh Dayton, Stephen Loschen, and Haim Mizrahi, with a reception set for Jan. 6.

Better late than never, Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor has announced its four-course New Year’s Eve menu, which will be accompanied by music, party favors, and a view of fireworks over the harbor.

The year 2023 began with Shelly Snyder Schaffer’s gift to East Hampton Town’s young people of Hub 44, a pitching and batting facility, continued with the hiring of Kathy Masterson as athletic director, and included a number of notable playoff runs.

After three terms as East Hampton Town supervisor, two as town councilman, and tenures on both the planning board and zoning board of appeals, Peter Van Scoyoc is leaving Town Hall. It has been an improbable path for the onetime owner of a construction company, he said, “and yet circumstances arose, and I felt compelled and called to serve.”

Star readers ring out an acrimonious year.