The holiday toy drive of the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry has begun. New, unwrapped toys can be donated at the Long Wharf Windmill daily through Dec. 11 between noon and 5:30 p.m.

Margie Ruddick of the landscape planning and designing firm that bears her name has drawn the proverbial line in the sand, choosing to stop taking on projects that involve new construction, except for well-scaled additions. 

Eight East Hampton High School student-athletes aiming to play at the college level were feted last week at the school.

The Montaukett Indian Nation has again been denied official recognition, with Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoing a bill that would have restored the tribe’s status as a sovereign Indigenous nation. “To do it during Native American History Month? It’s inhumane and cruel and racist,” said Sandi Brewster-walker, the executive director and government affairs officer of the Montaukett Indian Nation.

The steel-hulled, 60-foot trawler named Act I, captained by Chuck Morici, had caught 4,000 pounds of porgy and had no issues on Nov. 15 before near tragedy occurred: “A three-inch piece of steel let go by the keel cooler pipe,” he said by phone on dry land Monday. “I could see daylight through the hull.” Three Coast Guard stations were called in to save the day.

Public school districts on the South Fork are increasingly turning to retired police officers to fill critical security roles. “These are people who have children in the schools or have gone through the schools themselves, who know the community. They’re familiar faces, and they’re responsive,” said Adam Fine, the East Hampton School District superintendent.

More than two dozen residents of Montauk spoke at a hearing last Thursday on a management plan for Arthur Benson reserve, more of them in favor of a plan to use goats and machinery to remove invasive species at the roughly 40-acre strip between Montauk Highway and the ocean but also many others who said the plan was for aesthetic and not environmental reasons.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act into law last Thursday, saying that “the best crime-fighting tool is a good-paying job. That’s why I support giving New Yorkers a clean slate after they’ve paid their debt to society and gone years without an additional offense.”

Change is hard but essential if East Hampton Town and the wider world are going to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, officials of the Nature Conservancy said this week in the wake of the United States government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment, issued last week.

Rowdy Hall's septic system is failing, but the restaurant will no longer benefit from town money now that the East Hampton Town Board has withdrawn a resolution that would have approved a $100,500 grant for its replacement.

A sidewalk to nowhere and an asphalt berm blocking access to a parking lot are only the two biggest problems with the recently built Beckmann Commercial Building at 94 South Euclid Avenue in Montauk, an East Hampton Town planner told planning board members at their Nov. 15 meeting, where the construction was the main topic of discussion.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday the completed installation of the first of 12 turbines for the South Fork Wind farm, which will be the first completed utility-scale wind farm in the United States in federal waters.

The $95.46 million budget, a 5.3-percent increase over the adopted 2023 budget, was the subject of a Nov. 2 public hearing that drew no comment. Changes from the tentative to the preliminary budget that the board agreed to had a minimal impact on tax rates.

Springs School students report on recent exciting events leading up to Thanksgiving.

Bridgehampton High School seniors and juniors returned Friday from a school-sponsored tour of four upstate college campuses. For many of them, it was the first time they’d ever set foot on a college campus. For all, school officials said, it was an inspirational and eye-opening experience, one that helped them visualize a place for themselves in the world of higher education.

Bonac Lights returns for a third year starting Friday night, illuminating the holidays at East Hampton High School with outdoor displays and activities all to benefit the East Hampton Masons’ scholarship fund.

East Hampton Village is getting an appraisal for the strip of village-owned land that runs along the south side of Herrick Park. Michael Bebon, a village resident whose house is accessed via an easement along that driveway, wondered during a public-comment period Friday why the board would spend money to appraise the strip unless they were considering selling it to the L.V.I.S.

East Hampton Village's La Forest Lane is busy in the summer with vehicles headed toward Georgica Beach; it connects Georgica Road, to its north, with Apaquogue Road, to its south. Some of its residents showed up at a meeting on Friday to push the village board to designate the road “one way only” to reduce traffic.

Abigail Halsey (1878-1946) begins this 44-page book by describing the setting, the Mulford Farmhouse, and the teller of the snowbound tales, Abigail’s 89-year-old friend, Mary Esther Mulford Miller (1849-1938).

Remember that longtime favorite community event, the Mary’s Marvelous gingerbread-house competition? Project Most is bringing it back this year, with kits available now for families to reserve at $30 apiece. Plus: a Harry Potter movie marathon, arts and crafts, an escape room for teens, story time, and more for kids and teens.