Need help with grocery shopping, library access, transportation to doctor appointments, or household tasks? Here are several resources offered by East Hampton and Southampton Towns for senior citizens.

Studies show that social isolation among older adults can cause health problems, and that active seniors often lead happier, healthier lives. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control, “Social isolation was associated with about a 50-percent increased risk of dementia and other serious medical conditions.” Fortunately for seniors, South Fork institutions such as libraries, theaters, and health care facilities offer plenty of ways to connect with others — with just a few of their many offerings listed here.

The East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, a more than 60-year-old organization, is retooling, restaffing, and, after hibernating during the Covid years, is waking up and ready to engage the business community.

As the clock turned to 6, there was a flicker, then another and another and then, emanating from the Lighthouse tower, came two rotating beams of light to pierce the night sky with a strength not seen since the 1980s. An antique Fresnel lens, long relegated to the position of prized museum artifact, was back in its rightful place, and with it the familiar sweep of light spinning predictably from sunset to sunrise, visible many miles from shore, had returned.

A resolution at a Sag Harbor Village Board meeting last month to appoint members to the Sag Harbor Open Space Advisory Group was approved without discussion, but the group’s ideas could have a visible impact on the village, including at the intersection of Main Street and Jermain Avenue, where it will revisit plans for a traffic circle.

John Melillo, who served as a military police officer in the Army from May 1970 to March 1972, copes with his own P.T.S.D. by painting, and he also teaches art classes for veterans and first responders, including police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel.

Almost two years after construction began onshore and four months after installation of the first monopile foundation, the project’s final construction began when the barge left the Port of New London, Conn., bound for the wind farm site, around 35 miles off Montauk. Installation of the first turbine generator is expected imminently.

There will be much to celebrate at the Third House Nature Center at Montauk County Park on Sunday: the 30th anniversary of the founding of the nature center, the 50th anniversary of Suffolk County’s first purchase leading to the formation of the county park, and the 50th anniversary of Big Reed Pond’s designation as a National Natural Landmark.

The 5-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage system that caught fire at a Cove Hollow Road, East Hampton, substation on May 31 is expected to be out of commission until the middle of 2024.

Sandy and Mike McManus of East Hampton and Vero Beach, Fla., have announced the marriage of their daughter, Nina Bond, to Armann Gretarsson, a son of Gudfinna and Gretar Leifsson of Melville and Iceland.

In Southampton Town, Maria Moore, the Democratic mayor of the Village of Westhampton Beach, won the race for Southampton Town supervisor, and two Democratic town board candidates, Bill Pell and Michael Iasilli, also appear to have emerged victorious.

The East Hampton Town Board will hold a public hearing next Thursday on a management plan that calls for the use of goats as well as machinery to remove invasive species at the Benson reserve, a roughly 40-acre stretch of land between Old Montauk Highway and the Atlantic Ocean beach in Montauk.

East Hampton Town’s preliminary budget for the 2024 fiscal year includes new expenditures and a 5.3-percent increase over 2023. The town’s budget officer detailed final modifications to a $95.46 million document last Thursday.

Springs School students report the news. In this week's edition: a Veterans Day ceremony and a school dance.

The art of sewing is enjoying a resurgence in popularity among young people thanks to the rise of Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, and Project Most is here for it. Plus: kids' movies, writing workshops, art and science activities, dinosaur fossils, and more.

Town Police Sgt. Gregory Martin was promoted to lieutenant, and Officers Bradley Hughes and Nicholas Lloyd were promoted to sergeant at a swearing-in ceremony last week.

The Amagansett Fire Department, with help from the East Hampton Fire Department, contained a house fire that shut down Montauk Highway near Handy Lane for about three hours last Thursday afternoon.

A man was seen stealing a pack of Boar’s Head bacon on Friday morning at Damark’s Market on Three Mile Harbor Road. After an officer spoke to him, the man returned to the store to pay $8.

East Hampton Town police are investigating a string of thefts in Montauk in which valuables were stolen from at least four cars sometime from the evening of Oct. 30 into the morning of Oct. 31.

This photo from The Star’s archives dates to Sept. 25, 1975, when the Dock Closing race was first run as part of a series of competitions courtesy of the Montauk bar’s owner, George Watson.