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Remembering Melissa Bank

Colleagues reflect on the author of "The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing," who died in East Hampton last month, as a writer, professor, and friend.

Jean Knoesel, 94

Jean Knoesel, who lived in East Hampton for more than 40 years, died at home on Old House Landing Road in Northwest on Saturday after a short illness.

Joanne Backlund, 53

Joanne Backlund of Noyac died on Aug. 31 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital after having gone into cardiac arrest at home three days earlier.

Vaughan B. Allentuck

Vaughan Bianca Allentuck died at home in Springs on Saturday, surrounded by her family. She was 90. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

Pine Beetles Wreaking Havoc on Napeague Forest

Some 3,200 pitch pines on Napeague were being felled this week, victims of the southern pine beetle infestation that has killed thousands of trees in East Hampton Town since 2017.

A Malware Mess for Suffolk County

Suffolk County has been dealing with a weeklong malware mess that compelled it to hit the kill switch on its computer systems last week.

Hospital's East Hampton Blood Lab to Be Closed for a Month

In a move that complicates things for doctors and their patients at the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation facility, radiology services offered at the Stony Brook Southampton Hospital offices there will be halved, and the hospital’s blood lab there will close for a month.

On the Wing: A Bird to Be Proud Of

American oystercatchers, which congregate in the marshes of our barrier beaches before flying south, are about the size of crows, and stout, with heavy white bellies, chocolate-colored wings, and pale pinkish legs. They wear a black executioner’s hood and have a long blood-orange oyster knife of a bill and yellow eyes circled by red eye rings.

An Airport ‘Run by the Litigants’

The Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee vented at length about the lack of restrictions on air traffic at the East Hampton Airport, which the town had planned to implement in May but had to put on hold after a temporary restraining order was issued. “The worst airport situation ever,” said one member. "It’s time to show our outrage,” said another. “This year was a horror,” was a third.

Three Airport Lawsuits Combined

The New York State Supreme Court Justice who issued a temporary restraining order on May 16 blocking East Hampton Town from closing East Hampton Airport and reopening it as a private facility with new restrictions has ordered that three lawsuits challenging the town’s plan be combined.

At Rita Cantina, a Question of Semantics?

For years, restaurants have operated at the Springs location in apparent harmony with their surroundings. Rita Cantina has been different. Ann Glennon, the town’s principal building inspector, and nearby residents say its use of the property has risen to unacceptable levels.

Town to Increase Property Tax Relief for Seniors

The East Hampton Town Board appears poised to amend the town code to increase the property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled persons with limited income, based on their income level.

Hochul Holds 15-Point Lead

Gov. Kathy Hochul continues to hold a double-digit lead over Representative Lee Zeldin, her challenger, according to a recent Emerson College poll.

P.B.A. Endorses Lee Zeldin

The Southampton Town Patrolman’s Benevolent Association has endorsed Representative Lee Zeldin’s campaign for governor of New York. Mr. Zeldin, the Republican and Conservative Party candidate, is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Nov. 8 election.

Voter Info Tables Abound

Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day, and the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will observe the day with voter information tables throughout the East End.

Millions in Federal Infrastructure Money for Peconic Estuary Partnership

The Peconic Estuary Partnership has received a significant allotment of federal infrastructure money — $909,800 each year for the next five years — and some of that money could go to coastal resilience and climate adaptation projects in Accabonac and Napeague Harbors.

Want New Poles, Not Just New Bulbs

East Hampton Town is closing in on a statewide project, funded in large part by the New York Power Authority, to replace the bulbs in more than 700 streetlights from Wainscott to Montauk, with pedestrian safety cited as the guiding principle. Amagansett some have questions about the plan, with one member of the hamlet's citizens advisory committee saying that new poles are needed, too.

Montauk Lags in Water Fund Requests

East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys, the town board’s liaison to the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee, brought up a few projects and problems in his presentation to the committee this week, including the anemic response in Montauk to a joint East Hampton Town and Suffolk County program that would provide up to $30,000 to residents to upgrade their septic systems in hopes of improving water quality in the hamlet.

Some Clarity on Wind Project's Next Steps

With the summer season now in the past, the developers of the South Fork Wind farm are set to accelerate on and offshore construction of its 12 turbines, beginning next month and lasting through April, officials said in a virtual open house on Monday.

Car Free Day Is Sept. 22

Long Island’s Car Free Day is next Thursday, with people encouraged to get around without cars, instead traveling by train, bus, bicycle, subway, on foot, or by car-pooling.