The waters surrounding Plum Island are teeming with abundant life, not unlike the Long Island Sound, Peconic Estuary, and other nearby waterways. But a series of scientific dives below the surface last summer revealed something that sets Plum Island's marine environment apart from the rest. "There wasn't any trash," said Dr. Matthew Schlesinger, chief zoologist with the New York Natural Heritage Program, which completed the survey along with InnerSpace Scientific Diving.

The Breakwater Sailing Center, a.k.a. the Breakwater Yacht Club, in Sag Harbor, will host an open house on Tuesday to introduce a women's sailing initiative and new programs for the summer. "Historically, women are pretty much underrepresented as adult sailors," explained Joan Butler, a sailor, nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, and a Breakwater member.

The Amagansett Library has launched a free seed "catalog" with vegetable, herb, and flower seeds available for library users to take and grow at home. The project is in partnership with Amber Waves Farm, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and home gardeners and will provide resources and programs this summer about gardening for food and fun.

Despite the feeling of calm that has settled in after mask mandates were lifted, despite the significantly lower case numbers and deaths across the United States, Covid is not finished with us — or we with it.

"I've always loved Montauk," said Jennifer Fowkes, the new executive director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce.

In a move that could still alter the upcoming campaign for New York's First Congressional District, a Supreme Court Justice in Steuben County declared all of the state's recently redrawn legislative district maps unconstitutional. On Monday, however, an Appellate Division of State Supreme Court issued a stay at least temporarily keeping in place the district maps that had been prepared by the Democratic-dominated State Legislature, for the upcoming primary and general elections.

Admonishing the owner of the Rita Cantina property at Maidstone Park in Springs to "be a good neighbor," the East Hampton Town Planning Board took a careful look at a site plan application for the property last month and found it "very deficient," in the words of the board's chairman, Samuel Kramer.

The East Hampton Town Board held an in-person meeting on Tuesday, its first since last summer, when the Delta variant of the Covid-19 halted what proved to be a short-lived resumption of pre-pandemic life.

Students at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor will perform "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Pierson auditorium this weekend. The four show times are Thursday and Friday night at 7, and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.

The wrecking ball is swinging, and the $1.4 million renovation and expansion project for the Lars Simenson Skatepark in Montauk is underway. The hope is that it can be finished by mid to late-summer.

Easter is right around the corner and Mind Offline, a children's boutique and activity studio in Sag Harbor, will welcome the eponymous bunny and friends for a day of whimsical fun on Saturday, April 16. There will also be an egg hunt at the Ladies Village Improvement Society on Saturday.

Springs School District officials have reached their goal of trimming enough money from their 2022-23 budget proposal that it complies with New York State rules on tax-levy increases and will need only a majority vote to pass.

The Country School in Wainscott, which has offered pre-nursery and prekindergarten programs for children since its founding in 1990, has announced its expansion to a second campus for students up to second grade.

Mysterious McDonald's hamburgers, accompanied by greeting cards, showed up close to midnight Friday at a Bon Pinck Way property in Springs. One burger was found in the mailbox, one was at the beginning of the driveway, another was by the car, and yet another on the front porch.

Two separate accidents resulted in injuries to drivers this week.

Police reported the arrests this week of two people on charges of drunken driving.

The St. Patrick's Day parade in Montauk on March 27 led to some alcohol-fueled, rowdy behavior, according to East Hampton Town police, who were called on two occasions to the Shagwong Tavern. One person there described the place as packed wall to wall with revelers, despite a $10 cover charge. In the end, a couple of arrests, and a separate charge of harassment, soured the festive mood.

Local churches will hold services for Holy Week over the next several days.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, churches here allowed parishioners to rent or buy pews, often charging more for those closest to the pulpit. Pew deeds or titles could be passed down to heirs as families grew, but during the 20th century the practice disappeared.

A funeral Mass for Margaret Adele Hannibal, a former Pantigo Road, East Hampton, resident, will be said on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton, with burial to follow at the church cemetery on Cedar Street. Mrs. Hannibal, who was known as Maggie, was 86 and died in Asheville, N.C., on Tuesday. An obituary will appear in a future issue.