The East Hampton Town Board is revisiting a plan to revitalize the southern part of Lake Montauk and the beach at the end of South Lake Drive with an eye to making better use of the space, maximizing parking, capturing and treating stormwater runoff by promoting infiltration and natural treatment, and removing invasive species.

The stretch of Route 114 from the South Ferry in North Haven to Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton “has been the full-employment act for front-end alignment mechanics on the East End for too long,” Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. said, but that’s about to change, as the road is set to be repaved in the spring for the first time since 2005.

The Carolina wren, not six inches in length, is a skulky bird that wants to hide out in a log or a pile of sticks, but its song distinguishes it immediately, and can be heard all year long.

A private gallery operating in an East Hampton Village museum within a district on the National Register of Historic Places may test the limits of preservation rules.

The East Hampton School Board, which has been conducting an assiduous search for “affordable and attainable” housing options for school teachers and other employees, urged the town on Tuesday to bring back a past plan for such a development on a 40-acre property off Stephen Hand’s Path in the Wainscott School District.

Fond memories of Bella Adlah, who lived and attended school here up until a few years ago, have led to a swell of support for her family following her diagnosis in June with functional neurological disorder, which causes daily seizures, loss of vision and ability to eat, and left her unable to talk above a whisper or use her limbs and torso from her shoulders down.

The East Hampton Town Board voted last Thursday to appoint Jeremy Samuelson as director of the Planning Department. Mr. Samuelson will succeed JoAnne Pahwul, who retired in June.

Mr. Samuelson’s appointment is effective tomorrow, at which time he will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence through Jan. 2, with a start date of Jan. 3, according to the board’s resolution.

The East Hampton Town Board held two public hearings last Thursday, one involving two amendments to the town’s code of ethics and the other to create a Bureau of Administrative Adjudication that would make it easier to pay fines for minor violations of the town code.

The East Hampton Town Board’s 3-to-2 vote last month to acquire three parcels totaling 1.92 acres on Green Hollow Road in East Hampton, using $4.2 million from the community preservation fund plus a $2.645-million donation from several unidentified neighbors, was again criticized by members of the public at the board’s meeting last Thursday.

A patron wrote us about this photograph, which has often caught my attention. The image, titled “The Hut Gang,” is part of a collection of early glass plate negatives. Luckily, in the case of this one, from 1884, a photographic print accompanied the negative

A Saturday morning rally organized by East End YIMBY, for Yes in My Back Yard, brought out about 100 people, who gathered by the Long Wharf windmill in Sag Harbor in a show of support for the group’s ongoing campaign for affordable housing in the village.

The Hampton Ballet Theatre School will present a magical rendition of “The Nutcracker,” a traditional harbinger of holiday cheer, on Friday, Dec. 17, Dec. 18, and Dec. 19. The studio’s 12th production of the beloved ballet is in person, marking a return to live theater after a long hiatus caused by Covid-19.

With Covid-19 again putting off the East Hampton Masonic Lodge’s community pot roast dinner, which raises money for scholarships, sports teams, and other activities for kids here, Brian Lester recently wondered to himself what could possibly be done to replace it, for now at least.

A family day at the Parrish Art Museum, decorating a tree for the birds at the South Fork Natural History Museum, and lots of winter and holiday-themed crafts are on tap for kids this week.

Along with his wife, a television news anchor recently fired from his job at CNN told police last Thursday that their children have been seeing photographers lurking about. According to the police report, “the paparazzi wait down by the beach parking lot for them to leave, and when they are out in public the paparazzi tries to get a reaction out of them to get on camera.”

An Amagansett woman was charged on the morning of Dec. 1 with drunken driving after an East Hampton Town police officer reportedly saw her car strike a bush and a business sign in the parking lot of People’s United Bank.

Fire district elections are to be held Tuesday in a number of communities across the South Fork, at least one of which, Montauk, will have a contested race. The candidates running for a seat on the board of commissioners are Joseph Dryer and Charles “Chip” McLean. Voting will take place at the Montauk Firehouse from 2 to 9 p.m.; masks are required.

Attention holiday shoppers who like to keep things local: two chances are coming up this weekend to do just that.

With demand for Covid-19 vaccinations continuing to be high, East Hampton Town has added several additional vaccination clinics to its calendar this month. 

The Southampton Town Planning Board will hold a virtual public hearing at 6 p.m. on Dec. 9, Thursday, to consider a request from Verizon for a special exception from the zoning code for a 153-foot-high cell tower along the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, on a 24-acre property.