Howard Lebwith, who died recently, embodies the Christmas spirit for me inasmuch as he genuinely cared for and celebrated others, acted on their behalf, and always marveled at the beauty of life.

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Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is encouraging New Yorkers to ring in the new year outdoors with a walk or hike at one of many state parks, historic sites, wildlife areas, and public lands.

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, what better way to support your community than make a donation to an organization near and dear to your heart? Many nonprofits are reaching out for end-of-year appeals, to which links can be found here.

Amagansett Historical Association, Amagansett

The East Hampton Town Board concluded its 2020 meeting schedule with public hearings on curbing the use of gas and diesel-powered leaf blowers, opponents of which decry the ubiquitous landscaping equipment's noise and environmental pollution.

Khanh Sports, an athletic gear and equipment rental store that's been a fixture in East Hampton Village for 24 years, will close in February because of a steep rent increase, Khanh Ngo, the owner, said. 

At the Buckskill Tennis and Winter Club on Saturday night, a man told police he'd fallen on the ice close by a young girl, scaring her. Her father then "got in his face," yelling at him for skating too close to his daughter, and "told him to grow up," the report said. The man said the father grabbed him, and while trying to push him away he struck him in the face.

Mary Murphy-Ballreich of East Hampton, 47, was arrested on Dec. 2 at the East Hampton Veterinary Group on a misdemeanor charge of "torturing or injuring animals/failure to provide sustenance."

Gert Murphy, a resident of South Etna Avenue in Montauk, who in her 82 years was a nun, teacher, volunteer, artist, writer, and onetime "hell-raising urchin in her Morningside Heights neighborhood" in Manhattan, died on Dec. 16 at Sky View Rehabilitation and Health Care in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. The cause was Covid-19, though Ms. Murphy had had a debilitating stroke in August.

Mary Schellinger of Sag Harbor, a former French teacher at the Amagansett and Springs Schools, died on Dec. 14 of complications of Parkinson's disease. She was 72. 

Pamela Lee Black, a food service employee for the East Hampton School District for many years, died on Dec. 14 of respiratory failure as a complication of coronavirus infection at the Westhampton Care Center. She was 80 and had been ill with lung cancer.

Beulah Mae O'Neal, 82, a longtime resident of Bridgehampton who, with her husband, William Samuel O'Neal, reared seven children in that hamlet, died on Dec. 12 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital from complications of Covid-19.

Teresa Flanagan of Montauk, an accomplished artist, illustrator, and business owner who was known as Terry, died on Aug. 8 at home, surrounded by family. She was 92.

George Dempsey, medical director of East Hampton Family Medicine, told The Star on Wednesday that a suite dedicated to testing for the novel coronavirus will open shortly after Christmas at the health care provider’s office at 200 Pantigo Place in East Hampton.

The battles we fight, from the surge here in New York in the spring to the bigger surge in spots across the country this summer, to the cresting wave from coast to coast that we are struggling against right now, are all battering down our defenses. But the vaccines offer hope, and every health care worker I know is sprinting like mad to get one.

Hidden within a subset of LTV's video collection, are recordings of local fishermen, bygone and not, reminiscing about simpler times from the 1980s onward. Over 100 shows in the LTV archives document this moment of change, when the State Department of Environmental Conservation began imposing strict sanctions, in the form of quotas, on what had been a relatively unfettered way of life.

Despite the pandemic's impact to business, the nonprofit South Fork Bakery is striving to continue its core mission: to offer meaningful employment to adults with disabilities.

With many parts of the Town of East Hampton at moderate, high, or extreme risk of flooding, the planned October start of the project's implementation was prominent in "Montauk's Coastal Resiliency and the Future of Our Beaches," a Dec. 16 webinar hosted by Concerned Citizens of Montauk.

John Steinbeck couldn’t stop writing. Couldn’t stop rushing out to right injustices. He was a loner who never seemed to be lonely, William Souder writes in “Mad at the World,” his new biography.

Living-room spread does not quite match what could be 2020’s phrase of the year, “superspreader event,” but in defeating the Covid-19 pandemic, we are now told that our smaller social gatherings are the source of more infections.