California is afire. I’m writing this in one of the few safe spots, but for how long? In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada the statuesque ponderosa pines are browning off, and a single spark will light up the outside in an instant.

Rowers hit Riverhead’s Peconic River for a regatta Sunday. The East Hampton boys soccer team loses in the first round to Elwood-John Glenn. And don’t forget OMAC’s Brewathlon Saturday.

A former town board member’s reminiscences on the joy of sports fandom.

The week ahead in local sports action.

It was quiet. Almost too quiet. A recent late afternoon stroll through my local boatyard brought to me the realization that the boating and fishing season for many has come to an end. Watercraft that once gleamed in the summer sunshine with a fresh coat of wax, were now entombed in nondescript, heavy-gauge white plastic. They have been put to rest.

After unveiling its new quarters, boasting 40,000 more square feet of exhibition space, in previews and an official opening on Oct. 21, the Museum of Modern Art has proven that it can be a site for multicultural and interdisciplinary art to come together in a way that recasts the canon of the last century and beyond.

Eric Meola is a storm chaser. For the past several years, he has loaded his camera equipment and traveled west from Sagaponack to the Great Plains and “Tornado Alley” to follow and capture the dramatic spring and early summer storms.

“The Hound of the Baskervilles” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a strict detective story. “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery," the 35th season opener of Quogue’s Hampton Theatre Company," ventures into broad comedy, brought to a frenzied pitch as directed by Diana Marbury.

Carlos Soto, a director, designer, and performer, has organized the menu and overall environment for Icaros, the Watermill Center’s Artists’ Table Dinner, a celebration of the community with a performance directed by Lynsey Peisinger, a center artist-in-residence.

I read an article the other day that claimed that if everyone gave up meat and dairy (animal products) at breakfast time, the environment could be improved by 20 percent. I barely eat breakfast, but this suggestion seems daunting nonetheless.

In “Guestbook” Leanne Shapton tells stories composed solely of visual art or photographic images or prose, or an interplay of all three, inviting the reader to participate in rendering the unseen.

No need to feel guilty about this salad this time of year, everything is local except for the pecans.

Seasonal specials, Long Island Restaurant Week, a new Artists and Writers Dinner at Almond, a Night Out With Beth O'Donnell at Golden Eagle and Nick & Toni's, and more

Fellow surfers hang art at Ashawagh, a weaving workshop, four painters at Ezra in Sag Harbor, and more

Friday brings Phoebe Waller-Bridge's reading of "Fleabag" at Guild Hall, The Sixties Show at Bay Street, and a Broadway sing-along at Southampton Arts Center.

Renovations are underway at Southampton Town Hall, and the town board room and conference room will not be available for use through the end of the year. 

The spookiest time of the year is upon us, and there are plenty of ways to get into the spirit — and maybe even dress like one. Here’s a rundown of Halloween-related events for all ages.

Stony Brook University water testing at Bridgehampton's Kellis Pond on Wednesday morning identified a new blue-green algae bloom, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services has announced.

The candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor and seats on the town board squared off at the East Hampton Library on Oct. 16 in their final debate before the Nov. 5 election, this one sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons.

“What you see is what you get,” is how Bonnie Brady, a longtime Montauk resident and EH Fusion Party candidate for East Hampton Town Board, described herself in an interview with Star staff this week. “I’d like to think of myself as a fair, honest person, someone who would work their butt off” for constituents.