The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced on Friday that it has selected Ocean Wind, an offshore wind energy project proposed by Orsted in partnership with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), to develop a 1.1-gigawatt wind farm 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City.

A Brooklyn couple reported their 2001 Lexus RX 350 stolen from their driveway in Montauk on Friday.

Jacqueline E. Mosca-Zarodkiewicz and her husband, Joseph Zarodkiewicz, told East Hampton Town police that their gray Lexus was missing when they returned to their house on Soundview Drive at about 5 p.m. They last saw it on June 16 at about 7 p.m., parked in the driveway.

A passer-by was concerned about a sick-looking raccoon on Monday evening near 77 Bay Street. It scurried into the woods as police arrived, but they said it appeared to be in good health.

Kids’ Nights Out

Maureen Maran Wikane, the longtime director of the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, formerly the East Hampton Day Care Center, whose caring guidance is remembered by numerous East Hampton children, parents, and teachers, died at the East End Hospice Kanas Center in Quiogue on June 18.

Nina Sara Hirschman died on Saturday at her Highland Lane house in East Hampton in the company of her sister, Joan Laufer, and her children, Stephanie Wade and Keith Hirschman. She was 73.

Hortense R. Carpentier, a longtime Springs resident whose varied career spanned music, film, literature, real estate, retail, and medicine, died on June 17 at the New York State Veterans Home in upstate Oxford, surrounded by her family. Death was attributed to cardiac pulmonary arrest after a more than four-year illness. She was 93.

Betty Rose Morici, who owned Betty’s Bloomers flower shop in Montauk, died of cancer at home in that hamlet on June 14. She was 79 and had been ill for several years.

Mildred Doughty Granitz died at home on the Circle in East Hampton on Friday. She was 98. The family will hold a memorial service at a date to be announced. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

Two weeks to the day after East Hampton Town’s first murder in a decade, Joseph A. Grippo, a 47-year-old with a criminal record, was arrested last Thursday in the killing of Robert Casado in Montauk’s Kirk Park.

A day after an East Hampton Democratic primary, voters could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. Candidates from what might be considered the old-line part of the party won with ease. In what appeared to be a very strong turnout for a down-ballot primary, the East Hampton Reform Democrats’ trustee challengers were defeated. The strength of an activated Democratic base could also be seen in Andrew Strong’s win over East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana, a Republican who had sought cross-endorsement.

Town officials edged close last week to fully allowing Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton to be turned into a major transit route. The modest two-lane road already serves as a bypass for drivers eager to skirt East Hampton Village, and for many, it is a faster or more direct route to and from their homes or workplaces in Northwest or Springs. This has led to backups at Cedar Street and hot tempers from residents who have to cope with speeding drivers and long waits to get safely out of their driveways.

Getting up early is always a good idea, but it was especially enjoyable this week after I spent a night in the family house in the village with my daughter and her kids and Sweet Pea, our little, red-haired ARFan dog. 

Having been out of town all last week, I felt as if I needed some updates getting back to the East Coast. Joanie McDonell, who lives just up the beach from me, has been a faithful correspondent since I wrote in mid-spring about how it had been ages since I saw any toads or snakes around.

Gino says the new racket won’t make any difference, that no matter how well-engineered the tool, the flaws of its wielder remain, unchanged.

There’s an old saying that comedy equals tragedy plus time. Which must be why bad house guests are much funnier (after the fact) than good guests. All I know is they’re much more fun to write about than actually live through.

In May, for the fifth month in a row, revenues for the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund were down from the same period last year. Thus far in 2019, $29.42 million has been collected, compared to $40.53 million in 2018, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced on Monday.

Trunk Show

JZ Holden will have a trunk show featuring handmade silk kimonos, haori coats, and Victorian jewelry from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at Salon Xavier in Sag Harbor.

Gift Shop Revamped

BRIDGEHAMPTON

T. Guldi and C. Poulos to 144 Mariner Associates, 128 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, .52 acre, April 26, $1,055,000.

EAST HAMPTON 

B. Davis to J. Page III, 14 Roy­al Street, .63 acre, April 3, $2,225,000.

Box Turtles
Wainscott
June 21, 2019 

To the Editor: