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.