Sensational mentions of a flesh-eating bacterium aside, the State of the Bays symposium at the Stony Brook Southampton campus offered dire news regarding degraded waterways and climate change. 

The Vibrio vulnificus “flesh eating” bacterium “is not unusual in warm saltwater or brackish environments and does not necessarily indicate pollution or a widespread public health emergency,” the Southampton Town Trustees said in an advisory issued following a social media post that went viral.

What appeared to at first be a benign application for a building permit in Sag Harbor Village turned into anything but last week at the zoning board of appeals meeting — with the applicants accusing board members of privately opposing their project and the owner of the property accusing the applicants of forgery.