Villages

Prohibited from opening their facilities since the economic lockdown began four months ago, the owners of South Fork gyms, yoga studios, and other fitness centers have been scrambling to create outdoor venues, online classes, and other ways to keep their businesses going. 

A set of 15-year-old triplets put their heads together to think of a meaningful way to spend extra quarantine time and gave life to what is now the Little Free Pantry of Wainscott.

The vast majority of businesses adhered to Covid protocols, but there were also "large gatherings and flagrant flaunting of the safety protocols we've all been trying to live by," Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said. Town police fielded "call after call after call."

There were no deaths during the previous 24 hours, but 69 people tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the infection rate up to 1.7 percent as Long Island entered phase four of its economic recovery.

"Dumb," "a slap in the face," and "unacceptable" are how Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone characterized reports of revelers flouting public health protocols over the Fourth of July weekend. Despite this, statistics on Covid-19 in the Suffolk are "great," he said.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. and the national chairwoman of the Trump Victory Finance Committee, was spotted with the younger Mr. Trump at a cocktail party in Bridgehampton. She tested positive for the virus Friday night while in South Dakota for the president's appearance for Fourth of July festivities at Mount Rushmore.

As this very different Fourth of July weekend begins, East Hampton Town has issued a reminder about regulations still in effect to stop the spread of Covid-19, particularly at its beaches.

A reader reached out to The Star on Thursday with photos of what he said might just be another Montauk Monster, the famously gruesome creature found in Montauk in 2008 that became a viral internet sensation.

The number of positive cases in the county rose by 47, and hospitalizations increased by two. On a brighter note, the number of patients in intensive care units decreased by seven to 19.

In the early days of the pandemic, animal shelters like the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons often had to rely on volunteers to foster the animals they had rescued until they could be adopted. Happily, some of those foster homes became permanent homes.

Wainscott residents angry at what they consider unequal treatment by the East Hampton Town Board are using the July 4 holiday to launch a petition to establish an incorporated village.

A new law regulating the use of gas and electric leaf blowers was adopted by the Sag Harbor Village Board at a meeting on June 24.