Villages

Two years after adopting a law that prevented East Hampton Village's historic inns from holding special events outdoors, the village's planning and zoning committee is exploring ways to relax it. The committee is also looking to crack down on short-term rentals.

It might have been just another big summer event in the Hamptons, except that Saturday's Chainsmokers' concert at Nova's Ark in Bridgehampton took place in a world where concerts and other major events have been silenced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the Chainsmokers' event management companies are being investigated.

A series of recent humpback whale strandings on the East End are evidence of another year of high mortality rates for the species along the Atlantic Coast and particularly in New York, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called a drive-in concert held Saturday in Bridgehampton "a gross violation of common sense," while Southampton Town officials responded to a state inquiry into the event by saying they were conducting their own investigation.

The New York State Department of Health has opened an investigation into a drive-in Chainsmokers' concert in Bridgeghampton on Saturday night, sending a letter on Monday about it to Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman — whose own band was the opening musical act on Saturday.

Several East Hampton beaches were temporarily closed to late-arriving beachgoers on Saturday as officials tried to enforce Covid-19 restrictions on the busiest day since the Fourth of July weekend. 

With 46 new Covid-19 cases reported by state officials on Tuesday, just two deaths in the last 10 days, and a daily infection rate holding steady around 1 percent, Suffolk County appears to be maintaining control over the spread of the virus.

The hospital's 1199 union members are still fighting for crisis pay, which they assert would help make them "whole" after they said they sacrificed so much on behalf of the Covid-19 patients, and other patients as well, between mid-March and early June.

Stony Brook Southampton Hospital has unveiled its latest design for a proposed $35 million emergency room annex in East Hampton. The hospital hopes to begin construction next year on the facility, whose major purpose will be to assess, diagnose, and stabilize patients.

An article described the discovery of a "forgotten trove" of artworks with values estimated at $100,000 to $1 million at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, the sale of which was destined to "bring them lifesaving cash" and help save them from millions of dollars of debt. It sounded like a fairy tale, and, according to the hospital, it is.

Covid-19 has struck out the 2020 East Hampton Artists and Writers Softball Game, originally scheduled for Aug. 15 at Herrick Park. The charity game's organizers have decided it is not yet safe enough to play, but will continue to raise money for the four nonprofits the game supports.

Long Island's daily Covid-19 infection rate has stayed at approximately 1 percent for six days, and there has been only one death in Suffolk County in the last eight days, according to data released by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday.

This is the sixth large whale stranding in New York this year and the fourth dead humpback reported in 2020, according to the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society.

Lyle Greenfield of Amagansett will sell his 1960 Nash Metropolitan convertible and donate the proceeds to the Amagansett Village Improvement Society. Weather permitting, the car can be seen on Saturday and Sunday from around 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the lawn between the Amber Waves farmers market and the hamlet’s firehouse on Main Street. 

The tiny, leafy Hedges Parsons Cemeter, near the Springs General Store and the hamlet's public school, has been given a careful renovation this month by the Burying Ground Preservation Group. "We look at these stones as the records of these people," said the group's Zach Studenroth.

CMEE will officially reopen to the public on Aug. 3, a Monday. Families will be able to make online reservations for two-hour blocks of time. The museum has enriched its outdoor offerings with games like Giant Jenga and made its miniature golf course free with the price of admission. 

Thomas Osborne (1594-1677) acquired the property from Robert Bond sometime shortly after he arrived in East Hampton from New Haven, Conn., between 1650 and 1660. Here he ran a tannery business, which passed down through six generations of Osborne tanners.

The WNET Group, the company that owns the PBS television stations Thirteen in New York City and WLIW21 on Long Island, acquired 88.3 WPPB-FM in March. Its call sign was changed to WLIW-FM in June, and, on Tuesday, it began broadcasting from a new studio.

He could have chosen to grieve privately. But ever since the overdose death of one of his granddaughters, Drew Scott, a retired anchor for News 12 Long Island, has been a public advocate for awareness and resources to prevent opioid abuse and fatalities.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced an emergency health order mandating that travelers from states with heavy Covid-19 cases fill out forms with their contact information before leaving their destination airports.

While nowhere near the kind of figures seen in March and April, the daily number of Covid-19 cases in Suffolk County has moved upward over the past 30 days. 

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.

A North Haven osprey nest was the scene of a dramatic rescue last week after part of it collapsed, dashing two chicks to the ground.

Concerned Citizens of Montauk celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Since its founding it has led the charge to preserve more than 3,500 acres in the hamlet, including such special places as Hither Woods, Shadmoor, Camp Hero, and the tract now known as Montauk County Park.

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. 

East Hampton Library item of the week: The Devon Boat Club, shown in this postcard, may refer to either the Devon Yacht Club or the precursor Boat Club on the same site, established by the Devon Colony as part of the Gardiner's Bay Company buildings.

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.