Villages

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.

The Covid-19 pandemic has flooded post offices and shipping stores with packages, mail, and new customers, leading to difficult working conditions for employees and long lines for customers. Some postal service staffers have worked seven days a week for 30-plus days and 253 of Long Island's approximately 7,000 postal employees have contracted the virus.

A musical project that came to life last summer will make its broadcast debut this morning, days after coming to the attention of the song’s composer, who happens to have been in the Beatles.

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.  

A preliminary design for a more complete space shows a passive park with a looping trail, benches, a small, simple shelter, and a dogwood tree planted for the late Rick Del Mastro.

The county executive was again able to report zero Covid-19 deaths in a 24-hour period and an infection rate of 1 percent, a relief after reporting on Tuesday that the rate had jumped from .7 percent to 1.4 percent.

The Hamptons Arts Network, a group of 19 nonprofit arts organizations on the South Fork that banded together a few years ago, has been a lifeline for its members during the Covid-19 crisis. Now, the group is directing some of its resources outward to help the creative community around them.

The infection rate rose from .7 percent Monday to 1.4 percent on Tuesday, but the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 was consistent with numbers from the previous several days. For sports fans, there's sad news: Despite the county executive's efforts on its behalf, the Long Island Ducks professional baseball team has canceled its 2020 season.

Other statistics also "continue to look very good," said County Executive Steve Bellone, who reported that Suffolk had an infection rate of .7 percent. "Those are great numbers."

This receipt is for a payment made by Burnet or Burnett Miller for 2 pounds, a payment on the 45 pounds "current money of New York" owed by the East Hampton Town Trustees to the Montauk Indians for the use of land on the Montauk peninsula.

In mid-April, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Suffolk County was reporting more than 1,000 new cases per day, but on Tuesday reported just 46 new cases. As the infection rate has slowed here, people concerned that they have been exposed to the virus are more likely to be tested at an outpatient lab, clinic, or doctor's office than at a drive-through test site, and the cost for testing can vary. 

A new fire department substation that has been under construction in the Northwest section of East Hampton is almost ready to open, East Hampton Fire Chief Gerard Turza Jr. told the East Hampton Village Board on Friday. 

It takes more than a pandemic to stop East Hampton's public access television service, which has emerged as an important source of information. 

Inspired by similar operations across the country, and empowered by rules that say Native American communities can grow hemp, Shinnecock Hemp has begun cultivating the plant.

Tony Caramanico of Montauk was recently inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame for "having made the most significant contributions to the sport, thereby preserving their historical significance and the sport's cultural lore for future generations." He was one of 10 singled out for this honor from a list of 200.

Nurses and other health care workers lobbying to receive crisis pay from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital picketed outside the two facilities on Wednesday to make the community aware of their efforts.

On the heels of Long Island entering the third phase of New York's economic recovery plan on Wednesday, effective at midnight, travelers arriving in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey from nine different states must quarantine for 14 days.

The number of people receiving hospital care for Covid-19 in Suffolk County fell to 90 on Sunday, marking the first period since March 22 that there have been fewer than 100 hospitalizations.

Southampton’s first celebration of Juneteenth on Friday, a traditional but still unofficial national holiday marking the day the last enslaved black Americans were freed in Texas in 1865, was upbeat yet serious, with songs and speeches, rituals and praise.

After a period in which no new Covid-19 cases were seen in East Hampton Town, county figures released on Friday showed an uptick of seven.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Thursday that he will sign an executive order allowing the State Liquor Authority to immediately suspend liquor licenses for bars or restaurants found to be violating the state's Covid-19 rules and regulations. A related executive order will make bars responsible for the sidewalk or "outside area immediately in front of their premises."

After getting permission for outdoor dining from state and local officials, East End restaurants are finding creative ways to make room for as many customers as possible this summer.

Southampton Town reopened its playgrounds and skate parks on Thursday after months of closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The reopening was made possible after an adjustment to the state's phase two guidelines.

The town will follow the Center for Disease Control's safety protocols and visitors must wear face coverings and adhere to the six-feet social distance requirements.  

When Long Island enters phase three of reopening, which is expected on Wednesday, East End spas will be back in business, and they’re prepared to offer treatments ranging from massages to colonics with new protocols designed to give clients peace of mind. 

Despite seven deaths from Covid-19 over the 24-hour period ending June 13, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Monday that other metrics continue trending in the right direction as Long Island moves toward the third of a four-phase resumption of activity.

It was the first time since March 16 that no one in the county had died of the virus. Hospitalizations were also down, and given positive trends, the county executive said he has been lobbying the state to allow cultural institutions to open sooner.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Ina Garten was already looking out for the welfare of her two million-plus Instagram followers. “Hunkering down at home with Jeffrey and a few overnight Belgian waffles for dinner,” she wrote under a photo of a fluffy, syrup-soaked waffle topped with bananas.

The First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton has seen a huge jump in worshippers as the Rev. Tisha Williams embraces the virtual space with online services on YouTube and Zoom Bible study.

Last week saw multiple demonstrations on the East End in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, huge crowds coming together to decry the murder of African-Americans at the hands of whites, many, but not all of them, police officers.

East Hampton Town is considering a plan to temporarily change traffic circulation on several streets in Montauk's downtown and close a segment of Main Street to vehicles one day a week in an effort to create more open space for pedestrians and cyclists and to encourage social distancing.