Tom Gardella will be sworn in as Sag Harbor’s next mayor on July 3, giving the village an opportunity for a fresh start under established leadership, with someone who has... more
Language is a great divider, and as the East End’s demographics have steadily evolved over the past two decades, finding ways to bridge that divide is essential. That’s particularly true for school-age children, who often find themselves immersed in a new culture without the skills to communicate. But Southampton School District recognized that the language gap is bad for the school community in general — and that it presents not just a challenge but an opportunity. Rather than focusing solely on Spanish-speaking students and their needs, the district’s dual language program, which is now in its 20th year, benefits all ...
16 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
Nothing energizes the voting public like a proposed tax hike — and in both Southampton and East Hampton towns, sizable hikes are going to be proposed this fall, which likely will bring an outcry. But the simple fact is that it could be time for both towns to catch up on some long-overdue investments in quality of life. In Southampton Town, Maria Moore’s first proposed budget will require an increase in the tax levy of more than 11 percent, which will pierce the state’s cap. Because the town budget is generally kept under control, the impact would be $140 per ...
9 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
It was a historic day. An end of an era. “A momentous event,” as Kathryn Szoka, one of the owners of Canio’s Books, put it as she addressed the crowd that had gathered to help her and her partner, Maryann Calendrille, remove the sign that hung over the shop they have run for the past 25 years. Whatever euphemism one prefers, it was simply a sad day for Sag Harbor. The shop’s owners have vowed to carry on the business and its cultural activities — perhaps as a pop-up for now, utilizing historic or public spaces in the village — ...
by Editorial Board
James Carville, a campaign advisor to Bill Clinton in the early 1990s, was the first to say it: “It’s the economy, stupid.” This truism about national elections holds water: While pundits talk about so many other issues at stake, the economy is usually the one that moves people the most when they cast a vote for president. There’s no reason to think 2024 will be any different. That said, there are several other important issues in that race this year, and they filter down to the 1st District race for the U.S. House of Representatives, where they take on even ...
2 Oct 2024 by Editorial Board
By its nature, a conversation imparts information, and, typically, the deeper it goes, the more you learn. That is the key thought behind a new project that begins this week, a podcast, “1st District Matters,” that’s a partnership between The Express News Group and WLIW-FM. Over the years, preparing voters for important elections has always been a challenge. Among the tools that come in handy are “meet the candidates” events, live and virtual debates, interviews with the candidates, news stories focused on the issues and the candidates’ respective positions, and endorsements based on in-depth sitdowns. This year, the race for ...
25 Sep 2024 by Editorial Board
New rules imposed this year by the state in an effort to let consumers know when they are paying a credit card surcharge at a store or restaurant, while well-intentioned, fall short of their intended goal and have left business owners reeling at a time when the post-pandemic recovery continues. The end result of these new rules may just amount to a 4 percent “inflation,” as businesses simply increase prices across the board to account for the surcharge fees. In a nutshell, the new rules state that if a business is passing the surcharge — typically about 4 percent of ...
18 Sep 2024 by Editorial Board
Finally, the shoulder season gods smiled on the South Fork and provided not just accommodating but absolutely perfect weather for the weekend’s two big events, HarborFest in Sag Harbor and the San Gennaro Festival in Hampton Bays, which happened to fall on the same September weekend this year. As a result, both events attracted the kinds of crowds event planners dream of, both in numbers and in temperament. Families were eager to enjoy one last true summer weekend of fun, and they got the sun and warmth to go with it, without a drop of rain to dampen the enthusiasm. ...
by Editorial Board
The studies are abundant and clear — the prevalence of smartphones and social media in our lives has had a profound impact on mental health for adults, teens and children, fundamentally changing the way we communicate and interact with each other, increasing anxiety and depression. While this is certainly an issue not limited to youth, they are at the greatest risk, with many parents — and school districts — working to develop strategies to mitigate the impacts of a technology that is not going anywhere and is leading many teens down a road marked by isolation and confusion. The Express ...
11 Sep 2024 by Editorial Board
The house fire in August 2022 that killed two young women in Noyac is a terrible tragedy for everyone involved — there’s no ignoring that, along with the lives lost, so many lives were forever changed that awful night. If there is anything to take away from the tragedy, it is the lesson that while code enforcement is often derided as “Big Government” overreaching, and mandatory inspections and permits are considered mere bureaucratic harassment, those rules and that oversight save lives. Every single year. Uncounted lives, because they were protected by safe environments. Absolutely nobody would ever want to be ...
4 Sep 2024 by Editorial Board
It was just over four months ago when a segment of the Sag Harbor community — mostly longtime locals — gathered upstairs at Baron’s Cove, with the goal of ultimately rescuing and restoring the historic whaleboats used for HarborFest. The fundraiser came on the heels of last year’s festival, when competitors stepped into the 60-year-old vessels and into a few inches of water covering creaky old floorboards. Not exactly a confidence-boosting experience. The boats were purchased in the early 1960s by the original festival committee, which included the novelist John Steinbeck and a band of friends who wanted to honor ...
by Editorial Board
