It may come as a surprise, but some of those rugged sailors who chased whales all over the world and engaged in death struggles with the giant beasts actually crouched... more
There’ll be a question for voters on the election ballot in November on whether the terms should be extended, from the present two years to four, for the 18 members of the Suffolk County Legislature, of which most of the major government officials in Suffolk County in the last five decades have been members. One was Republican John V. N. Klein of Smithtown, the first presiding officer of the legislature. He brought continuity between it and the centuries-old Suffolk County Board of Supervisors when the legislature replaced the board in 1970 as the county’s governing body. It was determined in ...
9 Sep 2025 by Karl Grossman
A heron departing the wetlands flies up and across the morning sun. With each wingbeat it grows closer to silhouette: white, then silver, then black. Then the bird has risen directly into the sun’s path, and you must drop your watch of this or be blinded. You close your eyes to recover. September — they say summer is over. That position does not give summer much credit. How could she just end? Something so vibrant and desirably warm, the season of fruit, green grass and fresh vegetables, does not die in a day. September is the culmination of summer, the ...
by Marilee Foster
2025 is what political pundits call an “off-year” election: There is no election for president or governor. It is the most local of the four-year election cycle, with only local town and county races on the ballot. Yet, just 100 miles to our west is a high-profile election to choose the next mayor of New York. It has drawn national attention since an unknown state assemblyman turned the political world upside down by winning the Democratic primary. His name is Zohran Mamdani. Why was this a political earthquake? Well, first of all, he is an avowed Democratic Socialist who, just ...
8 Sep 2025 by FRED THIELE
Late summer is reductive work. You harvest, take away the best, and plants, likewise, contract. The oldest growth — green leaves rimmed in death, tattered at their edge — cannot hide the fruit. A life cycle is complete … or, at least, nearing completion. Weeds, robust, and some 6 feet tall, tower over the remnants of the first melon planting. Their seeds are not mature, but the threat is burgeoning. One year at seed takes seven to weed. So the mower goes. We battle weeds all season, but in August, when the farmer is too busy reaping to spend time ...
2 Sep 2025 by Marilee Foster
With less than a week to go before Labor Day, I panicked that I haven’t been to the ocean as often as I thought I would. I headed down to Ponquoque Beach to spend time with my son and granddaughters. At the end of August, in the parking lot, it’s not unusual to see broken beach chairs, single flip-flops or battered paperbacks with pages curling from the salt air — remnants of summer vacation. The beach buckets filled with sand, and maybe a hermit crab or a carefully curated shell collection, brought back memories. There’s a gentle melancholy in these ...
by Denise Gray Meehan
Live long enough and more interesting things happen. I received a script last year of a play in which, by name, I’m a character. The play is “Atomic Bill and the Payment Due.” Next week, it is to have its premiere staged reading as a featured presentation for the 50th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Peace Resource Center at Wilmington College in Ohio. It is by playwright and podcaster Libbe HaLevy, who spent 13 years writing it. She is already fielding requests for readings and presentations in Japan, New Mexico, Navajo Nation, Nevada and Germany, and has talks ...
by Karl Grossman
We have all heard, spoken and experienced a lot with regard to traffic in Southampton Village this summer. None of it has been enjoyable. And while traffic issues are not confined to our village, our challenges are unique, especially during the afternoon commute. Let me summarize some key facts, and then comment on some current actions by the mayor and trustees. Just the Facts While it is easy and popular to blame our traffic woes on overdevelopment, McMansions, landscapers and large trucks, all of these play only supporting roles. I’ve been researching traffic for a decade, and here’s what I ...
1 Sep 2025 by Rob Coburn
Jim Marquardt on Aug 3, 2021