There’s an irony in the fact that the Southampton Town Board of Trustees used to pride itself in being “above politics,” something it stressed every campaign season. (It was a... more
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
Americans want a secure border, resources for border officers, a better asylum system, and a path to citizenship for those who deserve it. Bipartisan senators worked for years toward mutually acceptable reforms. This was not easily accomplished, but their compromise bill was tough and fair and found support in Congress. The bill would increase border technology to detect fentanyl. Give the president the authority to impose sanctions on governments and people involved in trafficking drugs. Provide more than $1.4 billion to fund services for immigration and expedited work permitting for qualified people already in the country. The border security budget ...
2 Sep 2024 by Staff Writer
I think it a travesty of justice and a moral disgrace that the Millers were able to avoid jail time in the unnecessary deaths of two women, in the prime of life, who simply wanted a nice vacation [“Owners of Noyac House Where Sisters Died in 2022 Fire Plead Guilty,” 27east.com, August 26]. That the Millers allowed people to rent their house knowing there were no permits obtained, no working smoke detectors and no certified contractors employed to make the renovations should mandate a jail sentence. They may be well-intentioned people, but they gave no regard to possible mishaps. Twenty-nine ...
by Staff Writer
I am a psychologist who volunteered with the Red Cross to work at Ground Zero for several weeks after the 9/11 attack. I was given the responsibility of being available for informal counseling sessions with anyone who came into the comfort centers that were set up for food and rest. While I have many memories of that experience which will stay with me forever, the most poignant one involved the family of one of the individuals who died when the Twin Towers collapsed. The city had just begun allowing families of the deceased to visit the site of the fallen ...
by Staff Writer
I read with interest the article about a plan to erect a cell tower in Sagaponack [“A Fight Over a Cellphone Tower Has Created a Rift Among Sagaponack Village Residents,” 27east.com, August 28]. According to the article, Mayor Bill Tillotson of Sagaponack said he was simply responding to “myriad people banging on the door about getting a tower up as soon as possible, with zero opposition.” Mayor Tillotson remarked that he could not speak on whether the tower and the signals it emits will pose a health risk. There are many questions from residents of Sagaponack about the safety of ...
by Staff Writer
Peace in our time: Reflections on turning 80. I was born in 1943, in the midst of a World War; Nazi Germany controlled all of Europe, including Ukraine; the Japanese occupied Southeast Asia. Nazi submarines were starving Great Britain. It was not clear to anyone that good people would prevail. The most advanced nations of the world had turned their technology and their best minds to murder, killing over 70 million people. How did we arrive at such a low point in human history? If you had asked my father when he returned from Europe in 1945, he would have ...
by Staff Writer
I am writing in response to former Democratic Party Chairman Mike Anthony’s recent critique of my stance on abortion, in which he suggests it is not truly centrist [“Don’t Be Fooled,” Letters, August 29]. I found his submission to be more partisan than candid. To clarify, I do not support a federal abortion ban and align with former President Bill Clinton’s position that the government should not regulate abortion in the first trimester, and in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at risk. While I have concerns about second- and third-trimester abortions, my position is indeed ...
by Staff Writer
I’m starting to feel sorry for Donald Trump. He’s just an old man who will never admit being wrong; it’s in his DNA. That’s a problem for people, especially politicians. The danger is that if he wins at his age, one mistake could end the world. I’m not kidding. So, we have two dilemmas: What will happen if Trump wins? Or what if he loses without accepting defeat? Over the next two months, we have to be honest with his followers. Not just Democrat against Republican. We need the Republicans to wake up and become the party they used to ...
by Staff Writer
As some of us are willing to realize, what we watch as news, or “not news,” what we read as facts or slogan-talk substituting for substance, is very telling. Try having a calm, respectable conversation about politics or the state of our country and world. It’s frustrating, to say the least. Could drive a person to drink, even. Sometimes people will sell their souls for shiny objects. Face it, sometimes people are just not that bright. And, sometimes, there’s nowhere to go with those existing facts. If someone is hellbent on a fantasy or imminent destruction, for instance, far be ...
by Staff Writer
