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Main Newsletter December 20
December 20, 2025
Today: Sunny, high 38, winds west at 10 to 20 miles per hour. Tonight: Partly cloudy, low 35. Tomorrow: Clouds and sun, high 44, winds west at 10 to 20 miles per hour. Sunset tonight: 4:23. Sunrise tomorrow: 7:09.
The unceremonious bulldozing of roughly four semi-wooded acres on Marsden Street was a shocking sight to Sag Harbor residents earlier this month, though plans to develop the property have loomed — and sparked controversy in the village — for decades.
By Bettina Neel
 | As an arctic blast blows across East Hampton Town heralding the start of winter, swimming enthusiasts can take heart. Wednesday, the Sarah and Maurice Iudicone Aquatic Center, a project years in the making, opened at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center. By Christopher Walsh |
 | The Golden Eagle, an art supply store and East Hampton institution that first opened in 1954, will close next month. It’s a familiar story, as told most recently by Nancy Rowan and Michael Weisman, the Golden Eagle’s owners: The internet has decimated brick-and-mortar retailers across the country. By Christopher Walsh |
 | At Pitch Your Peers the Hamptons, paying members pitch local charitable organizations to one another, and everyone votes on where to allot their funds. This year, the group awarded grants to the Retreat and Share the Harvest Farm. |
 | The plan for the 1.12-acre Wainscott Green and a park to commemorate the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community that was something of a pioneer on the East End was endorsed by members of the hamlet’s citizens advisory committee on Saturday. By Christopher Walsh |
 | The Dredge Oyster Bay was permanently damaged after encountering a "really big rock" in the channel, and a new dredge, the Scrod II, has been called in to relieve it. The Army Corps of Engineers’ project is still on schedule, despite the many delays since it began just over a month ago.
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 | East Hampton Town appears to have stepped down in a fight against a Further Lane homeowner who neighbors say is violating a decades-old scenic easement on their lands. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | A proposal by owners of the former Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk to le the occupancy of an outdoor bar area on the East Lake Drive property got some pushback at a recent East Hampton Town Planning Board meeting. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | The East Hampton Town Police Department says it is ready to take on dispatch responsibilities starting in January when it assumes responsibilities from East Hampton Village and becomes the primary Public Safety Answering Point, or P.S.A.P., in the town. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | Lily Limonius, a seventh grader from East Hampton Middle School, won the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons annual holiday card contest this month, and it’s not the first time her work has been spotlighted by a local nonprofit. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
No nail was left unbitten at the Kendall Madison championship last Saturday. The Bonackers basketball team beat the Bridgehampton Killer Bees by just 2 points in a tight defensive game, with a final score of 47-45.
By Alison Morris Roslyn
 | At the Bonackers’ second meet of the season Saturday at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, the 4-by-800-meter relay team took second place to Smithtown West with a time of 8:50.4, the fourth-fastest finish in Section XI. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | Week four was a busy one for the Bonac boys varsity swim team, which traveled to Sachem for its second and final nonleague meet of the season on Dec. 9 and hosted Ward Melville at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter last Thursday. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | East Hampton wrestling had a mixed weekend — earning a strong league win over Eastport on Dec. 12, but struggling the next day at the annual Doc Fallot Dual Tournament in Hampton Bays, where the team dropped all five matches. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | Holiday observances at local churches, from pageants to vigils to Masses. By Star Staff |
 | Deck the halls with these homemade ornaments using a traditional salt-dough method, tested by the very same hands that edit East magazine. By Bess Rattray and Christine Sampson |
 | Move over, mah-jongg. See ya later, Scrabble. There's a whole world of board games out there that hold potential interest for people looking for something social, something different, and maybe even something new and challenging. Here are a few fun suggestions from an elder millennial for the older adults in the room. By Christine Sampson |
 | Sure, it's the thought that counts, but let's be honest: We've all felt the womp-womp disappointment of receiving a lame, generic present, and we'd all rather receive something wonderful. Here's a give-this, not-that guide to gifting greatly (with South Fork flair). From East Magazine |
 | This photo from The Star’s archive shows Alfred James LaBatti (1922-1971) performing as “the Wreck” at Guild Hall in 1944. By Julia Tyson |
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Opinion | Columnists |
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