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Main Newsletter July 11
July 11, 2026
Today: Cloudy, high 80, winds east-northeast at 5 to 10 miles per hour. Tonight: Passing clouds, low 63. Tomorrow: Sunny, high 80, light wind. Sunset tonight: 8:21. Sunrise tomorrow: 5:27.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit created by Congress in 1984, has awarded Concerned Citizens of Montauk a $323,000 grant to address coastal resilience in Montauk and on Napeague. It is the largest grant the nonprofit has ever been awarded.
By Christopher Walsh
 | Richard Normoyle, the chief building inspector, detailed the organization of the greatly expanded department (it’s nearly doubled in size in the last year, to 19 approved positions) and said it would be fully caught up on the permit backlog by the end of the year, five months ahead of his May estimate. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | Two weeks after the heavily contested Democratic primary election, absentee and early mail ballots have been counted, and the results have been finalized. Spoiler alert: They’ve barely changed since election night. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Monday amending the New York State tax law to stipulate that $250,000 of Suffolk County’s hotel and motel taxes be appropriated to help maintain and operate the Montauk Lighthouse. By Christopher Walsh |
 | After the removal of two large trees estimated to be more than 100 years old on a residential Newtown Lane property where a house was recently demolished, Mayor Jerry Larsen said this week that he will discuss with the village board possibly amending the code to require a permit to remove trees. By Christopher Walsh |
 | At Guild Hall’s first Hamptons Institute program of 2026, founders of the Indivisible movement promoted bottom-up, grassroots, local activism in the face of rising authoritarianism. By Christopher Walsh |
 | The Wings Over Haiti School in Ranquitte stands two stories high, with eight classrooms and 130 students who follow a STEM-based curriculum. That so much has been accomplished there while violence and evil stalk the land underscores the resilience of this unlikely human chain that yokes Haiti and the East End. By Judy D’Mello |
 | New signs were installed last week at the three lifeguarded East Hampton Village beaches: Main, Georgica, and Two Mile Hollow. They were designed by Emma Edwards, the 21-year-old owner of Dama Creative Solutions. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | World Cup fever gave way to malaise Monday night when the United States Men’s National Soccer Team disappointed fans with a spectacularly bad 4-1 loss to Belgium. By Christopher Gangemi |
 | Kevin Schaefer, crew leader in the Department of Public Works, was named the village’s first Employee of the Year at an organizational meeting on July 1. By Christopher Walsh |
 | Just five days after the class of 2026 graduated, the East Hampton School Board was already looking ahead. At its first meeting of the new school year on July 1, the board took up several key items, including extending the contract of Adam Fine, the superintendent, through 2031. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | East Hampton could be home to a new day program for people with developmental disabilities. On Tuesday, Rise Life Services and People’s Arc of Suffolk will host an open house at East Hampton High School to introduce the concept, which would offer skill-building, community engagement, vocational support, and health and wellness activities. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | Out at Ditch Plain Beach in Montauk Sunday, the lineup bobbed with surfers enjoying a run of fun waves to cap off the Fourth of July weekend. The surf wasn’t spectacular, but it was the kind of steady, reliable break that has made this Montauk beach popular with kids and adults for decades. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | Thousands packed the sand in Montauk to swim and sweat in the sun, making it one of the busiest holidays local lifeguards have seen since the pandemic. By Alison Morris Roslyn |
 | Not a fisherman, but yearn to get on the water and view a spectacle of Mother Nature in action? You may want to join the Viking Fleet and the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island on an adventure to view whales, dolphins, turtles, and seabirds. By Jon M. Diat |
 | This photograph shows four members of East Hampton High School’s student-run literary magazine, Beachplums, as they prepared to appear at Guild Hall. By Christina Pelligrino |
Also in the News
Opinion | Columnists |
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