On The Beach Blog

...are by no means unique to the East End.

The on-going difficulties within the West­hamp­ton Beach Police Department have been well-documented both here and on 27East.

And a major squabble has surfaced within Southampton Village involving their More...

...from the start. From 27East:

Riverhead man arrested after attempted bank robbery

"Riverhead Town Police said Ronald Mallett, 48, of 7 East Main Street walked More...

Currently on the newswires:

"A man shot and killed a 30-year-old special education teacher as she walked into her Tacoma, Washington, school Friday, shortly before students began arriving for school."

Here's what should be the instructive part: More...

As in "things that make you go...," because this is getting ridiculous!

And no!, we're not referencing the Village Board's obstructionist attempts to whitewash Police Officers Michael Bruetsch and Joseph Pesapane! More...

...News12 Long Island is a third-rate "news or­ganization."

In reporting the Olympics hockey news this morning, anchorman Doug Geed cited the United States Men's team 2-0 victory yes­terday over Sweden. More...

It was a singularly uneventful Work Session of the Westhampton Beach Village Board this evening.

Aside from some business of the Village being done... which is exactly how it should More...

...and, unfortunately, there is no progress to report in Westhampton Beach.

None! Zilch! Nada!

And we're all paying for it with our tax dollars while two cops on "restricted duty" sit More...

...along the Special Election campaign trail.

Commenters on the 27East report on last Thursday's Candidates' Debate in Hampton Bays, seemed to focus on the hot button issue of illegal immigration. More...

Imagine my surprise, astonishment even, when the caller ID came up "Throne-Holst!"

"Madame Supervisor," I said.

"You can drop the 'Madam!'" and it wasn't a request, so I was spared the need of coming up with a clever variation on the Berlin, Crouse & Lindsay title. More...

Updated 02/18/2010 – 05:09 pm

My wife just stumbled on some Texas news channel doing real-time coverage of the air crash in Austin, and the audio reminded me of just about every other "news" cast when the on-air people are working without scripts from teleprompters.

Few today know how to do it. More...

(When we left off, my sister was about to intro­duce me to the old "Superman" serials.)

Although I will always have great affection for the wonderful Republic Studio chapter plays produced from 1936 to 1956, few others from Columbia and prolific Universal have worn well with me over the decades. More...

(Cue Sound)

This is the big day when Warner More...

Those words at the end of a Saturday matinée serial were an Army brat's curse while I was hitting 44 states before I was 12-years-old!

I was rarely in one place very long, so chances were slim I'd never find out how the hero was able to extricate himself or the ingénue from what always looked to be certain doom. More...

...for Martyn (the) Meek who inherited my one and only daughter, is a long and happy union!

Pegs is again globe-trotting with the singing Clarkson girl while her husband, and just about everyone else in British Columbia, is caught up in all things Olympic. More...

Friday evening began well with dinner at Mi­cole's: I enjoyed an excellent Calf's Liver with bacon and onions; Jeanne opted for "Shane's Shepherd's Pie" and learned what I've known for several years now: it's hard to im­prove on Brian Mazzio's version1 (at 2/3rds the cost) at Finn McCool's... if Brian's back on his feet.

(Memo to Brian: Hurry!) More...

It's been eight days since the last Village Board meeting, and at this writing, you have failed to even request a meeting with the Vill­age's Labor Counsel, let alone schedule one.

When directly asked when you were going to do it, you stated on the record, "I hope quick­ly." The burning question remains... More...

...of last week's Westhampton Beach Village Board meeting1 is now on-line.

Good thing, too, for those interested in a more reliable record of what occurred during the Feb­ruary 4th meeting than the account ap­pearing in today's edition of The Southampton Press Western Edition. More...

Too sad. Nancy's, Susan's, Scott's and Peter's mom passed away last Saturday.

A terrific lady, whose friends and neighbors will be remembering her on Sunday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church on Quiogue.

...or, a primer on things that howl in the night.

"Whoever is bitten by a werewolf and lives, becomes a werewolf himself."

So sayeth tiny, wizened Maria Ouspenskaya1 in the original (1941) version of "The Wolf Man," still one of the best of the Universal Studios "horror" films of my youth. More...

On this third anniversary of the Great Oak Street 'Possum-Shooting Caper, OtBB takes the opportunity to connect for posterity some otherwise disparate events and comment on Trustee Jim Kametler's remarkable myopia.

No re-hash of the then Deputy Mayor's actions are required. Suffice to note, he did something extra-legal, was caught red-handed, and there was no consequence... for him, at least. More...

...at first, but it sure got a whole lot better in the third and fourth quarters!

But then anyone who listened to that extra­ordinary, exhilarating half-time show by The Who, had to have been pumped up and ready to run though a concrete wall. More...

...and oft-misquoted, "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...."

But I don't consider consistency, "foolish" or otherwise, to be deserving of such opprobri­um... even from one the stature of a Ralph Waldo Emerson. More...

Updated 02/05/2010 – 08:57 am

Several dozen hearty souls who braved the deep Winter temperatures this evening were treated to a lively session that clearly drew the battle lines between the troika and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

And the highpoint of the monthly Village Board meeting may have come when, following a brief furtive exchange between Trustees Joan Levan and Jim Kametler1, the deposed More...

Updated 02/04/2010 – 02:45 pm

...require discussion at this evening's West­hampton Beach Village Board meeting... as­suming, of course, that the bashful troika don't see a full room and decline to attend.

Foremost will be the results of the meeting the Trustees, led by Oberstgruppenführer Joan Levan, wanted to reschedule with Village Labor Attorney Richard Zuckerman to determine whose view of the police situation is the correct one. More...

...redeem the soul of Eastern Long Island?

After filing the report of the unfortunate clos­ing of Westhampton Steakhouse, it occurred to me that what Westhampton Beach... if not the entire South Fork... really needs is more rest­aurants and fewer real estate offices. More...

...in perhaps the most unseemly local match-up since Bob King and Fred Adams threw down with one another in the brokerage offices of Robb&Robb in the mid '80s, we have Ed Dean and Jim Kametler in of all places Waldbaum's.

It was shortly before 9:00 am Friday when words were exchanged, fingers were pointed, threats were made and Mr. Dean More...

Updated 02/01/2010 – 02:32 pm

...on the local "East Beat" as the Village of Westhampton Beach awakens to a new month.

Historic Mechanic's Hall is again available for occupancy as its most recent tenant, West­hampton Steakhouse, has quietly folded its tent and faded into the night. More...