Author: Beth Young

Beth Young is an award-winning local journalist who has been covering the East End since the 1990s. She began her career at the Sag Harbor Express and has reported for the Southampton Press, the East Hampton Press and the Times/Review Media Group. She founded the East End Beacon website in 2013, and a print edition in 2017. Beth was born and raised on the North Fork. In her spare time, she tinkers with bicycles, tries not to drown in the Peconic Bay and hopes to grow the perfect tomato. You can send her a message at editor@eastendbeacon.com
Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin (left) and Councilman Ken Rothwell (right)
2026 Elections Top Stories

Supervisor Candidates on Riverhead’s Future

Beth Young
Due to the phase-in of the shift of New York State elections to even years, there will be a race for Riverhead Town Supervisor this year, less than one year into incumbent Supervisor Jerry Halpin's first term. This fall, Mr. Halpin, an independent serving as a Democrat, will be facing a challenge from Republican Town Councilman Ken Rothwell, who was appointed to the Town Board in the midst of the
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woodland tobacco
Morning Bulletin

This Morning’s Bulletin — 10.13.26

Beth Young
East Hampton BESS Stays Suspended, Charting Greenport's Future, A Truly Local Monkfish Tajine Good Morning! • We're expecting partly sunny skies today, with a high temperature near 69 degrees and an east wind 6 to 9 miles per hour, becoming south in the afternoon. Skies will clear overnight, with a low around 62. We're expecting increasing clouds on Wednesday, with a high near 76, and sunny skies on Thursday, with
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Stirling Harbor, Greenport, Wednesday afternoon.
Announcements Recent Upcoming

Greenport Civic to Host Series of Forums: “Chart Greenport’s Future”

Beth Young
When Greenport Village holds its elections this coming March, there's a chance there will be many changes to village governance in the year ahead. Four seats on the five-member Village Board will be in play in the March 16 election, including the post of Village Mayor — with all positions up for re-election except for Trustee Mary Bess Phillips, who was re-elected to a four-year-term in 2025. Longtime Village Trustee
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oysters-1200x675
Greenport Recent The Business Accelerator

How to Replace Shellabration? It’s Still An Open Question in Greenport

Beth Young
Cornell Cooperative Extension's Marine Program will not be producing a Shellabration celebration of seafood in Greenport village for the second year in a row, and the Greenport Business Improvement District's president says it is working with the business community on new plans for a village-wide celebration the first weekend in December. But the founder of the Hold Fast Fund, the non-profit associated with Little Creek Oysters that last year quickly
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The East Hampton BESS facility, a collaboration between National Grid and NextEra Energy, was the site of a fire in May of 2023.
BESS East Hampton Recent

Officials: Two East Hampton Battery Storage Facilities Will Suspend Operations Until Fire Suppression Compounds Are Removed

Beth Young
Two Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in East Hampton Town will continue to suspend operation until a controversial fire suppression agent is removed from the facilities, announced Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine on Oct. 9. The move comes after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a report in early September concluding that the chemical in the fire suppression system, NOVEC 1230, was the likely cause of contamination
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Pastor Natalie Wimberly Receives Southold Town's Helen Wright Prince Award
Community Photos Recent

Watch: Rev. Natalie Wimberly Receives Southold’s Helen Wright Prince Award

Beth Young
Pastor Natalie Wimberly has been inspiring the North Fork community from the pulpit at Clinton Memorial AME Zion Church in Greenport for the past decade. On Oct. 8, she was honored by the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force with the Helen Wright Prince Award for her commitment to inspiring and educating North Forkers in a celebration at Peconic Landing. Rev. Wimberly has been an active advocate for social justice during
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sailboat races October
Morning Bulletin

This Morning’s Bulletin — 10.8.26

Beth Young
Honoring Pastor Wimberly, Septic Hearing in Southampton Village, Indigenous Artists in Greenport Good Morning! • We're expecting sunny skies today, with a high temperature near 72 degrees and a west wind around 10 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 21 mph. It will be mostly clear overnight, with a low around 50. Friday will be sunny, with a high near 67. It will be sunny on Saturday, with
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mill creek phragmites
Morning Bulletin

This Morning’s Bulletin — 10.7.26

Beth Young
Riverhead Supervisor Debates, Southampton Sewage Plant, Celebrating Birds Good Morning! • We're expecting patchy frost before 9 a.m. today, with otherwise, sunny skies and a high temperature near 64 degrees, with a light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 miles per hour in the morning. It will be mostly clear overnight, with a low around 56. Thursday will be sunny, with a high near 71, and Friday will be
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town square hotel site
Development Recent Riverhead

Riverhead IDA Says It Will Hold Another Public Hearing When Town Square Hotel Tax Abatements Are Finalized

Beth Young
Members of the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency said Monday evening that a schedule of proposed tax abatements for the controversial Town Square hotel has not yet been developed, and they're expecting to hold another public hearing when the schedule is released. The proposed $35 million Tapestry Hilton hotel would be nearly 70,000 square feet, with 94 rooms, a restaurant and first floor retail spaces. Most of the parking would be
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The Southampton Village Dog Park, which would be moved to make way for the leaching field for the sewage treatment plant.
Letters Opinion Recent

Letter: Southampton Can Have Clean Water Without Sacrificing Its Park

Beth Young
To the Editor: Lola Prentice Memorial Park should not be sacrificed for wastewater infrastructure. Southampton deserves clean water and a planning process that protects public land. A 2019 injunction restricts the park to park use. Litigation now challenges the Village Board's attempt to pursue parkland alienation. Residents deserve a clear explanation of how the proposal respects that court order. Pictured Above: Lola Prentice Memorial Park, which could be moved to
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