This Morning’s Bulletin — 1.13.21
Good Morning!
• Today will be mostly sunny, with a high temperature near 42 and a light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 7 miles per hour in the afternoon. It will be mostly cloudy overnight, with a low around 31. Thursday will start out cloudy, gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Friday will be partly sunny, with a high near 49.
• In a change of course, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday morning that New Yorkers ages 65 and over are now eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, effective immediately. More details are online here. We’re expecting more vaccine sites to come online later this week and in upcoming weeks.
• New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. has re-introduced legislation that would authorize the Towns of East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton, and Southold to establish Town Community Housing Funds, a measure that passed both houses of the State Legislature in 2019 but was vetoed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The decision to create such funds, which would come from a .5 percent real estate transfer tax similar to the Community Preservation Fund, would be a home rule decision to be put before the voters in a mandatory referendum. Here are more details.
• Suffolk County reported 1,667 new cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours ending Tuesday, with 9.6 percent of people tested testing positive. The county reported 839 people are currently hospitalized with the virus here, with 124 in ICU, with 22 percent of hospital beds currently available. The county reported 21 new fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the death toll here to 2,487 people.
• “For the fourth day in a row we have now seen a positivity rate below 10 percent here in Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone in a statement on Tuesday. “Although it is too early to call this a pattern, our hope is that this signifies that the worst of the holiday surge is behind us. As I said last week, now is the time for us to get these numbers back under control. If we continue to limit gatherings, practice social distancing, and wear masks, in conjunction with vaccinations ramping up, we will save lives and accelerate our recovery. Remember, vigilance got us through the first wave and it will get us through the second. We are in the home stretch, but can’t let up now.”
• The Southold Justice Review & Reform Task Force will hold a Zoom listening session tomorrow evening, Jan. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. for residents to share their perspective on interactions with town law enforcement. To register, visit www.southoldjusticetf.org. Riverhead’s Law Enforcement Advisory Panel will hold a similar listening session tomorrow at 5 p.m. Here’s how to join.
• The Concerned Citizens of Montauk will hold a Zoom webinar on “Renewable Energy and the South Fork Wind Farm” on Thursday, Jan. 14 from 4 to 5 p.m. CCOM President Laura Tooman, Renewable Energy Long Island Executive Director Gordian Raacke and New York League of Conservation Voters President Julie Tighe will discuss East Hampton’s ambitious sustainable energy goals and the South Fork Wind Farm. Sign up online at preservemontauk.org/publications/webinars.
The high tides on the East End for the next two days are as follows:
January 13
Plum Gut Harbor: 9:31 a.m., 9:56 p.m.
Montauk Harbor: 8:39 a.m., 9:04 p.m.
Greenport: 10:08 a.m., 10:33 p.m.
Mattituck Inlet: 11:07 a.m., 11:39 p.m.
Sag Harbor: 10:03 a.m., 10:28 p.m.
New Suffolk: 11:30 a.m., 11:55 p.m.
South Jamesport: 11:37 a.m.
Shinn. Bay Entrance: 8:49 a.m., 9:17 p.m.
Shinn. Inlet: 6:58 a.m., 7:26 p.m.
January 14
Plum Gut Harbor: 10:20 a.m., 10:46 p.m.
Montauk Harbor: 9:28 a.m., 9:54 p.m.
Greenport: 10:57 a.m., 11:23 p.m.
Mattituck Inlet: 11:56 a.m.
Sag Harbor: 10:52 a.m., 11:18 p.m.
New Suffolk: 12:19 p.m.
South Jamesport: 12:02 a.m., 12:26 p.m.
Shinn. Bay Entrance: 9:37 a.m., 10:07 p.m.
Shinn. Inlet: 7:46 a.m., 8:16 p.m.
And that’s the way things look at dawn’s light here today.
