This Morning’s Bulletin — 7.28.14

Good Morning!

• A fast-moving strong thunderstorm covered the swath of the East End in the early hours this morning, and is expected to clear the far eastern tip of the island by 7 a.m., leaving behind conditions that will be not much of an improvement over the past few days. We’re expecting highs around 80 degrees with humidity near 80 percent, a UV index of 9 and isolated thunderstorms throughout the day.

• East Hampton’s 290-acre Georgica Pond joined the growing list of water bodies on the East End suffering from high levels of blue-green algae on July 23. The list, which includes Mill Pond in Water Mill, Maratooka Pond in Mattituck, Wickapogue Pond and Lake Agawam in Southampton and had earlier this year included Big Reed Pond in Montauk, was already the longest it had ever been, according to LICCRA. Mill Pond and Wickapogue Pond both contain highly toxic strains of the algae, and the Suffolk County Health Department is urging people to avoid coming into contact with the water in all the lakes and ponds on the list, and the East Hampton Town Trustees are prohibiting crabbing and shellfishing in Georgica Pond until Aug. 12.

• A Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle named Estonia was the latest to be released back into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean by the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays Sunday afternoon. Riverhead Foundation workers said Estonia, who was found cold-stunned on a beach on Fire Island last October, wasted no time crawling back into the deep blue sea. If you see a marine animal in trouble, call their 24-hour hotline: 631.369.9829.

• Raindrops Quick Stop’s Snack Shack on Montauk Highway on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation is holding a grand reopening this morning at 6:30 a.m., with a brand new breakfast and lunch menu and a new direct phone number: 631.287.6358.

• The Lone Sharks are playing a free concert at Gosman’s Dock in Montauk tonight at 6:30 and Boot Scoot Boogie comes to Greenport’s “Dances in the Park” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Mitchell Park. The Beacon’s full list of free summer outdoor concerts is online here.

• The Beacon’s Week in Review was delivered piping hot to inboxes throughout the East End in the wee hours of Sunday morning. To get your very own copy each week, sign up here.

And that’s the way things look at dawn’s light here today.