Proposed legislation seeks to regulate teen use of e-bikes

The first week of the new traffic patterns on County Road 39 in Southampton…especially between the North Sea Road intersection and Magee Street…brought long backups at times and struggles to keep traffic flowing westward swiftly, as had been hoped when the town and Southampton Village convinced Suffolk County to restripe the roadway. Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that Suffolk County Department of Public Works crews repainted the lanes on both County Road 39 and Sandy Hollow Road on Wednesday November 12, cutting two lanes down to one leading into where the two roads come together. Along with the restriping, the Sandy Hollow Road intersection traffic signal was reprogrammed to only turn red for westbound cars on both roads when multiple cars were waiting in the eastbound County Road 39 lane to turn left onto Sandy Hollow, so as to allow the westbound traffic to proceed uninterrupted as much as possible. The changes were intended to keep the evening westbound trade parade coming out of Southampton and North Sea flowing smoothly — as it had done in the spring, when a complex experimental pilot program was conducted by the county and Southampton Town to bypass the County Road 39 traffic lights. But this time around, the traffic lights at Magee Street and Tuckahoe Road are cycling red and green — and during times of heavy commuter volume, traffic quickly backed up again. Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Charlie McArdle said that town staff are trying to devise a strategy for broader improvements. McArdle said he’s hopeful that adjusting the timing of the light changes might be able to ease some of the delays they cause. After the lanes were restriped by the county, the new arrangement appeared to create long backups as cars were forced to merge into single lanes, and the westward flow was halted by the red lights at Magee Street and Tuckahoe Road. Southampton Village Police Chief Sue Hurteau said that village back roads traffic had not yet seen improvement and that she’s hoping tweaks to the system by the town might be able to make things go smoother.

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The Riverhead Town Board voted 4–1 Tuesday night to sell the historic Vail-Leavitt Music Hall to The Jazz Loft, a decision that followed more than a year of quiet negotiations and competing proposals. Bob Kern cast the lone dissenting vote, raising concerns that The Jazz Loft did not have the resources or expertise needed to renovate, open and operate the theater in a way that will benefit downtown revitalization. Nonetheless, after further discussion during Tuesday’s board meeting, the resolution determined The Jazz Loft “qualified and eligible” for purposes of the State Urban Renewal Law and authorizes the supervisor to sign the previously negotiated contract of sale and it did pass by a vote of 4–1. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that under that contract, the Town of Riverhead agrees to sell the Vail-Leavitt theater to The Jazz Loft for $150,000 and The Jazz Loft agrees to perform renovations and repairs to the 144 year old building, maintaining its historic character, and to operate the theatre as a performing arts venue.

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Tomorrow evening, East Hampton Arts Council presents Creative Networking Night. The topic is Creative Process.

The following artists will discuss their work and process: Joanne Roberts film, Mariah Ke' Olani painting, Meg Gibson acting and live theater and Carlos Barrios guitar maker and musician. That’s tomorrow at 6 PM in East Hampton Town Hall and the event is free. The East Hampton Arts Council is a local organization founded to advise and assist the Town of East Hampton on issues pertaining to the arts.

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A web of interlocking court cases have temporarily blocked East Hampton Town officials from evicting Long Island Airlines from East Hampton Town Airport in Wainscott. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com...