Week in Review: The World, At Home

Prayers for Renee Good, Setting Priorities for the New Year, A Community Comes Together

Author

Beth Young
January 11, 2026

On the Forks

East Enders Gather in Prayer for Renee Good, Killed by an ICE Officer in Minneapolis

Throughout the East End, residents gathered in parks and public meeting places Friday night in memory of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis mother who was killed by an ICE agent on Wednesday as she and her partner attempted to document the federal immigration agency's actions in their community.

East End lawmakers have also begun to weigh in on the killing, which comes at a time of increasing ICE activity and documentation of that activity by civilian observers here.

South Fork

With Another Election Looming, Burke-Gonzalez Lays Out East Hampton’s Goals for 2026

East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez at the State of the Town Address. |. East Hampton Town photo

As East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez was sworn in for her second term as Supervisor on Tuesday, Jan. 6, she will face political as well as policy challenges in the new year.

Though Ms. Burke-Gonzalez, a Democrat, ran unopposed in last year’s election in this Democrat-dominated town, she will need to stand for re-election again this year due to the phase-in of even year elections in New York State. This year she will face a fight in the June 23 primary from East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen, who launched his campaign, East Hampton Residents for a New Town, just after the November 2025 election.

Former Town Councilman Jeff Bragman also announced this week that he will screen this weekend for the supervisor position with the town Democratic Committee.

Shelter Island Sets Comp Plan as Top Priority in New Year

A lack of expertise in desktop publishing software at Shelter Island Town Hall has slowed the progress of the town’s long-awaited Comprehensive Plan Update, but the town believes it has found an employee who can make the changes this winter, with the hopes of holding public hearings on the document by late April.

Numerous East End Projects Win State Economic Development Grants

From shoring up Bug Light in Greenport to restoring the World War I monument in Southampton’s Agawam Park to the downtown Riverhead amphitheater, septic systems for housing in East Hampton and Riverhead, preschool programs at the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreation Center, a renovation of Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island and helping the Village of Greenport update its Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan, New York State awarded a slew of economic development grants on the East End just before Christmas.

The Business Accelerator

New Club Encourages Locals to Dine Out on the North Fork

Matt Michel of 1943 Pizza Bar, which will be participating in the North Fork Supper Club, with the club’s founder, Christie Moore.

In these days of early twilight and cold, snowy streets, there’s nothing like a night out to shake away cabin fever. While the price of eating out here has become cost-prohibitive for locals in recent years, a new North Fork dining initiative is looking to change that.

America 250

Tall Ships, Galas, Innovative Theater Casting & Podcasts: A Modern Way To Celebrate the 250th

The Coast Guard training barque Eagle will be in Greenport from Aug. 7 through Aug. 10 as part of its America 250 itinerary

Now that we’ve officially entered the semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States, we’re expecting the trickle of information about celebratory plans to flood the East End in the upcoming weeks.

What we know today? The Coast Guard training Barque Eagle is coming to Greenport as part of its participation in Sail 4th 250. Riverhead is kicking off its celebrations later this month with a gala at the Sea Star Ballroom. The North Fork Community Theatre is embarking on a production of the musical “1776” in which they are hoping to cast a female lead as John Adams. And the East Hampton Historical Society has launched a new podcast: “Spirit of 76: East Hampton in the American Revolution.”

Community

Plenty of Opportunities to Combat Blood Emergency

The New York Blood Center has declared a Blood Emergency due to a 40 percent decline in blood donations in recent weeks, which it attributes to holiday schedule disruptions, the cancellation of blood drives due to severe weather and widespread seasonal illnesses. 

Gardening in Service to Our Coastal Ecology

If, like most of us, you don't live directly on the water, you can be forgiven for not thinking your garden affects the waters that surround us.

But while gardens thrive on summer showers, every massive rainfall worries ecologists, who are reminded of how quickly the waters can collect toxic chemicals from gardens, lawns and roadways, and deposit them in the bays and creeks surrounding us.

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Education

It’s Official: Peconic Community School Now Owns Cutchogue Campus

Two years, nearly to the day, after the Peconic Community School moved into the former Our Lady of Mercy campus in Cutchogue, the school announced this week that it has completed the purchase of the 10-acre property from the Sacred Heart Parish, which is moving all of its operations to its Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Mattituck.

On the Air

Behind the Headlines

On this weekend’s Behind the Headlines on 88.3 WLIW-FM, Beacon editor Beth Young joins a panel discussing the ICE killing in Minneapolis, the new administration in Riverhead, Governor Kathy Hochul’s veto of Montaukett recognition and the Peconic Community School.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, Jan. 15

How Oysters Shape Our Shores

Peeko Oysters founder Pete Stein will discuss how oysters are grown in the Peconic Bay, why shellfish farming helps local waters and what daily life on an oyster farm looks like at the Cutchogue Civic Association’s monthly meeting.

Friday, Jan. 16

“Mauritius” Opens at NFCT

After inheriting a stamp collection from their recently deceased grandfather, two half sisters clash over what to do with it in this Theresa Rebeck on the NFCT stage in Mattituck through Feb. 1

Friday, Jan 16

The Hot Jupiters: Space Music & Poetry at Southold UU Church

In shameless self promotion, Beacon staffers Beth Young and George Cork Maul invite you to join us at the Unitarian Universalists of Southold for space music, poetry and a community meal Friday evening.

Hot Off the Press

Our January print edition is now on newsstands throughout the East End
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Words

“Peace cannot exist where justice is not served.”

— Congressman John Lewis

See you next Sunday,

Beth