East End Notebook: After Neck Injury, Teen Home for Christmas

WESTHAMPTON-HAMPTON BAYS

Hampton Bays Ice Rink Won't Open This Year

No happy family memories will be made on Southampton's ice skating rink, which is based in Hampton Bays, this season — Chris Bean, thetown's parks and recreation supervisor, said the rink's liner needs to be replaced.

According to Bean, the liner, which has been in use for seven seasons, has worn out and will cost $4,000 to replace. That money, he said, has not been budgeted this year and his department is working to request funding in the town's next budget.

SOUTHAMPTON

Southampton Village to Celebrate 150th Anniversary of Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln's executive order during the Civil War to free the slaves in Confederate territory, turned 150 years old this week, and Southampton Village is joining in the celebration of the anniversary.

The start of the event, named "Bells Are Ringing," will be heard throughout the village on Saturday, as all the church bells in Southampton will ring in unison for one minute, according to the Southampton Historical Museum. Residents are invited to bring bells to the corner of Jobs Lane and Main Street in front of the First Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m. to join in the ringing.

EAST HAMPTON

Quigley: One of the Better Christmases I Remember

For one East Hampton family, Christmas was particularly special this year. 

Doris Quigley, the teenage daughter of East Hampton Town Deputy Supervisor Theresa Quigley and Tom Quigley, was released from a New York City hospital in the week before Christmas, after four months of hospitalization. An East Hampton Town lifeguard, she broke her neck while swimming in the surf off an Amagansett beach. Though initially paralyzed,she regained the use of her legs and continues to make improvements.

The Quigley family enjoyed Christmas together as a family at home — Doris' four siblings were all in town to welcome her back. Then they joined a large extended family for Christmas dinner in Connecticut. "It's one of the better Christmases I remember," Theresa Quigley said.

NORTH FORK

Less Restrictive Law Regarding Dogs On Beaches Up For Hearing

Local dogs — and dog owners — will soon have their day, legally, on Southold Town beaches. Months after a Mattituck resident complained to the Southold Town Board that he was attacked by two dogs running loose on Bailie Beach in Mattituck this past summer and requested that the board create a town-wide rule that all dogs must be kept on leashes at beaches, board members will present an updated version of an antiquated town law regarding the issue for public hearing later this month.

The board voted during a meeting Wednesday night to set the public hearing for Jan. 15 on amendments to Chapter 193 of town code, which Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said last summer was written in 1981 and did not allow dogs on beaches or any recreational area at all. 

RIVERHEAD

Riverhead Foundation: Beached Whale Died Of Natural Causes

The massive 60-foot beached whale that washed up at Breezy Point the day after Christmas and netted widespread attention likely died of natural causes, according to theRiverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, which rushed to the scene when the whale was found.

"The working diagnosis from the forensic examination is congestive renal failure secondary to parasitic disease called crassicaudiosis," Kimberly Durham, rescue program director and necropsy team leader of the Riverhead Foundation said Wednesday.