Many East End towns and villages have adopted more stringent restrictions on gasoline-powered leaf blowers in recent years and in some cases outright bans seasonally or year round. Noise pollution, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are among the concerns that advocates for the bans raise, while members of the landscaping industry say battery-powered blowers are inadequate replacements and more time is needed for a transition. Joining our editors to discuss the merits of the arguments over leaf blowers are Ivan Roman, the owner and founder of landscape design, install and maintenance company Heirloom Gardens, and Andrew Messinger, the writer of the Hampton Gardener column for more than four decades.

With Roe v. Wade under serious threat at the federal level and already all but dead in many states across the country, many women in the U.S. face the real possibility of seeing their reproductive rights evaporate all together. Fears of a return to the days of illegal, unsafe abortion is looming large. This week, our editors are joined by some of our female reporters who look at the issue and discuss the ramifications that may lie ahead for American women if abortion rights erode and the clock is turned back 50 years.

This week on 27Speaks, 2021 New York Press Association Writer of the Year Annette Hinkle, past Writers of the Year Stephen J. Kotz and Michelle Trauring and past Sports Writer of the Year Cailin Riley discuss the craft of feature writing — its methods, its challenges and how it differs from typical newswriting.

Ticks and, more specifically, tick-borne diseases are a concern all over the South Fork but particularly in North Haven Village, where deer and ticks flourish. The village government is working on ways to make it easier to place 4-Posters, which are bait stations that rub tick-killing permethrin on the necks and ears of deer as they eat corn. This week on 27Speaks, North Haven-based journalist Peter Boody joins the editors to discuss the effectiveness of 4-Posters and spraying tickicides, the public concerns about using these methods, and the steps residents can take to protect their families from ticks.

Members of the Express News Group team recently traveled to Saratoga Springs to attend the New York Press Association's spring convention. While they were there, editors Annette Hinkle and Joe Shaw and publisher Gavin Menu sat down with Michelle Rea, NYPA's executive director, to discuss the state of the community newspaper business today.

Nantucket, Sedona, Vail — resort communities all around the country struggled with a lack of affordable housing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pandemic only exacerbated the issue. A growing problem became a full-blown crisis almost overnight as shutdowns and the possibility of remote work led to unprecedented sales to wealthy second-home buyers and displaced the local, year-round working families who help those communities function. Express News Group features editor Michelle Trauring, who recently asked a number of affordable housing officials from communities that are similar in nature to the East End how they are tackling the crisis, joins the podcast this week to discuss the challenges and the solutions.

Public transit has always underserved local commuters on the East End, contributing to the much-loathed traffic on Montauk Highway and County Road 39 and making it difficult for businesses to retain workers. Innovative solutions to the region's transportation woes are on the table, and some are being tested right now. In this week's edition of 27speaks, the editors discuss the Long Island Rail Road's South Fork Commuter Connection and Suffolk County Transit's pilot program to replace fixed bus routes with on-demand buses that can be called via an app.

In light of the Express News Group's recent Express Sessions event that brought together a panel of South Fork lawmakers and affordable housing leaders to discuss solutions to the housing crisis, the editors discuss the scope of the housing challenges that the region faces and the ideas that the panelists and audience members brought forward.

To examine the challenges Southampton Village faces as it approaches another high season with unprecedented crowds expected, the Express News Group hosted “Southampton 2022: A Summer Like No Other” with a panel of local government, nonprofit and business leaders. In this week's 27Speaks, the editors talk about what is being done to shape the village's future and analyze the panelists' concerns.

Read about the Express Sessions panel here: https://www.27east.com/southampton-press/express-sessions-anticipating-summer-2022-in-southampton-and-the-villages-future-1916742/

The South Fork's towns, villages and hamlets are proud of the long tradition of volunteerism — neighbors helping neighbors in a time of need. But changing demographics are making it harder for volunteer companies to find men and women who are able to donate time and energy. In this week’s podcast, reporter Stephen Kotz joins the editors in discussing issues raised at "Sustaining The South Fork,” a recent Express Session event focused on the current state of our region's volunteer emergency service organizations.