27Speaks

With more wind and solar power coming on the grid in the near future, infrastructure plans call for battery energy storage systems where excess electricity can be stored at times of peak production and then withdrawn overnight and at times of peak demand. But in communities where a BESS is proposed, neighbors are concerned about fire and environmental risk. To assuage those concerns, Southampton Town Councilman John Bouvier and sustainability consultant Lynn Arthur join reporter Kitty Merrill and the editors on the podcast this week to discuss how a BESS works, how the batteries differ from other lithium batteries and the safety protocols that are put in place.

The East End's wine industry got its start in 1973 in Cutchogue, when Alex and Louisa Hargrave planted the first Long Island vineyard. Today, the North Fork has many stops on its wine trail, and the South Fork boasts Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Channing Daughters Winery and Duck Walk Vineyard. On this week's 27Speaks podcast, the editors discuss the 50th anniversary of the Long Island wine region and how it has evolved into an agritourism destination.

On this week's 27Speaks, the editors discuss a selection of some of the top stories locally: air alerts due to wildfires in Canada, a deceased humpback whale in Shinnecock Bay, lights for East Hampton High School's athletic field, and the recent death of well-known local photographer Tom Kochie.

Local government officials recently joined East End charter boat captains in voicing objections to a decision by federal fisheries managers to impose strict new limits on the harvesting of striped bass. It's a move the fishermen say will hamstring their business and is counterproductive to conservation goals. This week, senior reporter Michael Wright joins the editors in a discussion of the new federal limits on striped bass and the reasoning behind them.

The Southampton Village Board is deeply divided in a way village residents have not seen before, with the four trustees in one camp and the mayor alone on an island. Each side is accusing the other of acting with political motivations in the weeks prior to the village election on June 16, as incumbent Mayor Jesse Warren and Trustee Bill Manger face off for the mayor’s seat and incumbent Trustees Roy Stevenson and Robin Brown face challengers Greg Centeno and Palmer Hudson, backed by the mayor. In this week’s 27Speaks, the editors comment on a recent Village Board meeting in which the conflict was on full display

Sag Harbor Village will celebrate the official opening of John Steinbeck Waterfront Park, named for the author of "The Grapes of Wrath" among other acclaimed works, at 11 a.m. on May 25, just in time for Memorial Day weekend. On this week's podcast, reporter Stephen J. Kotz joins the editors to discuss how the 1.25-acre parcel, once host to derelict buildings, was preserved for $10.5 million and turned over to a public use. The episode also includes landscape architect Ed Hollander's comments about designing the park from a recent Express Sessions.

Chairman of the Shinnecock Nation Council of Trustees Bryan Polite and attorney Tela Troge, a member of the Shinnecock Graves Protection Warrior Society, join the editors on 27Speaks this week to discuss the unmarked graves protection legislation that recently became law through the New York State budget process.

As Memorial Day weekend fast approaches, Sag Harbor Express publisher-emeritus Bryan Boyhan joins the editors to discuss the summer 2023 outlook, including events, traffic, real estate and more.

The New York State Board of Regents voted this month to ban the use of Native American names and imagery for school mascots. Shinnecock Council of Trustees Secretary Germain Smith sits on the Department of Education advisory council to address Indigenous education needs, and he joins the editors on 27Speaks this week to discuss the new mascot ban, why Native Americans like himself advocated for this change and how school districts can more effectively honor Long Island's Native American people.

At the age of 4, Water Mill's Rowland Egerton-Warburton became one of just 54 people in the world diagnosed with a rare neurodevelopmental genetic disorder. ADNP (Activity-Dependent Neuroprotective Protein) syndrome is a form of autism that can cause problems with neurological, cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal systems. Rowland, now 10, is nonverbal and receives interventional services while his mother, Genie Egerton-Warburton, has become her son’s biggest champion. April is Autism Awareness Month and as vice president of ADNP Kids Research Foundation, Genie joins the editors on 27Speaks this week to talk about her son’s condition and the importance of education and honest communication when it comes to addressing all forms of autism.