Week in Review: Blizzard Strikes, Buckhead's Files Variance and Eruv Heads to Court

1. Supervisor: Southampton Fared Well in Blizzard

Despite the blizzard of 2013 blanketing a whopping 18 to 25 inches of snow across Southampton Town, Anna Throne-Holst, the town's supervisor, said the town fared well. See a gallery of reader photos from the storm here. 

2. Hampton Bays Churches Help Homeless During the Storm

During a fierce storm that brought heavy snow on Friday night, some of the most vulnerable in the community -- the homeless -- found themselves in grave, life-threatening danger, some with nothing more than a tent to protect them from the harsh elements.

But as conditions began to worsen, volunteers from Maureen's Haven -- a program run under the auspices of the Peconic Community Council in Riverhead to provide the East End's homeless with shelter and food during the cold winter months -- banded together to provide the homeless with shelter from the storm.

3. Amber Alert Canceled; Parents Arrested

Southampton parents will be charged with endangering the welfare of a child and custodial interference on top of family court charges after evading Child Protective Services with their two young children, according to Southampton Town police.

4. Bike Shop Video Blog Gets Recognition From YouTube

With nearly 600 video blogs to date on YouTube, Westhampton Beach's Bike N' Kite was excited to learn that its YouTube channel, BikemanforUhas gained recognition, being named one YouTube's world's best how-to channels.

The BikemanforU channel was one of 15 to receive the honor that was announced on Jan. 28.

5. Free Youth Program Tackles Wrestling Skills

Most parents are always on the hunt for an activity to enroll their young children in. They look to dance and karate schools, as well as little league and soccer programs. But, many don’t know that in their backyard there is a free wresting program that has slipped under the radar for nearly 9 years.

6. 

Land in Westhampton, known as the Bailey Motel property, will be preserved in perpetuity after the Suffolk County legislature, on Tuesday, voted to approve the purchase of the land through a 50/50 split with the Town of Southampton.

7. Buckhead's Grill Files for ZBA Variances

Six months after the Village of Westhampton Beach filed a lawsuit against a new proposed eatery at the former Finn's location on Old Riverhead Road, called Buckhead's Grill, for violating stop work orders, Leopold Balestrieri, the restaurant operator, filed a zoning board of appeals application requesting variances.

8. Legislature Votes Unanimously to Approve New Sex Offender Plan

After years of public outcry over two homeless sex offender trailers parked in Riverside and Westhampton, the Suffolk County Legislature voted unanimously on Thursday to green light County Executive Steve Bellone's new sex offender plan.

9. Judge Sets Timeline for Eruv Cases; Dismisses One of Three

After months of motions and briefs filed back and forth, Westhampton's eruv controversy was back in the courts this week, when oral arguments commenced before Judge Leonard D. Wexler's on Monday. During the hearing, Wexler, according to a New York Times report, dismissed one of three cases and set a timeline to hear the remaining two cases.

10. Seventh Grader Looks to Help Fellow Students With Backpack Fundraiser

Ariana DeMattei, a 7th grader at Westhampton Beach Middle School, knows her goal to fill 150 backpacks with school supplies for area elementary school students in need by the start of the next school year is an ambitious one, but she said with the help of the community, she knows she can get it done.

11. Manhattan Lawyer Sentenced for Hitting Bicyclist While Drunk in Quogue

A Manhattan lawyer was sentenced to three and a third to ten years in prison by a judge on Jan. 28 after pleading guilty in December to driving drunk and fleeing the scene of a crime last summer.

12. 

In an effort to raise money to purchase a wind turbine for the Hampton Bays School district, Earth Club students at Hampton Bays Middle School are asking residents to participate in a program called, "Dining to Donate."