In an effort to attract more locals to watch over its often understaffed easterly beaches, the Town of Southampton is launching a new lifeguard certification course in Bridgehampton this month. Nicholas Grasso reports in NEWSDAY that the basic lifeguard training course, for which anyone can register online, will begin May 27 at the Bridgehampton Tennis &amp; Surf Club. For those looking for “surf” lifeguard certification, meaning they are qualified to watch over swimmers in ocean waters as well as the calmer bay areas, training will be held at Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack starting June 7. Scholarships to cover certification costs are available through the STAR AquaCenter, a Southampton-based nonprofit. Southampton Town will also host lifeguard training at Suffolk County Community College’s Eastern Campus in Riverhead, as it has in previous years. That course will begin May 13.Kristen Doulos, the Southampton Town parks director, said she generally has no trouble finding staff for the town's four beaches west of the Shinnecock Canal. But most lifeguards, especially those coming from hamlets west of the town, do not want to drive farther east on an often-bottlenecked Sunrise Highway to work, she said.Doulos hopes the new training course in Bridgehampton will attract local high school and college students, as well as teachers who have the summers off, to cover its eastern beaches: Flying Point, Foster Memorial, Mecox, Sagg Main and W. Scott Cameron.“Sometimes we can’t open all five beaches out there,” Doulos told Newsday on Friday.***More than 4,500 people ended up in Long Island hospital emergency departments in 2024 for what the state calls cannabis syndrome, a reflection of what experts say is a lack of knowledge of the potential negative effects of marijuana. Heavy, long-term use of marijuana can lead to nausea, vomiting and severe stomach aches. Overconsumption, even once, can lead to paranoia, psychosis or anxiety. Young children can experience breathing problems. David Olson reports in NEWSDAY that experts say people can consume marijuana responsibly, but it’s easier than in the past to overconsume because cannabis is far more potent. The THC concentration in cannabis has risen from 1.5% in 1980 to 30% or more today."We have this notion of, ‘Oh, it’s benign. My grandfather used it,’" said R. Lorraine Collins, director of the Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research at the University at Buffalo and a public health professor there. "It’s not your grandfather’s cannabis anymore. It’s way more potent."A small but worrying number of cases involve young children who find gummies and other products that look like candy and unknowingly ingest cannabis, doctors say. More cases involve teenagers: People 15 to 19 have by far the highest rate of emergency department visits and hospitalizations in New York of all age groups, state data shows.Some of those getting higher than expected are older adults who may not have used marijuana for decades, in part because they didn’t want to seek out an illegal dealer. With legalization, they are comfortable going into a licensed store, said Jeffrey Reynolds, president and CEO of the Garden City-based Family and Children’s Association, which provides substance use services. Surveys show that, in the era of expanded legalization, marijuana use is declining among adolescents but increasing significantly among middle-age and older adults.***The Southampton History Museum will hold a Spring Fair this coming Saturday, May 10, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the grounds of Rogers Mansion, 17 Meeting House Lane in Southampton. The event will celebrate history and culture and feature demonstrations by skilled tradespeople, live performances of 19th-century music, stories of famous and lesser-known Long Island legends, interactive crafts, and games and toys for all ages, and...

New Southampton Town solar array marks milestone in reuse of dumping sites