Week in Review: Man Dies in Wainscott Fire; Town and Trustees Tussle Over Sand

Took a look back on the week's top headlines, and catch some news you might have missed:

Click on the headlines for more on each story.

Bridgehampton Fire Department responded to Cozy Cabins on Montauk Highway in Wainscott  Friday night, where a cabin was engulfed in flames, resulting in the death of one person, according to East Hampton Town police.

Southampton Town Code Enforcement executed a search warrant Sunday at a Water Mill estate advertised as “The Ultimate Luxury Rental in the Hamptons.”

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has amended its five-year capital plan to budget for light diesel “scoot” trains on the Montauk and Greenport branches of the the Long Island Rail Road, a move that could make life much easier for commuters on the East End come 2014.

A new East Hampton charity foundation is soliciting applications from other East End charities in need of support, as well as from people looking to pursue a career in human services.

Bay Street Theatre trustees and Sag Harbor School District officials met Tuesday to discuss the prospect of collaborating on establishing a new performing arts theater, a plan that would ensure Bay Street could stay in Sag Harbor after its lease on its Long Wharf location ends in 2013, The Sag Harbor Express reports.

February is the month of love, with sweethearts exchanging roses and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, but did you know it's also Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month? , a domestic violence services agency based in East Hampton, has partnered with five East End high schools to help bring awareness of the latter. Participating boys basketball teams are donning purple knee-high athletic socks with the Retreat's logo during certain home games throughout the month of February in a show of support.

Tracy Vega, who grew up in Sag Harbor, has made a career in being an expert on self-defense and she will be demonstrating some tactics on an upcoming national television show.

If you are interested in self-defense, there are several classes and workshops offered nearby.

After receiving complaints of deer devouring thousands of dollars worth of plantings, the Southampton Village Board on Thursday set a public hearing date for a law that would allow residents to install deer fencing with a permit.

With a revised pitch, Southampton Town Police Chief William Wilson is again urging the Town Board to approve expenditures to upgrade the Police Department’s communications and record-keeping technology.

The wants to get its hands on the Town Trustees’ sand reserves to reduce the cost of the replenishment of , but the Trustees are wading carefully, saying that giving away a valuable commodity for free could jeopardize their standing when they defend their authority in court.

The Southampton Town Democratic Committee last week turned in more than 300 signatures for President Barack Obama's renominating petition to get on the New York State ballot — more than any other town in the First Congressional District, which spans from Smithtown to East Hampton and Greenport.

Real estate broker Robert Futterman, the CEO of Manhattan-based firm Robert K. Futterman & Associates, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony driving while intoxicated charge and a misdemeanor count of driving while impaired by drugs following an August arrest in Bridgehampton, The Real Deal reports.

A North Sea woman thought her diamond ring on a platinum setting was safe in her closet for months, but when she checked on it recently she discovered it missing, according to police.

Southampton Town police arrest reports for east of the Shinnecock Canal for Jan. 30 to Feb. 6.

Crimes and suspicious incidents from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 reported to .

Sag Harbor Village Police Department arrests for the week of Jan. 31 to Feb. 6.

Southampton Village Police Department arrest reports for Jan. 31 through Feb. 6.

The accidental death of Christian Wölffer on Dec. 31, 2008, at the height of the recession, could have meant the downfall of his Sagaponack vineyard and stables, but Wölffer smartly took on an asset manager just two years earlier to ensure the business would be self sustaining, according to a Fox Business report.

Readers had mixed views on plans for shuttle trains on the Twin Forks.

The Village of East Hampton is considering making real estate and construction signs smaller and more uniform, the Town of Shelter Island has already condensed realtor's signs to the size of something that could fit in your mailbox, and now the Village of North Haven has proposed doing away with them altogether.