Week in Review: 'Pink Slime' Rejected, Dog-napping Reported, Plastic Bags Targeted

Take a look back at the week's top headlines and check out some news you may have missed. Click on the headlines for more on each story.

Despite a higher price tag, cafeterias will opt for ground beef free of a controversial meat product that has made national headlines lately. The common name is "lean beef trimmings," the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls it "lean finely textured beef," but lately the product is often called "pink slime."

A Bridgehampton man said he initially thought his family's dog had run away from his Lumber Lane home, but after a tip from a neighbor, he now believes Charlie, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was stolen.

The Southampton Town Board on Tuesday appointed a number of retailers and environmental advocacy groups to a new task force designed to encourage recycling plastic bags and favoring reusable bags — a consolation prize for advocates of an outright townwide ban on plastic shopping bags.

Over 50 East End anglers went down to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to rally on Capitol Hill.

NBC 4 New York put spotlight on East End 'staycationing' getaways for the spring and summer.

Hamptons Collegiate Baseball is looking for housing for its players during the 2012 season.

Independence Party switches from 2010 endorsement of the Democratic incumbent to 2012 endorsement of repeat Republican challenger Randy Altschuler.

The Southampton Town Board met Friday with representatives of developer Robert Morrow during a work session on his plan for Tuckahoe Center, a proposed shopping center on County Road 39 that has raised the ire of many residents but found support among some speakers at the meeting.

The Southampton Village Board had it out again Tuesday with one of the fiercest critics of a plan to amend village zoning law to allow for a supermarket to be built in the Highway Business district. Abraham Wallach, a village resident who has promised to sue if the Village Board adopts the supermarket legislation, came before the board during Tuesday evening’s work session to pitch an alternative plan that he says would resolve the village’s need for a new supermarket while avoiding changes to the zoning code and a costly lawsuit over allegations of illegal spot zoning.

The Sag Harbor Zoning Board of Appeals has decided to hold off on making a decision on whether a sculpture by Larry Rivers known as "Legs" can remain on display on the side of Ruth Vered and Janet Lehr's house on Madison Street, reports.

"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" at the , directed by Michael Disher, strides into its second weekend of performances with three positive reviews blowing on its back.

In an independent film that begins shooting on the East End this month, two rich kids from Mexico who came to New York City to party are caught up in case of mistaken identity and end up in the Hamptons after fleeing an INS agent.

"They Come to America," a documentary that takes a nonpartisan look at the human and financial cost of illegal immigration, will have its big screen debut at Guild Hall in East Hampton on March 31.

As the name of this dish suggests, it is like three pork entrees in one.

Which local restaurants have you checked out for Hamptons Restaurant Week, or plan to visit? Would you recommend them to others?

Lots of "Hamptony' things have been planting themselves on the North Fork — but how many North Fork references do you see in the actual Hamptons?

Shout out in the comments what comes to mind when viewing this piece of art.

A 100-acre parcel in Yaphank east of a new railroad depot is being eyed as a potential site for a casino run by the , Newsday reports.

Also in the week's police reports, $20,000 credit fraud attempt, $30,000 burglary, and a liquor theft.

Also in the week's police logs, DWI charged in North Haven and Southampton man charged with circumventing an interlock device.

John A. Ward, a great son of Sag Harbor, was buried Monday at St. Andrews Cemetery in Sag Harbor. He died on March 15 at the age of 90.

"I can't cry. He was full of joy," said Suzanne Marchisella, who has worked at the church since Monsignor Trench hired her in 1989. "He embraced everyone. Anyone who needed to talk to him could talk to him."