Ferry cancellations and beach closures were widespread Friday as the remnants of tropical storm Elsa lashed Martha’s Vineyard with gusty winds and pelting rain.

On Sunday night take a look towards the western sky about a half hour after sunset.

Eighteenth-century British statesman and politician Robert Walpole made a cynical and apt connection between folks and fungus that could be relevant today. 

Here we are in the birding doldrums of early summer and the southward migration just starting with the arrival of the early shorebirds.

Sam Hart, Islands regional director at the Trustees of Reservations, will leave his position to start a new job at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

The Earth’s two closest neighboring planets, Mars and Venus, will look so close together in the nights ahead.