The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last Thursday unanimously approved a family plan to protect Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury as a working farm for the future.

The plan was submitted by the Fischer family which has owned the 91-acre farm nestled between two coves of the Tisbury Great Pond for several generations.

Pending legislation to make striped bass a game fish in Massachusetts was further delayed this week when a public hearing was postponed at the request of backers of the bill.

The hearing by the joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture was due to be held on Tuesday on Beacon Hill, but has now been rescheduled for January.

Cape and Islands Sen. Robert O’Leary and Rep. Timothy Madden both sit on the committee.

Charlotte Inn Stars

The Charlotte Inn in Edgartown was honored this month with a 2010 Forbes Four Star Award by Forbes Travel Guide and named one of the top 20 small resorts in the United States as voted by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine.

The Forbes Travel Guide has defined the industry’s highest standard for excellence for over 50 years. The Charlotte Inn is one of only 160 hotels to achieve the 2010 Forbes Four Star award.

Antiques Roadshow regulars Sara Wishart and Stuart Whitehurst of Skinner Auctioneers & Appraisers will evaluate items at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s second annual Appraisal Day, on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the museum campus on School street in Edgartown.

The cost is $10 per item, or three items for $25. Photos of large items are acceptable, but no stamps, coins, jewelry or musical instruments please. This is a fund-raising event to benefit the museum’s ongoing operations.

Island Plan

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission will hold a public hearing on the Island Plan on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Public input was sought during the plan’s preparation; this hearing, at 33 New York avenue in Oak Bluffs, is the last before the plan is finalized: it is scheduled for adoption on Dec. 10.

View the plan at islandplan.org, and at the MVC office. It highlights changes to the plan as a result of public comments on the draft released last summer.

For details, call 508-693-3453.

Accusing West Tisbury businessman Paul Garcia of bolting on a $10,000 debt and dissolving his corporation to avoid paying it, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) came out swinging this week in the dispute that erupted when the deli still popularly called Back Alley’s closed abruptly at the start of this month.

When he shuttered Garcia’s Deli and Bakery after more than seven years, Mr. Garcia blamed his landlords, the tribe, for raising his rent, calling them incompetent and dysfunctional.