At a hearing this week, Vineyarders threw their weight behind a local option transfer fee, the new seasonal community designation and other measures intended to alleviate the state’s housing affordability crisis. 

In recent years, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission strengthened its oversight of century-old buildings that lie outside designated town historic districts — oversight that has been met with increasing resistance from some homeowners.

Declaring a state of emergency expedites the permitting process to dredge and restore sand in the area and opens the town to additional sources of funding and reimbursement from the Massachusetts emergency management agency (MEMA).

Last week, civil engineer Douglas Hoehn told the town’s conservation commission that his client, real estate investor David Malm, will no longer be moving forward with the exercise spa at 81 South Water street.

The Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and its 60th anniversary at the annual MLK Membership Luncheon at the P.A. Club Monday afternoon.

After the tinsel and lights have been put back into storage, Christmas trees on the Island are getting a second calling.