The bugs are coming. This is the year of the locusts.

Actually, these cicadas have been around all along, but have yet to emerge from underground. They come out of hiding, taking to the bushes and trees once every 17 years.

William Wilcox, water resource planner for the Martha's Vineyard Commission, is getting ready and he'd like the community to do the same. Just listen for their sound and watch for their appearance. He'd like to document all the reports.

A federal judge ruled in lawsuits brought by conservation groups and last week issued a new set of restrictions for the fishing of groundfish in waters off the Cape and Islands. But the tight new regulations regarding cod, yellowtail flounder and haddock have spurred an avalanche of criticism from fishermen up and down the northeast coast.

For generations, the arrival of the herring at coastal ponds has been the Island's harbinger of spring. Now, major initiatives are under way across the Island to enhance waterways for the returning alewife.

This week, work began and is almost complete on the construction of a fish ladder at the head of Lake Tashmoo.

Politicians and citizens, librarians and state officials - all were in Chilmark Wednesday afternoon to attend the groundbreaking for the $2.1 million public library renovation project. But it was the children in attendance who stole the show.

The National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) have come under harsh attack from a number of different environmental organizations for not having done enough to protect fish stocks.

Barbara Flynn Leaves; Office Closes

Caseworker Retires; State May Close Welfare Office

By MANDY LOCKE

Barbara Flynn leans closer - peering over her calico-framed glasses - and gives cat, Two-Face, another stroke before whispering, \"I don\'t know what they\'re going to do.\"

Only the large desk cluttered with stacks of papers, a computer and a ringing telephone reminds the listener that this slight lady is anything other than a lifelong friend, that this office is anything other than a comfy living room.