The cost of living on Martha's Vineyard is about 60 per cent above the national average, and housing costs are almost double, according to a study carried out by the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

Across all indices, or categories measured, from groceries to health care to transport and utilities, the Island was far more expensive than the national average. The standout figure was housing, which scored 196, or 96 per cent above the average.

Peter Martell, owner of the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs, is in deep trouble with his summer staffing. He opens for the season next month, and he has just learned he will not get the staff he needs to make the place run.

"I'm opening May 3 and I've got three desk clerks and I need seven. I don't know where the other four are coming from. I need five chambermaids; I've got two," he said.

After some three years of courtship, Cape Air and JetBlue Airways chose Valentine's Day to announce a marriage of customer convenience for passengers to and from Logan International Airport.

Beginning next month, passengers arriving from or departing to 20 destinations across America with JetBlue will be able to connect far more easily with Cape Air flights to the Cape and Islands.

A quiet proposal to open a Dunkin' Donuts on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven was approved by the Tisbury board of health last month, but the Needham m

Barbara Dacey knows what keeps a song on the radio. For the past 18 years, she's worked at WMVY, sifting through popular music and engineering a special blend of tunes for the eclectic Island radio station.

The station is throwing itself a 20th birthday party at the Hot Tin Roof on Thursday, June 12, with singer/songwriters Dar Williams and Patty Larkin. The event is aimed at dedicated listeners, as tickets are not for sale, but are being given away over the air.

Just five years after a star-studded cast of investors revived the Hot Tin Roof, the legendary Edgartown nightclub partly owned by Carly Simon is closing down, the victim of a graying Island population and a hard-nosed town policy. The building is up for sale at a price of $1.1 million.