Living — and Buying — Locally

Try buying a souvenir T-shirt these days and you can see through the window that it’s half off, but the store is never open. Need some watertight Wellington boots, however, and you can find them here all winter during normal business hours. There are good Island businesses committed to serving Islanders’ needs, but the state of the economy is making every retailer’s challenge greater. We are all shopping less, so we all ought to shop strategically when we do.

January Thaw

After weeks on end of snow and ice it was nice to see the grass again this week, if even for a few brief moments when the sunshine followed a rainstorm which followed a snowstorm. So what if it’s not really green — it’s our old friend grass. Hello, we haven’t seen you in awhile.

On Ice

For a Good Cause

The Community Preservation Act has been a fact of Island life for a relatively short period of time — it was only three years ago that all six towns had finally signed on to participate in the benefits of the state legislation, which matches a three per cent property tax surcharge with state money. This year the match has dropped below one hundred per cent, so suddenly the funds are even more precious. Community Preservation Act money may be used for open space, historic preservation and affordable housing.

Town Coffers on Empty

Obama’s Place in History, and Ours

A man with a keen sense of history will make history Tuesday when he takes the oath as the 44th president of these United States, a nation now confronting challenges of historic magnitude.