An early morning fire Tuesday caused extensive damage to the Galley Restaurant on the Menemsha harbor, forcing the popular ice cream and sandwich shop to close for the remainder of the season.

Barbara Fenner, who owns the shop with her brother Frank Fenner and his wife Merrily, said yesterday the restaurant will reopen as usual next spring. But that offers little comfort for the hordes of young children and other regulars who flock to the restaurant for a burger or a cone.

Reports of its addictiveness have come all the way from the other side of the globe - people who used up the stash they got from their friends or relatives on the Island as a gift, and who need a refill, fast.

Partners in Fishing and Fishmongering: Father and Son Tied Like Bowline Knot

The Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday closed a public hearing for a planned 35,000 square-foot YMCA building, sending the project into the home stretch with few visible potholes in the road.

As is the custom following the close of a public hearing, the commission's land use planning committee met last night to discuss the project and possibly begin drafting a list of conditions for possible approval.

Citing a need to preserve old roadways that provide a vital link to the Island's past, the Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday unanimously agreed to nominate five ancient ways in Edgartown for inclusion into a special byways protection zone that could limit their use and future development.

Rural West Tisbury May Favor Hens and Roosters - Legally

By JACK SHEA

West Tisbury is zoned as a rural agricultural town and there is ample case law, some of it dating to the early 20th century, that supports the rights of rural property owners to keep a flock of chickens in the backyard.

This is the opinion of town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport, who told the town building and zoning inspector in a letter this week that it is his call to make in a dispute between two Longview neighbors over noisy roosters.