John Stanwood performs regularly at the Portuguese American Club, in particular as one half of the music duo Rosie (Guerin) and John. Recently, he took on a new role: he helped design a stage for the club.

The Island construction industry has fallen off sharply in recent months, most indicators show, with a growing number of carpenters and tradesmen out of work.

Although contractors are reluctant to speak publicly about the problem, by most accounts the construction trades on the Island, which form a key segment of the Vineyard economy, are seeing the immediate effects of a deepening national recession.

Lumberyards report business is down and there are many reports of carpenters who are looking for work — with no success.

A belated confession and a stolen safe recovered in a wooded area off the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road led to five arrests this weekend in connection with a two-year-old burglary at the E.C. Cottle lumberyard on Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury.