The West Tisbury selectmen agreed to allow Alpha Taxi this week to double the size of its cab fleet, over the objection of the two other taxi companies in town.

Alpha Taxi owner Benoit Baldwin requested two more taxi permits for his company, bringing the total to four. In a letter to the board, Mr. Baldwin said he needed the additional permits for an anticipated increase in future service, including for specially-chartered events in the coming months.

A company that transmits money to foreign countries was temporarily shut down by the state banking commissioner this month after remittances went missing, and a Brazilian businessman on the Vineyard said he will work to help collect refunds for Island residents who were caught unawares by the problem.

On April 10 the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks issued a temporary cease and desist order against Global Money Remittance, a subsidiary of InterTransfers of Miami, Fla. Global Money has been licensed to operate in Massachusetts since April 2006.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $128,109 for the business week ending on Friday, April 12, 2013. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

Home sports action picks up after April vacation on Monday with boys’ lacrosse taking on Dartmouth at 3 p.m. On Tuesday girls’ lacrosse hosts league opponent Coyle and Cassidy at 3 p.m., and sailing takes on Barnstable at the Sailing Camp Park at 3 p.m.

There are few things as enduring in American politics as the tension between individual freedom and community values. In Washington this week, the defeat of an amendment on background checks for gun owners marked a startling victory for those who don’t want government infringing on their personal rights.

The stakes are somewhat lower, but the core issue isn’t all that different in Chilmark, a town of about fifteen hundred year-round residents, where voters will decide on Monday whether to adopt a bylaw regulating the size of houses.

Eat more shellfish. Your mother might not have told you that, but she could have, at least on the Vineyard. Here shellfish is a readily-available and abundant source of inexpensive protein. You can buy it at your favorite fish market or go get it yourself in your favorite pond (shellfish permit required). And if you don’t eat shellfish you can still love them. These filter feeders, especially oysters, are known for their ability to remove pollutants such as nitrogen from saltwater ponds.

So is Vineyard Haven now the Taos of the East? I knew two years ago there was something very special about what lured us to permanent living in Vineyard Haven, but who knew it would be nationally noted?

Our Chamber of Commerce announced on April 3 that Vineyard Haven was named one of America’s best small town art places for 2013. In fact, it’s in the top 12.

When courage comes knocking

Open the door

Although your mind screams

how can it be
And your heart cries
why me?

Vineyard roots run strong and deep and I never have imagined calling anywhere else on earth home. I grew up on the Island, but plenty of people grow up plenty of places. They move, they call other cities, other towns their own. What has always rooted me to Martha’s Vineyard is what roots so many people here — a community with a heart much larger than the Island’s 100 square miles would suggest.

Two years ago my wife and I moved from Pensacola, Fla. to Oklahoma avenue in Vineyard Haven. One afternoon as I was riding my bicycle around the state forest, close to the Vineyard Youth Tennis club, I saw a big red rooster standing in the middle of the path. Having grown up in rural South Carolina I notice animals and have been doing animal rescue for years. The rooster was a magnificent sight, standing tall with his chest out. His feathers, full of incredible colors, sparkled in the sunlight.

Every time I went bicycling in that area I saw the rooster.