The annual winter concert is a showcase for students in the All-Island elementary strings program, from the very young with their pint-sized violins to older students on cello and viola.

Tonight’s gibbous moon appears high in the eastern sky after sunset. The moon is moving through the zodiacal constellation Taurus, the bull. The moon is near the star cluster Pleiades, also called seven sisters. The Pleiades is one of the most familiar star clusters you can observe in the winter, readily visible without binoculars.

On Saturday night, the moon advances closer to the head of the bull in Taurus. The head has the shape of a large “V” and like the Pleiades, it too is a star cluster and called the Hyades.

The town is the new owner of the old lighthouse, which has been perched a quarter mile out on the outer Edgartown harbor since 1939. The U.S. General Services Administration announced the transfer in ownership last week.

The Dukes County commission agreed this week to consider buying electricity from a startup wind energy company.

The commission voted Wednesday to approve a memorandum of understanding with Plymouth-based energy company Future Generation Wind LLC.

After 38 years of service, longtime Oak Bluffs emergency manager Peter Martell is stepping down from his post. His proudest accomplishment? "Nobody's died on my watch," he said.

Port town coffers are helped thanks to 50-cent ferry embarkation fee. Money is used for everything from summer traffic cops to harbor dredging and public safety budgets.

In Massachusetts, land used by a charitable organization qualifies for a tax exemption under state law. But a recent case in the town of Hawley, now going before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, could have wide implications.

It would seem self-evident that a key goal of conservation is to protect land from the effects of too much human interference. Certainly that was Teddy Roosevelt’s vision a century ago when one the country’s best-known hunters became its most ardent conservationist.

A steward of the state forest who traced his roots to the Buckeye State and loved the outdoors, motorcycles and above all his family. A retired businessman whose treasure-hunting life of adventure began in China and ended at East Chop with daily walks above the waters of Nantucket Sound. A landscaper with advanced academic degrees who loved to play the bagpipes. The son of Portuguese immigrants who headed a successful family-owned construction company.

The craft beer company Bad Martha Brewery is planning a microbrewery and retail space on part of Donaroma’s Nursery on Upper Main street. The beer company was started last spring by Jonathan Blum and Peter Rosbeck.