There is an inherent danger in reading the essays and books of Edward Hoagland. Suddenly, nothing else compares. Not just other books or other writers, but real life too. The phone rings unanswered, e-mails amass with no reply, and social engagements are shrugged off with little to no guilt. When under the spell of Mr. Hoag-land’s prose, the rest of us talkers or writers become toddlers, mere fumblers of language just embarking on our ABC’s.

Two women were killed and a third injured after their car crashed into a tree on private land belonging to the Kennedy family Tuesday afternoon.

The driver, 70-year-old Judith Morse from West Tisbury, and front-seat passenger Susan S. Lombard, 69, of Lyman, NH, were pronounced dead at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, according to the Massachusetts state police. The rear-seat passenger, Susan Papanicolaou, 68 of Minneapolis, sustained minor injuries and was treated at the hospital.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission got its first look at the Edgartown National Bank’s ambitious plans to demolish Oak Bluffs restaurant Oyster Bar and build a three-story building in its place. On Monday, building plans presented to commissioners included a bank branch, two commercial units and four two-story townhouse condominiums at the site of the former Circuit avenue restaurant.

It may feel like winter has returned, but harbingers of spring continue to make their presence known. Cynthia Schillings of Vineyard Haven reports that the first mayflowers of the year are in bloom on Ramble Trail Preserve, a land bank trail in Tisbury.

Edgartown restaurant Il Tesoro at the Terrace is in danger of having its liquor license suspended.

The South Summer street restaurant, located inside the Charlotte Inn, was supposed to reopen by Feb. 5 following a short closure. As of now, it remains shuttered. Selectman Margaret Serpa said at an alcohol hearing Monday that if the restaurant was not reopened by Saturday, March 30, the selectmen would suspend the year-round alcohol license.

Il Tesoro owner A.J. Black did not attend the meeting.

The fatal shooting of a 64-year-old man by his estranged wife at their West Tisbury home Friday was a homicide during an act of self-defense, the district attorney said Monday.

Cape and Islands district attorney Michael O’Keefe said in a press release that the medical examiner found the cause of death for Kenneth R. Bloomquist was gunshot wounds to the chest sustained while assaulting his wife, Cynthia C. Bloomquist, with a shotgun. She will not be charged in shooting.

Regional high school freshman Gordon Moore dubbed his entry into the 15th Annual Linguini Bridge Contest “awesome,” and on Monday morning, the small pasta-and-glue creation lived up to its name.

The Awesome Bridge, weighing just 342 grams, took home the top prize in the contest, supporting 1500 pounds with nary a crack. Last year’s winning bridge also withstood the near-tonnage of 1,500 pounds. The school record, held by Alexia Schroeder (class of ‘09) is 2,115 pounds.

Next weekend, March 30 and 31, the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School will present its annual theater production. This year they take on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play with essentially four plots in one: a royal wedding, prank-playing fairies, a love quadrangle and workmen trying to put on a play. Something for everyone indeed.

The Hunger Games are almost here. Talk to almost any high school student or even teacher at MVRHS about the best-selling trilogy by Suzanne Collins and they’ll have nothing to express but their enthusiastic love for the series. Some, like my friends and I, will say with glee, “March 23! March 23!”

March 23 is the release date for the highly anticipated movie adaptation of “The Hunger Games.”

The March 16 Gazette includes an article on the Chilmark Planning Board’s open discussion regarding regulating large homes. The debate has proven to be an interesting and an important one, when considering future development on the Island. Although I am quoted in the article, the reporter wrote an incomplete account of my full quote and/or intent.