In an extraordinary outcome, Tisbury’s referendum on whether town restaurants should be allowed to sell beer and wine with meals has ended in a tie vote, 690 in favor and 690 against. The result means the controversy over the proposed measure, which has run for almost three years, will run for at least a few days more, pending a manual recount of all the computer ballots.

Tisbury town clerk Marion Mudge said in her 24 years in the position, she could not recall any other tied vote.

The town of Edgartown moved this week to formally join the fight against Cape Wind, both out of specific concern about the impact of the project and a broader concern about the erosion of the powers of local government.

On Monday the selectmen authorized town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport to file a motion to intervene in the proceedings before the Energy Facilities Siting Board in support of the Cape Cod Commission and the towns of Yarmouth and Barnstable, which oppose Cape Wind.

Bruce Doten tried just about everything to deter Tisbury voters from their free-spending ways at Wednesday night’s annual town meeting.

He cited Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s dark views of the state of the economy. He quoted dead Presidents. He claimed the town was breaking the law by spending so much. He rebuked Tisbury parents for the way they raised their children.

Just a few months ago Oak Bluffs leaders idealistically looked to the future and discussed plans like the renovation of the town waterfront, the creation of a fund to pay for employees’ post retirement benefits and the dredging of Sengekontacket Pond to reduce bacteria levels.

But much like the New England weather, things change pretty quickly on the Oak Bluffs political landscape.

West Tisbury voters will confront their third — and what many hope will be the final — decision on renovation of their old town hall when they convene for the annual town meeting on Tuesday night.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the West Tisbury elementary school. Town moderator Pat Gregory will call the meeting to order, as he has since 1991.

The annual town election will be held on Thursday, April 10 from noon to 8 p.m. at the public safety building.

A lean budget, down two per cent overall on last year, and compiled in the shadow of a darkening national economic scene, will go before voters at the Edgartown annual town meeting next Tuesday, April 8. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Old Whaling Church on Main street. Philip J. Norton Jr. will preside.

Despite lingering financial and legal questions, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Monday decided the show must go on and unanimously voted to accept a proposal from the organizers of the Boston Pops concert to again hold the popular event this summer in Ocean Park.

Oyster growers are as competitive as they come. “Insanely competitive,” according to Bob Rheault. As president of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Mr. Rheault also encounters cultivators of clams, quahaugs and mussels, but none rivals the oyster farmer for competitive spirit.

“We all have this conviction that our oyster tastes the best,” said Mr. Rheault, an oyster farmer himself, “and, if you don’t have this conviction, you probably shouldn’t be in this business.”

Although the three candidates for Oak Bluffs selectmen this year boast vastly different backgrounds — one is a former teacher, one worked for a resource recovery corporation and the other is a former union president — all agree the town is at a crossroads, and must start changing the way it does business.

He is a retired college professor with additional background in journalism and environmental advocacy. As co-chairman of the West Tisbury finance committee he focuses on town finances and long-term financial planning.

And now Richard Knabel wants to be a West Tisbury selectman.

A New York city native, Mr. Knabel was educated at City College of New York and Cornell University before a career as a professor of physical science at the State University of New York, Westchester Community College.