Three years ago, the Nantucket bay scallop harvest suddenly more than doubled in size, from around 15,000 bushels to more than 32,000. It was the year the industry ate its future.

The following season the harvest crashed. The total catch in 2005-06 was one-sixth as large — just 5,500 bushels. It was even worse last season, when fewer than 4,000 bushels were hauled up, the lowest tally since they began keeping records 30 years earlier.

The Permanent Endowment Fund for Martha’s Vineyard, the Island’s community foundation, made grants to 14 nonprofit organizations for a total of $28,000 in October, chairman Deborah L. Hale has announced.

The foundation provided a grant to Martha’s Vineyard Museum to support the development of an American history course curriculum for high school. Development of the new course work will be done in collaboration with the Vineyard school system.

Peace Council

The Martha’s Vineyard Peace Council will meet on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven to plan for activities. All are welcome. Call Sarah Nevin at 508-627-8536 for more information.

Tibetan monk Geshe Tenzin Demchok, from Dharamsala, will give a an evening talk on Monday, Nov. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Vineyard Haven, hosted by Natural Therapeutics Center. The suggested donation is $20 at the door.

The remnants of Hurricane Noel lashed the Island this past Saturday, bringing down power lines, sinking at least two boats and tossing several others ashore. Although no injuries were linked to the storm, a number of Vineyard homes were without electricity for well into Sunday. Steamship Authority ferry service to the Vineyard shut down at noon Saturday and didn’t resume until Sunday morning.

Health Talk

An afternoon conversation to introduce a new model of integrative health consultation on the Vineyard will be offered by Soundhealth Integrative Medicine on Sunday, Nov. 11 from 3 to 4 p.m. at Che’s Lounge on Main street in Vineyard Haven. More information is available by calling 508-693-2833.

Jo Ann Murphy last weekend had a powerful perspective on the dramatically changing role of women in the U.S. military.

The Dukes County veterans agent was in Washington, D.C., for the 10th anniversary of Women in Military Service of America, joining 50 other women veterans from New England and several thousand more from the rest of the country.

The Martha's Vineyard Commission last week unanimously agreed to review the Joseph G. Moujabber garage along the North Bluff in Oak Bluffs as a development of regional impact (DRI), setting the stage for the most comprehensive review of the controversial project to date.

Commissioners agreed that because the three-story building potentially affects views from one of the main gateways to the Island, it warranted a full DRI review.

The newly created Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank will officially open for business following Veterans Day weekend, as a result of the merger of the Martha’s Vineyard Cooperative Bank and Dukes County Savings Bank.

Preliminary plans for converting part of the old Edgartown School to a performing arts center were presented to Edgartown selectmen by the school reuse committee on Monday.

Committee co-chairmen Stuart Fuller and James Cisek detailed plans to convert the old gymnasium and cafeteria into a theatre space, along the lines of Tisbury’s Katharine Cornell Theatre. The group plans to seek $64,000 in community preservation act funding for initial design work and expects final building costs to reach $500,000.