The Edgartown selectmen two weeks ago quietly gave a nod of approval to a plan which would convert an area of the inner harbor between the Reading Room and the Edgartown Yacht Club into a marina with up to 100 slips.

A provisional plan for the marina was presented to the selectmen by Edgartown resident Michael Berwind at a Friday morning meeting on Oct. 19, three days before the regular selectmen’s meeting. The Friday meeting was legally posted.

Early reports indicate a solid but not spectacular bay scalloping season on the Island this year, and shellfish constables report a healthy crop of seed for next year’s harvest.

Commercial scallopers are enjoying early success outside town harbors in Edgartown, Vineyard Haven, Chilmark and Oak Bluffs, and near-record opening prices of $18 per pound for their catch.

Shellfish constables are not expecting a banner year on the ponds.

A group of Oak Bluffs residents filed a lawsuit against the town last week to block the release of $200,000 in Community Preservation Committee funds approved at town meeting for the Veira Park expansion project.

The sudden resignation of Martha’s Vineyard Museum executive director Matthew Stackpole has shaken the 85-year-old county historical society as it plots a move from its home base in Edgartown to West Tisbury.

Mary-Ashley Lincoln Weds

Kyle Charles Cohagan

Mary-Ashley Lincoln married Kyle Charles Cohagan on July 14 at the Castle Hill Inn in Newport, R.I.

The bride is the daughter of Patricia J. Lincoln of Madison, Conn.

The bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dean Cohagan of Duxbury and of Greenville, S.C.

Peter Regan officiated.

The bride was given in marriage by her maternal uncle, Frank Rispoli Jr. of New Haven, Conn.

The maid of honor was Megan Crowe of Madison, Conn.

The irony of Oak Bluffs is that people so loved its beaches, they set about destroying them.

They built so close to the ocean’s edge they had to defend their development with a seawall. And the seawall prevented the natural replenishment of the sand, so the beach eroded away.

Charter School

Monday, Nov. 5: Whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce or meat sauce, baked delicata squash, pesto bread, apple sauce and milk.

Tuesday, Nov. 6: Kale soup with meat or vegetarian, French bread with butter, mixed fruit and milk.

Wednesday, Nov. 7: Sub sandwiches (meatball and cheese, tuna salad or roasted veggie and cheese), rosemary potatoes, pineapple and milk.

Thursday, Nov. 8: Pizza (plain cheese, pepperoni or broccoli and mushroom), tossed salad, fresh fruit and milk.

Edgartown Book Fair

The Edgartown School Book Fair is next week, offering everyone in the Island community the opportunity to find new and classic books for children and adults for sale at the school’s library.

The fair begins with a preview day, Monday, Nov. 5, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, the fair is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a special Family Literacy Night event from 6 to 8 p.m. Drinks and a light snack will be provided.

An American president rarely speaks on a fisheries issue, but George W. Bush did so two weeks ago.

President Bush recently came out with an executive order directing the National Marine Fisheries Service to prohibit the commercial harvesting of striped bass and red drum in federal waters. A moratorium already is in place on the catching of striped bass in federal offshore waters for all commercial and recreational fishermen, so nothing changes.

Total catch and catch by species during the 2007 annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby recorded large increases over last year’s derby.

The catch was the best since 2004 and among the best in the past eight years for all of the four species.

The total catch of 3,099 fish was 35 per cent higher than in 2006. Compared with 2006, striped bass were up eight per cent, false albacore were up almost 376 per cent, bonito were 204 per cent higher and bluefish nearly four per cent higher.