LATEST NEWS

Dr. Steven Kohler, Nantucket Cottage Hospital's medical director for urgent access, is urging island residents to take safety precautions with any fireworks over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. “Fireworks are not toys," Kohler said. "They are explosives that make noise, produce light or both. Fireworks are dangerous and can...

Nantucket’s Town Council Study Committee last week voted 8-0 to recommend a transition to a town council form of government that would ultimately have to be passed by the voters at a future Town Meeting - setting up a scenario in which voters would decide whether to give up their direct legislative control. Tom Dixon abstained from the vote because of his position on the Select Board.

A message from the Housing Office. I wanted to provide you with an important update on the Affordable Homes Act and the Local Option Real Estate Transfer Fee, which many of you have been following closely. On June 27, 2024, the Massachusetts Senate passed a $5.4 billion housing bond bill...

(June 27, 2024) Meet Amy Lee, president and CEO of Nantucket Cottage Hospital and a talented home chef. Today’s column will bring readers into Amy’s kitchen, where she applies her magic during her much-deserved downtime.

Beth Ann (Bentz) Bond, of North Andover and formerly of Nantucket, passed away peacefully at High Pointe Hospice House in Haverhill Monday, April 29, 2024. She was 89. Beth was born in York, Pa. Nov. 24, 1934 to Alfred Charles Bentz and Dorcas May (Slothower) Bentz, and grew up in the Hillcroft area of York.

(July 3, 2024) The first article Robert Bryce ever published was an anti-nuclear-power piece. Now, more than 40 years later, he says he is “100 percent pro-nuclear.” What changed?. “I bought a calculator,” Bryce said. “Anyone with even a modicum of understanding about energy and power knows that...

(July 3, 2024) For many young people on Nantucket, the summer marks a chance to make some money thanks to the influx of visitors and enjoy the perks of living on an island during peak season. Dylan Ottani is using his summer to raise money for a good cause, while also putting his physical abilities to the test.

(July 3, 2024) Nantucket goes all out for the Fourth of July, highlighted by a full day of activities on Main Street and around downtown. But there are plenty of other celebrations as well. Send your photos from Thursday's downtown celebration and fireworks, or any other Independence Day gathering or...

(July 3, 2024) If you are headed to Jetties Beach, Children’s Beach or Brant Point last week to celebrate our nation’s birthday, you may be curious about a landscape construction project on the corner of Easton and North Beach streets. Purchased in 2020 by the Nantucket Land Bank,...

Russell Jaehnig passed away peacefully in his Berkshire home Thursday, June 20, 2024. He was 53. Russell had been the executive chef at 21 Federal on Nantucket and most recently employed as executive chef at the Country Club of Pittsfield. His time on the island provided him with rich friendships, culinary successes and sweet memories with his wife and sons.

(July 3, 2024) Summer residents and high school students carried the day at this year’s Race for Open Space, which featured a record turnout of nearly 700 participants running and walking their way through the Milestone Cranberry Bog. James Maynard of Hingham won the 10K in 40 minutes, 5...

(July 3, 2024) Stocking the local food pantry is a good start, but it takes more than that to build a program that will help lessen food insecurity and provide people in need with access to decent meals. “The long-term goal in building a food security system is to not...

(July 3, 2024) The line for the very few microfilm viewers on the island just went from zero to around the block, as researchers and writers scrambled to deal with the news that the Atheneum’s newspaper archive has gone dark and will likely stay that way for five months or more.

July jumps forth in stunning fashion as the summer heat sets in. Sweet fragrances of swamp azalea waft on the breeze and beckon you toward wetland wandering. Journey with me once again into the heart of Nantucket’s Middle Moors to find the brilliant shine of summer sun off the series of kettle hole ponds known as the Pout Ponds.

(July 3, 2024) For a New England island, Nantucket has a surprising scarcity of seafood restaurants, especially the casual kind. Not anymore. After a year-long battle of epic proportions with neighbors, Straight Wharf Fish opened mid-June to rave reviews.

(July 3, 2024) Fairwinds, Nantucket’s counseling center, held its annual Blooming Bids fundraiser last Thursday at Bartlett’s Ocean View Farm. Those in attendance bid on planters and window boxes donated by the island’s landscapers against a backdrop of live music and lite bites.

For the second year in a row, the Select Board has ousted a longtime member of the Conservation Commission who was serving as the current chair. In its annual appointments last Wednesday, the board voted to reappoint Linda Williams and add newcomer John Schafer, founder of Stowe Mountain Builders, to the commission while leaving current chair Ian Golding the odd man out.

What’s the difference between a lightship basket and a friendship basket? You may have seen both terms applied to the famous wood and rattan woven baskets made in Nantucket. Lightship baskets, the original name given to this distinctive style, were originally made by the crews of lightships, which were essentially floating lighthouses, in the late 1800s. The work left the crew with long stretches of time with little to do, so they turned their attention to making baskets in the time-honored tradition of sailors making crafts to pass the time at sea.

The Dreamland is offering half-price tickets this summer to Nantucket year-round residents for a handful of in-concert events that include legendary singer/songwriter Patty Griffin on Friday, August 2nd, internationally famous actor and comedian T.J. Miller on Saturday, August 17th, and one-half of the highest-grossing rock duo of all time John Oates (Hall & Oates) on Sunday, August 25th.