Nantucket Current

01/06/2026

The Nantucket Saves blood drive is Tuesday and Wednesday - there are still some appointment slots open for the Wednesday session. Register here! https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=NANTUCKET&cid=siebel&med=email&source=bdc_email&utm_source=siebel&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bdc_email

31/05/2026

"We had 14 boats on the beach this morning," Harbormaster Sheila Lucey told the Current Sunday after the storm passed through. "Some have already been refloated and we have had contact with several of the owners and handlers."

30/05/2026

Three members of Nantucket Girl Scout Troop 66120 were honored in Camp Cedar Hill in Waltham during the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Council Gold Award Ceremony last week. Island residents Emery Bouchard, Carley Ray, and Hildee Mederios were among 33 girls in the state to receive this honor and are the first in Nantucket Girl Scouts History to be bestowed with this award.

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

30/05/2026

A lawsuit has been filed in the Massachusetts District Court against the Artists Association of Nantucket by the non-profit's former director of adult programming, Elizabeth Congdon, who claims she was unlawfully terminated for allowing a 15-year-old child with autism to participate in one of the AAN’s adult classes.

“AAN and the Board took the official position that Ms. Congdon was wrong and showed ‘poor judgment’ when she gave the neurodivergent art student equal access to the class as compared to nondisabled/neurotypical students. That is why they put her on probation and then fired her,” Congdon’s lawsuit stats.

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

29/05/2026

Fourth of July update: Father Max Wolf said St. Paul’s Church on Fair Street would take up the mantle of hosting a reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights on the morning of July 4th. Time is TBD. Father Wolf said it was not about repudiating the Unitarian Church’s position, but rather bringing people together. “Those documents are aspirational,” he said. “We may not be there yet but we felt it was improtant to gather together and try to live up to the promises our country has made.”

29/05/2026

Roughly 50 Nantucket Public School students participated in this year’s Special Olympics at Vito Capizzo Stadium Friday morning. Over 20 high school student’s volunteered their time to support the participants and run stations while hundreds of students packed the bleachers to cheer them on during the games.

Nantucket Public Schools Wellness Department Head Natalie Thompson oversees the event. She said that the students who gave their time are members of their “PE Pals” class and from the school’s “Best Buddies” group. There is a wide array of games available, ranging from bowling to hula hooping to relay races.

“I think this is the sixth year I’ve really taken it over and I think it’s the fifth year that it’s been a majority of the high school kids that are volunteering,” Thompson said. “We have a PE Pals class, which is essentially our adaptive PE class, and this is their culminating project final that we come off and we put this event on for everybody.”

Members of the Nantucket Police Department – including police chief Jody Kasper – and members of the Nantucket Fire Department were in attendance and handed out medals to each participant at the conclusion of the games.

Thompson said while she oversees the Special Olympics, she gives the credit to the students who put everything together and make the day special for the kids.

“It’s really run by my high school kids. They put all the input in for what we do and what works and doesn’t work,” Thompson said. “This is a day for everybody to have fun. Everybody gets to come here and smile. My three rules for stations are they’re having fun, they’re safe, and they’re having fun. That is what it is. It impacts the entire district because you look at the stands and you have whole classrooms down here cheering kids on. Kids that maybe don’t always get cheered on individually. You have kids having their names chanted, having signs. You look around and everyone is enjoying themselves. Some of these kids, my high school kids, they’re like idols for the day. These elementary kids will come down to the field and see them and latch onto them.”

📸: Chris Tran

29/05/2026

“This is the perfect tree,” Select Board member Bob DeCosta said. “This tree is just like our country: it’s beaten and battered, but it’s still standing. I was standing there the other morning, and a box truck whacked the crap out of it, and it’s still there.”

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

27/05/2026

After nearly a year of debate, the Board of Health has approved a ban on so-called “nitrogen loading credits” in sensitive areas, restricting the number of bedrooms allowed in certain parts of the island. The revised rule includes a carve-out allowing variance requests for affordable, attainable, and year-round housing.

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.

27/05/2026

😮 Billionaire Herb Chambers’ super yacht “Excellence” rounded Brant Point Wednesday morning, dwarfing the Hy-Line’s fast ferry Grey Lady IV as the two vessels passed the lighthouse.

The 262-foot yacht has a unique inverted bow, and is among the largest vessels that can safely navigate into Nantucket Harbor.

Chambers, who made his fortune by building an empire of car dealerships, grew up in Dorchester, Mass., and dropped out of high school before joining the U.S. Navy as an aviation electrician.

When he got out of the Navy, Chambers started bartending at his mother’s bar in the South End, but she fired him after just two months for missing a shift.

He went on to found a successful copier distribution company before acquiring his first car dealership in Connecticut in 1985.

Chambers is now 84 years old, and his yacht Excellence has made several stops in Nantucket Harbor in recent years.

📸: Kit Noble Photography

27/05/2026

The town of Nantucket's Department of Culture & Tourism director Shantaw Bloise-Murphy outlined a series of concerns with the recent Daffodil Festival Weekend in a presentation to the Select Board last week, suggesting that without corrective action, the festival could pose what she described as “significant public safety risks.”

“If the event continues to grow, public safety does have some concerns that it may lead to some significant risks if [the Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event] doesn't expand staffing or operations,” she said.

The presentation sparked debate among the members of the Select Board over what, if anything, should be done about the festival that is often considered the kick-off to Nantucket’s season.

Nantucket Current is the island's leading online news source. We deliver the news, stories, and people of Nantucket, unbiased and unfiltered.