Scores of contestants woke up early to face the bracing February air on Thompson's Lake on Feb. 1. The ice-fishing contest was less about competition or comfort than it was for the camaraderie and relaxation of sitting on an otherwise barren sheet of ice.

The first hearing on Thacher's inaugural master plan elicited kudos and concerns, the most troubling from a geologist who said building a visitors' center close to the edge of the escarpment is unwise.