Voting rights, the historical nature of entrenched racism and the healing powers of the Vineyard were all topics when the Congresswoman took the stage at the Tabernacle Friday.

Boards of health in four more Island towns voted unanimously this week to impose a mask mandate for indoor public spaces, and West Tisbury adopted a vaccination requirement for town employees.

Open fields at Bliss Pond Farm in Chilmark will be permanently protected following a conservation purchase by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank this week. The land bank announced Wednesday that it had paid $1.46 million for the restriction on the 34-acre field.

West Tisbury employees, interns and volunteers have until Sept. 30 to show proof of full vaccination against Covid-19, officials ruled Wednesday at an unprecedented joint meeting of the seven elected boards.

Joining four other Vineyard towns, the Chilmark board of health voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt an indoor mask mandate for all public spaces and all private spaces open to the public, citing the rapid spread of the Delta variant.