We see too many boating accidents happening nationwide involving drowning, and the results could have been different if life jackets were worn. The U.S. Coast Guard boating statistics in the United States for 2011 counted 4,588 accidents resulting in 758 deaths. Alcohol was the leading contributor to the fatalities.

Carol Fligor (Gazette letter, August 28) defines a public problem accurately. Widespread cigarette butts deface the unique Vineyard landscape and make us look just like the unattractive mainland. Unfortunately she is up against the last of the sacred “smokers’ rights” championed by the cigarette companies, the right to litter.

Last week, Dr. Michelle Gerhard Jasny gave out her annual Labor Day awards: gold, silver, bronze. I would like to hand out a big, shiny gold medal to her — my veterinarian. I don’t like changes, and when I moved back to the Vineyard after having been away for 15 years, wow, what changes!

My wife and I have had the pleasure of being able to spend almost the entire summer on-Island, rather than just a week or two here or there. The big advantage in spending a longer, concentrated period is that you can get to know some of the people who live here, who make the Island much more than a collection of beautiful beaches.

We see too many boating accidents happening nationwide involving drowning, and the results could have been different if life jackets were worn. The U.S. Coast Guard boating statistics in the United States for 2011 counted 4,588 accidents resulting in 758 deaths. Alcohol was the leading contributor to the fatalities.

Recently there have been alarming reports of outbreaks of West Nile fever in Dallas and Chicago. The cases now number in the hundreds, with several deaths, and more cases expected. We should not forget that this disease, as well as an even more deadly disease, eastern equine encephalitis, exists just five miles from our shores, in southeastern Massachusetts.