Nature & Science
After spending years studying Lyme disease, Enid Haller and husband Sam Hiser opened the Martha’s Vineyard Lyme Disease Center last Thursday off Panhandle Road in West Tisbury.
The educational center provides pamphlets and books on Lyme disease, a list of so-called Lyme-literate doctors and individual consultations with Ms. Haller to talk about medical history, symptoms and steps to getting accurately diagnosed and treated.
“We are Lyme advocates, more than anything,” said Ms. Haller.
The air-to-water pump, manufactured by Daikin, is used to operate a radiant heat system in the home and heat the water supply.
Last year Mr. Nelson installed an Altherma heat pump system, the first of its kind on the Vineyard, in the home of West Tisbury resident Ted Bayne. Since then, Mr. Bayne’s home has become a test kitchen of sorts for the heat pump technology. Based on Mr. Bayne’s careful recording of his propane and electricity expenses (he has kept track of these costs since January 2007), the experiment has proven a success — so much so that “It’s no longer an experiment,” Mr. Nelson summed up.
Steamship Authority senior managers paid a visit to the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting Tuesday to discuss improvement projects around the ferry terminal.
SSA general manager Wayne Lamson, Vineyard governor Marc Hanover and port council member George Balco all attended.
Mr. Lamson said the SSA is ready to file for permits for dredging about 300 yards of sand next to the dinghy dock area in the Vineyard Haven harbor. He said he expects permitting to take at least nine months.
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank announced this week that it has purchased nearly 12 acres in the rural wooded perimeters of Edgartown, completing a long-planned project to protect the westerly entrance to town as largely undeveloped land — both the fields and woodland.
The land bank paid $900,000 for 11.8 acres. The seller was Philip J. Norton Jr. The purchase will boost the total size of the land bank’s Ben Toms Preserve to nearly 30 acres, with some 2,000 feet of frontage on the West Tisbury Road.
Migration produces new arrivals weekly. Warblers are the star attractions this week. Who knows what next week will bring? We can hope for western rarities such as Western kingbird or even better a Western tanager, although we would be happy with the arrival of a selection of our winter ducks or various hawks as they make their way south.
Most birders learn to identify warblers in the spring time when the birds sport their fancy plumages to help attract a mate.
A joint purchase last month by the town of Tisbury and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank completes a decades-old aquifer protection plan around the Manter well.
The town and the land bank paid $400,000 for 9.5 acres off Old Holmes Hole Road, with the town putting in $300,000 and the land bank $100,000. The transaction took place on August 24.
One of the listed sellers was Ron Monterosso, acting as a trustee for Redmont Realty Trust, which owned a fractional interest in the property. The sale was handled through a trustee appointed by the Dukes County Probate Court.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.