Nature & Science
There’s a new crop of conservationists on the Island — albeit of an unexpected sort. Three students from Boston Green Academy, who have never spent much time outside the city, let alone gotten up close and personal with worms and frogs, have traveled to the Island for a paid monthlong internship with the Nature Conservancy.
At the bottom of a hill sits land bank attendant Jody Sherman in a blue foldout chair, reading a book with a cooler by her side. Three young girls come by in their bathing suits, getting ready for a swim in Ice House Pond.
“I know these girls, they’re awfully cute,” Ms. Sherman said as they approach. “So ladies, just remember, we have lots of neighbors who are taking their afternoon naps, or drinking their bloody Marys on the porch. So be thoughtful as you swim,” she ends in a whisper with a finger over her lips.
This week, Polly Hill Arboretum continues its legacy of multidisciplinary programming as it invites the public to engage in the topic of landscape
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has levied a heavy fine against an Edgartown contractor who did the work on a Mink Meadows project last year that violated state and local wetlands laws.
In an administrative consent order issued June 29, Steve Handy of Handy Trucking and Bobcat Service was fined $11,000 by the DEP for the unpermitted dredging and filling work. Mr. Handy was ordered by the DEP to pay $4,500; the balance of the $11,000 fine will be suspended for three years as long as there are no further violations.
State and federal environmental officials have formally designated the waters surrounding Martha’s Vineyard and south of Cape Cod off limits for the discharging of boat effluent. The designation means that nearly 95 per cent of state waters around Massachusetts are closed to effluent discharge. State Energy and Environmental Affairs and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials made the announcement on Friday at a gathering at Aselton Park in Hyannis.
Lake Tashmoo, which was closed to shellfishing last week because of a rare toxic algae bloom, reopened Friday morning.
A press release from the town of Tisbury said that the state notified shellfish constable Danielle Ewart on Friday morning to say that additional testing indicated the pond had been cleared and that it could be reopened to shellfishers immediately.
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.