Deborah Ratcliff notified the Gazette this week that she heard pinkletinks at her home in Oak Bluffs on Tuesday night. Spring cannot be far behind. Edgartown voters are reminded they have a special town meeting that begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. Chilmark voters are reminded their special town meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. on Monday night.

A West Tisbury woman suffered minor injuries and was charged with drunk driving after she reportedly drove through a stop sign on Atlantic Drive in Edgartown early Tuesday morning and flew over a sand dune before coming to rest in shallow waters in Herring Creek.

Edgartown police said Susan Austin, 54, may have been stranded in the pond for several hours before a passing motorist spotted her vehicle and called 911 for help.

Matthew P. Stackpole, the former executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, has been named a major gifts officer at Mystic Seaport – The Museum of America and the Sea, in Mystic, Conn.

Mr. Stackpole will focus his initial efforts on raising support across the nation for the museum’s pending restoration of the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship in the world.

A three-year, multi-million dollar restoration of the vessel is set to begin in fall 2008.

By JULIA RAPPAPORT

Chilmark voters will be asked to spend half a million dollars at a special town meeting Monday as they consider whether to purchase two properties which will allow the Middle Line Road affordable housing project to move ahead. The project, now in its final planning stages, will be the first town-sponsored affordable housing project in Chilmark.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chilmark Community Center. Moderator Everett H. Poole will preside.

Habitat for Humanity and the town of Edgartown are searching for an Edgartown family to purchase a two-bedroom, affordable house. The application deadline is March 31, with construction set to begin this summer.

Correction

A story in last week’s Gazette about musician John Cruz, Heather Goff was incorrectly identified as the author of the song Missing You. Mr. Cruz wrote Missing You, while Ms. Goff wrote Dream Song on the album. The Gazette regrets the error.

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The obituary for Maria Esther Nunes that appeared in last Friday’s Gazette reported incorrectly on the location of death.