This week, five downtown Vineyard Haven venues will become portals to far off places like Chile, New Zealand, Bosnia, South Africa, France and Iran. The mode of mental transportation: film.

Roughly 40 feature-length and short films from more than 15 countries will screen in three days and four nights during the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival - the first of its kind on the Island.

Questioning the details of what took place in the May executive session that resulted in town administrator Casey Sharpe's departure from her post, the Oak Bluffs finance and advisory committee yesterday agreed to ask selectmen for more information - including written minutes of the closed-door session in which she was terminated without cause and an audio tape of that same meeting.

Tidal Project Draws Widespread Critics

Fisheries Groups and Competitors Alike Weigh in with Public Comments on Experimental Venture

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

The National Marine Fisheries Service has raised a cautionary flag about a tidal hydroelectric power project proposed for Vineyard Sound.

Walking Beat with John Cashin: Police Chief Settles into Role

By MAX HART

As far as police chiefs go, John G. Cashin is not your average Joe.

The Bronx-born Mr. Cashin is a mild-mannered thinker with a wry sense of humor who holds two masters degrees, will fly around the world for a chance to look at an original DaVinci, and can quote T.S. Eliot as quickly as he can recite criminal law statutes. You are just as likely to find a book of Shakespeare on his desk as you might a pair of handcuffs.

Aquinnah Selectmen Will Seek Bylaw to Regulate Energy Use

By IAN FEIN

With the energy demands of large homes a growing concern across the Island, Aquinnah selectmen this week unanimously endorsed a regulation that would require new homes over a certain size to include renewable energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines.

"This is an important measure," selectman James Newman said at the regular board meeting on Tuesday, after proposing the energy requirement. "And I think that this community should be a leader on the issue."

Want some plot lines from a typical Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby fish tale? How about the salty old fisherman who landed the winning fish on a dark beach in Edgartown in the waning hours of the tournament?