Guarding the Flanks of Conservation

By IAN FEIN

From her hilltop home in Seven Gates Farm in West Tisbury, Elizabeth (Tess) Bramhall can tell the month of the year by where the sun sets on the horizon.

"In December it goes down just to the left of the Gay Head Lighthouse, and we lose it for two weeks in June when it goes all the way north," she said, looking out over a panoramic view of Vineyard Sound.

They are two of the most accomplished and respected scholars both in the nation's elite collegiate circles and in the African-American community, but on Wednesday morning Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Dr. Charles J. Ogletree Jr. were preoccupied with one thing - going fishing.

Marking a potentially historic moment for town-tribal relations, Aquinnah voters next week will decide whether to adopt an untested land use agreem

It is an adjective that has likely appeared in almost every news article or story ever told about the Night of Grand Illumination.

While some have described it as whimsical, majestic or even ethereal, it seems as if anyone reflecting on the annual tradition is in some way obligated to use the one adjective which most fittingly captures the essence of the evening.

Magical.

Building Plan Comes to MVC

Commission Pledges to Expedite Hearing on Kennebec Proposal; Developer Requests Leniency on Project Restrictions

By IAN FEIN

An Oak Bluffs building owner made his case to the Martha\'s Vineyard Commission last week that the regional planning agency should not impose any restrictions on the three-story structure that is nearing completion on Kennebec avenue.