Construction crews are almost done erecting a large research tower nearly two miles south of the Vineyard.

For weeks, a well-lighted barge and tugboat have been involved in a large-scale project due south of Edgartown Great Pond. They've been assembling what will be an all-season steel tower loaded with instruments that will collect weather and ocean data. The tower will rise 68 feet above sea level when it is finished at the end of this week.

The stage is now set for a fresh round of debate on the third plan in two years to convert the last stretch of unbroken woodland in the town of Oak Bluffs to a luxury golf club and housing development.

Main Street Project Asks Modest Change in Vineyard Haven

By JOSHUA SABATINI

The Main Street Project committee presented at a public hearing last Thursday a plan for the restoration of the Vineyard Haven thoroughfare after it is torn apart to install a sewer system.

The plan is a modest one. Only a few alterations are proposed for the existing Main street.

Some changes are to create a more efficient working roadway. Others are just basic aesthetic improvements.

Listening to the banter of benchwarmers in front of the Edgartown town hall, it's hard to tell if it's 1972, 1982, 1992 or 2002.

Campers Take Flight on the Sea and High in Sky

By JAMES D'AMBROSIO

Shellfish May Survive Edgartown Oil Spill; Emergency Seen as Serious Wake-up Call

By JULIA WELLS

The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said there may be good news for a crop of about a million baby oysters that were threatened by an oil spill in the Edgartown harbor early this week.

"I don't want to say that we are out of the woods entirely, but the oysters may survive," said shellfish group director Rick Karney on Wednesday this week.