Recently I attended the Minerals Management Service public hearing held on Martha’s Vineyard where I reiterated some of the reasons why I continue to give my full-fledged support to Cape Wind’s plan to build a wind farm in Nantucket Sound. During the nearly five-hour hearing I listened to what other people had to say; one of them was Dean Bragonier, a Vineyard resident who works for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. Dean expressed his take on the hearing we both attended and I thought I would present mine since they differ by such a wide margin.

Red Buds

The woodlands are brushed with the palest colors these days as an early burst of warm weather throws nature into a tailspin: new leaves in apple green, shadbush blossoms in pink and cream, oak buds in pale red.

Faint scarlet, the feathery emerging buds of oak trees are stunningly beautiful right now, silhouetted against an early evening sky and illuminated by the first rays of sun as they creep up over the extreme eastern edge of the Island.

Tisbury Split Down the Middle

The good people of Vineyard Haven fought to a draw last week in the collective duel over whether to allow beer and wine sales in restaurants.

It was by all accounts an extraordinary outcome — six hundred and ninety votes to six hundred and ninety votes — which now will be recounted at the formal request of the group which supports the measure, made up in large part by restaurant and business owners.

The question of election irregularities also remains to be put to bed.

Roofs for Education

In educating the youth of the Vineyard, Island teachers provide a crucial public service.

Yet Island schools now face the alarming prospect that they will not be able to hire and retain teachers to teach certain subjects.

A confluence of two trends — one economic, one academic — has led the Vineyard to this unhappy turn.

WHILE ROME BURNS

Editors, Vineyard Gazette: