They don't play for money. They don't play for their team or their hometown or even their country. In fact, they don't even play for a trophy.

And while this sometimes silly and always social group who play the up-Island brand of table tennis called Quinapong may seem more interested in chatting with their fellow players than actually playing - don't be fooled by their casual manner. When the plastic ball drops they are all business.

What seemed like a simple, homespun plan to improve and expand the baseball field at Veira Park in Oak Bluffs has evolved into an acrimonious bureaucratic tangle pitting a group of Little Leaguers against a group of neighbors worried about noise and traffic.

Red, Gray or Yellow Brick Debated Among Neighbors and at Commission; Final Approval Is Mere Formality

After countless hours of planning and public hearings, and years of fund-raising that to date has netted $45 million in cash and pledges, the renovation and expansion of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital has come down to one final point of contention - the color of the building's façade.

It is either the biggest hoax or the most ignored chapter in Island history.

There are people who believe that the mysterious - almost mythic - Viking people once visited, and perhaps even colonized Martha's Vineyard, hundreds of years before Bartholomew Gosnold made land here and named the Island after a family member.

The sudden resignation of county manager E. Winn Davis last week was followed by a noticeable atmosphere of calm and quiet this week.

Mr. Davis read his letter of resignation during a tense county commission meeting last Wednesday that included a nearly two-hour executive session and an accusation from one commissioner that a subgroup of commissioners had somehow influenced Mr. Davis to resign.