Mark Alan Lovewell
Responding to Gov. Deval Patrick’s plea this week for federal disaster relief for Massachusetts commercial fishermen, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Commerce said that it remains committed to the fishery and is reviewing the governor’s request.
The American eel is in trouble. So says James Prosek, author of a widely- respected book on eels. Last week Mr. Prosek told the Vineyard Gazette that he thinks, “absolutely,” that the American eel should be listed as endangered.
Robert E. Kinnecom quit drinking 50 years ago. Today, the 81-year-old Oak Bluffs resident is absolutely certain he is alive today because of it and the unlikely help of a few fairly famous Vineyarders.
“My grandfather was a drunk. He was a barber and lost everything he had,” Mr. Kinnecom said.
After reading a recent Gazette about Vineyard House recently, Mr. Kinnecom decided to speak publicly about his personal journey to sobriety.
Tomorrow is an important time in the summer for those who love to look up at night. The Perseid meteor shower takes place, with the best viewing after midnight. It is possible to see a lesser number of meteors from that shower throughout the weekend, including tonight.
Rainfall on the Vineyard has been as varied as the weather itself. There is no question that it has been hot. For much of July there were drought-like conditions, weeks of no rain, followed near the end of the month by a few hours of torrential rain.
The temperature rarely gets to 90 degrees on the Vineyard. But this summer the Island has seen the temperature hit 90 degrees three times in July and twice in June. The highest temperature recorded thus far this summer, 95, came on two days in the middle of June.
It is indeed bad news to see that cod, once the most abundant fish in our waters, continues to have a hard time. Despite huge efforts on the part of fishermen and scientists to come up with a mix of fishing and conservation, the stocks continue to have problems recovering from historically-low numbers.