Edward W. Brooke of Newton and Oak Bluffs became the first African American ever elected to the United States Senate by a popular vote.

Climate change, immigration and energy were all topics for discussion when Sen. Ed Markey held a town hall meeting at the Hebrew Center Sunday.

A scholarship event held at Lola’s last week marked 50 years since Mr. Brooke first held elected office.

State Sen. Dan Wolf announced Thursday that he has suspended his campaign for governor and will resign his state Senate seat next week in the wake of a state ethics commission ruling about his ownership of Cape Air.

His rocky year with the state ethics commission behind him, the state senator told a gathering of Vineyard Democrats Saturday morning he wants to champion causes for the working class.

State senator Dan Wolf will be a guest at the January meeting of the Democratic Council of Martha’s Vineyard at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Howes House in West Tisbury.

The state ethics commission has approved a proposed exemption to the conflict of interest law that would allow state Sen. Dan Wolf to remain in office while owning part of Cape Air.

The ethics commission voted unanimously at a special Monday morning meeting to approve the exemption to the state ethics law, commission spokesman David Giannotti said. The exemption would allow state, county or municipal employees to have government contracts subject to certain conditions.

Cape and Islands State Sen. Dan Wolf said Monday he is ending his campaign for governor.

Mr. Wolf announced his gubernatorial run in July, but shortly afterward a state ethics commission ruling said that his partial ownership of Cape Air represented a conflict of interest because the company has contracts with Logan Airport, which is run by a state agency.

BOSTON — State Sen. Daniel A. Wolf will remain in office indefinitely as the state ethics commission begins to draft new regulations that could allow business owners with certain state contracts to serve in public office.

Cape and Islands state Sen. Dan Wolf, joined by several other petitioners, will make a case to the state ethics commission next week for a regulation allowing him to remain in office despite his ownership in Cape Air.

In early August, the Massachusetts state ethics commission issued a decision that Mr. Wolf’s 23 per cent ownership in Cape Air poses a conflict of interest because the airline has contracts with Massachusetts Port Authority, which owns and operates Logan Airport.