The first two tumultuous nights of the Oak Bluffs town meeting are over, and despite some frayed nerves, the town has an approved budget for next year. Voters ratified a balanced budget in the amount of $24.7 million.

But that is only because at the town election last Thursday they rejected 11 of 12 Proposition 2 1/2 override articles, totaling some $650,000.

The result will mean no pay increases for the fire department, more than $200,000 cuts in road maintenance and improvements and no lifeguards at town beaches for the second summer in a row.

An extraordinary group of right whales — some 95 living specimens of the rarest of all large whale species — was feeding in the waters between Martha’s Vineyard and Block Island this week, while two mother and calf right whale pairs were spotted even closer to the Island.

On Saturday, federal scientists in the air saw one mother and calf pair just a mile or two off Oak Bluffs harbor, and on Tuesday, a distinct pair was spotted in Vineyard Sound.

A one-year moratorium on wind turbine applications and an array of housing initiatives, including a bylaw that addresses the thorny issue of inheritance for the children of affordable housing recipients, top the list of business for a double-header special and annual town meeting in Chilmark next week.

The meeting is Monday night in the Chilmark Community Center; longtime moderator Everett H. Poole will preside. The special town meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., immediately followed by the annual town meeting at 8 p.m. There are a total 31 articles on the two warrants.

After five years of division over whether or not beer and wine should be sold in Tisbury restaurants, five years of discussion and debate, ceaseless lobbying and innumerable letters to the editor, the issue will go to a vote of the townspeople this Tuesday.

GREEN SMOKESCREEN

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

From Gazette editions of April, 1960:

What Martha’s Vineyard do you live on?

Bullies: A Community Problem

The Beer and Wine Question

Tisbury, also the port of Vineyard Haven, remains a town divided over whether to allow the sale of beer and wine in restaurants. The question will be decided by voters at the annual town election on Tuesday, and a strong voter turnout is expected on this crucial issue that may well mark a turning point in the life of the town.

This week was the annual spring Safe Haven Camp, for kids living with HIV, at the youth hostel in West Tisbury. On Monday, the 25 campers and 15 counselors had enjoyed a chance to settle in since their Saturday evening arrival. The big icebreaker occurred on Sunday when the fun-loving Harley Riders showed up. First the big guys and their assortment of gal friends took over the rustic kitchen and turned out a barbecue befitting hungry bikers and campers alike.