Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Tactical Response Team are headed to Boston today to provide relief for those who responded to Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Oak Bluffs Lt. Tim Williamson told the Gazette that he and other members of the tactical team were headed to Boston on Wednesday afternoon for a 12-hour shift, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The storm-ravaged Squibnocket Beach parking lot will be repaved this spring while a newly-formed beach committee considers long-term solutions to address increasing erosion at the town beach and abutting development of Squibnocket Farm, the Chilmark selectmen said this week.

Offered by Tea Lane Associates
Tastefully restored Victorian home overlooking Nantucket Sound and Oak Bluffs harbor offers the charm of its vintage years 1860's and all modern day amenities for seasonal and year round living.

A Boston man charged with rape was found not guilty on all counts Tuesday morning in Dukes County Superior Court.

Bryant K. Brown, 33, was found not guilty of two counts of rape, three counts of assault to rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, and one count of threat to commit a crime by the Honorable Gary A. Nickerson after a bench trial.

Two well-known Vineyard runners who participated in the Boston Marathon are safe and unharmed following the explosions at the finish line Monday afternoon that made instant international news. In a text message to the Gazette late Monday, Joe Schroeder said his wife and marathon runner Marylee Schroeder was safe. “All good and [we’re] out of Boston,” Mr. Schroeder said in his text message

When the weather begins to turn warm, Doris Clark begins her search.

For the past two summers, Mrs. Clark has been the host families coordinator for the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks baseball team, which competes in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a summer wooden bat league for college athletes. Most of the players on the team have never been to the Vineyard before, and most need a place to call home base while they travel to and from games across New England.

Its sweeping beam has guided mariners to safety and cast long flickers of shadow and light across the westernmost edge of the Vineyard for many decades.

But now the Gay Head Light is slated for a lantern change, and in the process the beam will change from sweeping to pulsing.

Lieut. Matthew Stuck of the U.S. Coast Guard aids to navigation branch said recently that the Coast Guard plans to replace the optic rotating light with a flashing LED light sometime in the next few months. The current optic, installed in 1989, is outdated and replacement parts are scarce, Mr. Stuck said.

All the houses in Chilmark total three million square feet. Very large houses (more than 6,000 square feet) make up about one per cent of that number.

As Chilmark prepares to vote in 10 days on a first-of-its-kind bylaw that would regulate house size, this was one of the facts that came out during a final public comment session hosted by the town planning board Thursday night.

The bylaw, which has been the subject of widespread discussion in Chilmark and around the Island, comes up for a vote at the annual town meeting April 22.

113 Dukes County Avenue in Oak Bluffs sold for $320,000 on April 1.