Martha’s Vineyard’s first 200-hour, Yoga Alliance-approved Yoga School has been certified: FLY Yoga School will launch next year, under the leadership of Sherry Sidoti, owner and creative director for Island-based yoga and fitness company FLY Yoga.

After receiving a wide variety of name suggestions through the club’s Name the Team contest, the Martha’s Vineyard summer collegiate baseball club announced on Monday that it had narrowed its selection down to four: the Sharks, Islanders, Ospreys and Fighting Clams.

At a special town meeting this coming Tuesday night, Aquinnah voters will be asked to buy land for a new affordable housing site and approve a new tax amnesty program, among other things.

Moderator Michael Hebert will preside over the special session that begins at 7 p.m. in the old town hall. There are nine articles on the warrant.

The community preservation committee is asking voters to approve borrowing $240,000 to buy a 6.3-acre parcel of land at 45 State Road to be converted into either affordable homes or rental units.

A 58-year-old Edgartown woman was arrested Monday after confessing to breaking into six homes in the downtown village, Det. Sgt. Chris Dolby of the Edgartown police said.

Christine Houston was arraigned on Tuesday in Edgartown district court on six counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime and several counts of larceny. She was given representation and entered a plea of not guilty. She is being held in Bristol County jail on $10,000 bail. Further charges are expected, Detective Dolby said.

Dredging at Sengekontacket continued on Wednesday after a weeklong delay in an effort that has already seen what appear to be endless hurdles. 

Dredging was halted on Veterans Day after a member of the Wampanoag Tribe registered concerns with the Army Corps of Engineers about the placement of a dewatering plant in the pond. The Army Corps relayed those fears to Oak Bluffs which has spent the week moving the dewatering site from Sengekontacket to State Beach.

The dream of a dedicated fishing pier in the heart of Oak Bluffs is one step closer for Island fishermen after the Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted unanimously last Thursday to approve the project.

Debate over the state-funded, 317-foot, L-shaped pier has been pointed at times, with surfcasters lamenting the loss of public fishing spots in recent decades and abutters fretting over the proposal’s potential impact.

It is a weekly ritual among hundreds of Islanders. Sunday morning radio check for volunteer firemen is about as much a part of the weekend calendar as church, or a trip to the dump and the grocery store. Starting at around 9:30 every Sunday morning, firemen from around the Island drive to their local fire station, where they wait for the 10 a.m. calls from the county communications center.

For many it is a social event combined with volunteer work.

Aquinnah

Gay Head Community Baptist Church. Established in 1693. The Rev. Ellen Tatreau, interim pastor. Sunday worship services at 9 a.m. Tel. 508-693-1539.

Chilmark

Chilmark Community Church (United Methodist), 9 Menemsha Cross Road. Sunday worship at 9 a.m. Tel. 508-645-3100, chilmarkchurch.org, or e-mail chilmarkchurch@gmail.com.

Edgartown

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

Most of us are still recovering after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner yesterday that was shared with family and friends. Today is the traditional start of the Christmas season and considered by retail merchants the busiest shopping day of the year. Did you know that there are just 29 shopping days remaining before Christmas? My thanks to Colleen Morris for writing the column in my absence.

At Thanksgiving, I want to extend my thanks to the people who have made an effort to save or create the Vineyard habitats. Without the open spaces, marshes, meadows and woodlands, there would be no place for my favorite creatures, birds.