Bacterial water contamination that affected the West Tisbury town hall, Grange Hall and the former town library on Music street has ended after the board of health chlorinated and flushed the well late last week. Samples taken from the well over the weekend tested negative for total coliform and e-coli bacteria and a boil-water notice was rescinded on Tuesday.

Military Care Packages

Donations are being collected to support care packages containing foodstuffs and personal items to be sent to Islanders serving in the military in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere over the holidays. Organizers are also asking for mail addresses of friends or family members serving in the military.

The care package mission is organized by Island veterans agent Joanne Murphy, with the generous assistance of Robert Pachico at Reliable Market in Oak Bluffs.

Architect Weighs In

On Monday morning, the Edgartown Library building committee’s weekly public meeting will include a presentation by architect Celia Imrey with sketches and plans for possible site design for a new library. Designs for the Carnegie Building, Warren House and old Edgartown School will be shown downstairs in the library on North Water street. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. All are welcome.

Corrections

A story in the Sept. 24 Gazette about the Edgartown Library building project incorrectly named the chairman of the Edgartown Library Foundation; it is Gwyneth (Baba) Smith. Also, due to incorrect information provided by the foundation, the story inaccurately reported the amount of cash raised by the foundation to date. The correct number is $430,000. The Gazette regrets the errors.

A public hearing on revisions to a bylaw in Edgartown that regulates hours for construction and landscaping crews drew lively and varied comments during the regular selectmen’s meeting on Monday afternoon.

Proposed by the selectmen, the bylaw changes are expected to come before voters at the annual town meeting in April. The revised bylaw would slightly alter the hours when construction is allowed, with a start time half an hour later in the morning and a finish time half an hour earlier at night.

The fall sitting of Dukes County Superior Court opens Monday in the Edgartown courthouse; the Hon. Cornelius Moriarty 3rd will preside over the monthlong session which will hear a mix of civil and criminal cases.

The Dukes County Grand jury convenes Monday to consider any new criminal indictments.

As budget planning begins for the coming fiscal year, Oak Bluffs is projecting a budget shortfall, the chairman of the finance committee told town selectmen on Tuesday.

A decision by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission decision to review the expansion of an Oak Bluffs restaurant last week spilled into heated words at the Oak Bluffs selectmen’s meeting this week, where board members questioned the commission’s role in determining town matters.

On Tuesday morning West Tisbury School science teacher Karl Nelson told his eighth grade class the outcome of the lab experiment they were about to begin related directly to their everyday lives, something they couldn’t survive without.

Puzzled looks crossed with curiosity around the room.

Today the students would learn how combustion relates to respiration.

Mr. Nelson, whose class ranked number one in science scores in the state on the MCAS exam this year, runs labs four days a week, a rigorous schedule for eighth grade science.

My cherry tomatoes have worked a miracle: they’ve made me regret the passing of summer. I don’t like summer. Almost every year it settles in like an occupying army and I just have to put up with it until it goes away. I love fall. Fall slips in, darts away, plays catch-me-if-you-can. Night closes in slowly from both ends of the day, polishing the remaining daylight hours till they sparkle, and the leaves rarely stop rustling. Summer’s torpor gives way to vigorous activity. I love the warm feel of flannel.