The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has officially broken ground on a long-promised gambling facility in the small up-Island town, unleashing a flurry of concern.

A campaign to establish a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank using revenues from the new short-term rental tax is running into stiff opposition in some Island towns.

As the census continues to grow, the Boys and Girls Club facility off Robinson Road in Edgartown is no longer adequate to serve the needs.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has been nothing but up front about its intention to build a casino on Martha’s Vineyard, but until earth moving equipment began clearing land last week, it always seemed a remote possibility.

Many often mistake it for forsythia in bloom.

Maria Eduarda Oliveira Maciel and Samuel Meireles Amancio of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Jhasmyn Oliveira Meireles, born on Feb. 25 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Jhasmyn weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces at birth.

Paula dos Anjos de Paula and Ruy Emilio da Silva Júnior of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Liz Antonella da Silva Paula, born on Feb. 20 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Liz weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces at birth.

Life first brought me to this place as a boy.

I have known for about 50 years that styrofoam is a disaster when it is out in nature, but it is still popular and used widely both in the takeout food business and the boating and fishing industries.

Two years ago I discovered thousands of styrofoam pieces in the beachgrass at South Beach, Edgartown.

Five willets had gathered on the shore while I was discovering hundreds and hundreds of bits of styrofoam in the beach grass and on the shoreline. These beautiful shorebirds are one of many species that will eat styrofoam thinking it is food, and die from starvation.

From the March 5, 1971 edition of the Gazette:

Smith, Bodfish, Swift Co., in Vineyard Haven, one of the Island’s oldest concerns, has been purchased by David Flanders of Chilmark, Ralph M. Packer Jr. of Vineyard Haven, and Philip J. Norton Jr., of Edgartown.

The more-than-a-century old grain store whose weathered-shingled, maroon-trimmed front with its high loading platform is a Water street landmark, will be kept largely as it is.