Oh what fresh hell is this?

Those were Dorothy Parker’s words, and who knows to what original hell she referred? Her wry brand of anguish has entered the lexicon of familiar quotations; we can invoke it for any horror, from a splash of red wine on a white shirt to a six-car pileup on the San Bernardino Freeway.

From the Vineyard Gazette edition of July, 1945:

The Lambert’s Cove Methodist Church, atop its rise of high ground in one of the beautiful parts of the Island, is one hundred years old this year.

At first glance it would seem that allowing folks in seaplanes to zoom into any of our great ponds is a bad idea. And maybe it is. But, according to a knowledgeable bush pilot friend, the pilot who landed recently on Edgartown Great Pond, Thomas Miozzi of Rhode Island, was within his rights. Most water bodies are open to seaplanes unless there is a local ordinance against them. The seaplane pilots association lists Tisbury Great Pond, Edgartown Great Pond and Chilmark Pond as “Open, no known restrictions,” in their water landing directory.

Six months ago marked the 216th anniversary of the publication of Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, a book that reshaped American thought at that time and helped provide the foundation for the United States.

After more than two decades of living with Lyme disease, communities in the commonwealth are becoming fed up; many residents are finally saying, “We need something done now.”

Well, something is being done, much of it on the Vineyard. The Martha’s Vineyard Tick-Borne Disease Initiative is one of two promising initiatives against Lyme disease focused on the many things that people can do to reduce their risk.

The time-honored Vineyard tradition of jumping off the Big Bridge into Sengekontacket Pond has now been joined by a yearly concern about the safety of jumpers — not for their daring leaps into the water below, but for the time they spend sitting and standing on the bridge as traffic whizzes by.

Low railings that divide pedestrians, including bridge jumpers, from Beach Road are the worry, and Oak Bluffs and Edgartown are taking steps to address the problem that they say ultimately should be dealt with by the state.

The fuel station at Church’s Pier in the Oak Bluffs harbor will remain closed following a gas leak on the Fourth of July.

Oak Bluffs fire chief Peter Forend said that because of old fuel lines, the station at the harbor — the only source of fuel at the busy marina — will be closed until repairs are made.

Amy Sabin Barrow and Scott Murray Barrow of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Henry Emmett Barrow, born on June 25, 2012 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Henry weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces at birth.

The Dukes County commission voted Wednesday to name their executive administrative assistant as the new county manager.

Martina Thornton, who has held the number two staff position at the county for the past four years, will now negotiate a contract with members of the commission next week.

The vote to offer the job to Mrs. Thornton was unanimous. Two weeks ago the county commission voted to offer the job to New Hampshire attorney Katherine Rogers, but last week Ms. Rogers declined, citing personal health reasons.

A Boston man and an Oak Bluffs woman were arrested on drug charges over the long holiday weekend.

Corey A. Crump, 35, of Boston, was arraigned July 5 on charges of possessing to distribute class A drugs (heroin), possessing to distribute class B drugs (cocaine), and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

According to a police report filed in the court, confidential sources told police that Mr. Crump came to the Island from Boston to sell heroin, and that he had at least five customers on the Island.