One of Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speeches before the Civil War concluded: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Sage words then and now. For much of our history, differences of opinion made us stronger and the American character matured. The founding fathers gave us the gift of their wisdom and foresight. I think they would be displeased with our current president who seems more comfortable playing up our differences rather than trying to bind us together.

The following is an open letter to Cape and Islands state Sen. Dan Wolf:

The Web site ae911truth.org is made up of a group of 1,700 nonpartisan, licensed architects and engineers who have challenged the official 911 Commission Report, arguing that the report’s conclusion is not only from an engineering point of view unprecedented and impossible, but that the report itself is fraudulent and misrepresentative of the facts and not inclusive of all the facts and evidence that had been made available to the commission

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People released on May 12 a resolution supporting marriage equality. At a meeting of the 103-year-old civil rights group’s national board of directors, the organization voted to support marriage equality as a continuation of its historic commitment to equal protection under the law.

Enough is enough. West Tisbury selectman Richard Knabel has been using the newspapers for his own personal crusade against the roundabout. In his most recent diatribe he writes that “had there been a ballot question in Oak Bluffs, I would venture to say the result there would not have been materially different from the roughly three-to-one landslide against it in the other towns.” His posturing is more akin to the morning pundit talk show hosts on who is going to win the presidential election in the fall.

I wonder how many West Tisbury residents secretly wish they lived in an uptight, sterile, gated community someplace? Not a lot, I’m guessing. Yet the current pressure to hem us in with a new raft of unnecessary regulations seems to come straight from such a milieu.

Parades, a concert and flowers tossed into town harbors by school children — on the Vineyard, Memorial Day weekend is marked by many longstanding traditions featuring the young and old alike.

The Oak Bluffs library will be one of the first libraries in the country to be part of Google’s new indoor mapping project.

Sondra Murphy, the acting library director and children’s librarian, said a representative from Google’s Cambridge office e-mailed her “out of the blue” after finding the library’s floor plans online and asked if the library wanted to participate in the project.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Ms. Murphy recalled thinking.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) unveiled plans this week for a $167 million resort casino during a presentation in Lakeville. But the response from the communities of Lakeville and Freetown, where the tribe hopes to place the complex was “not positive,” according to Freetown town administrator Richard Brown.

On Tuesday a spillover crowd packed the auditorium of the Apponequet Regional High School auditorium in Lakeville as representatives from the tribe and its casino development team presented plans for the development.

Only carry from place to place what can fit in your car, or if you’re lucky, a friend’s pickup truck. Pack your clothes in garbage bags and carefully stack them so they don’t tumble over on the drive. Leave the cabinets completely empty, tuck the plates and dishes in between your clothes, and lock the door behind you as though you were never there.

For the first time in five years, parts of Sengekontacket Pond will be open for shellfishing, at least through June. In July, August and Sepetmber the current plan calls for possible closures following periods of heavy rainfall, but otherwise the same parts of the pond now designated as safe for shellfishing will be kept open.