The Island adoption center run by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) has operated with an average annual loss in excess of $100,000 for the past five years, according to an agency spokesman.

Breaking a silence of several weeks on the operational details of the Vineyard shelter scheduled for closure May 1 by the financially troubled charity, spokesman Brian Adams told the Gazette this week that more than 50 per cent of the operating budget comes over on the boat.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week upheld the town of Aquinnah and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in a key leg of a complicated and long-running property rights case that will ultimately decide whether a large swath of rare coastal heathland along Moshup Trail remains forever wild or is opened up to private development.

He confounds the stereotype of a starving artist. Formally educated and with an impressive career at just over 30, Brian Ditchfield is a dynamo in camouflage, a person whose intellectual heft is couched in a personality free from pretension or posturing. He is a quiet leader among his peers in theatre and the dramatic arts.

The Adult and Community Education Program (ACE MV), which offers classes on a wide range of subjects from taxes to nautical knots, has a new catalogue of 50 courses for the spring session, which begins at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School March 9 and runs until April 16. Classes meet on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. There will also be single-event seminars.

Vineyard.net, the only locally-owned Island Internet service provider, announced this week that it will continue to operate, despite struggles to stay afloat in the face of rising telecommunication costs and the introduction of broadband services to the Island. In what she said was a difficult decision, owner Kathy Retmier has decided to locate some of the services off-Island. The result will be increased quality of services for Island customers, while keeping the pricing the same as it has been for almost 14 years.

A strong Vineyard contingent turned out to help warm the new House of Blues in Boston last Saturday night. It was an old-home night of sorts, with singer-songwriter Carly Simon making an unscheduled appearance to dance and belt out a number on stage with Dan Akyroyd. Judy Belushi Pisano, a Vineyard Haven resident and widow of John, one of the original Blues Brothers, was a key mover in getting the Vineyard crowd to Boston — and on its feet. But truth to tell, few Islanders need much of an excuse to get off the rock in February.

Four intrepid travelers from the Vineyard met in Atlanta, Ga. and climbed on a plane to cross the Atlantic. Eighteen hours later, after a stop in Dakar, they arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. They dropped their gear in their rooms, gathered in one room, turned on CNN and watched Obama’s inaugural address. Afterwards they supped on king klip, a delicious South Africa fish and tried South African beer and wine. A very civilized and relaxing evening as we figured our birding and game safari in Namibia and Botswana would not be so mellow. Little did we know.

Neighborhood Convention

The Neighborhood Convention will meet at 10:45 a.m. at the Federated Church in Edgartown on March 3. Dr. Sofia Anthony, a family physician with added qualification in geriatric medicine who has retired to Martha’s Vineyard, will speak. Her talk is entitled Plan Ahead: No One Gets Out Alive.

All are welcome. Bring a sack lunch and enjoy fellowship following the program. For information call Mary-Jean Miner at 508-696-8589

This has been an interesting winter and perhaps one of the hardest things has been controlling all the pent-up energy of the young. The Edgartown Boys’ and Girls’ Club has been busy trying to do this, and succeeded one recent afternoon when the Martha’s Vineyard Model Flying Club came and flew in the gymnasium.

It was exciting as the little planes and a helicopter whizzed around overhead, trying not to bump into each other.

Animation has come a long way from Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willy, the black and white prototype that later became the world’s most famous mouse. The immense popularity of television shows like the Simpsons has demonstrated that cartoons aren’t just for kids any more, while advances in computer generated graphics have introduced a stunning new standard for big screen visuals. The nominees for the Animated Short Films category at the 2009 Oscar awards represent the very best work the world has to offer, in an industry that is fast approaching a golden age.