In Tisbury town on Church street,
the traffic all was stuck
So those who’d gone on shopping sprees
were clearly out of luck.
They grumped and groaned and left their cars,
And some among them longed for bars
Though they could find right many a snack,
To soothe frayed tempers, but — alack —
There was no wine or beer for sale,
Only soft drinks like ginger ale.
Since by one vote the town decreed
It did not want — it did not need
Drinks alcoholic in the town
That for sobriety is renowned.

Newly elected Cape and Islands state Rep. Tim Madden, who takes office in January, announced late Wednesday that he has appointed Nell Coogan as the Vineyard legislative liaison.

Ms. Coogan, 29, is an Island native and 1997 graduate of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. She has worked as legal counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means for the last two years.

Ms. Coogan will replace Russell Smith, the former longtime liaison who worked under outgoing state Rep. Eric T. Turkington.

A Vineyard man is in stable condition following a high-speed car crash just after midnight Saturday on State Road in West Tisbury, according to West Tisbury police.

William Scott, 28, of West Tisbury, was just past the junction of County Road headed up-Island at approximately 12:08 a.m. when he lost control of a 1997 Volkswagen Jetta, crossed the opposite lane at high speed and slammed into an oak tree.

Mr. Scott was treated at the scene by Tri-town EMTs and an Island paramedic.

Elderly Art Show

Island Elderly Housing held its first artists and craftsmen show last week at the Woodside Village II Community Room in Oak Bluffs. The show featured painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, needlepoint, books and cards and other crafts — all work of residents in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs.

Sarah Arrives

Marcia and Marcos Ribeiro of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Sarah Queiroz, born on Dec. 3 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Sarah weighed 9 pounds, 4.8 ounces at birth.

A proposal to rescind $400,000 in Community Preservation Act money for the hotly debated Bradley Square project was easily defeated by Oak Bluffs voters during a well-attended special town meeting last night.

The funding was approved by voters at the annual town meeting in April and has already been set aside to pay for a portion of the affordable housing component of the Bradley Square project.

The Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard is actively searching for qualified candidates to attend this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, which will be held from May 8 to May 10, 2009 at the Cape Cod Sea Camps in Brewster.

The conference will offer outstanding high school juniors an opportunity to live, work and interact together in an atmosphere of cooperation and friendly competition. The program is designed to challenge participants to use and improve their skills and accept the responsibilities of leadership.

Once a month, planner and grantsman for the Wampanoag tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) Durwood (Woody) Vanderhoop drives a sport utility vehicle down to the meteorological test tower on Old South Road, at the site of a salvage yard and an abandoned Long Range Radio Navigation (LORAN) tower. Taking care to ground himself by tapping on a piece of plastic at the base of a pylon, he removes a data card containing information which will help determine the tribe’s future energy policy.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Dec. 5 55 36 .00

Dec. 6 41 27 .00

Dec. 7 42 32 .40

Dec. 8 38 18 .05*

Dec. 9 40 14 .00

Dec. 10 58 41 .00

Dec. 11 60 41 .71

*Melted Precipitation

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 47º F.

The holiday spirit was briefly shattered two weeks ago when three men reportedly stole a Salvation Army can full of donated money from the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop that was meant to go toward helping needy Island families.

But thanks to deft police work by Tisbury police, especially Det. Mark Santon, the three suspects have been charged and all the money returned to the Salvation Army.