By MIKE SECCOMBE

Sengekontacket Pond has been cleared of the bacterial contamination which saw it closed to shellfishing for most of the summer, and the pond will reopen on Oct. 1.

Persistent contamination with fecal coliform bacteria resulted in the pond closure in June and again in July, when the state Division of Marine Fisheries determined the pond would be closed to shellfishing for four months in summer every year.

After no one from the public attended last week's public hearing, the Tisbury selectmen voted unanimously to raise the fines for parking violations by $10 apiece. The new fines will go into effect next spring.

Ten-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking overtime, in the wrong direction, or more than one foot from the curb will now be $20. Fifteen-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking in a restricted or prohibited area, within 10 feet of a fire hydrant, or overnight will now be $25.

Bluet damselflies and Ice House Pond visitors may soon get the chance to get along together.

The storied West Tisbury glacial kettle pond is potentially two steps away from public access, nearly ten years after it was designated by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank as a priority property to be acquired.

Public use of Ice House Pond, also known as Old House Pond, has been a point of contention for neighbors, the land bank and the town since the land bank purchased the property for $2 million in 2004, quietly using a straw buyer.

There are two kinds of Shakespeare fanatics: The first group is down with the concept of William Shakespeare having written all the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. The second group believes anyone but William Shakespeare wrote the canon of sonnets and plays: It could have been Will’s young patron, the third earl of Southampton, or the proven Christopher Marlowe, or even Queen Elizabeth I in a secret need to hone another dimension of her marvelousness.

About 24 years ago, a group of Vineyard gardeners with no place to garden began to brainstorm. The dilemma: how to have a working garden when life leaves little time or energy to do so? How to garden when the backyard is too small? And how to spread the gospel that food grown at home tastes better? The solution: provide a community garden.

A generation ago, Plum TV would have been impossible and the concept likely considered insane by conventional business thinking.

But in 2007 it’s working in eight markets, including on the Vineyard. Now five years old, Plum local stations on Nantucket and in Aspen are profitable “and the Vineyard is close,” founding partner Tom Scott said on Friday afternoon.

Carrie White Named Director of Support Services

In early September, Carrie White joined the staff of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services as director of the Women’s Support Services program.

Ms. White joins staff members Sally Callahan and Erika Dowling in providing domestic violence and rape crisis support services.

Habitat Seeks Volunteers

Habitat for Humanity of Martha’s Vineyard has started another home in Vineyard Haven for a deserving family that already has been selected. The organization is seeking volunteers to help keep the building cost down to keep the price to the family as low as possible.

Construction days will be Fridays and Saturdays starting Sept. 28. Habitat is seeking experienced volunteers for the first weekend and maybe the second as the organization will be putting the cap on the foundation.

Watching the Fuel Gauge

At the Steamship Authority so much fuel is used to send ferries back and forth on their frequent schedule that even small changes in the price of oil can translate over time into significant savings, or expense.

To that end Falmouth governor Robert S. Marshall is right to sound a note of caution about where fuel prices may be heading in the coming year.

Boat line staff has forecast that oil will cost about seventy dollars per barrel in the current year, about ten dollars less than current prices.

Little Sundance in Vineyard Haven

For a few days this month, Islanders were encouraged to collectively dream in the dark. Many hundreds took up the invitation of the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, which clearly has big dreams of its own.