Scavenger Hunt

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a photography scavenger hunt.

Nature enthusiasts, bird-watchers and those who enjoy a walk in the woods are invited to participate in the scavenger hunt which will be ongoing throughout the 2011 summer season.

Materials for the hunt are available at the land bank offices located at 167 Main street in Edgartown or at mvlandbank.com.

Edgartown attorney Edward W. (Peter) Vincent Jr. was suspended from practicing law on Thursday, following complaints of misuse and loss of client funds.

The suspension was issued in Supreme Judicial Court in Suffolk County on July 7.

The temporary suspension will stay in effect until disciplinary procedures are heard before the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. The next step would be the filing of charges with the board, which has the power to disbar attorneys.

Walter Cronkite embodied words like integrity, honesty and leadership. For many years he was referred to as the most trusted man in America. In this spirit the Stone Soup Leadership Institute created the Walter Cronkite Awards to celebrate others who, like Mr. Cronkite, work to make the world a better place.

The Stone Soup Leadership Institute develops educational tools and programs to prepare young people to become leaders of a more sustainable world. Mr. Cronkite was their honorary chairperson for nearly a decade.

By PETER BRANNEN

Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd will have to clean up his yard. Last week the town of West Tisbury learned it had won a long-running case against the colorful businessman over the alleged junk yard forming at Mr. Barnes’s State Road home.

“It’s no longer alleged,” said town administrator Jennifer Rand at Wednesday’s selectmen’s meeting.

Edgartown selectmen this week cited the Harbor View Hotel for serving alcohol to a minor on the Fourth of July.

At their weekly meeting Monday selectmen discussed a report from the West Tisbury police who had pulled over a 19-year-old Connecticut man on July 4 and charged him with operating under the influence of alcohol. Police said the minor, who failed a breathalyzer test, reported he had been served at the hotel along with his passenger, and neither had been asked for proof of age.

The investigation into state competitive bidding law violations in Oak Bluffs has ended. Town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport told the selectmen this week that he did not feel it was a good use of the town’s resources in light of the changed behavior and tight finances.

After a strong start, the Vineyard real estate market appears to have weakened dramatically in the latter part of the fiscal year just ended, according to data for the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank.

Land bank revenues, generated from a two per cent fee imposed on most real estate transactions and therefore a good indicator of the overall health of the property market, were a little over $7.7 million in fiscal year 2011, a modest increase on last year’s $7.4 million and well up on the $5.76 million of 2009.

Swim for Jesse

Swim for Jesse, an open-water swim race, will take place tomorrow at Joseph Sylvia State Beach, next to the big bridge. Registration for the event begins at 7:30 a.m., with races beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The event is organized by Rebekah Nivala, a student at Wheaton College, and sister Kaija, a regional high school student. Through the fundraiser, the two hope to raise awareness for eosinophilic disease, a chronic digestive system disorder.

A large number of beaches in West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs were closed to swimming this week due to high levels of enterococcus bacteria found during routine water testing. Health agents in those two towns put out notices about the closures.

Then some, but not all, of the beaches were opened again.

At press time Thursday the following beaches remained closed: Lambert’s Cove and the ocean side of Long Point in West Tisbury; and Inkwell Beach, Pay Beach, Madeiros Cove (near the drawbridge on the Lagoon Pond) and Eastville Beach in Oak Bluffs.

Moviegoers hoping to secure tickets to the Island premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 may have wished for a Time-Turner or two yesterday, after the lone midnight showing sold out less than 20 minutes after the box office at Edgartown Cinemas opened at 2 p.m.