Tisbury shellfish constable Danielle Ewart has a birthday wish, a new Dodge pickup truck for her shellfish department. She hopes to get approval to replace the nine-year-old truck at the annual town meeting on Tuesday, April 12, which is the day Ms. Ewart turns 29.

The troubled truck has driven over 92,000 rough-and-tumble miles. “Russ Maciel and Patrick Murphy, the town mechanics, have kept that truck running,” she said. “But, it has more problems.”

The sailing season is still months away and plans are now under way for the Vineyard Cup, a three-day regatta. Organizers plan a larger and more high profile event, one that is easier to view. Last year the weekend racing attracted more than 80 sailboats and this year the numbers could exceed 100.

Racing takes place Friday, July 16 and runs through Sunday, July 17. Sailboats of all sizes will be competing for prizes and at least one is coming from as far away as Florida.

Dean’s List

Caitlyn Clark of Vineyard Haven has been named to the dean’s list at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Dean’s List

Dana Anderson of Vineyard Haven, a senior and marketing major at Bentley University, has been named to the dean’s list for the fall 2010 semester.

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Micah Agnoli of Edgartown has been named to the dean’s list at Tufts University for the fall 2010 semester.

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Katharine W. Clarke, daughter of John and Nancy Clarke, of Edgartown, has been named to the dean’s list at Endicott College for the fall semester. Katharine is a sophomore majoring in English.

PRESCRIPTION HELP

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

In response to your story about the prescription drug problem on Island (March 25).

On a balmy afternoon sometime in the 1970s, 19-year-old Cindy Kane found herself sailing across the Kansas countryside in the cockpit of a sailboat. But this was not a dream or hallucinatory acid trip (it was the seventies after all). The sailboat rested on the back of a large semi hauling boats cross-country. Ms. Kane, after graduating from high school early and eschewing college, had hitched a ride from the trucker.

Facing two separate lawsuits alleging he misused funds, Edgartown attorney Edward W. (Peter) Vincent Jr. has had his bank accounts frozen and liens totalling $700,000 attached to his South Water street residence and other assets.

The cases also have prompted complaints alleging misconduct by Mr. Vincent to the state body that oversees lawyers, which is investigating, and to the Edgartown police department, which has opened an investigation into whether there is cause for criminal charges.

For those who love to eat fresh bay scallops harvested from Island ponds, they won’t be available in fish markets for long. The fishery closed yesterday.

Shellfish constables report it was a fair season, with Edgartown doing the best. More than 100 commercial bay scallopers across the Island were able to make a decent day’s pay since the season began back in the fall. Only one or two fishermen were out working the ponds in each of the towns by the season’s end, though.

It could be a walk in the park, or rather the sculpture garden, for West Tisbury residents at the annual town meeting, after selectmen signed the final purchase and sale agreement for acquiring the Field Gallery on Wednesday.

“It needs to be understood,” selectman Cynthia Mitchell said, “the purchase and sale agreement is essentially keeping the deal in place so the town can vote on it. It’s not the selectmen agreeing to go forward without the support of the town.”

Tisbury voters will face the task of cleaning up old messes on a number of fronts at this year’s special town meeting, on Tuesday.

Wastewater which used to be dumped into the waters around the Island, garbage disposal on shore, neglected and abandoned buildings in town, people who don’t shovel their sidewalks after it snows, the consequences of profligate energy use: These are the literal messes.