Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs voters will have a crowded field to choose from next month as six town residents are running for two open spots on the board of selectmen.

The cause of a Saturday night house fire in Oak Bluffs is still unknown this week but Oak Bluffs fire chief Pete Forend said on Thursday that there was no indication that foul play was involved.

Chief Forend said that about 40 Edgartown, Tisbury and Oak Bluffs firefighters responded to the 79 Linton avenue home of Maurice O’Connor and Beth Blankenship at 7:30 p.m. last Saturday. They took just over an hour to get the fire under control, staying until 11:30 p.m. to fight the blaze. No one was hurt.

Al Hurwitz, a world renowned art educator, has won numerous awards in his lifetime, including a National Art Educator award and a Sir Herbert Read award from the International Society for Education Through Art.

Down-Island representatives have a simple suggestion for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as it reviews its checklist for referring developments of regional impact: get rid of it.

Arguing that the commission had outgrown its original chartering legislation, on Monday members of the Edgartown and Oak Bluffs planning boards met with the commission and submitted a joint letter calling for the abolishment of all mandatory referrals.

High school enrollment numbers will stay relatively flat in the next 10 years, according to a report from the New England School Development Council released this week. The high school now has 682 students enrolled, and the report expects the number to stay in the high 600 range for some time.

A Tisbury youth was honored at the selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday. Rasmus Sayre, 13, who only a few weeks ago rescued a helpless fellow competitor from the waters in Mexico, was called a hero by the selectmen.

Selectmen presented Rasmus with a plaque reading: “On this day, the board of selectmen and the citizens of the town of Tisbury honor Rasmus Sayre for his heroism, courage and selfless action to safe the life of another....”

The Island Assessors Association announces that all Island towns will be recertifying property values for fiscal year 2012.

Aquaculture expert Dr. Elizabeth A. Fairchild, the Assistant Research Professor from the University of New Hampshire, will report on the Martha’s Vineyard winter flounder stock enhancement project on Thursday, March 17 at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.

Dr. Fairchild is assisting a group of 25 Island fishermen and aquaculturists in a project involving Lagoon Pond and Menemsha Pond. The group plans to spawn and grow 50,000 juvenile flounder in Island hatcheries for release into the two ponds. The two-year project began in November.

Turn your clocks ahead before bed on Saturday, for Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, sealovers mark the start of spring with the arrival of alewives, a.k.a. herring; a herring carcass was spotted on the shoreline of the Aquinnah herring run on Wednesday afternoon. When will the osprey return to feed on the herring?

Welcome Callie

Michelle Boelsen and William Oteri of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Callie Oteri, born on March 3, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Callie weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces at birth.