The Chilmark Road Race is a chimerical beast, part family-oriented
charity jog, part cutthroat competition. Perhaps the contradictory
spirit of the now-legendary institution was best summed up by Willy
Anderson, age 10. When asked about his plans for the race, the
bespectacled youth declared, "I really want to beat my mom.
We'll start out together, but at the end I'll try to beat
her."

Citing a need to preserve old roadways that provide a vital link to
the Island's past, the Martha's Vineyard Commission on
Thursday unanimously agreed to nominate five ancient ways in Edgartown
for inclusion into a special byways protection zone that could limit
their use and future development.

Partners in Fishing and Fishmongering: Father and Son Tied Like
Bowline Knot

The Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday closed a public
hearing for a planned 35,000 square-foot YMCA building, sending the
project into the home stretch with few visible potholes in the road.

As is the custom following the close of a public hearing, the
commission's land use planning committee met last night to discuss
the project and possibly begin drafting a list of conditions for
possible approval.

It's been 34 years since the landmark court case that stamped
out most state and federal laws banning or restricting abortion.

But a few of New England's highly regarded women's
rights activists, who gathered in the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown
for a panel discussion on Wednesday night, told the audience that Roe v.
Wade may not live to see 34 more years.

Community Services Hoped for More

By KATE BRANNEN

Martha's Vineyard Community Services is taking stock after its
most important fundraiser of the year, the Possible Dreams Auction,
raised far less than last year's auction.

On Thursday afternoon, Community Services reported that $444,000 had
been raised on Tuesday night, including sales from admissions and
concessions. In 2006, the fundraiser brought in $810,000, providing a
substantial part of the organization's budget.

After three years of legal maneuvers, appeals and bitter accusations
on both sides, a Dukes County superior court judge this week ruled that
the three-story garage built by Joseph G. Moujabber without a permit in
the North Bluff district of Oak Bluffs should not be demolished -
for now. Instead, the judge ordered a new review by a town architectural
board with special broad powers vested in it by the Martha's
Vineyard Commission.

When we think of the Polar Bears of Martha's Vineyard we think of tradition, acceptance,friendship, and now transition.

Political Fundraisers Heat Up in August

Four Presidential Hopefuls Will Appear on the Island Over Next Three
Weeks: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Romney

By MIKE SECCOMBE

August, as everyone knows, is the high season of the fundraiser,
particularly the political fundraiser, on the Vineyard, the time when
those with party affiliations and deep pockets hobnob and write checks.

Rain-Delayed Possible Dreams Raise $444,000

By KATE BRANNEN

On Monday night, when people were meant to be gathered in the garden
at the Harborside Inn in Edgartown for the Possible Dreams Auction, it
poured rain and flashed lightning across the Island, vindicating the
event's organizers and their decision to enact the auction's
first rain date in its 29 year history.