By JULIA RAPPAPORT

Chilmark voters will be asked to spend half a million dollars at a special town meeting Monday as they consider whether to purchase two properties which will allow the Middle Line Road affordable housing project to move ahead. The project, now in its final planning stages, will be the first town-sponsored affordable housing project in Chilmark.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Chilmark Community Center. Moderator Everett H. Poole will preside.

The Youth Task Force of Martha’s Vineyard has landed a $100,000 grant to continue its work combating risky behaviors among Island teenagers.

Habitat for Humanity and the town of Edgartown are searching for an Edgartown family to purchase a two-bedroom, affordable house. The application deadline is March 31, with construction set to begin this summer.

Correction

A story in last week’s Gazette about musician John Cruz, Heather Goff was incorrectly identified as the author of the song Missing You. Mr. Cruz wrote Missing You, while Ms. Goff wrote Dream Song on the album. The Gazette regrets the error.

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The obituary for Maria Esther Nunes that appeared in last Friday’s Gazette reported incorrectly on the location of death.

On a blustery, cold February day, the 47-foot Coast Guard motor lifeboat out of Menemsha pitched and rolled in Vineyard Sound. Strong, chilly winds coming up from the southwest had kicked up big swells off Menemsha Bight to nine feet and off Quick’s Hole to 12 feet.

The Tashmoo Spring building preservation committee has scheduled a brainstorming meeting about the possible future use of the Tashmoo Spring Building, built in 1887 as a pumping station at the head of Lake Tashmoo, Vineyard Haven.

The meeting will be held at the Tisbury Senior Center from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5.

Exterior renovations and interior structural restoration are set to be completed at the Tashmoo Spring building by June 2009.

Announcing Natalie

Shannon Larsen and Daniel Larsen Jr. of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Natalie Elizabeth Larsen, on Feb. 25 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Natalie weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce at birth.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Feb. 22 32 19 .11

Feb. 23 35 28 .57

Feb. 24 34 24 Trace

Feb. 25 38 26 .00

Feb. 26 47 26 .00

Feb. 27 49 38 .68

Feb. 28 42 22 Trace

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 42º F.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

The longer you live in a place, the more its finer points come into focus. First, you might just know there’s an island named Chappaquiddick, but very soon you know the names of its most mentioned features, like Wasque, the ferry, and the dyke bridge. After you’ve lived in a place for longer, the shared history and common names for things start to reveal themselves, maybe by being overheard or referred to in conversation.

KATHIE CASE

508-627-5349

(kcase1@verizon.net)

The competition is on. I officially counted five blooming crocuses in my garden. I have three purple, one white and one yellow. The daffodils are showing their green heads.