An update is the first order of business. The pair of merlins that were seen on Chappaquiddick in late June and early July has caused quite a stir. The male and female were both observed by several people and reacted in a very territorial fashion.

Megan Avery Will Wed

Richard C. Avery and Suzanne McAllister-Avery announce the engagement of their daughter, Megan Diane Avery, to Nathan Scott Zellner, both of Austin, Tex. Ms. Avery also is the granddaughter of the late Edythe M. Avery and Donald W. Avery of Oak Bluffs and Arlington. A Nov. 1 wedding is planned.

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

The days this summer for eating locally caught fluke on the Vineyard are coming to a close.

Fluke, also called summer flounder, are a flat fish. Their fillets are white and tasty, and most come from Vineyard Sound. Since the start of the summer, fluke have been the catch of the day.

On Tuesday, the state closed the commercial season for landing fluke, based on projected estimates that the state quota had been met.

On July 12, 2008, Morgan Elizabeth Taylor became the bride of Robert F. Lucero. The ceremony was performed under the cottonwood trees at Horse Creek Cattle Company Ranch in Horse Creek, Wyo. A reception followed at the same location.

The bride is the daughter of Robert and Constance Taylor of Chilmark. The bridegroom is the son of Margaret Lucero and Flavio Lucero of Cheyenne, Wyo.

Billy and Naomi Dias of Oak Bluffs welcome their son, Th’oder Joseph Jacob Dias, who was born July 30 at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. He weighed 8 pounds, 3.4 ounces. Theo joins his two sisters, Evelyn Joy and Penelope.

The people are coming — upwards of 5,000 are expected — and the town of Oak Bluffs is ready for them.

Nearly four years after the landmark sovereignty case was decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has yet to secure a town building permit for the small shed and pier that were at the center of the dispute.

Aquinnah building inspector Jerry A. Weiner sent a letter to tribal chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais late last month formally notifying her that the tribe is in violation of town zoning laws and the state building code on three projects, including the shed and pier. The tribe has not responded to the letter.

On Tuesday morning, before most Islanders had their first cup of coffee, volunteers took a walk around Sengekontacket Pond looking for sources of pollution.

Carrying clipboards and cameras, the volunteers did a coastal shoreline survey, looking for anything that might signal a cause for the declining water quality in the 745-acre pond.

Charitable giving on the Vineyard remains almost inexplicably robust this summer season, even while across the nation there is mounting evidence the sagging economy is having a devastating effect on philanthropy.

Donations to the Salvation Army are reported to be down 20 per cent, contributions to church collection plates are off an estimated 35 per cent, and several charities tasked with providing aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina have nearly gone bankrupt.

It was billed as a public forum on race, gender, age and religion in the 2008 election, but right from the outset it was clear that one of the four topics would dominate the discussion held before a huge crowd of more than 900 people at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center on Wednesday.