Sen. Barack Obama should consider his defeated rival for the Democratic party presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, as his running mate in November, political analyst David Gergen told a Vineyard audience on Wednesday.

Without tough political fighters like Senator Clinton working with him, Mr. Gergen said, Senator Obama risks being overwhelmed by the same Republican attack machine which had so effectively “Swift-boated” John Kerry’s bid.

After receiving approval from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission earlier this summer by a nearly unanimous vote, the Bradley Square project on Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs has gone to the town zoning board of appeals and once again drawn the ire of abutters and neighbors.

A call for a fully engaged fire at Claudia jewelry store on Main street in Vineyard Haven Wednesday prompted a hasty response from firefighters following the Independence Day fire that destroyed the Caf Moxie restaurant and badly damaged the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in the same area.

But to everyone’s relief, the fire was relatively minor and was extinguished quickly.

Corrections

In a story about the publication of a collection of Civil War diaries kept by Charles Macreading Vincent, published in the Gazette of July 22, the name of a 19th century column in the Boston Globe was misidentified. The name was Table Gossip.

Due to incorrect information in a press release, an item in the Tuesday the Gazette incorrectly identified the hometown of Emily Hartford, who won a theatre award. She is a native of Middleborough.

The Gazette regrets the errors.

Bus Accident: None Hurt

West Tisbury police Tuesday responded to an accident involving a Vineyard Transit Authority bus and a motor vehicle at the intersection of State and West Tisbury-Edgartown Roads.

The VTA bus, operated by Jerome Rogers of Oak Bluffs, was heading down the hill north of Alley’s General Store on State Road with five passengers aboard. Kaitlin Taub, of Delmar, N.Y., was turning left at the intersection of Edgartown and State Roads at Brandy Brow, with one passenger in her 2000 Honda Accord.

The Oak Bluffs police department this week announced the seventh annual Junior Police Academy will run from August 25 through August 28 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day in the community room of the Oak Bluffs School.

Academy director Sergeant Michael Marchand has opened the recruiting process for children ages 11 through 14 to participate in the structured four-day program; each day will concentrate on a different aspect of policing. “This is a great way to get your child motivated and organized for the new school year,” Sergeant Marchand said.

Catch of the Day

Freshwater fishermen on the Vineyard who are interested in learning the mercury content of their catch are asked to call Alanna Purdy at 914-400-9241 to arrange for pickup and free analysis. The project is being sponsored by the Natural Resources Department of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Ocean Eversley of Oak Bluffs competed on July 27 at the New England Masters Track and Field Championships held in Springfield. Ms. Eversley competed in the 1500, 800 and 200-meter races all on the same day.She took first place in all three events, bringing three gold medals back to the Vineyard.

Ms. Eversley next plans to compete in the Chilmark Road Race tomorrow, and then will participate in the North American and World Track and Field Championships being held in Florida at the end of August.

It appears the Chilmark Road Race will continue as usual Saturday. No big changes. “Hopefully it’s going to be exactly like it’s been the last 31 years,” said James Goodenough Heuser, the director of the Chilmark Community Center.

As usual, registration for the event filled up quickly; the 1,500-person limit has been reached. “People come up every moment trying to get in,” Mr. Heuser said Thursday. “We’re already turning people away.”

The 1929 Oak Bluffs fire truck Engine number 2 is coming home. A group of Oak Bluffs firemen and friends have raised the necessary $10,000 to purchase the vehicle, Donald Billings announced yesterday.

Mr. Billings said the group plans to bring the truck back to the Vineyard sometime in September.

The truck is now in Milton, though it has also lived in a number of places across New England. Mr. Billings describes the truck as mint condition. The truck has not been in Oak Bluffs since it was sold and taken away in 1956.