Friday, June 20: A large gibbous moon hangs low over the western sky at dawn on the first day of summer. Mostly sunny afternoon. Bicycles speed past Ocean Park towards Edgartown. A small fleet of sailboats crosses Nantucket Sound. Light chop. Orange and red beach towels hang from a Camp Ground backyard clothes line. Light afternoon breeze.

Vineyard Playhouse artistic director M.J. Bruder Munafo kicks off the theater’s popular summer series of new work — the Monday Night Special — with Expatriate, a new play by Bill C. Davis and starring Tony award-winning actress Frances Sternhagen.

The staged reading of Expatriate, directed by Mr. Davis, will be held on Monday, June 30 at 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church street in downtown Vineyard Haven.

First, Edgartown seasonal resident William O’Connell was forced to write off his plans for a helicopter landing pad at his Chappaquiddick home. Now, Mr. O’Connell has written off a helicopter, too.

He was at the controls of the Bell B206, with three others aboard, which plunged into the ocean on Saturday off Lake Tashmoo.

Aquinnah voters rejected a bylaw for the Island’s first energy district of critical planning concern (DCPC) last week, leaving a townwide building moratorium in place and selectmen unsure of their next move.

Passage of the energy district bylaw would have allowed construction of windmills by homeowners and the town and would have ended a building moratorium that has been in place since last month.

Oak Bluffs selectmen on Friday unanimously approved the demolition and removal of the long-standing snack shack and comfort station at the foot of pay beach as part of a plan to repair the crumbling town waterfront along Sea View avenue.

At a special joint meeting with the conservation commission and parks commission, selectmen agreed to the recommendation laid out in a recently completed engineering report which calls for the building that houses the snack shack, bathrooms and changing stations to be eliminated.

Despite lingering concerns about the size, density and effect on a residential neighborhood, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday approved the multifaceted Bradley Square project at the corner of Dukes County and Masonic avenues in Oak Bluffs by a nearly unanimous vote.

A noted Vineyard naturalist and wildlife expert said late last week that a Chilmark police officer responded correctly when he shot and killed a wild turkey that had attacked him and a fellow officer.

They are sisters and Island natives with a well-branched family tree. Their father was a Prada; his mother was a Vincent. Barbara and Ursula Prada, who share a family home, also both have unusual jobs for which they are uniquely overqualified. Barbara is the Edgartown dog officer; Ursula is the assistant to the Edgartown building inspector. Talk about running a whole town — between your runaway pooch and your runaway building project, the Prada sisters are the go-to women of Edgartown.

Interviews by Sam Bungey

Barbara:

Corrections

A story in last Friday’s Gazette about West Tisbury resident Katie Mayhew performing last Wednesday with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in Boston incorrectly reported the name of the former speaker of the state house of representatives. He is Thomas M. Finneran. The Gazette regrets the error.

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The West Tisbury town column in Friday’s Gazette incorrectly identified the director of the Field Gallery. She is Jennifer Pillsworth. The Gazette regrets the error.

Students Raise Funds

For Overseas Schools

Students in the kindergarten and first grade classes at Chilmark have raised $1,363 for Pennies for Peace.