Those who are outdoors late tonight and for the next two nights may want to take a moment to look for the moon rising in the east. The last quarter moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus and not far from the brilliant planet Jupiter.

The best time to see these two celestial objects is well after midnight, when both have some altitude in the east. Both can be observed through the weekend.

At least 48 sailboats from all over Southeastern Massachusetts are expected to compete tomorrow in the 35th annual George Moffett Memorial Race just outside the Vineyard Haven harbor. The start of the race is shortly after 11 a.m.

For 35 years this race has been seen as a sailors’ salute to the end of summer.

The start of the race is just off East Chop. Sailboats ranging from 16 to 75 feet in length will move between West Chop and East Chop and then cross into Nantucket Sound. By tradition, the course will be decided on the day of the race.

Danny Louis Larsen, 62, of Edgartown has reason to be surprised by his own success. When he started Edgartown Seafood 25 years ago, Mr. Larsen knew fish, but he wasn’t sure about retail.

“I didn’t think I would like it,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to deal with the people. I didn’t think they’d be able to deal with me.”

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $192,970 for the business week ending on Friday, August 31, 2012.

This weekend the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival continues at venues throughout Vineyard Haven. The opening night ceremonies heralded in a new era as the first-ever film was screened at the new festival center located at 72 Beach Road in the Tisbury Marketplace.

The movie lineup continues through Sunday, at which point 22 films from around the world will have been showcased. A full schedule can be found online at mvfilmfest.com

After spending years studying Lyme disease, Enid Haller and husband Sam Hiser opened the Martha’s Vineyard Lyme Disease Center last Thursday off Panhandle Road in West Tisbury.

The educational center provides pamphlets and books on Lyme disease, a list of so-called Lyme-literate doctors and individual consultations with Ms. Haller to talk about medical history, symptoms and steps to getting accurately diagnosed and treated.

“We are Lyme advocates, more than anything,” said Ms. Haller.

Steamship Authority senior managers paid a visit to the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting Tuesday to discuss improvement projects around the ferry terminal.

SSA general manager Wayne Lamson, Vineyard governor Marc Hanover and port council member George Balco all attended.

Mr. Lamson said the SSA is ready to file for permits for dredging about 300 yards of sand next to the dinghy dock area in the Vineyard Haven harbor. He said he expects permitting to take at least nine months.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank announced this week that it has purchased nearly 12 acres in the rural wooded perimeters of Edgartown, completing a long-planned project to protect the westerly entrance to town as largely undeveloped land — both the fields and woodland.

The land bank paid $900,000 for 11.8 acres. The seller was Philip J. Norton Jr. The purchase will boost the total size of the land bank’s Ben Toms Preserve to nearly 30 acres, with some 2,000 feet of frontage on the West Tisbury Road.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has begun the permitting process to begin building the permanent Lagoon Pond drawbridge.

Melinda Loberg, chairman of the Tisbury and Oak Bluffs drawbridge committee, said this week that the state needs four key permits to begin advertising for bids in the fall as planned. The state expects to receive all the permits by the end of September, she said.

Inside the new Tisbury Emergency Services Facility, hoses are neatly wound, office boxes are half unpacked and three emergency vehicles take cover in the high-ceilinged bay. The building, which was set to be occupied last July, finally is home to the ambulance department, with the fire department soon to follow after final repairs on the asphalt are completed.

Upstairs in the day room, EMT volunteer Ellie Beth sat comfortably on the couch with her computer last Tuesday morning.

“This is a certainly a huge improvement on what we had before,” she said.