On Thursday, May 24, Friends of Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard Inc. hosted our annual art show benefit gala preview party. Each year we are overwhelmed by the generosity of our Island community. This year, our gala event (relying almost solely on donations) was one of the best and most successful ever, due to the many donors who made it possible.

Jawsfest: The Tribute has received numerous questions regarding our Summer for the Sharks conservation initiative, with people wondering if we are against the Boston Big Game Monster Shark Tournament that begins this week. The answer to this question is no; however, we would like to see that tournament convert to a catch-and-release event, as is happening with many such tournaments today. As a local business owner, who also runs TicketsMV.com, I fully appreciate the revenue derived by local businesses from events. I also appreciate that select shark populations have declined by a frightening 90 per cent in the last 40 years.

I read with a great deal of interest Prof. David Morris’s column on Thomas Paine (“The Long-Lasting Influence of Common Sense”). Readers should understand that Paine did not stop with the most cogent and perhaps first-published arguments on why the Americans should separate from the British Empire. He also wrote, just a few years later, two of the most important tracts on why society must care for its less fortunate citizens, in the second part of Rights of Man (1792) and Agrarian Justice (1797).

The tragedy surrounding the Fourth of July car crash on the Vineyard deepened when a second victim died at a Boston hospital Tuesday night.

According to a family friend, Seth Jones, 26, of Dummer, N.H., died early Tuesday evening. His death was confirmed by a spokesman at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Mr. Jones was taken off life support and was surrounded by family and friends, Melanie Devoid, the family friend, told the Gazette.

75 Martha's Road in Edgartown sold for $400,000 on July 2.

151 and 161 Litchfield Road in Edgartown sold for $493,500 on July 6.

124 and 128 Old County Road in West Tisbury sold for $480,000 on July 3.

20 Orran Norton Way in Edgartown sold for $770,000 on July 2.

The possibility of sending solid waste off-Island via barge was discussed Tuesday at the monthly Steamship Authority governor’s meeting, held in the library conference room at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Tisbury and Oak Bluffs, who together form one of Martha’s Vineyard’s two refuse districts, are evaluating the feasibility of transporting solid waste via port-to-port container freight service between the Vineyard and New Bedford.

65 Canonicus Avenue in Oak Bluffs sold for $565,000 on July 2.