I was enjoying your editorial, Common Purpose, until I got to the paragraph that expressed your support of ObamaCare. I could not disagree more.

When the deeply-divided Supreme Court ruled ObamaCare constitutional, it became the biggest tax increase in U.S. history. The new health care program, now dubbed Obama tax, signals the largest expansion of government since the New Deal.

The Gazette has been pretty fearless in exposing dredging errors, environmental threats and the like on the Vineyard, but I wonder if you would consider also covering the lawsuit against Pie in the Sky Bakery in Woods Hole that the Martha’s Vineyard Saving Bank is carrying out?

Very often I consider in private how idiosyncratic Island people and culture are. The shark tournament held in Oak Bluffs every year is a case in point. How can Island people, surrounded and sustained by the ocean itself, how in the world we can sponsor a shark-killing tournament with bloody carcasses for all the world to see this waste of good fish flesh and this spectacle of killing the big watch dogs of the seas?

Shark populations worldwide are in grave peril. Many species of open ocean sharks are in danger of extinction. The spectacle of the Annual Oak Bluffs monster shark tournament unnecessarily contributes to declining shark populations and is an assault on the natural world. This unremitting display of cruelty and disregard for clear conservation imperatives undermines the spirit and character of our Island community. The town of Oak Bluffs justifies this catastrophe by promoting the message that killing sharks for fun and prizes is good for business.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $717,932 for the business week ending on Friday, July 6, 2012. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

Nectars? Hot Tin Roof? Yesterday’s news.

Tonight, Friday the 13th, Dreamland returns.

The brainchild of the man behind Sharky’s and the Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company, Dreamland is stepping into the music void and welcoming all comers. Phil daRosa is onboard as the entertainment and talent buyer for this 5,300 square foot space, located above the Chowder Company, at 9 Oak Bluffs avenue.

After nearly two days of foundering in the surf near a remote coastline in Aquinnah with hundreds of gallons of fuel on board, the Sherry Ann, a 46-foot offshore lobster boat out of Westport, was freed from her unwanted rocky berth and towed to a nearby salvage barge Thursday afternoon.

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) yesterday announced its intention to file a lawsuit against Gov. Deval Patrick, and possibly also the town of Aquinnah, to protect its right to build a casino in southeastern Massachusetts and on the Vineyard.

Scott Crowell, a Washington state attorney who represents the Vineyard Wampanoags, said yesterday the tribe will file a lawsuit on Sept. 3 in federal district court.

More than a week after a two-car accident on the Fourth of July that proved fatal, two people involved in the accident remain in Boston hospitals.

Seth Jones, 26, of Dummer, N.H., was listed in serious condition at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston on Thursday, a hospital spokesman said. His mother, Margaret Jones, 51, was listed in good condition.

On Saturday, Mr. Jones’ girlfriend, Heather L. Laflamme, 21, died at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after she was critically injured in the car accident on Barnes Road.

A rare algal bloom has shut down shellfishing in Lake Tashmoo during a week where other Vineyard swimming spots were closed because of bacteria.

Seth’s Pond, the popular swimming hole in West Tisbury, has been closed to swimmers for more than a week because of high levels of enterococcus bacteria. The same bacteria led to a brief closure of Pay Beach in Oak Bluffs.

Starting Wednesday, Lake Tashmoo was closed to shellfishing because of a toxic algae bloom that some said is rare to Vineyard ponds.