Readers of the Gazette should know that there is a clear answer to the question “Martha, But Which One?” raised in your June 19 edition. Questions about the person for whom our Island was named were raised by J. Henry Lea and Fulmer Mead in George R. Stewart’s book, Names on the Land, quoted in 1945.

A grateful tip of the hat to Tim Boland for his excellent editorial, Tuesday, June 26, Wood Lilies Too Dear for Deer.

“While we dislike suburbanization off-Island, we have our own brand of it right here.” Talk about a phrase full of meaning. In a gentle way, Mr. Boland slammed home some brutal truths.

Thank you, sir, for not blaming the deer, who are only trying to survive. (Yes, I know, just like us. But we have the ability to plan ahead).

At last Thursday’s meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, a majority of the commissioners present rejected a motion by commissioner Lenny Jason to rescind last fall’s controversial, unpopular and questionable approval of a roundabout at the blinker intersection. This proposal for the Vineyard has a longevity rivaling that of a vampire, and there seems to be no readily available stake to drive through its heart.

This letter is in response to an article published in last Friday’s Vineyard Gazette (June 22) regarding the superior court decision that upheld the Tisbury conservation commission’s denial of my application for a pier in Lagoon Pond. I would have preferred to have contributed my comments in the article, but since there was no attempt to get in touch with me until noon on Thursday June 21, to which I called back around 8 p.m., I apparently missed the print deadline. The decision for this case was May 30, so I openly wonder why I was given such little notice to comment.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $210,423 for the business week ending on Friday, June 22, 2012. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.

Much of the land bank revenue last week came from the town of Chilmark, where three transactions resulted in $182,296. In Oak Bluffs, three eligible transactions yielded $12,700. Four transactions in Edgartown generated $9,920, while three in Tisbury resulted in $5,507. No eligible transactions were recorded in West Tisbury or Aquinnah.

A New Hampshire attorney and former county commissioner from the Granite State was selected this week as the next Dukes County manager. But Katherine Rogers told the Gazette yesterday that she is still deciding whether to take the job.

For 43 years, he’s led the annual Fourth of July parade through the streets of Edgartown. But next week’s festivities will be Fred B. (Ted) Morgan Jr.’s last as grand marshal and organizer of the patriotic display.

Mr. Morgan announced that it would be his last year at the Monday selectmen’s meeting this week.

One year after the Islandwide franchise agreement with Comcast expired, a new 10-year cable television contract remains unfinished with no clear end in sight. And cable service to Chappaquiddick continues to be the chief sticking point.

Cable committee chairman Jennifer Rand said this week the committee did not want to rush the contract “just because we’re tired of negotiating.”

“This is a 10-year contract and a lengthy conversation,” she said. “We want to get it right.”

Staring east from Chappaquiddick on a clear day, if you know where to look, a tiny white sliver peeks over the horizon. It’s the Nantucket water tower. Otherwise “the other island,” at only 12 miles away and barely over the curvature of the earth, might as well not exist to Vineyarders. And vice versa.

A two-minute drive from the heart of Edgartown down a dead-end road lies an escape from the perfectly trimmed rose bushes and hedges of the village.

“It packs a lot into a small space,” said Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation executive director Adam Moore on a recent early summer day as he looked off into Nantucket Sound past saltwater marshes. “You’re right out of town, and then you’re right here.”