Fewer beach closures are expected this summer due to changes in state regulations governing swimming safety. Under the new rules, water samples will have to show high bacteria counts on two consecutive days before a beach is closed.

Thursday evening, residents and visitors of the Island are invited to relax by the Sengekontacket Pond and enjoy a festival of short films at the Rod and Gun Club in Edgartown.

The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard is down to three guinea pigs for adoption. Sci-fi fans would love these little critters. They all have brilliant red eyes! There are two girls, Lucy and Ethel, and one boy, Robert.

The trouble with skipping your homework for one week is how much is piled on for the next week. Special mention to my friend Tamma Willoughby who celebrated her May 31 birthday without notification in this column.

Walter E. Delaney was escorted out of the town of Aquinnah on Tuesday by the fire department, the police department, and many well-wishing friends and his neighbors.

Downtown Vineyard Haven has been named as the state’s newest cultural district. The town application was approved during a meeting of the Massachusetts Cultural Council last month, and an announcement was made at the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday.

The weekend was warm and after church many people had an opportunity to go to the beach for the first time. Lambert’s Cove was pleasantly crowded. Charlie Kernick and Sam Alley report that their gardens are all planted.

Looking down at a map, Oak Bluffs looks like the mitten of Martha’s Vineyard, although contextually, looking at the whole Island it might occur to you that we look like one of two humps of a west-traveling camel.

Edgartown police responded to a one-car accident Sunday in which a car struck the corner of a house on Pinehurst Road, police said.

Well, I think we have summer. We have had two days of sunshine and heat. I know the rain is coming, but we can’t complain. I believe we need the rain for our plants and trees.