Over the next few months Vineyarders can be on the lookout for some familiar seasonal residents: the monarch butterflies. The annual odyssey of the monarch butterfly has long delighted scientists and backyard naturalists. In early spring these delicate, diminutive creatures leave their overwintering site in south-central Mexico and make their way north.

Marilyn Horne has no plans to travel to Martha’s Vineyard this summer, but her influence and musical genius will arrive in the brain and muscle memory of mezzo Eve Gigliotti and producer Wendy Taucher.

Ms. Gigliotti and Ms. Taucher met with Ms. Horne, legendary American opera artist, for three sessions focused on developing the role of Isabella in Gioacchino Rossini’s L’italiana over the spring months. Ms. Gigliotti will star in a Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theater production of a remix of L’italiana the first weekend of August.

On Thursday night at Alex’s Place at the YMCA, Jim Belushi received some startling news. He was not, in fact, the mother of Island teenager Della Burke. At least that was what the audience decided.
Mr. Belushi was performing with the IMPers, an Island-based, award-winning improv comedy troupe for teens and young adults. He and Miss Burke were playing a comedy game called Should Have Said. The game involved the two sitting in a car having a conversation.

With a central location in the private Meadow View Farms subdivision between County and Barnes Road in Oak Bluffs, this four-bedroom home is ideal for families. The property is well-suited for indoor/outdoor living, with a large lawn, gardens, a stone walkway and an outdoor shower on .78 acres of professionally-tended land. Family members will enjoy dining in an open living dining room, on a large outdoor deck, or in an adjacent screened-in porch overlooking the gardens. The modern kitchen includes stainless steel appliances.

The Oak Bluffs water district is working toward implementation of a permanent chlorination system at the Lagoon Pond well after samples taken there more than two weeks ago revealed high counts of bacteria. Temporary chlorination of the entire water supply is currently under way as a precautionary measure.
The contaminated Lagoon Pond well was shut down in June, bringing an end to a two-day town-wide boil water order.

The Cottagers is a philanthropic organization comprised of about 100 women of color who are property owners on Martha’s Vineyard. The organization recently celebrated its 50th year of fundraising and continuing financial assistance to various programs on the Island.

A well-attended public hearing Thursday night about the proposed expansion of the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop supermarket focused on plans and concerns about how the expansion would impact already difficult Tisbury traffic.

Susan L. Abbott and David W. Schweizer purchased 22 Sachem Circle in West Tisbury for $650,000 on July 1.

Joshua Sherman purchased 68 Pacific Avenue in Oak Bluffs for $356,500 on July 2.

Rebecca Brown stands on a piece of tin foil at the end of every day, feet carefully spaced apart, and lets the electricity drain from her body.

“Standing on tin foil at the end of the day is huge because our bodies act as our capacitors. The more electricity you’re exposed to the more you store, and standing on tin foil gets it out,” she said. “A minute every day with your feet not touching is great.”