Bucking the national trend on the Republican side, but closely mirroring the electoral mood of the country on the Democratic side, voters in Dukes County threw their support to Sen. John McCain and Vice President Al Gore in the presidential primary on Tuesday.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush did not take a single town in the county - which includes Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands - but former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley did very well here, landing the majority vote on the Democratic ticket in Aquinnah and Chilmark, and trailing by only a few votes in the other five towns.

Gus Ben David is an Island institution. For 30 years he has directed Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. Anyone walking the trails gets a sense of a wild place that is tended by loving hands. The open grassland is mowed at strategic times of year. Waterfowl find refuge in the small duck pond at the far end of the property.

The Sharp house on Starbuck’s Neck in Edgartown was sold this week to a Connecticut family for $11,225,000.

The price is a Martha’s Vineyard benchmark of sorts, although a north shore property that included 80 acres of waterfront property sold last year for $12 million.

The summer home on Starbuck’s Neck is a single dwelling on three acres — but among the most prime three acres on the Vineyard, with a lawn down to Edgartown outer harbor facing Edgartown Lighthouse.

Ending an exhaustive regional and local review that began some 15 months ago, the Edgartown zoning board of appeals voted unanimously this week to approve a plan for a private 18-hole golf club at the site of an old subdivision in the rural perimeters of Edgartown.

“I feel it complies with the vision set forth in the bylaw, and I don’t think it will adversely affect the neighborhood,” said John Magnuson, a member of the appeals board, just before the vote on Wednesday night.

The dollar volume of real estate sales on Martha’s Vineyard was far higher in 1999 than in any previous year, reaching almost $350 million. The previous record, in 1998, was about $308 million.

Although it has been clear in recent years that a real estate boom is sweeping the Island, the figures are stark proof. The current boom began in 1996, when the total real estate sales for the year reached $186 million, climbing to $243 million the following year. The last two years have been simply astonishing.

Looking across Vineyard Sound from Woods Hole it’s hard to imagine that Vineyarders could have anything to wish for in the coming century.

To the mainland resident, the Island looks peaceful and perfect, a little slice of paradise in the midst of a breezy New England December.

If they only knew.

Just like anyone else, Islanders are looking forward to the new millennium with a mix of trepidation and optimism. The residents of this tiny chunk of land do have dreams for the coming century, albeit modest ones.

The changing shoreline on Martha's Vineyard variously fascinates, startles or horrifies people, depending on where they live or own property. The strongest supporting images of erosion are provided by destruction of buildings located at the water's edge, such as lighthouses and Worlds War II military bunkers. Among the latter, a concrete bunker (part of the Katama Naval Air Station target track) once 180 feet from the shore at South Beach in Edgartown was last seen far offshore, drowned in the surf. The associated rate of shoreline retreat comes to about 12 feet per year.

The community came to celebrate the opening and explore the new Chilmark School on Tuesday night. While the air outside was wintry, inside parents and children drew warmth from friendly teachers standing in their new classrooms. It was a first visit for most to the new facility.

School principal Kathy Collins was quick to show off the pride teachers and students were already feeling about their new building. The 44 students made their move into the school on Monday, Dec. 13th. Just a week later, the place was their daytime home.

Three Island towns awake this morning under the umbrella of permit moratoriums following last night’s meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

The commission opened its regular meeting by approving a nomination for a district of critical planning concern in the Vineyard Haven harbor. The vote was unanimous and followed a public hearing which was held prior to the opening of the commission meeting. Only one member of the public was heard in the hearing.