Island favorite Ben Taylor and John Forte, producer/performer for the Fugees, headline a benefit concert tonight, Sept. 3, from 9 p.m. at Nectar’s with proceeds going to Martha’s Vineyard Helping Homeless Animals (MVHHA) and RockHouse Foundation of Negril, Jamaica.

At 5:45 in the morning, not much is stirring on the Island. Traffic is almost nonexistent, and even the light seems to move sluggishly, taking its time to stretch across the sky.

At 5:45 in the morning, not much is stirring on the Island. Traffic is almost nonexistent, and even the light seems to move sluggishly, taking its time to stretch across the sky.

There aren’t too many men who go into home health care, but Hank Sjostrom (pronounced Sherstrom) has been in it since the 1960s, helping people and in turn helping himself.

It appeared out of nowhere on a calm, clear morning last July — the largest seagull I have ever seen, with a black back and a bright orange beak — sitting motionless on the verdant front lawn of our rental overlooking Stonewall Beach.

Editor’s Note: A divided Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week ruled, four to two, that the State Energy Facilities Siting Board had the power to overrule the Cape Cod Commission and grant a so-called super permit to the developers of the controversial Cape Wind project. Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall wrote a dissenting opinion, alongside Associate Justice Francis X. Spina. What follows is an excerpted text of the dissent by Chief Justice Marshall. A longtime seasonal resdent of West Tisbury, the chief justice will retire this fall.

Requiem for Little Guy

Love’s embrace

Held thee

A short while — almost weightless.

Fly away

Little Soul

On butterfly wings.

Frail veil

Of human life

Slipped through love’s fingers — voiceless.

Fly high

Little Guy

On angel’s wings — all breathless.

The angry red swath on the NOAA map shows Earl’s path northward. As I write this, on Wednesday, it’s not clear what he intends — but already I can sense something in the air. The calm, sticky weather we’ve been having for the last few days is heavy with portent. Signs lurk in the quiet all around. Where are the songbirds? Even geese flying overhead seem to be hurrying to shelter. My imagination is pictured with memories of other hurricanes.

“Come in Walter, come in now!”

FISHING FRIENDLY

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Faded Beauty

New School Year Begins

Picture it this way: If a doctor, lawyer or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.