Aquinnah taxpayers will open their mail eagerly next week.

Most will see up to a 19.4 per cent reduction in taxes.

The town’s tax rate is falling from $4.03 per $1,000 assessed valuation last year to $3.25 per $1,000 for the current year.

Assistant assessor Angela Cywinski received verbal approval from the state department of revenue this week of the new rate and expects to mail tax bills on Monday.

Third and fourth tax payments and applications for abatements are due at town hall on May 1.

Tucked into the corner of the Woodland Business Center in Vineyard Haven, between the bakeries and offices in this off-the-beaten-path part of town, is an office door. On a recent Monday, just shy of 9 a.m., workers passed right by it in their beeline pursuit of morning coffee. Not one paused to look in.

Had they done so, an empty hallway is all they would have seen.

The moon visits with a bright red star and two of the brightest planets in our southeastern sky in the week ahead.

In nine years’ experience running Tisbury town meeting, moderator Deborah Medders has noticed one type of warrant article which really gets people going is proposed changes to zoning bylaws. And so it was again this week.

The Tisbury special town meeting on Tuesday went pretty smoothly for the most part, until it came to two arcane, and, it must be said — for many people at the meeting said it — hard-to-comprehend proposed changes to zoning regulations.

If the winter season has left a desire for anything, it is fresh produce. With spring seeds already in the ground, the first harvests are practically around the corner. But, there is still time to sign up for a full or seasonal share with the Whippoorwill Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

For a flat fee paid up front at the beginning of the season, members of the community can buy a share in the farm’s harvest for the season. A full share is $700. A 10-week share costs $420, with a five-week share priced at $210.

Lily Reid Arrives

Skye MacDuff and Richard J. Kerns of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Lily Reid Kerns, born March 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Lily weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces at birth.

Top Window Cleaner

Zachary White, co-owner of Sparkle Window Cleaning, and resident of Edgartown, recently won the medley competition held at the annual conference of the International Window Cleaning Association in California. The medley is a contest of perfection and the contestant with the least amount of mistakes wins.

High Rating

Jennifer W. Marlin, a personal advisor with the office of Ameriprise Financial at 12 Mariner’s Way in Edgartown, has received high marks from her clients in the top percentage of 2,608 participating advisors who scored at least 92 (of a possible 100) based on two key ratings: clients’ overall satisfaction with the advisor and the amount of proactive contact the client receives from the advisor.

Dean’s List

Three Vineyard students were named to the dean’s list at Emory College in Atlanta, Ga., for the fall 2007 semester. They are Molly Rovin and Alex Parker of Chilmark and Robert Hale of Vineyard Haven.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

March 21 48 32 .02

March 22 43 29 .00

March 23 48 28 .00

March 24 46 22 .00

March 25 50 34 .00

March 26 46 32 .00

March 27 56 30 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 45º F.