Dean’s List

Michael Gately of West Tisbury has been named to the dean’s list during the fall 2007 semester at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.

A Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School senior may have saved the life of an Oak Bluffs man Monday night after he fell into the frigid waters of the Oak Bluffs harbor and was unable to pull himself to safety.

Shelagh Kelley, 18, was inside her family’s home on East Chop Drive around 11 p.m. when she heard the faint cries of someone in distress. She alerted her mother Patricia and her father Rick Kelley, a state police lieutenant who works off-Island, and together they strained to listen to determine where the cries were coming from.

Hello, Lyla

Amanda Mead and Mike Patricio of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Lyla Kandace Patricio, born Feb. 12 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Lyla, who weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces at birth, is also welcomed by her big brother, Andre.

Brody Arrives

Brody Michael Royal was born Feb. 8 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He weighed 9.1 pounds. His parents are Chris and Jenny Royal of Oak Bluffs. His grandparents are Peggy and Wayne Royal from Edgartown and Connie and Dave DeSelm from Cambridge, Ohio.

Claiming that the contract between the West Tisbury assessors and Vision Appraisal Technology does not comply with state law, a town taxpayer called on the town selectmen this week to declare the 2007 real estate valuations invalid.

R.M. Packer Co. of Vineyard Haven, the Vineyard’s major oil supplier, has agreed to pay a $78,000 fine for violating the federal Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Prevention rules.

According to a release from the federal Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, the Packer company failed to adequately implement a spill prevention, control and countermeasure plan. The EPA also said the company did not sufficiently maintain proper containment for its tanks and loading rack.

An indefinite suspension imposed on the firm laying a private sewer line from the Field Club to the Edgartown sewage treatment plant was lifted yesterday after 48 hours when wastewater, water and highway departments declared satisfaction that the job could be continued safely and within regulations.

Farrissey Telecom, a construction firm hired by the developers of the high-end members-only Field Club, had hit service lines on three occasions during the previous week, breaching contract rules for the excavation work and prompting selectmen to suspend the work.

Saturday was a vintage homecoming night at the American Legion Hall in Vineyard Haven. More than 60 mostly graying friends, all of them young at heart, gathered for a home-cooked pork dinner.

Rows of tables were set with white paper tablecloth. Artificial flowers in little vases were evenly spaced on every table. The conversation throughout the hall was spirited. Men showed up with pressed slacks and ironed shirts. Many of their ladies came wearing dresses and a few wore lipstick.

It is still winter but the Chilmark selectmen on Tuesday had beach business to discuss.

At a public hearing the town beach committee made several requests for change at Lucy Vincent Beach. Selectmen granted three, including a flat rate of $85 for all vehicle beach passes, permission to charge for catered events held at town beaches and a new fee policy for transferred vehicle stickers. “We’re trying to make the beach pay for itself,” said committee member Pam Bunker.

After he has extolled the virtues of off-menu choice making in American restaurants at the Dock Street Diner in Edgartown one morning, Leslie Baynes — high school committee member and the only 39-year Vineyarder with a London cockney accent — explains how he came to like this country, eventually.