Oak Bluffs police last Friday arrested a 33-year-old native of Ireland after he reportedly stole a laptop computer and cash on separate occasions from a man who had hired him to paint his home.

Gerard McSteen, also known as Jerrod McSteen, was apprehended by Falmouth police as he disembarked from the ferry in Woods Hole before being turned over to the Oak Bluffs police.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last Thursday heard emotional testimony from an Edgartown property owner opposed to new guidelines for the protection and maintenance of five ancient pathways in Edgartown, each of which dates back to colonial times.

Benjamin Hall Jr., an Island attorney whose family owns land off Ben Tom’s Road, one of the ways that would fall under the proposed guidelines, said they had been hastily drafted and would deny his family the right to develop their property.

The Up Island Regional School District budget for fiscal 2009 is slated to increase 1.9 per cent.

Still, enrollment swings and a new allocation system for building costs will have a large financial impact on two of the three Up-Island district towns if the budget is approved at town meetings.

The average cost per pupil under the proposed budget is $24,137, up from $21,143 last year, a 14 per cent increase. Enrollment dropped to 325 students from 357 a year ago, a decline of nine per cent.

Sundance Appearance

Author and water researcher William E. Marks of Edgartown has returned from the Sundance Film Festival, where he was featured in the documentary film, FLOW: For Love of Water.

While water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet, the film confronts the disturbing reality that the crucial resource is dwindling and greed may be the cause.

Requesting Proposals

The Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation of Getzville, N.Y., has released two requests for proposals. The first inititiative would provide support for data-driven instruction. The second initiative would promote the use of technology-based remediation for students performing below grade level in one or more areas. Schools and school districts on the Vineyard may be eligible for funds. More information is available by visiting the Web site at thetowerfoundation.org.

Daffodil Days

Each year in March, the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days provides an opportunity for Island residents to lend a helping hand in the fight against cancer.

Contributions received through the sale of daffodils help to keep the society’s vital resources in place for those who are or have been affected by cancer. The American Cancer Society also needs drivers to deliver daffodils in the community during the week of March 17. To volunteer or to place an order, please call 1-800-227-2345.

Driving around the Island recently, one is likely to encounter flocks of American robins. They seem a little more conspicuous at this time of year since, other than starlings, there are few flocks of anything around.

At this time of year the robins are eating fruit and seeds, so places with crab apples, bittersweet berries, juniper berries, etc., are good places to find them. Often they will concentrate in an area until nearly all the food is gone and then move on after a day or two.

By LYNNE IRONS

This marks my first anniversary as the writer of the garden column. I’m following in the footsteps of Jean Wexler, who wrote the column for many years. Great job, Jean, how did you do it? For me, the column has been challenging at best. Hopefully, one can forgive me my shortcomings, especially repeating subjects and waxing political.

Sometimes you just have to face the facts, even if they seem rather unpleasant.

Most people use the term habitat without realizing that they are one. Yes, you read right: whether you know it or not, you are a habitat and a home base for ectoparasites.

MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

The island finally looked like winter on Monday morning — and sounded like it at my house, with the wind whistling through the windows where I hadn’t finished winterizing. The snow blew up some good-sized drifts on open sections of the roads, but there probably was not much more than about six inches. Bob Fynbo finally got a chance to use his plow in his official capacity clearing the town roads, which were ready well before the time school opened two hours late.