New single family home permits issued last year on the Vineyard soared 38 per cent over 2006, a rate of increase reminiscent of the building booms of the early 1980s and 1990’s.

A 20-year-old woman who grew up on the Island and dreamed of being a teacher was killed Tuesday evening when the vehicle she was driving was struck by a delivery truck at the intersection of County and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Roads.

Brandy Marie Gibson, who graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 2004 and recently worked as a substitute teacher in Vineyard Haven and Edgartown, was pronounced dead at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital around 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

Skiff’s Island is back. The elusive island that sometimes resides southeast of the Vineyard may be making a comeback this winter.

The island is legendary. A number of ships have been lost to the treacherous waters of the Island or its shoals. While recreational anglers sometimes have caught their biggest fish next to it, there are other fishermen who are fearful of it, especially at night.

Editor’s Note: The following column by Louise Aldrich Bugbee was first published in the Vineyard Gazette, and later appeared in a collection of Mrs. Bugbee’s essays and poems titled There Is an Island That Owns Me.

February — 1967

Oak Bluffs again and it certainly is fine to be back on the avenue — Circuit avenue.

The sky tomorrow morning will be an impressive, memorable sight for anyone up early. The two brightest planets in our sky, Jupiter and Venus, appear within a degree of each other in the southeastern sky before sunrise. To the right, a crescent waning moon appears nearby. The three are in the zodiacal constellation Sagittarius.

Fifty years ago, on Feb. 6, 1958, Carol Lisa Chirgwin and Richard Thomas Fligor were married in Naples, Fla., at Trinity-By-The-Cove Episcopal Church. Their honeymoon was the drive back to Bowling Green State University in Ohio where Dick was beginning his last semester of college.

Even though the high school boys’ hockey team punched their ticket into the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament this week with an impressive shutout win over Bourne on Saturday, coach Matt Mincone still feels his team has yet to play its best hockey this season.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Jan. 25 35 18 .00

Jan. 26 32 19 .00

Jan. 27 36 23 .00

Jan. 28 36 25 .48*

Jan. 29 38 26 .00

Jan. 30 47 37 Trace

Jan. 31 48 26 .04

* indicates melted precipitation.

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 40º F.

Correction

A story in the Gazette last week reported incorrectly on the tax increase percentage in West Tisbury. Resident homeowner tax bills in 2008 will increase 2.7 per cent over 2007. The Gazette regrets the error.

Third Quarter Revaluation

Delays Tax Bills in Edgartown

Tax bills in Edgartown for the third quarter of the 2008 fiscal year have been delayed.

In a release, the Edgartown tax collector and board of assessors said the fiscal year 2008 revaluation is taking longer than anticipated, causing the delay. Once the revaluation is finished and Massachusetts Department of Revenue certification has been received, the town can set the tax rate and issue tax bills.