Ask someone when they think the first Native American attended Harvard and they might guess somewhere in the 1950s. Perhaps they’ll go back as far back as the mid-19th century. In fact, the first Native American was a Vineyarder, Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, and he graduated from Harvard in 1665. Now, more than 300 years later, the second Wampanoag tribe member to attend as an undergraduate is settling in as a freshman.

One of Menemsha’s most respected fishermen, Jonathan Mayhew, has quit fishing the high seas.

Mr. Mayhew recently sold his federal permits, giving up his license to ply the offshore waters of Georges Bank for cod, flounder and other fish.

A Vineyard native who grew up in a family of generations of fishermen, Mr. Mayhew, 56, said a chapter has closed in his life. He said he worries now for the future of young local fishermen facing current fishing rules.

The changes that have come down are killing the fisherman and not necessarily saving fish, he said.

Oak Bluffs voters may soon be asked to spend $100,000 to pay for engineering work associated with an ambitious waterfront improvement project along Seaview avenue from Oak Bluffs harbor to Farm Pond.

The total cost of the project is pegged at $2.7 million.

The news come on the heels of the release of a 35-page report entitled Sea View Revitalization Concept Master Plan, drafted by a special task force created last year to develop a plan to revitalize the town beach.

Scott Bermudes jealously guards his privacy.

So back on Nov. 27, 2001, when he got word that a land bank employee was coming to mow the old path which runs through his block in West Tisbury, he went down to order them off, as he had done with others who wandered across his land on the path.

As he told the superior court in Edgartown this week, he went down in his Bobcat earth mover and confronted them, raising the bucket of the tractor over the mower, then pushed rocks in the path and called the police.

Marking a key win for the town of Aquinnah in its long-running legal battle with James J. Decoulos and Maria Kitris, who want to open up Moshup Trail for development, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled yesterday on two separate fronts, finding:

• Mr. Decoulos has not won the right to subdivide two lots he owns off Moshup trail.

• The Aquinnah townwide district of critical planning concern is valid.

Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss unveiled an eye-opening $3.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year last week, a 20 per cent increase over 2006.

The bulk of the hike in the superintendent’s budget can be tracked to a greatly expanded special needs program for elementary school children, negotiated teacher pay raises from last year and a new position of facilities manager for school buildings. The superintendent is asking for total additional funds approaching $600,000 over last year’s $2.9 million budget.

More and more ghosts are being drawn to Oak Bluffs’ attractive summer housing. “Some spirits have a sliver of their psyche attached to some place where they were happy,” explains Holly Nadler, Haunted Island author, bookstore owner and part-time ghost-hunter. As these properties change owners more frequently, some are becoming crowded. “This place is gooey with ghosts,” said Ms. Nadler, conducting a tour of the Camp Ground last weekend.

The Island has more than its fair share of ghost stories — tales of haunted swamps, buried treasures, spiteful spectres and benevolent phantoms.

At night I see stars and by day see horses. Felix Neck (and the Vineyard, by extension) is a good place to be.

It is not that the stars shine brighter here; you can see them from your home no matter where you are. It is seahorses that might be harder to find.

What are Nancy Drew, The Cat in the Hat, and Winnie the Pooh doing hanging out on Main street? They are waiting to be judged in the eighth annual scarecrow contest sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School.

This year’s contest has a literary theme, with characters from Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte’s Web, The Wizard of Oz and other children’s classics braving the winds and weather this week.