Discussion Wed., July 25, 5 pm at Felix Neck

Please join this island-wide book group, reading and discussing books that examine our relationship with nature. The group is sponsored by all six island libraries, Felix Neck Sanctuary, Polly Hill Arboretum and The Vineyard Conservation Society.

Car pool information: Up island, meet at the Chilmark Public Library at 4:30.

The Island Plan Steering Committee has released a progress report on the preparation of the Island Plan in the form of seven discussion papers. It also announced a series of six public forums to be held throughout the summer at which Vineyarders – year-round and seasonal – can hear about the ongoing planning efforts and participate in shaping its direction. The first forum, on housing, will be held on Wednesday, June 27 at 7:30 pm at the Tisbury Senior Center.

Please go to the Island Plan section for the rest of this report.

Island Plan Forums
Wednesdays at 7:30
Housing – June 27, Tisbury Senior Center
Energy & WaSte, July 11, Katharine Cornell Theatre
Water Resources – July 25, Old Whaling Church
Natural Environment – August 8, Sailing Camp Park
Development & Growth – August 5 22, new Ag Hall

Spreading suburbs and large-scale farming are contributing to a precipitous decline in once common meadow birds like the Northern bobwhite, the Eastern meadowlark, the loggerhead shrike and the field sparrow, a report released yesterday by the Audubon Society said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/
us/15birds.html?ex=1339560000
&en=7b0714da3b0b33a6&ei=5090
&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

PARIS, June 15 — In the 1999 comedy “Pushing Tin,” John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton portray rival air traffic controllers who spend their workday guiding planes in and out of New York’s airports.

A sequel, though, might be called “Pushing Plastic.”

Facing mounting public pressure to become more fuel efficient and reduce emissions, the airlines are seeking to replace older jets in their fleets with lighter-weight, less-polluting planes. Increasingly, that means replacing the traditional aluminum components in a jet with plastic-based composites that can significantly reduce its weight.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/
business/worldbusiness/16air.html
?ex=1339646400&en=5b209fecb5ef97d7
&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

FALMOUTH -- An international team of scientists is embarking on a search for life on the floor of the ocean at the roof of the world.

Led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution -- and equipped with unique robotic vehicles designed to explore mountain ranges miles beneath the polar ice cap -- 30 geophysicists, biologists, engineers, chemists, and other deep-sea specialists will depart July 1 from a remote Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard, aboard a powerful icebreaker that will smash a path to exploration sites near the geographic North Pole.

http://www.boston.com/news/
local/articles/2007/06/22/
voyage_to_the_bottom_of_the_arctic_ocean/