Former CIA lawyer Vicki Divoll will deliver a talk titled, Targeted Killing of Americans by the Obama Administration, on Wednesday, July 28 at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library. The focus of the talk will be whether the Executive Branch should be allowed to put a U.S. citizen on a CIA death list without judicial review. Recently, Anwar al Awlaki, a Muslim cleric born in New Mexico, has been added to the CIA list of suspected terrorists who may be captured or killed.

The sixth annual African American Cultural Festival sponsored by the Cottagers, Inc. of Martha’s Vineyard will be held on Thursday and Friday, July 29 and 30, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Hartford Park in Oak Bluffs.

Music to Dress By

Come dress your best at the Best Dressed Fest at Nectar’s on Saturday, July 31. The Spoonbreakers will play and dance at 9 p.m. on the dance floor. Also on the lineup are Kahoots, the Vineyard band that has just finished recording their 12th full-length album called Play Something You Know, and Willy Mason, just returned from touring Europe with Norah Jones. Deejay Ricky Prime will spin as well. Tickets are $10 at the door.

Interested in hearing more about wind turbines and noise? On Wednesday, July 28, there will be a work session on the issue to help the preparation of a Wind Energy Plan for Dukes County. The session is free to all and begins at 5 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (the Stone Building) at 33 New York avenue in Oak Bluffs.

Michael Chertoff, former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, will speak on security in the 21st century in the season’s fourth program of the Summer Institute speaker series, on Thursday, July 29, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

As a Secretary in the Cabinet of President Bush, Mr. Chertoff led a 218,000-person department with a budget of $50 billion. He also served periodically on the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, and on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The statistics never look good, but one thing remains clear: miracles do happen at Vineyard House. Thursday evening marks the 13th annual water tasting to benefit the only sober house on the Island, where staff, board members and volunteers hope not only to raise money for the organization, but to send people home with a message of helping out their neighbors.