The Steamship Authority has suspended ferry service and public schools and town halls are closed as the Vineyard braces for the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Still off the mid-Atlantic coast early Monday morning and headed north, forecasters say Sandy is an extremely dangerous storm that threatens the entire coast from New Jersey to Maine. The effects of Sandy are already being felt on the Island, with tides running high and winds gusting 40 to 50 knots in some places. High tide is at 11 a.m. in Vineyard Haven. Beach Road was closed to traffic Monday morning from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown due to flooding from the incoming tide. Dock street in Edgartown was also flooded.

Storm preparations continued throughout the day Saturday as Vineyarders kept all eyes on the forecasts for Hurricane Sandy, churning northward off

The Island Grown Initiative, the nonprofit farm and sustainability network, announced an $800,000 capital campaign this week to build the Vineyard’s first U.S. Department of Agriculture permitted slaughterhouse.

In an interview with the Gazette this week, IGI president Sarah McKay and Island Grown Meat coordinator Richard Andre said the organization is considering two locations for a 3,500 square foot facility – Thimble Farm or behind the new barn at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society in West Tisbury.

What was once a conservative enclave has given way to a reliable liberal stronghold. And the place where Franklin D. Roosevelt reportedly earned the respect of Islanders (if not their votes) by caring more for his boat than he did for electioneering is now known as the summer vacation spot for presidents whose ice cream shop visits and golf games make headlines.

As around the country, the political landscape of Martha’s Vineyard is ever shifting.

At a meeting marked by emotional exchanges between neighbors, the Chilmark zoning board of appeals voted unanimously this week to uphold the town building inspector’s decision to allow a large house compound on Nashaquitsa Pond.