In a year’s time, Martha’s Vineyard waters could be protected from sewage pollution with federal designation as a boater’s no-discharge area. The move would make the waters cleaner, protect Vineyard shellfish, and open Island towns and businesses to federal and state dollars to further clean up the waterways.

It’s past time for Americans to have a conversation about race, a panel of cultural and academic luminaries agreed at a crowded Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on Wednesday. What the rules of that conversation are, who the participants are and where the conversation will take place is less certain.

President Obama arrived on the Vineyard yesterday afternoon to begin a 10-day vacation with his family, marking his third consecutive August visit to the Island during his presidency. Like the last two years, the arrival was low-key and closed to the public. Traveling with the President were White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan and deputy press secretary John Earnest, White House trip director Marvin Nicholson, White House photographer Pete Souza, and the family dog, Bo, freshly groomed for the trip.