Drenching rains and gale-force winds marked the start of the weekend, but forecasters and emergency managers breathed a little easier over the powerful hurricane churning through the southern Atlantic.

The Island Housing Trust and Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank paid $1.2 million for the property off State Road in Vineyard Haven, with a plan to build rental housing on part of the land and leave the remainder in conservation.

David Nathans will step down early next year, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum announced Wednesday. He has strengthened programs; a capital campaign at the old marine hospital remains incomplete.

The Vineyard poet, writer and environmentalist whose lifelong passion to promote clean water inspired him to change his name, died over the weekend at his Katama home in Edgartown.

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank will expand its holdings around Ice House Pond in West Tisbury with the purchase of 22 acres off Lambert’s Cove Road. The seller is FOCUS, a Christian fellowship group with a campus nearby. The land bank paid $2.3 million.

The theme was owls, and last Friday at Featherstone Center for the Arts, artistic renderings of the majestic winged creatures were everywhere you looked. The theme was chosen in memory of Grace McDonnell, and this summer, thanks to a gift from her parents, 10 scholarships helped Island children attend Featherstone's art camp.