The Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust set a new record this week when it tallied up the results of its celebrated fundraiser, A Taste of the Vineyard. The private, nonprofit organization's executive director, Christopher W. Scott, announced yesterday morning that the 17th annual Taste, which now includes two separate but related events, a gourmet stroll and patron's dinner, raised $180,000 for the preservation trust.

The Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust set a new record this week when it tallied up the results of its celebrated fundraiser, A Taste of the Vineyard. The private, nonprofit organization's executive director, Christopher W. Scott, announced yesterday morning that the 17th annual Taste, which now includes two separate but related events, a gourmet stroll and patron's dinner, raised $180,000 for the preservation trust.

As home heating costs continue to squeeze consumer budgets, the blame game also escalates.

Homeowners fault the weather - here and elsewhere - as home heating fuel originally intended for the Northeast is diverted to the Midwest and other regions where last summer's heat and this winter's single-digit temperatures have spiked the demand.