Two young boys were rescued after their inflatable raft drifted offshore near the big bridge on Beach Road Monday, prompting a flurry of response from public safety officials.
Two minor Oak Bluffs waterfront scares prompted a flurry of public safety vehicles near Big Bridge on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Officer Bradley Cortez is one of many Islanders participating in the Cold Water Challenge. Those challenged are asked to jump in cold water to bring awareness to a cause. If they opt not to take a chilly plunge, they can donate money to the charity.
The time-honored Vineyard tradition of jumping off the Big Bridge into Sengekontacket Pond has now been joined by a yearly concern about the safety of jumpers — not for their daring leaps into the water below, but for the time they spend sitting and standing on the bridge as traffic whizzes by.
Low railings that divide pedestrians, including bridge jumpers, from Beach Road are the worry, and Oak Bluffs and Edgartown are taking steps to address the problem that they say ultimately should be dealt with by the state.
