Attorneys on both sides of a bitter, four-year dispute which centers on painful charges of racism against the town of Tisbury and its police department announced yesterday that a settlement has been reached in the case.
Attorneys for Theopholis M. (T.M.) Silvia 3rd and the town of Tisbury said yesterday that the terms of the settlement are extremely complicated and will not be disclosed until the agreement is approved by both the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and a Superior Court judge.
Two young girls from New Jersey got their first exposure to overt racism this week when they returned from a morning walk into downtown Vineyard Haven and found a racial slur spray-painted in letters two feet tall in the street by the house their family was renting at Clough Lane and Pine street.
Tisbury police are investigating the vandalism that happened Wednesday — possibly in broad daylight — and police chief John McCarthy is looking into whether the incident should be considered a hate crime.
The Tisbury police department will be restructuring, and former Lieutenant Eerik Meisner is no longer employed by the town as of Wednesday, police chief Mark Saloio told the Gazette.
Island police responded to a car driving into a tennis court, a malfunction at the Lagoon Pond drawbridge and a bike accident over the long Columbus Day weekend.
Tisbury selectmen voted to offer the job of police chief to Sturbridge administrative lieutenant Mark Saloio following a public interview and forum Thursday.
An administrative lieutenant from Sturbridge is the lone finalist among five applicants for Tisbury police chief. Mark Saloio of Brimfield will be invited for a public interview on Sept. 19.
