Fred LaPiana is just one of an unknown number of people who cannot get service from Martha’s Vineyard’s monopoly cable television provider, Comcast.

But as Tisbury’s director of public works and a prime mover in the renegotiation of Comcast’s franchise agreement with Island towns, he is in a better position than anybody to do something about it. Or so you would think.

Tisbury property taxes will be sharply higher in 2011, largely due to falling property values and the extra expense of the town’s new emergency services building.

For fiscal year 2011, residential tax rates will go up 14.3 per cent compared with the current year. Commercial rates will go up 14.6 per cent.

And rates are unlikely to come down significantly for several years, an outlook which prompted selectmen to suggest the town would have to hold off on significant further infrastructure projects in the near future.

PROTECTING ANTIQUITY

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

A former staffer for a Georgia senator who briefly made headlines when he was arrested and jailed following a fundraiser on the Vineyard in the summer of 2007 has filed a lawsuit against the Vineyard Gazette and The Boston Globe.

It’s All in the Grout

Martha’s Vineyard Tile Company owners, Annie and Jeremy Bradshaw, are adding a new dimension to their tile business through television with a half-hour show devoted to the use of tile in homes and businesses. Tile Trends, hosted by Annie Bradshaw and Guinevere Cramer, begins airing Nov. 20 on MVTV channel 13 and can be seen on demand on MVTV.org.

Drilling began yesterday to replace an underwater damaged cable that provides power from Edgartown to Chappaquiddick. Construction is expected to last until mid December.

A small group gathered at the drilling point outside of Soft as a Grape on Dock street, waiting for the drilling to begin. Dock street is closed to cars at the intersection of Kelley street, and Daggett street has been converted to a two-way street to accommodate loading and unloading of passenger cars.

The decision to build land-based wind turbines on Wampanoag Tribe land in Aquinnah will likely come down to three factors: aesthetics, acoustics and economics.

The results of a wind feasibility study unveiled at the tribal administration building in Aquinnah last Friday showed that while turbines could deliver big environmental and economic benefits in an area with wind resources it characterized as “superb,” it could come at a cost to the scenic and acoustic values in town.

The Tea Lane Farm building committee has selected a draftsman to help with the plan for restoring the historic farmhouse in Chilmark. Committee members Leonard Jason, Dick Smith and Chilmark selectman Frank Fenner agreed to engage the services of Elise Elliston, a Chilmark resident, last week.

The goal is to have a final plan for renovating the farmhouse ready for the annual town meeting in April.

Last Friday Skip Bettencourt was strolling the Chappaquiddick side of the Norton Point breach with his wife, his dog and two friends when he stumbled across six feet of bloodied blubber. With the tooth-studded lower jaw of a sperm whale and the pointed snout of a shark, the animal cut an outlandish profile.

“We had no idea what it was,” he said. “It looked like it hadn’t been there that long, though.”

Peacecraft at Pyewacket’s

From Friday, Nov. 26 through Friday, Dec. 24 Peacecraft will be holding their annual holiday benefit sale at Pyewacket’s on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven. The holiday store will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and feature Third World crafts and Haitian metalwork. Proceeds will go toward helping the poor throughout the world through medical, educational and food programs as well as offer a means of livelihood.

But Peacecraft needs your help. Volunteers are needed throughout the month.