Teenagers who found themselves in trouble and needing a free ride home this year telephoned the SafeRides hotline at nearly twice the rate they did last year, according to statistics released this week.
The figures compiled by SafeRides of Martha's Vineyard show ridership jumped sharply compared to the numbers from last year. In the 20 weekend nights that the teen-run service operated this year, drivers picked up and drove home 177 of their peers. On average, that's about nine young people ferried home each night.
Martha's Vineyard Commission Approves Hillside Village
Housing, with Conditions
By MANDY LOCKE
The Martha's Vineyard Commission is wrestling a new kind of
development animal these days.
The Memorial Day weekend may be everyone's start to the summer
season, but for the veterans of the Island it is also a sojourn into the
memories of war and a meditation on the price of peace. This
year's Monday morning parade will take place in Vineyard Haven.
The march starts from the American Legion Hall at 11 a.m.
Economic Forecast: Sunshine, After All
Rental Market Season Begins Slowly, but Bookings Even with Last
Year; Ferry Reservations Filling Up
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
The war in Iraq, four straight months of vicious winter weather
followed by something that only vaguely resembled spring - perhaps
it's little wonder that the economy on the Vineyard this year is
like the lilacs: late to bloom.
A flap has arisen in Aquinnah over the illegal shooting of a large
number of cormorants earlier this month on tribal land. The killings
took place near the historic herring run, the oldest operating herring
run on the Island. The incident raised questions about how laws are
enforced by the tribe.
Legislative Budget Proposals Salvage Many Island Programs
By MANDY LOCKE
There's potentially good news coming out of Beacon Hill this
week for the Island - as good as financial news can get in a
climate that brought a $3 billion revenue shortfall.
Island public schools, the Vineyard Affordable Child Care Project
and Family Planning of Martha's Vineyard could escape merciless
cuts this year, avoiding dire hits that the governor's proposed
budget announced in February.
But a showdown awaits the state Senate and House of Representatives.
In Annual Rental Shuffle, Some Exit
By MANDY LOCKE
The Island's great annual migration is underway as Vineyarders
hit the road in trucks loaded with all they own - moving out of
winter rentals into new spots for the summer season.
Oak Bluffs Turns to Healing Rifts from Election
Fault Lines Can Still Be Seen
By CHRIS BURRELL
The phones have stopped ringing, and the yard signs are down. In Oak
Bluffs this week, there is a weary sense of relief that the town finally
has its answer: They will remain in the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.
"People are so tired of fighting," said Renee Balter, a
resident and executive director of the Oak Bluffs Association.
"Now it's finally been settled."
In Oak Bluffs, ‘a Lot of Work' Lies Ahead as Town Tries
to Heal Rifts from Election
Stay in Commission, Says Record Vote
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Marking history and closing one of the most divisive chapters in the
annals of the town, a record number of Oak Bluffs voters went to the
polls this week and said no to pulling out of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission.
Martha's Vineyard Commission Defers, Yet Again, Its Decision
on Elder Housing
By JULIA WELLS
In an effort to iron out a series of confusing events that began
last week, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted last night to go
back to the drawing board and take a new vote on a plan for a small
addition at a well-known elderly housing complex in Vineyard Haven.
The new vote on Hillside Village III will not take place until next
week.
