Theatre Season Invites Islanders for Auditions

By C.K. WOLFSON

"What actors, professionals and amateurs have to realize, is
that the people who are watching the audition are rooting for
them," said M.J. Bruder Munafo, artistic director at the Vineyard
Playhouse. "I'll speak for myself - I'm hoping
that they're going to come up and just be fabulous."

Oak Bluffs Backs Large Budget, Approves First Historic District

By CHRIS BURRELL

They defended their dogs, embraced their history and threw their
support behind a $17.6 million annual budget - all without an
ounce of dissension.

For a town accustomed to lengthy and often rancorous annual town
meetings, Oak Bluffs and its voters this week bucked the trend, agreeing
to shoulder their annual spending without questioning a single line item
and plowing through a combined 31 articles in just over three hours.

Martha's Vineyard Commission Probes Flaws in New Bedford Fast
Ferry Link

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

No market study.

No clear market.

The wisdom - or folly - of considering year-round
service and the range of possible impacts on the Vineyard.

West Tisbury Ousts Veteran Selectman

Challenger Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter Is Winner by Large Margin Over
Incumbent John S. Alley

By JULIA WELLS

Nine-term selectman John S. Alley lost his seat to Jeffrey (Skipper)
Manter in a surprise trouncing in the West Tisbury annual town election
yesterday.

Mr. Manter beat Mr. Alley 593 to 357.

Seven minutes before midnight Tuesday, Edgartown town meeting voters
wrapped up a long list of business - supporting a $19 million
operating budget and killing proposed house-size caps on Chappaquiddick.

But the night's liveliest debates for those in the crowded
pews at the Old Whaling Church, and perhaps the most interesting result
of the week, centered around a funding request to hire a housing
inspector to license the town's 1,500 rental properties.

West Tisbury Shows Town Hall Plans

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A $10 million-plus annual operating budget, a laundry list of
override requests that adds up to more than $800,000 and a town hall
expansion project with a $3.7 million price tag - next week when
the voters of West Tisbury gather to conduct the annual business of the
town, the prevailing winds are expected to be out of the pocketbook.

Tisbury Approves $15.9 Million Budget; School Funds Win Town Meeting
Vote

By JONATHAN BURKE

Tisbury residents kicked off the Island's season of annual
town meetings Tuesday with a bow to education and an endorsement of the
Dukes County Regional Housing Authority.

The police department had the roughest time during the two-night
annual town meeting. Following a narrowly approved request to upgrade
from 45-calibre sidearms to Glocks, voters defeated the
department's $58,000 request for two new cruisers.

Voters Face Major Budget Issues at Annual Meetings in Three Towns

In Oak Bluffs, Expect the Unexpected

By CHRIS BURRELL

Voters in Oak Bluffs will be asked next week whether they want to
ban dogs from town beaches, declare their opposition to the war in Iraq
and borrow $750,000 to build an addition to the town hall on School
street.

Those are just three of the proposals on tap for back-to-back town
meetings that get under way Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts
Center.

Seven Candidates Vie for Two Selectmen Seats in Oak Bluffs

By CHRIS BURRELL

Some people in town are calling it an outright horse race -
seven candidates running for two seats on the board of selectmen in Oak
Bluffs. It is the most hotly contested race in this year's
political season on the Vineyard. Voters will pick their selectmen at
the polls from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs School on Thursday,
April 10.

Bottle Message Links Pen Pals Across Atlantic

By MANDY LOCKE

Ten-year-old Dylan Rice has a new pen pal.

This Edgartown school student wasn't exactly looking for an
extra hobby; he's pretty busy with school, Cub Scouts and the FARM
Institute. But ever since 17-year-old Juan Braìs Garcia Liz had
the courtesy to respond to Dylan's message in a bottle, this
Vineyard student has been paying extra attention in Spanish class.