Business Leaders Want to Say: Boat Reservations Are a Mess

By ALEXIS TONTI

The Steamship Authority vehicle reservation system is broken.

That was the take-home message this week at a forum that started as
a focused debate about the boat line's new guaranteed standby
policy and expanded to a broad indictment of the way the SSA books
passengers.

The forum, hosted by the Dukes County Commission, was held Wednesday
at the Vineyard Transit Authority administration building.

When Robert Breckenridge started teaching Spanish three years ago at the Tisbury School, the seventh and eighth graders eyed him with understandable skepticism. To them, Señor Breckenridge was just the latest in a long line to stand at the blackboard and say "Hola."

Now that the Island Health Plan has received a green light from
officials on Beacon Hill, leaders of this grassroots affordable
insurance program must turn their attention home - enlisting
doctors and Island business owners to sign on to this experimental
project.

"We all want this to work. Now is the time for all the players
to translate their words into action," said Tad Crawford, chairman
of the Dukes County Health Council.

It's like gardening, William Wilcox and Paul Bagnall explain,
but with a twist. All the planting is done underwater.

A bare quorum of Chilmark voters agreed without dissent this week to borrow another $200,000 to pay for a mounting list of problems in the physical plant at the Chilmark School.

"We are a little embarrassed but we are trying to put our best foot forward and fix the problems," said selectman Frank Fenner at a special town meeting held Wednesday night in the Chilmark Community Center.

The meeting saw a light turnout - about 40 voters attended. In Chilmark, 25 makes a quorum. Town moderator Everett Poole presided.

The money request was the sole article on the warrant.

Late-night snackers looking for their fix of apple fritters, doughnuts and cinnamon buns in Oak Bluffs could be locked out and left hungry tonight.

Aquinnah Fails to Pass Override; Budget Faces Cutback of Ten Per
Cent

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Voters in Aquinnah dealt a heavy blow to the town selectmen this
week, rejecting a $260,000 Proposition 2 1/2 override and sending a
tough message about government spending that reverberated around the
Island.

The general override failed by three votes in a special town
election held Wednesday afternoon.

The final tally was 40-37 against the override.

The Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group will be offering treats from Island waters at the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust's Taste of the Vineyard gourmet stroll this Thursday night. They'll have a booth featuring their flavorful Island-cultured oysters. This year, strollers will be able to compare oysters cultured in Menemsha Pond and oysters raised in Katama Bay.

Office Building Eyed for State Road

By MANDY LOCKE

A 10,000-square-foot office building proposed for a congested
stretch of State Road in Tisbury has shaken neighbors still trying to
carve out a quiet residential life on this busy thoroughfare.

"We're the orphans from 1972 when the business district
crept up the street," said Shirley Kennedy, a lifetime resident of
Causeway Road, a residential street just up the hill from Main street.

Officers and Inmate Are to Be Arraigned Today

Two officers employed by the Dukes County House of Correction and an
inmate serving a sentence at the Edgartown jail will be arraigned on
conspiracy charges today in Dukes County superior court.

The Hon. Richard Chin, an associate justice of the superior court,
will preside over the session, which begins at 9 a.m.