North Bluff Garage Permit Is Revoked
Next, Abutter Vows to Seek Demolition; Owner Says He Will Fight the
Move; ‘Somebody's Going to Pay'
By MANDY LOCKE
The Oak Bluffs building inspector this week revoked a permit for a
controversial garage built in the North Bluff.
Following advice of town counsel, building inspector Richard Mavro
declared the structure illegal Tuesday, six months after he originally
issued a building permit, and more than a month after he ordered the
contractor to stop work on the three-story garage.
Aquinnah Incumbent Returns to Office in Close Vote Cast by Record
Turnout
By JULIA WELLS
Incumbent selectman Michael Hebert squeaked back into office this
week, beating challenger Camille Rose by just six votes in the Aquinnah
annual town election. The final count was 108-102; Mr. Hebert will begin
a third term as selectman this week.
What the Mirror Sees: Secrets of Lip Sync Prep
By CHRIS BURRELL
Christopher Brophy is a little embarrassed to say this, but by the
time he hits the stage Sunday night at the Atlantic Connection in Oak
Bluffs, he will have spent innumerable hours in front of a mirror,
riveted by the sight of his own lips.
Odds are, he isn't alone.
Eight acts have already signed up to compete in the 17th annual WMVY
and Atlantic Connection Lip Sync Contest, now just three days away.
Island Community Rallies Around Grieving Families
Hundreds Remember Spirit of Two Friends Killed in Accident
By ALEXIS TONTI
At a time when the school year rushes to a close amid a flurry of
exams and festivities, life at the regional high school stopped this
week as students and faculty grieved for two Island sons, high school
juniors and best friends, who died in a car accident in Katama last
Friday.
Portrait of Close Companions, As Drawn at Oak Bluffs School
By C.K. WOLFSON
"If you can imagine it, you can dream it, if you can dream it,
you can become it," wrote Kevin Hayes (K.J.) Johnson in his Oak
Bluffs School 2001 yearbook.
Missing the Vineyard:
Polly Hill Sends Her Regrets: 'The Trees Will Be Beckoning'
By C.K. WOLFSON
A revered and familiar presence will be missing from the Polly Hill Arboretum this summer. Declaring, "Old age has caught up with me, and I can't deny it," the arboretum's founder, 97-year-old Polly Hill, made the decision to remain at her residential community in Delaware, Md. throughout the year.
Oak Bluffs Terminal Redesign Reflows Traffic, Rebuilds Pier
By ALEXIS TONTI
Two years after the Steamship Authority board of governors first approved a design plan to refurbish the Oak Bluffs ferry terminal, a revised version of the plan is set to come before the town conservation commission for permitting next week.
The $10 million project includes redesigning traffic flow around the terminal to relieve congestion and rebuilding the wooden pier to allow for better mixed use by cars, bikes, passengers and trucks.
English Classes Open Horizons for New Islanders
By CHRIS BURRELL
The morning lesson Tuesday in Matt Malowski's class at the regional high school starts off with calisthenics for the tongue. They are trying to master one of the most common and — for foreigners — one of the most confounding of English words.
"He pulled his tongue in and blew air out," says Mr. Malowski, getting down to the nitty-gritty of lingual mechanics. "Perfect, you just said ‘the' with no accent, just like an American."
Three feet of snow blanketed the ground that day in 1977 when more than two dozen Islanders trudged into the First Congregational Church in West Tisbury, hoping to win a small piece of the Vineyard.
Ann Milstein was pregnant. Pat Carlet had three small daughters in tow. One by one, Vineyard Open Land Foundation (VOLF) officials pulled names out of a box, awarding five Island families the right to buy land in Pilot Hill Farm at a bargain rate.
Years of Talks Pay Off in 62-Acre Conservation Gift Along Middle Road
By JULIA WELLS
A wide swath of rolling farmland and wooded hillside that includes a high ridge perched above the scenic Middle Road in Chilmark and West Tisbury will remain forever wild, thanks to an unusual conservation gift from Virginia Crowell Jones and Everett Noteman Jones to The Nature Conservancy and the Vineyard Conservation Society, the Gazette has learned.
