Cause of Power Outage Unknown, but Clearly It Ended Just in Time

By MANDY LOCKE and ALEXIS TONTI

For 75 minutes at dusk yesterday, the lights went out from Aquinnah
to Vineyard Haven as a power outage affected most of the Island.

But the only sounds of panic came from Red Sox fans chomping at the
bit for electricity to be restored before the gripping American League
Championship Series tie-breaker. Those who couldn't risk the
gamble fled to Oak Bluffs, the only town that maintained power
throughout the outage.

Red Sox fever has descended on the Island. At Bert's
Barbershop in Vineyard Haven, there is division over what team to
support in the race to the World Series. Wayne Ferreira, a barber from
Falmouth, is a Red Sox fan. So is Phil Combra, the owner - though
"I used to be a Yankee fan, I am a Red Sox fan now. I changed 15
years ago."

Survey of Businesses Seeks Facts, Opinions on Island Economics

By MANDY LOCKE

Two Vineyard agencies are joining forces in an effort to capture the
dynamics of the Island's business community through an extensive
survey of more than 1,000 business leaders.

The search continues this morning in Oak Bluffs harbor for the
whereabouts of Michael F. Landfear, 54, of Falmouth.

Mr. Landfear was last seen Tuesday night heading out on a small
rowing pram to a boat moored in the harbor. U.S. Coast Guard, state and
local police, together with public safety volunteers from three Island
towns searched all day yesterday without result.

By Unanimous Vote, Rejection

A Key Subcommittee Turns Down Southern Woodlands Plan, Citing
Detriments That Outweigh Benefits

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Capping months of scrappy combat with the former developers of the
Down Island Golf Club, a key subcommittee of the Martha's Vineyard
Commission voted without dissent this week to recommend that a massive
housing project in the southern woodlands be denied.

Amid growing concern that a MassHighway plan to build a temporary
drawbridge will threaten the health of Lagoon Pond, Island residents are
calling for Oak Bluffs and Tisbury to speak with one voice when it comes
to confronting state officials about the replacement for the 68-year-old
bridge.

A new round of private well tests in an Edgartown neighborhood this week intensified the mystery for Island officials working to pinpoint the source of groundwater contamination spreading through the West Tisbury Road subdivision.

"It's too much of a puzzle, too many unknowns at this point," said Matthew Poole, Edgartown health agent, noting that now 20 per cent of the homes tested have water unsafe for drinking.

Tisbury Grants Administrator a Raise, but the Search for Successor
Has Begun

By ALEXIS TONTI

After months of delay, denials and appeals, the Tisbury personnel
board this week granted the town administrator a four per cent salary
increase. But the news was bittersweet for town administrator Dennis
Luttrell: Just the week before, the selectmen agreed to form a search
committee to seek his successor.

High nitrate levels found in the private wells of a few Edgartown homes off West Tisbury Road sent health officials scrambling this week - trying to pin down the exact source of what could be a sizable plume running through Edgartown Meadows subdivision.

More than a week into extensive testing, a few fingers point to the homes' neighbor, the Vineyard Golf Club, an 18-hole private luxury golf course that opened in May of 2002.

MVC Reopens Review of Housing Plan

By MANDY LOCKE

Neighbors sharpened their questions last night as the Martha's
Vineyard Commission began its second look at an affordable housing
project slated for the center of a densely-settled Edgartown
neighborhood.

The Jenney Lane project, proposed by Island Affordable Housing Fund
and South Mountain Company, calls for a cluster of 10 single-family
homes just behind Pine street and Curtis Lane. The project aims to boost
Island families of modest income into the ever-rising housing market.