Golf Club Case Gets a Hearing
A Motion for Court to Reconsider Earlier Ruling Takes Lawyers to
Boston; How Powerful Is Island Commission?
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
BOSTON - An attorney who represents the Down Island Golf Club
developers tried to convince a Massachusetts Land Court judge this week
that the court's chief justice was wrong when he ruled last year
that the Martha's Vineyard Commission has full power of review
over affordable housing developments - including the power to
reject them.
A rare bacterial infection called tularemia that killed a Chilmark man three years ago appears to have hit the Island for the fourth summer in a row, possibly infecting as many as four people since May.
State public health officials said yesterday that they are evaluating four probable cases of tularemia, all of them either landscapers or people who work outdoors.
Shopping Around: In Search of Bargains
By CHRIS BURRELL
For the cost-conscious Island shopper, getting the lowest price at
the grocery store often requires a nomadic approach.
"It's insane but you have to go to all three
places," said Charlie Esposito of Vineyard Haven. "But
we're going around to get the best deal. You have to eat and be
able to afford to live here at the same time."
Mr. Esposito's tactics are not uncommon for some residents who
simply can't bear the cost of groceries and decide to go hunting
for relief.
Vineyard Haven harbor was lit up on Saturday evening by a fully
involved boat fire. Tisbury firemen and harbor masters from two towns
responded to a blaze aboard a 30-foot Catalina sailboat called Tippy
Canoe, owned by Tyler Weggel of Port Washington, N.Y.
There were no injuries. The vessel, a total loss, now lies partially
submerged, a black shell, in shallow water at the foot of Grove street.
Portuguese-American Festival Celebrates Vibrant Community
By Elizabeth Bomze
When Jesse Oliver attended his first Portuguese-American festival as
a kid in 1963, he must have figured that his lineage would some day
dictate his involvement in its future; after all, his grandfather, also
Jesse Oliver, was a founding member of the P-A Club. Now, 40 years
later, he is a four-year veteran at Anne-Marie Cywinski's grill
booth, and he expects his tenure has only just begun.
Sovereignty is in the news these days.
It's in Rhode Island, where tempers are running hot in an
ongoing skirmish between the Narragansett Indian Tribe and state
attorney general over whether the tribe can sell tax-free tobacco.
It's in the Hamptons, where the Shinnecock Indian Nation has
begun to clear land for a casino, contravening local zoning and state
gaming laws.
Island Agencies Win U.S. Health Grant
Half a Million Dollars Will Address Doctor Shortage, Add Rural
Clinic, Provide Brazilian Translators
By MANDY LOCKE
Three agencies on the Vineyard have won nearly half a million
federal dollars to ease the Island's shortage of primary care
physicians and break down language barriers for Brazilian residents
seeking health care.
Wind Farm Review Needs Another Year
Army Corps of Engineers Says Issue Complex; ‘We're Not
Trying to Meet Some Artificial Deadline'
By MANDY LOCKE
Determining the fate of a 130-turbine wind farm development proposed
for the shallow waters of Nantucket Sound will take the United States
Army Corps of Engineers at least another year.
Following the die off of juvenile shellfish at the Martha's
Vineyard Shellfish Group in recent weeks, there will be a summit of the
minds next Wednesday at the Tisbury Town Hall. Shellfish constables,
biologists, members of the Lagoon Pond Association and the Tisbury
Waterways Inc. will meet at noon to talk about the next step in
protecting the water quality in the pond.
The Club That Does What Needs Doing
By CHRIS BURRELL
Not a drop of Portuguese blood flows in Barbara Humber's
veins. Her ancestry is Scottish and Irish, but hand her a pile of
linguica, garlic and potatoes, and she can cook up a genuine batch of
sopa.
Ms. Humber is just one of a growing number of Islanders who have not
only joined the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs but now play
pivotal roles in it despite a glaring deficit: They aren't
Portuguese-Americans.
The reasons aren't really that complicated.
