It's Our Seaside Think Tank - Hebrew Center's
Summer Plans
By C.K. WOLFSON
In the midst of summer concerns about ferry lines and tan lines, the
Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center Summer Institute, entices hundreds
of Island residents and visitors to consider subjects such as prejudice,
medical and legal malpractice, terrorism and civil liberties, and engage
in discussion.
They gather at the Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven - so many
some have to be turned away - to attend the Island's seaside
Chautauqua: the Summer Institute Scholar Series.
Federal Mediator for Services Talks
By MANDY LOCKE
Acknowledging difficulties in wage talks, Martha's Vineyard
Community Services management and union officials have agreed to invite
a federal mediator to the negotiation table.
"After 20 sessions, we're still very far apart. To be in
this place after so long, we realized we had a serious problem.
Something had to be done," said Richard Perras, MVCS labor
attorney, who requested the third-party facilitator after a day-long
contract negotiation session last week.
Boat Line Faces Decline in Revenues; High-Speed Service Meets Legal
Snag
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
The plan to run high-speed ferry service between New Bedford and the
Vineyard hit a major snag this week when Steamship Authority managers
learned that they may run afoul of the Pacheco Act, the state
anti-privatization law.
Traffic is down, revenues are down, there's an economic downturn going on and the weather has been awful.
As a result of all this, the Steamship Authority will begin to sell advertising space on the ferries and in the boat line terminals to pick up some extra cash.
Boat line managers also said yesterday that they will continue to pursue a plan to change the winter ferry schedule on the Vineyard run as a way to save some money.
Richard H. Pough, the groundbreaking conservationist who died
Tuesday, summered near Abel's Hill for 40 years. Quietly and
surely, over decades, he helped frame the discussion of conservation on
the Vineyard just as dramatically as he inflenced that debate
nationally.
Patricia Nanon: Artist's Vision Gave Dancers a Gift of Time
By C.K. WOLFSON
Seven dancers, spring-wound and fluid, prance and twirl across the
unlit stage to the dissonant tones and rhythmic clamor coming from a
portable CD player. In shades of gray and black they spin and pose in
preparation for this weekend's season opening of The Yard.
Moped Rider Hit and Injured at Blinker; Selectmen Will Consider
Four-Way Stop
By CHRIS BURRELL
One day after a moped rider was hit by a car at the blinker light
- the fifth accident at the crossroads so far this year -
leaders in Oak Bluffs are poised to take drastic action to make one of
the Island's most dangerous intersections safer.
One immediate option already on the table is a four-way stop.
Life Amid the Grinder Pumps: Residents Adjust to New Oak Bluffs
Sewer System
By CHRIS BURRELL
A few months ago, Fran Halamandaris might have shuddered at the
thought of a family reunion descending on their old house in the center
of Oak Bluffs.
Those were the pre-sewer days when folks in town lived in fear of
flushing, worried about failed septic tanks and tidal cesspools and the
sky-high cost of pumping out.
Before Any Appeal, Tribal Case Judge Will Be Asked to Reconsider
Ruling
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
The attorney who represents the Gay Head Taxpayers Association said
yesterday that he will ask a superior court judge to reconsider a
decision made last week in favor of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah).
Boat Line Riders, Hotel Visitors Both Down as Wet Days Go on
By JONATHAN BURKE
Starting with the boats, Island businesses are feeling the pinch of
the wet and chilly weather of this spring.
This May, according to the Steamship Authority, there were 201,129
passenger trips to the Vineyard from Woods Hole, down 5.4 per cent from
last year's 212,646. For the first two weeks of June, passenger
trips were off 6.4 per cent, from 109,820 to 102,755.
