The state wants to spend $3.25 million replacing the Big and Little Bridges on Beach Road along Sengekontacket Pond with concrete structures, but last week at a public hearing in the Oak Bluffs School, a handful of Islanders tried convincing state engineers to tread lightly because these are no ordinary bridges.

The two bridges built of wood are as beloved as the covered bridges of Vermont, said Thea Hansen, a resident of Oak Bluffs who handles seasonal real estate rentals.

They're recreational destinations for fishermen and children, said Kenneth Abbott of Edgartown.

Four-Town Refuse District Takes Initiatives to Put Financial Affairs
in Better Order

By MANDY LOCKE

Heeding their auditor's stern warnings, the Martha's
Vineyard Regional Refuse and Resource Recovery District is doing some
financial housekeeping this month.

In the weeks following auditor John J. O'Brien's report
of sloppy bookkeeping and incomplete records, the refuse district
personnel subcommittee is shuffling administrative staff roles.

Island Lambs Have a Spring in Every Step

By C.K. WOLFSON

The snow-covered pasture is a soft, white-on-white expanse curving
under a cold, gray sky. Outside Pam Goff's old Chilmark barn, five
black-faced, wool-plumped ewes mill around on the straw and mud,
bleating in urgent, slow-motion coughs to the skinny-legged lambs
nuzzling against them.

Oak Bluffs Home Rule Petition Inspires Hot Debate in Hearing Hastily
Convened by Legislature

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

BOSTON - Small in number but passionate in expression, a
compact assembly of Vineyard residents traveled to Beacon Hill this week
to testify at a hastily called legislative hearing on a petition by the
town of Oak Bluffs to withdraw from the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.

"I'm here because the integrity of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission is now being threatened," said West Tisbury
resident Barbara Day.

Election Season Brings Contests in Four Towns

With the calendar turning to March, four of the six Island towns
have now closed their spring election ballots. Only in Aquinnah and
Chilmark does time still remain for candidates to return papers and run
for elected town office. Where ballots are closed, voters will have
choices among candidates for the post of selectman in all the towns.
West Tisbury has a race for treasurer, and seats on Island boards of
health and planning boards are also attracting some competition.

Housing Plan Hits Water Quality Snag

By JULIA WELLS

Septic discharge from the Bridge housing project could pose a
problem for neighboring wells, the Martha's Vineyard Commission
water quality planner said last week.

Announcing his intent to retire as ed­itor and publisher of the Vineyard Gazette after more than 27 years at the newspaper, Richard Reston this week also named his successor.

Beginning in the middle of March, John W. Walter Jr., a former executive editor of the Atlanta Journal-Consti­tution, will arrive on the Island and take over the leadership role of the Gazette.

Mr. Walter, 56, was named editor and publisher of the Gazette and its other publications, Martha’s Vineyard Mag­azine and the Best Read Guide, after a search process that began early last fall.

Up-Island School Budget Jumps 15 Per Cent

By CHRIS BURRELL

Taxpayers in Aquinnah, Chilmark and West Tisbury will see the cost
of educating schoolchildren rise sharply next year as the proposed
budget for the Up-Island Regional School District goes from $5.9 million
to more than $6.8 million, a 15 per cent increase.

The reasons are much the same as at the regional high school, where
the budget will jump by almost 10 per cent next year. State aid is
dropping, and the cost of insurance is climbing.

SSA Receives Bids for Service

Two Bidders Respond to Request for Ferry Service Proposals from New
Bedford; One Offers Year-Round Run

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Expanded ferry service between New Bedford and the Vineyard moved
one step closer to reality this week after senior managers at the
Steamship Authority got their first look at two proposals from private
companies who have an interest in running the route.

Storm Buries Vineyard Under Tons of Snow

Northeaster Strikes on Monday, Slowing Island Life to Crawl

By MANDY LOCKE

Mother Nature showed little mercy this week - bringing the
Vineyard to a standstill beneath mounds of snow and whipping winds.

From slightly before 8 o'clock Monday morning into the wee
hours of Tuesday, snow buried all that did not move and slowed to a
crawl the few who did venture out in the blizzard-like conditions.