Campers Take Flight on the Sea and High in Sky
By JAMES D'AMBROSIO
Gas Pump Prices on the Vineyard Top Most Other Places in America
By MANDY LOCKE
Islanders have endured another summer of steep prices at the gas
pump. Another season of shelling out more bucks to get from here to
there than Americans across the nation. Another year of trying to figure
out how fuel prices managed to jump about 41 cents a gallon in the
five-mile trek across the Sound.
Shellfish May Survive Edgartown Oil Spill; Emergency Seen as Serious
Wake-up Call
By JULIA WELLS
The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said
there may be good news for a crop of about a million baby oysters that
were threatened by an oil spill in the Edgartown harbor early this week.
"I don't want to say that we are out of the woods
entirely, but the oysters may survive," said shellfish group
director Rick Karney on Wednesday this week.
Oil Spill in Edgartown Harbor Kills Million Baby Oysters and Fouls
Waters
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
An oil spill of unknown origin sullied the pristine water of the
outer Edgartown harbor yesterday, ruining an entire crop of juvenile
shellfish at a hatchery owned by the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish
Group and posing a possible threat to the rich bay scallop beds off the
north shore of Chappaquiddick.
Oak Bluffs Approaches Buildout Deadline
By MANDY LOCKE
It all happened without too much fuss.
Now, that's all the town of Oak Bluffs and Island residents
can manage to do as the town gets down to the wire - down to the
last unspoiled expanses of developable land in the 4,555 acres that make
up Oak Bluffs.
"It snuck up on us," said Oak Bluffs resident Renee
Balter. "But we've had a steady stream of development.
Buildout is occurring at a rapid, rapid pace."
After nearly six months without an executive director,
the Martha's Vineyard Commission took the first step Sunday toward
securing a seasoned Montreal planner for its top administrative post.
Eight commission members voted unanimously to recommend to the full
commission that Canadian planner Mark London be hired as executive
director.
A divided Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission quietly
postponed any action last night on a controversial deal that is aimed at
converting 273 acres of Oak Bluffs woodlands to a private luxury golf
course and an array of private homes, the Gazette has learned.
The land bank is now under pressure to approve a proposed
conservation component of the development deal for the southern
woodlands, the last unbroken stretch of oak and pine forest in the town
of Oak Bluffs.
Vineyard Ice Arena Launches Final Step in Expansion Drive
By JOSHUA SABATINI
After more than 20 years of undergoing structural improvement in
stages, the Martha's Vineyard Arena is just one step away from
becoming a first-rate facility.
That final step is the addition of locker rooms with showers and
bathrooms. With just a little bit of financial help, arena patrons will
see the facility's final piece put into place.
Hottest Fair in History Wins Cheers from Public
Sweltering Weather Drops Attendance to 25,000 Visitors
By ALEXIS TONTI
Two days after the close of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural
Society Livestock Show and Fair, the blue reentry stamp still
won't quite wash off. The ink's durability through sweat and
swim and shower is pretty amazing - and a bit frustrating -
but ultimately a good thing. Most everyone left and returned, and that
stamp was their ticket back in.
Just as the Gay Head Lighthouse has guided mariners to safety for more than 200 years, the steeple at the Community Baptist Church has been a beacon and guided those seeking solace for more than three centuries.
The steeple, which can be viewed from one end of town to the other, contains the bell tower that is now in need of major repairs and renovations, and due to a small number of present members of the congregation they find it is time to go out to the general public to ask for assistance.
