Early Retirement Program Attracts 26 County Officials

By JULIA WELLS

A highway superintendent, an executive secretary, a librarian and a
jail administrator are among a long list of Vineyarders who will take
early retirement this year under a program made possible by an act of
the state legislature.

Approved last spring as a cost-cutting measure and signed into law
by acting Gov. Jane Swift, the law cleared the way for towns and
counties to offer early retirement to employees.

Pressure to Delay Airport Master Plan Vote May Jeopardize Final
Approval of Study

By JONATHAN BURKE

Public pressure to delay a vote could prevent adoption of the
proposed master plan for Martha's Vineyard Airport, the product of
a two-year, $332,370 study.

Conspicuous by its absence from the plan is the failure to designate
airport land for a new county jail, a concept which enjoys the support
of many in the community.

"Christmas was about getting nothing," she says in
clipped Yankee cadence. Lorraine Beaucaire Clark's family did not
speak English when they came from Portugal; her great-uncle, a Chilmark
resident for 55 years,speaks only Portuguese.

Oak Bluffs had fewer mopeds and fewer dealers renting them this year. Now the hospital is reporting fewer people ending up in the emergency room after crashing a moped.

Using new lawyers but spelling out the same themes, the developers
of the Down Island Golf Club filed a lawsuit against the Martha's
Vineyard Commission late last week, attacking everything from the recent
vote to reject a luxury golf course project in the southern woodlands to
the enabling legislation that created the commission.

Gasoline is considered a necessity of life, but is one more gas
station a necessity for the Vineyard? The Martha's Vineyard
Commission was expected to take up the question again last night as a
public hearing reopened on a proposal for a new gas station on State
Road in Vineyard Haven.

The season's first big snowstorm turned the Island into a
winter wonderland yesterday and last night. It marked the first time in
years the Vineyard has seen so much snow before Christmas.

Edgartown officials will soon get their foot in the door of every rental property in town, the result of a selectmen-endorsed regulation which forces property owners to license rental properties and allow inspectors to ensure dwellings meet state habitation codes.

Vineyard Officials Ask Wider Public Role in Deliberations on Airport
Master Plan

By JONATHAN BURKE

Island officials, from the town of Aquinnah to the Dukes County
Commission to the Martha's Vineyard Commission, have requested a
broader public process in connection with the airport commission's
consideration of its 20-year master plan.

The Vineyard's winning season ended on Saturday afternoon with a narrow 25-20 loss to Nantucket. The annual Island Cup match at Nantucket was a decisive game for the Vineyard, the last hurdle the team needed to clear in order to advance into post-season play.

In the first half, when winds gusted close to 30 knots, both teams managed one touchdown. Nantucket's extra point gave them a 7-6 lead at halftime. The wind factor was most apparent after the Vineyard's touchdown when Ben