Island Public Charter School Wins Permission for Expansion

The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School has recieved written approval from the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC) to add a 36 by 32-foot classroom to its existing facility; a building permit from the town is expected to follow within the next two weeks.

On the Waterfront

The 11th annual Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament starts this Thursday with a captain's meeting at the Wesley Hotel. Fishing takes place on Friday and Saturday.  Bob Jackson, the organizer of the event and the president of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, said he is expecting at least 55 boats.

Barnard’s Inn Farm Is Preserved

Prominent conservationists announced yesterday that they have acquired Barnard’s Inn Farm, a 60-acre parcel of land in West Tisbury that is highlighted by the arboretum created by Mary Louisa (Polly) Hill.
 
The property is important for several reasons. The farm is considered a key element in the rural stretch in the north part of town. It links several important pieces of conservation land.
 

Conservation Group Preserves Strategic Farmland

The Massachusetts chapter of The Nature Conservancy announced this week it will purchase the John Hoft Farm, 90 acres of rolling pastures and unspoiled morainal woodlands which embrace Duarte’s Pond and the moist bogs off Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury.

The farm is owned by Daniel Alisio and will be named the Hoft Farm Preserve, in memory of his late wife, Marguerite Hoft Alisio, whose family owned the farm for over 100 years.

A Naturalist’s Love of Wild Creatures Creates a World of Reptiles

It takes a warm-blooded naturalist to run a den of cold-blooded creatures. Gus and Shane Ben David’s World of Reptiles is now in its third year. These are the animals that will never be friendly, but they do get along. They range in size from a 21-foot, 230-pound reticulated python down to a bullfrog from Cape Cod.

Island Groups Look at Need For Expansion

These days, the Island’s service organizations face great demands. With the Vineyard population swelling, groups such as Community Services, the boys’ and girls’ club and the school system need to expand. Meanwhile, new organizations — including the aquatics center — are struggling to establish themselves.

Island Trust Bill 25 Years Ago Foreshadowed Debate Over Land Use

“I think in hindsight the legislation could have been a tool to manage development better,” Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said last week, speaking by telephone from his office on Capitol Hill. “The issues in the sixties and seventies were how to deal with those areas that need to be preserved wild, or where development needed to be frozen.”
 
Senator Kennedy was referring to legislation he introduced a quarter of a century ago, the Nantucket Sound Island Trust Bill.
 

Indian Gambling Casino Collapses on Beacon Hill; Tribe Wants Bingo Hall

The proposed casino was supposed to be a winning bet for all, a rich deal that would be as much of a boon to state taxpayers as it would to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
 

Officer Accused of Racist Acts is Put on Indefinite Paid Leave as Full Investigation Continues

Tisbury police officer John Dillon -- who has been under fire from the NAACP for allegedly racist acts against the town's only African-American patrolman -- is on indefinite paid administrative leave this week.

Simon Family Aided Baseball Barrier Buster

This is the unusual story of the unlikely relationship between the families of Vineyard photographer Peter Simon, his rock ’n’ roll star sister, Carly, and baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson.
 
The tale begins in 1955, when the fleet-footed Mr. Robinson — the first African-American Major League baseball player in history — was leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to their first World Series title. 
 

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