Cozy Hearth Project Backers to Appeal

Hotly Debated Owner-Built Home Plan for Watcha Path Area of
Edgartown Will Go to State Housing Board

By IAN FEIN

At its first public hearing in May of last year, affordable housing
advocates hailed it as a model grassroots effort that would allow
working class residents to stay on the Vineyard, while conservationists
warned that it would set a dangerous precedent for development density
in an environmentally sensitive area.

As soon as you meet Jim Cornwell, the adoration he has for his
border collies is readily apparent. The baseball cap he wears is
decorated by a lively looking border collie, while his denim shirt bears
the insignia of Tash and Tama, the names of his two dogs.

Wearing flower garlands instead of caps and gowns, two girls and
three boys were graduated from the Martha's Vineyard Public
Charter School on Saturday under a tent sheltering friends, family,
teachers, administrators and alumni from the overcast sky and smell of
rain that threatened a downpour - but held off for the length of
the ceremony.

Aquinnah Reconvenes Town Meeting

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah voters this week will pick up where they left off one month
ago and reconvene their annual town meeting to try to adopt a balanced
town budget.

The original town meeting adjourned early on May 9 when it became
clear that a large contingent of voters were unhappy with the budget as
presented. This week's meeting, a continuation of the chaotic
first installment, will be held on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the old town
hall.

Supreme Judicial Court Soundly Upholds Town Sewage Plant Practices

By IAN FEIN

In a resounding victory for the town of Edgartown, the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that the Edgartown wastewater
treatment plant is part of the solution - and not the problem
- to water quality pollution in Edgartown Great Pond.

Supreme Judicial Court Soundly Upholds Town Sewage Plant Practices

By IAN FEIN

In a resounding victory for the town of Edgartown, the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court ruled yesterday that the Edgartown wastewater
treatment plant is part of the solution - and not the problem
- to water quality pollution in Edgartown Great Pond.

The silver and gold still sparkles in the afternoon sun like it did
that summer in 1966, when the young college student from Boston with
long blond hair stepped off the ferry, walked into Vineyard Haven and
began selling her handmade jewelry on the Island for the first time.

Time has finally run out for the Nobska, the last coastal steamer in
America and the car and passenger vessel that served the Vineyard
between 1925 and 1973. Preliminary work to dismantle the historic vessel
began in the Charlestown Navy Yard early this week, and on Wednesday the
wrecking ball came down on her upper deck.

Students who have attended the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School since it first opened its doors ten years ago have a nickname - they are called charter starters. The last two members of the charter starter club - Elliot Morris and Matthew McCurdy - will graduate tomorrow. The graduating class this year numbers five, and among the two girls and three boys, there are few interests in common. Future plans do not overlap and they do not hang out together outside of school.

Hospital Ends Year Flush with Cash

By JULIA WELLS

The Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital ended its fiscal year
on a high note drenched in black ink, posting a net operating gain of
just over $1.5 million, more than double the gain posted last year
before gifts and other income. Cash reserves are also at an all-time
high at the Island's only hospital, thanks in part to a surge in
volume.