After years of planning, discussion and often heated debate, the Oak
Bluffs conservation commission Tuesday unanimously endorsed the $10
million Steamship Authority plan to expand and improve the ferry
terminal on Sea View avenue.

Commission members voted 4-0 to approve an order of conditions,
which is the permit required under the Massachusetts wetlands protection
act and the town wetlands bylaw.

Middle Line Worries Center on Funding, Potential Conflicts

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

The Chilmark selectmen this week took up an array of concerns
relating to the Island Housing Trust's bid to build the
town-sponsored Middle Line Road affordable housing project.

Among the legal questions under discussion were those relating to
potential conflicts of interest for a number of people involved, and
also relating to the proper use of Community Preservation Act (CPA)
funds to build the project.

Housing Bank Plan Wins Key Legislative Support

By IAN FEIN

The proposed Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank picked up key
support on Beacon Hill this week, where the legislative committee that
reviewed the bill this winter voted unanimously to award it a favorable
recommendation.

An increase in the number of primary care physicians employed at the
Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital is improving its financial
performance, according to the chief executive officer.

Amid the stacks of DVDs and under the piles of papers, press photos
and programs, the sixth annual Martha's Vineyard Independent Film
Festival is coming together.

Slowly.

"This is the crunch time, for sure," festival founder
and director Thomas Bena says one afternoon last week from the festival
headquarters in North Tisbury. "We still have a lot to do."

The Steamship Authority continued to make money last year, though not as much as boat line managers anticipated.

Unaudited numbers show that the SSA, beset by rising fuel costs and falling passenger traffic, brought in $1,491,957 in operating income in 2005 - a decrease of about $1.3 million from the prior year, and about $2.6 million below budget projections.

Selectmen Will Call Special Election

By IAN FEIN

At a meeting marked by confusion and procedural missteps, West
Tisbury selectmen this week heeded the advice of their town counsel
Ronald H. Rappaport and agreed to call a special town election in May to
fill the vacant seat on the board of assessors.

But they turned a deaf ear on further advice from Mr. Rappaport and
decided to appoint Cynthia Mitchell, a former selectman and town
treasurer, to replace Raymond Houle on the board for the next two
months.

Bill Takes Aim at Wind Farm

Retreating Behind Closed Doors, Lawmakers Debate Amendment Tacked
Onto Coast Guard Bill That Would Ban Turbines

By IAN FEIN

The fate of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm hung in the
balance in Washington, D.C. this week, where a small group of
congressmen met behind closed doors to consider an amendment to a U.S.
Coast Guard bill that would effectively kill the controversial project.

Come-from-Behind Win Sends Boys to Round Two

By MAX HART

NEW BEDFORD - Not even the weather, it seems, can stop the
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School boys' basketball
team.

Summer Rental Market Booms Unexpectedly; Brokers Scramble

By MAX HART

Blame it on the economy, blame it on the Republicans, or blame it on
that tried and true scapegoat - the weather. Whatever the reason
- and no one knows for sure - Island real estate brokers
report that the demand for summer rentals has suddenly exploded.