Rural West Tisbury May Favor Hens and Roosters - Legally

By JACK SHEA

West Tisbury is zoned as a rural agricultural town and there is
ample case law, some of it dating to the early 20th century, that
supports the rights of rural property owners to keep a flock of chickens
in the backyard.

This is the opinion of town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport, who told
the town building and zoning inspector in a letter this week that it is
his call to make in a dispute between two Longview neighbors over noisy
roosters.

Young Golfer Tony Grillo Wins State Championship

By JIM HICKEY

In a victory that was as improbable as it was thrilling, Island golf
sensation Tony Grillo overcame a seven-stroke deficit in the early going
and sank a dramatic birdie putt on the final hole of the final day to
capture his second consecutive Massachusetts Junior Golf Championship
title.

With the win at the Crumpin-Fox Golf Club in Bernardston, the
17-year-old rising senior at the Martha\'s Vineyard Regional High
School retains his title as the best junior golfer in the state.

Having lived in the Midwest for a few years, Woods Hole Research
Center scientist Dr. Michael T. Coe knows that global warming sounds
good to some ears - it implies shorter winters and higher
temperatures.

Ever since cultivation began on the Vineyard, farmers have tried to enrich the nutrient-poor soils of the Island's sandplain grassland. Now scientists are beginning a five-year experiment on the Island trying to achieve the exact opposite.

At a cost of some $700,000, The Nature Conservancy and Marine Biological Laboratory will try various ways of de-enriching the soil on 70 acres of sandplain at Katama, with an eye toward reestablishing the grassland ecosystem which formerly existed there.

Union Okays SSA Contract

Unlicensed Deck Hands Ratify Agreement With Management, Reversing
Vote from June; Governors Vote Friday

By MIKE SECCOMBE

Some 200 employees of the Steamship Authority have voted to accept a
new workplace agreement, substantially unchanged from the one they
rejected last month.

Twenty-five years ago, Susan Klein leapt into the void, counting on
her muse to catch her. She was 30 years old, born and raised in Oak
Bluffs, but she just knew "it was time to go."

"I had just bought the house, the mortgage was due," she
recalled. "I'd quit my job, I had no health insurance, no
retirement, no savings. I had $300 and I drove away. I had nine
days' of work scheduled for the rest of my life."

She grew up in Chilmark, the twelfth generation of an Island farming
family. He was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., the grandson of Jewish
immigrants. He had never farmed and she was all set to move to Boston.
But life, horses and a flock of sheep intervened. Thirty-two years later
Mitchell Posin and Clarissa Allen talk about their relationship, while
inhabitants of the farm chime in with crows and bleats, contributing to
the tale.

Interviews by Julia Rappaport

Mitchell

The dire forecast for the future of the Vineyard environment, signed onto by the Island's major conservation groups 10 years ago this week, was wrong. Dramatically, happily wrong.

Among other things, the 1997 white paper predicted the Vineyard would be built out within eight years, and that only a little over 25 per cent of Island land would be protected by 2005. History has proven these figures to be way off the mark.

William is a 22-year-old college student who came to the Island this
summer to work two jobs and save money for his senior year of school. He
was basically cruising through life - enjoying the parties and
bars on the Island - before moving on to finish his education and
get a job.

Helicopter Pad Cited as Illegal

Chappaquiddick Landowner Is Issued Cease and Desist Order, Bringing
Extra Peculiar Twist to Affordable Homesite Case

By JACK SHEA

The Chappaquiddick affordable housing saga continues with a bizarre
twist.