School Leader Wants Change
Chairman David Rossi Proposes Reopening Regional Agreement to Create
Single Committee; Merits Debated, Not Voted
By RACHEL KOVAC
The chairman of the all-Island school committee this week called for
reopening the regional school agreement, which is nearly four decades
old, with an eye toward creating one school committee to create more
accountability and efficiency in the disparate Vineyard school system.
Even on an Island that knows a little something about shark
hysteria, the upcoming Boston Big Game Fishing Club Monster Shark
tournament is a frenzied event.
Riparian Landowners Grumble at Tribal Aquaculture Venture
By IAN FEIN
A public hearing called by Aquinnah selectmen to discuss the
management of Menemsha Pond turned instead this week into a debate about
private aquaculture licenses and the Wampanoag Aquinnah Shellfish
Hatchery.
Drawbridge Committee Advocates Outside Study
By James Kinsella
Over the objections of the county engineer, the Lagoon Pond
Drawbridge Committee on Wednesday recommended that Vineyard Haven and
Oak Bluffs fund an $11,700 study of what, if anything, can be done to
prolong the use of the existing drawbridge.
And the Pitch: Cong. Mel Watt Steadies Game in Washington
By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer
In 1963, a young man named Melvin Watt tried out as a pitcher for
the freshman baseball team at the University of North Carolina.
Today, Mr. Watt does not recall the other hopefuls as being
appreciably different in playing ability. But there was at least one
thing that set him aside from the other players: he was
African-American, and the others were not.
They were born and raised on the Vineyard, owned their own homes and
had full-time jobs here. Then one day a couple years ago, Sharon Amaral
and Shirley Fauteux each arrived at the same decision: Sell their
houses, cash out and move to the Cape.
Vineyard House Plan Wins Approval Amid Praise for Community Benefits
By IAN FEIN
The Martha's Vineyard Commission last week unanimously and
enthusiastically approved a new Tisbury campus for Vineyard House, a
grass roots Island program that runs homes for Island men and women in
the early stages of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction.
Reviewing the project as a development of regional impact (DRI),
commission members said last Thursday that the many benefits Vineyard
House offered to the community far outweighed any detriments.
Put off a day due to the torrential rain, the town of Vineyard Haven staged its birthday celebration with the usual overabundance of food, drink and merry making that make the Tisbury Street Fair a summer tradition of the first magnitude. And the delay worked out just as well: Saturday evening the skies were blue and the sun warm, a welcome setting for the fair, now in its 34th year.
Town Attorney Grills Landowner as Tax Hearing Grows Longer
By IAN FEIN
During a tense two and a half days of cross-examination, West
Tisbury resident William W. Graham revealed in a legal hearing last week
that a private real estate appraiser valued one of his property parcels
at a substantially higher price than town assessors.
An appraisal conducted in 2002 for estate tax purposes valued his
50-acre parcel at Mohu off Lambert's Cove Road at approximately
$23 million.
The United States Coast Guard has ordered the Steamship Authority and Hy-Line Cruises to increase security measures on their ferries following the terrorist bomb attacks in London last Thursday.
Coast Guard officials said they are not sounding an alarm, but are simply taking necessary precautions following the London attacks, which as of mid-day yesterday had accounted for 52 deaths.
