Rainstorms that crossed the Island last month were exactly what the
Vineyard needed. After a September that was the wettest month of the
year so far, lawns are once again lush and plants are looking healthy.

According to rainfall data collected at the National Weather Service
cooperative station in Edgartown, the total rainfall for the past month
was 6.15 inches. The Vineyard hadn't seen that much rainfall since
the 6.11 inches that fell in August of last year.

Commission Votes to Reopen Hearing on Gas Station Plan

By MANDY LOCKE

One week after the Martha's Vineyard Commission rejected a gas
station slated for Tisbury's State Road corridor, Tisbury Fuel
Service principals asked the commission to take a step back and reopen
the public hearing for their proposed High Point Lane station.

While commission members wrangled over the details of information
they hope to hear in the next phase of the public hearing, a majority of
members acceded to the developers' request.

Island Celebrates Rebirth of Agriculture

Farm Day Educates Public on Vineyard Agrarian Tradition

By ALEXIS TONTI

At noon on Saturday, the Jacobs family gathered around the cider
press at Nip 'n' Tuck Farm. Wendy Jacobs watched as her
daughter, Dana, tried to turn the fussy crank that sent the apple halves
through the masher. "It takes a lot of muscle," Mrs. Jacobs
said. "Keep it going, use two hands."

Celtic Music Fans Are Island Impresarios

By NIS KILDEGAARD

A visitor to their woodworking shop near the ice arena finds Gregg
Harcourt and Mary Wolverton hard at work, wearing headphones and goggles
to protect them from the sounds and sawdust of power drills and planers.
When they turn off the machinery to greet their guest, another sound
becomes apparent. From speakers mounted throughout the shop come the
sweet strains of Irish music - reels and jigs and airs played
lightly on the fiddle, pipes and concertina.

That Place Called Home on Halcyon Way: Vineyard Builders Give Back
to the Island

By MANDY LOCKE

The steady banging of hammers and hum of table saws drifting across
Old County Road in West Tisbury offered every indication that the
Halcyon Way work site was just another Island home under construction.

But the concentration of construction vehicles from a half-dozen
different contractors, a three-year-old running around with a half-pint
tool belt strapped to her waist and the crock pots full of chowder and
chili suggested otherwise.

MVC Wrestles with Golf Plan

Testimony Presents Commission with Unanswered Questions and
Confusion on Critical Issues Before Final Vote

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Amid a fresh spate of tactics aimed at pressuring the Martha's
Vineyard Commission into a quick approval of the Down Island Golf Club,
the developer told the commission last week that an offer to allow
public play at the private golf course is off the table - unless
the commission agrees to support the project.

Work Is Halted on Wind Tower

Court Grants Restraining Order to Stop Cape Wind Associates from
Data Gathering Facility in Horseshoe Shoal Waters

By MANDY LOCKE

A state superior court judge has joined the wrangling over the
197-foot data tower planned for the shallows of Nantucket Sound,
ordering a 10-day halt to work on a monitoring station already approved
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Dukes County Commission initiated a feud with the Martha's Vineyard Airport commissioners by voting unanimously Wednesday evening to devote 24.4 acres of land on airport grounds to a county jail and training facility for emergency personnel.

Put 20 teenagers in a room with no adult telling them what to do, and the result could be chaos.

Some of the winners in the 57th annual Martha's Vineyard
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby aren't even fishing. Thanks to the
generosity of fishermen and derby organizers, senior citizens across the
Island are eating the freshest-caught fish every night.

Many excellent fish fillets are collected each day by contest
officials.