FALMOUTH - - At a tense meeting that was marked by scattered
calls for his resignation, Falmouth Steamship Authority governor Galen
Robbins defended himself last night against a stream of accusations that
he has defied the selectmen who are his appointing authority, especially
on the subject of New Bedford ferry service.

Laughter and money seemed to go hand in hand at last night's Possible Dreams auction in Edgartown. The better the one-liners, the higher the bids.

Fortunately, there were some pretty glib celebrities willing to
stoke the fire, and in the end, the 24th annual auction of 53 dreams had
pulled in more than $376,000. That figure fell short of last
year's take of just over $400,000.

A 54-year-old pilot was killed when a plane he had built himself
crashed south of the Vineyard on Saturday afternoon. Timothy L. Crawford
of Idaho Falls, Ida., was piloting a single-engined, two-seater Long-EZ
aircraft from Barnstable Municipal Airport when for no known reason the
plane crashed about four miles south of Long Point, West Tisbury.

If global warming is a subject that fails to grab you, or feels too
distant to be real, the next time you eat pancakes or French toast,
consider the source of your maple syrup.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, in the 1930s the
maple sugar industry was centered in Virginia. In the 1950s the industry
was centered in New England. Today it is centered in Canada.

Citizen Health Care Role Called Critical

By ALEXIS TONTI

If the Island wants better health care, its citizens must demand it.

This simple but straightforward directive was one of the chief
messages of the second annual public symposium, Changing Our Health
Care: Options for the Vineyard, held Sunday night at the Performing Arts
Center.

Striped bass is one of the Island's favorite seasonal fish.
And its season in fish markets and restaurants is about to close for
another year.

SSA Reorganization Bill Passes Senate; New Bedford, Barnstable Win
Seats; Governor Expected to Sign Law Soon

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The state Senate followed the lead of powerful New Bedford Sen. Mark
Montigny and turned a deaf ear on Cape and Islands Sen. Robert
O'Leary this week, voting overwhelmingly to approve a hostile bill
to restructure the Steamship Authority.

Best ever Possible Dreams moment? That's a tough one.

In 1994, Carly Simon sang a few bars of Anticipation to the crowd.
They went wild, and a dream night of songs with Ms. Simon was auctioned
for $81,000. Twice.

In 1998, a similar situation arose, and Washington Post owner
Katharine Graham agreed to host three separate lunches. Each bidder
(Merv Griffin among them) paid $25,000, and Mrs. Graham made a donation
of her own as well. In minutes, $100,000 was raised.

Moving Houses Recycles Island History

By MANDY LOCKE

As hundreds of Vineyarders pile trucks with clothes, furniture and
children this fall to shuffle to another winter rental, two Edgartown
houses will join the mass migration.

Destined for the dump when the owners decided to build new homes on
the picturesque properties, both a 19th-century Victorian on the corner
of Davis Lane and Pease's Point Way and a 1960s gambrel-roofed
house off Meeting House Way will be relocated to town-owned property for
use as affordable housing.

Ask most kids where their eggs, beef and milk come from and
they'll tell you the grocery store. Ask the same question of the
young people who have spent a week at Herring Creek Farm and
they'll answer differently: "It comes from a farm."