Vineyarders Win Their Opener, 14-7

By ALEXIS TONTI

After a frustrating first half for the Vineyard football offense,
defensive end Zach Mahoney blocked a Carver punt just minutes into the
third quarter, shifting the momentum in the season's home opener
Friday night. A quick score tied the game, and the varsity went on to
defeat the Crusaders 14-7.

Mahoney, who played a standout game, also had six tackles, a fumble
recovery and a sack on fourth-and-16 that led to a Vineyard possession.

His workbench is situated under a tree for good reason. Russell O.
Steele 2nd needs those tree branches to support the ropes and chains,
pulleys and counterweights.

All that gear is critical for holding a bicycle up in the air.

Welcome to Russell Steele's used bike shop, where everything
in sight is a pile of junk just waiting for resurrection.

After six years of battling controversy over his golf driving range
in Oak Bluffs, owner Timothy Creato now wants the nets to come down and
see houses go up.

His plan to turn the ten-acre Windfarm Golf range, west of the
so-called blinker light, into a six-lot housing subdivision will have to
win approval from the Martha's Vineyard Commission as a
development of regional impact (DRI).

After a summerlong reprieve from the traffic snarls, torn up streets
and endless detours that marked last winter in downtown Tisbury,
construction resumes this month on the town's $10 million
wastewater project.

"The worst of it is over," said town administrator
Dennis Luttrell this week. "A lot of the work will be done off the
roads, and we don't expect to be working into the winter."

SSA Ventures Into Publishing

Boat Line Management Develops Plans for Advertising Displays on
Water and in Terminals; Considers New Magazine

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Slick advertising contracts with retailers like J. Crew and the
Black Dog. Display advertising on ferries and inside boat line
terminals. A four-color glossy "in-float" magazine on board
ferries.

Vineyard Is Viewed as Costly ‘Red Spot’ for Home
Insurers

By ALEXIS TONTI

Over the past decade, insurance companies have become increasingly
skittish when it comes to writing policies for Island homeowners. For
many, the risks - namely a catastrophic hurricane - outweigh
the benefits. And for those who will do business here, their gamble
comes at an increasing cost to Vineyard residents, who find themselves
hit with new deductibles and higher rates.

In these waters there is not a more celebrated fish than the coastal
striped bass. Beginning Sunday, anglers in the Martha's Vineyard
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby will begin their pursuit of bass,
bluefish, Atlantic bonito and false albacore. They will fish along the
Island's shoreline and in a variety of boats offshore.

The thousands of Vineyarders who flocked to the Island's south
shore this weekend found a new respect for Mother Nature, whose wrath
carved out monstrous swells along the southern coast in the wake of
Hurricane Fabian.

Saturday's 26th annual George Moffett Race in Vineyard Sound
was a tough sailing contest. A fleet of 64 sailboats started, but only
28 were able to finish. It wasn't that the weather was horrific.
Hugh Schwarz, the co-organizer of the race, said that light winds were
the challenge this year.

The sapping humidity that plagued the Island for much of August
washed away with last week's heavy rain. Friday broke clear and
crisp for the home opener of the high school fall sports season. Four
minutes into the soccer game that afternoon, striker Lucas Brewer found
the net, all the boys' varsity team needed in their 1-0 victory
over Sandwich.