Everything about this Fourth of July was huge. The parade was
colorful and long, the fireworks overhead were grand and the crowds in
downtown Edgartown were phenomenally large.

Drawbridge Is Up for Repair

Highway Agency Unveils Its Plans for Temporary Bridge Structure
Allowing Time to Replace Lagoon Pond Bridge

By CHRIS BURRELL

State officials yesterday unveiled a plan to build a temporary
drawbridge alongside the aging and troublesome Lagoon Pond drawbridge.

The cost of the temporary bridge is a shocker - $3.8 million.

The first time I saw Camp Jabberwocky to know what it was, it looked just like what you will see sometime after five o'clock this afternoon, probably about halfway through the parade - the dark red bus growling and coughing its way around a distant corner in Edgartown; in front of it, leading the way, the lanky kids with long hair and painted faces skipping, dancing, blowing whistles, banging drums and pushing other kids in wheelchairs. It was probably around 1968 or 1969 when the idea of what Jabberwocky first began to register with me.

The Aquinnah selectmen heard a distinct plea from their up-Island
neighbors this week to formally appeal the recent superior court
decision that found the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) cannot be
sued because of sovereign immunity.

An Island Couple with a Simple Wish: They'd Like a House to
Call a Home

By MANDY LOCKE

Erin and Gary Simmons Jr. are nearly there.

Chicken Massacre: Did Dog Do It? Court Will Hear DNA Evidence

By CHRIS BURRELL

The DNA results are in, the trial is Wednesday, and if you ask Joan
Jenkinson, she'll tell you she has the mass murderer dead to
rights.

But this is no ordinary murder case. The 11 victims are all
chickens. The defendant is a four-year-old dog from West Tisbury named
Serena and Ms. Jenkinson is the town's animal control
officer-turned-forensics expert.

Blinker Light: a Time to Stop

High Accident, Injury Rate Cited as Oak Bluffs Selectmen Vote; Stop
Signs Up in Two Weeks; Rondabout by 2005?

By CHRIS BURRELL

Hit your brakes. A big red stop sign is about to replace the
blinking yellow light at one of the Vineyard's most dangerous
crossroads.

Once More Before the Court: Power of the Commission

By JULIA WELLS

The unique power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to review
low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of
state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute, will come
under scrutiny again later this month in the Massachusetts Land Court.

Aquinnah Case in Towns' Eye

Up-Island Selectmen Will Meet; Neighbors Support an Appeal of Ruling
That Favored Tribe on Zoning

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The town of Aquinnah will join the Gay Head Taxpayers Association in
asking a superior court judge for reconsideration of his recent decision
in favor of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Although the Aquinnah selectmen have agreed to join the move to
reconsider, they have not yet decided whether to take the next step and
appeal.

There will be plenty of boom in Friday night's Fourth of July
fireworks. The Edgartown Firemen's Association is spending $25,000
or $5,000 more than a year ago.