One year after forcing out family members who ran a popular
up-Island bakery there for roughly a decade, the owners of the Vineyard
Foodshop in North Tisbury appear to have abandoned the business and
reportedly plan to sell the landmark property.

They are also now the subject of a lawsuit, filed by the West
Tisbury board of health in Dukes County Superior Court last week, that
seeks to compel them to cease and desist from discharging wastewater
into a failed septic system.

After a lengthy partisan debate, the Massachusetts state senate yesterday afternoon approved special legislation to create public housing banks on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

But with a only a month left in the legislative term and a gubernatorial veto expected, the controversial bill - which would tax some real estate transactions to fund affordable housing initiatives - still faces on uphill battle on Beacon Hill.

Boat Line Considers Merchandise Sales

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

The elusive Holy Grail of supplemental Steamship Authority revenue
- the marketing of Authority cups, glasses, T-shirts and other
marine-related items - reappeared Tuesday at the monthly boat line
meeting in Oak Bluffs.

Nantucket governor Flint Ranney proposed issuing a request for
proposals to market Authority-branded items.

"I think we're missing the boat," Mr. Ranney said
about the SSA's mostly nonexistent efforts.

To most Americans, soccer is considered a second or third-tier sport
that hardly deserves a mention on their nightly edition of Sports Center
on ESPN.

Who knew so many people with stomachs so full could dance so
vigorously?

Safety Concerns Prompt State Proposal to Ban Truck Traffic Over
Drawbridge

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

In an ongoing effort to ease the pounding on the troubled Lagoon
Pond drawbridge, heavy trucks may be routed through the blinker
intersection in Oak Bluffs or even through West Tisbury this summer.

MassHighway plans to ask selectmen in Tisbury and Oak Bluffs to help
designate a truck route to divert such trucks away from the drawbridge,
according to Fred LaPiana, the Tisbury director of public works.

Cronig\'s Asks Paper or Polypropylene?

By RACHEL NAVA ROHR

Starting soon, Cronig\'s markets will offer an eco-friendly
bagging alternative at the check-out counter: polypropylene shopping
bags.

Cronig\'s bought 5,000 of the bags from 1 Bag at a Time, a
company started last year by Aquinnah summer resident Lisa Foster.

Starting soon, Cronig's markets will offer an eco-friendly bagging alternative at the check-out counter: polypropylene shopping bags.

Cronig's bought 5,000 of the bags from 1 Bag at a Time, a company started last year by Aquinnah summer resident Lisa Foster.

"We're hoping that eventually we'll be using less of the paper bags," Cronig's general manager Sarah McKay said. "That will be cost saving for us, but also refuse saving for the Island - less will be ending up at the recycling center or the dump."

Change Eyed in School Pact

Up-Island Regional Agreement Could See a Major Overhaul if Aquinnah
Has Its Way; Cost Remains the Issue

By IAN FEIN

With tensions brewing and the fate of the Up-Island Regional School
District back in the spotlight, the regional school committee will meet
twice next week to consider changes to the agreement that formed the
district. And after the release of two separate financial studies about
the district this spring, school committee members are feeling pressure
from opposing fronts.

Chilmark Man May Plead Guilty in Rare Map Theft

By JAMES KINSELLA

A Chilmark man is expected to plead guilty next Thursday to one or
more thefts of rare maps worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,
according to published reports in Connecticut newspapers.

Both the New Haven Register and the Hartford Courant have reported
that E. Forbes Smiley 3rd, a dealer in rare maps who lives on North
Road, may make pleas in back-to-back appearances in U.S. District Court
and state superior court in New Haven.