Candidates for SSA Governor Make Case for Appointment

By JAMES KINSELLA

Four candidates vying to become the next Vineyard Steamship
Authority governor made their respective cases Wednesday before the
Dukes County Commission.

Kenneth DeBettencourt, Marc Hanover, Robert Sawyer and Mark Snider
made opening and closing statements, and responded to the same set of
questions which they had been given in advance.

The commission will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to
vote on the three-year appointment, which is unsalaried.

In a much-awaited decision that has far-reaching implications for the Vineyard and the commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 5-1 yesterday that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) must abide by state and town zoning rules.

The ruling reverses a superior court decision that found the Wampanoags cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity - and it preserves the integrity of a historic 1983 Indian land claims settlement agreement that was the crux of the case.

Two of the three Catholic churches on the Island have closed down
for the winter season, leaving just one - Our Lady Star of the Sea
in Oak Bluffs - to serve the Vineyard's Roman Catholics.

The seasonal closures aren't for lack of interest. Church
leaders blame a critical shortage of area priests and a financial
deficit tied to rising heating oil costs and building repairs.

Words and emotions filled the air Monday night, when some 350 people
packed the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts
Center to air their views about the controversial Cape Wind project
planned for Nantucket Sound.

Opinion split nearly straight down the middle among the 50-plus
people who spoke at the public hearing, from local fishermen to high
school students to powerful politicians. All spoke with passion and
conviction.

Corps Hearings Begin Monday on Nantucket Sound Wind Farm

By IAN FEIN

Vineyard residents who want to weigh in on the controversial wind
farm proposed for Nantucket Sound will have their best chance when the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its entourage arrive on-Island Monday
for the first of four regional public hearings.

The Vineyard hearing will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in the
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center.
Registration for those who want to speak begins at 5 p.m.

School Board Picks Three Interim Finalists

The all-Island school committee expects to finish round two next
Thursday, interviewing three finalists and hiring one to serve as the
next interim superintendent of Vineyard schools.

School board members made the cut this week, screening nine
applications and selecting two men and one woman for interviews.

Kathryn A. (Cassie) Roessel, whose tireless and enthusiastic representation of Martha's Vineyard on the Steamship Authority board of governors made her one of the best-known residents of the Island, was found dead outside her Vineyard Haven home last Saturday morning. She was 51.

State police detectives attached to the Cape and Islands district attorney's office are investigating Ms. Roessel's death, as they would any unattended death. Tisbury police chief Theodore Saulnier said Tuesday there were no obvious marks of injury on the body.

Building Inspector Orders Demolition

Mr. Moujabber's Controversial Garage Is Now on Track to Be
Torn Down Attorney Will Delay with Appeal

By JAMES KINSELLA

Push has come to shove in the long Oak Bluffs saga of the Moujabber
garage.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Oak Bluffs building inspector Richard
Mavro ordered local businessman Joseph G. Moujabber to demolish the
three-story structure, built next to property owned by Mr. Moujabber at
10 Seaview avenue extension in the North Bluff section of downtown.

Landowners React to Blind Trust Deals

By JAMES KINSELLA

Two parties who learned that they unknowingly sold property to the
Martha's Vineyard Land Bank have expressed concern about how the
land bank cloaked its identity in the transactions.

Mia Lewis, one of the former owners of 1.9 acres of barrier beach on
Tisbury Great Pond, and Judith Lane, who owned six acres off Ice House
Pond, this week questioned the strategy used by the land bank, a
state-chartered agency funded by property transfer taxes.

Revised plans to replace the storied Big and Little Bridges along Beach Road in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs were unveiled this week, and Massachusetts highway officials say they are confident the design will fit the character of the Vineyard.

County engineer Steve Berlucchi presented the plans to Edgartown selectmen at their regular meeting Tuesday afternoon.

"I think we have a much better design that Island residents will appreciate," Mr. Berlucchi said. "Everybody who has seen it so far is on board."