A second round of blood tests has confirmed that two Island men who
fell ill earlier this month with symptoms of pneumonia actually had the
pneumonic form of tularemia, the rare bacterial disease that killed a
Chilmark man almost two years ago.
SSA Considers Ticket Fare Cut
Monies Saved by New Bedford's Refusal to Run Ferry Service
from State Pier May Mean Lower Prices for Islanders
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
The decision by the city of New Bedford early this year to cancel
Steamship Authority ferry service in and out of the State Pier there has
saved the public boat line substantial amounts of money - and the
savings may soon translate to reduced fares for Island residents.
Refuse District Faces Deepening Financial Woes
By MANDY LOCKE
Financial difficulties again dominated discussion at the
Martha's Vineyard Refuse Disposal and Resource Recovery District
meeting as committee members tried to find ways to climb out of a hole
half a million dollars deep.
Terry McCarthy will tell you point blank that cruise line passengers are the best thing going.
Down to the Sea with Love: They Come to the Island for a Memorable
Voyage
By JOHN BUDRIS and JAMES D'AMBROSIO
For three magic days they were not heart transplant patients or the
leukemia kids in the next ward. They were neither stuck with needles,
nor looped through high-tech machines.
For three magic days their parents forgot about blood counts, organ
rejection and the next visit to yet another specialist at Boston
Children's Hospital.
Huge Housing Plan Moves Toward MVC
Affordable Housing Project Is Pushed by Golf Developer and Partner
in Oak Bluffs Woodlands
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Against a backdrop of quiet maneuvers to develop yet another plan
for a private luxury golf club in the southern woodlands, a massive
affordable housing project planned for the same property in Oak Bluffs
is now on track for review by the Martha's Vineyard Commission.
Three weeks ago, West Tisbury selectmen demanded concessions and
route changes, seeking to reduce the impact of transit buses on their
historic town center.
An insect species never before recorded on Martha's Vineyard
has attacked spruce trees Islandwide, damaging many and even killing a
few, say area scientists and tree experts.
The pest was identified this month as a Spruce aphid (elatobium
abietinum) by a cooperative effort of scientists at the University of
Massachusetts.
Harbor Festival Sets Stage for Summer
By ALEXIS TONTI
There is no single event that signals the start of summer on the
Island. Something different moves each person to say the season is
finally here: the ripening of strawberries and sweet peas, the first
farmers' market or maybe the first true beach day. That something
could also be the Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival. Falling the day after the
official start of summer, the festival's timing qualifies it as
another sign of the season.
The Martha's Vineyard Commission backed away Thursday night from a push to redraw the Vineyard Golf Club's Island membership plan.
Commission members dropped the issue of the subjective selection process citing not principles, but politics. Commissioners openly acknowledged that pushing for a lottery system could do more harm than good, threatening an already strained relationship with a town board.
