Union Wins Key Election to Represent Employees at Community Services

By MANDY LOCKE

Hospital Workers Union gained a seat at the negotiation table at
Martha's Vineyard Community Services Thursday evening after
two-thirds of Island Counseling Center and Visiting Nurse Service
professional employees voted the union into the health and human service
agency during the closely watched election.

There is no drought on Martha's Vineyard. While dry conditions
may continue in other parts of the Northeast, the Vineyard has had
healthy rainfall thus far this year.

But despite spring rains, Vineyard ground water levels are at or
near their 25-year low. This has raised concerns that homes in outlying
areas, those with wells near the coast, may be vulnerable to saltwater
intrusion.

Voters in Oak Bluffs went on a public health rampage this week. Not
only did they reinstate the ban on smoking in town bars, but they also
cut back on the number of mopeds that may be rented in town and made
sure to put a halt to the presence of bicycles, Frisbees and hacky-sack
playing on downtown streets.

New Windemere Administrator Foresees Turnaround at Vineyard Nursing
Center

By MANDY LOCKE

Just past the entrance way of Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation
Center, Philip Hickey sits in a fishbowl.

Island Senator Hits Bias in Boatline Bill Backing New Bedford

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

As a bill to restructure the Steamship Authority moved from the
House to the Senate this week, Cape and Islands Sen. Robert
O'Leary said the proposed legislation is disappointing at best and
was written solely to serve the interests of New Bedford.

County Announces Deep Budget Cuts

Officials at Health, Human Services And Housing Agencies Express
Dismay Over Austerity Budget for FY2003

By JOSHUA SABATINI

A budget that aims to tighten Dukes County's belt in the
upcoming fiscal year was sent off to the state for approval this week
amid criticism from leaders of underfunded agencies.

The Harvard scientists who spent the last four days on the Vineyard
collecting clues that could help them solve the Island's biggest
medical mystery came armed with an unusual tool kit: an aerosol can of
automotive starter fluid, two flowerpots painted blue, a bag of apples
and an empty can of Diet Coke.

Up, Up and Away

Larry Stone Flies From Schools To Retirement

By MARCUS TONTI

The things people do for love - of a spouse, of a good job.
Or, in Larry Stone's case, both.

Mr. Stone retired this week after 28 years teaching in the Island
school system. What distinguishes the music instructor from other
teachers is that he actually lives across Vineyard Sound - and
then across Buzzards Bay - in Acushnet, next to New Bedford.

A 46-year-old flyfishing guide drowned in the waters of Eel Pond in
the wee hours of Friday morning. Kenneth Schwam, who had recently moved
full time to the Vineyard from Pennsylvania and had worked a few weeks
at Larry's Tackle Shop, is being mourned by friends and colleagues
near and far.

According to police, Mr. Schwam was out fishing late with a
customer, Jem Paker from London. The two were wading in deep water when
they both found themselves in over their heads.

The Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust set a new record this
week when it tallied up the results of its celebrated fundraiser, A
Taste of the Vineyard. The private, nonprofit organization's
executive director, Christopher W. Scott, announced yesterday morning
that the 17th annual Taste, which now includes two separate but related
events, a gourmet stroll and patron's dinner, raised $180,000 for
the preservation trust.