Boat Line Forum Pushes Plan to Boost Passenger Traffic with Fast
Ferries

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A plan to pump up passenger traffic to the Vineyard and pay millions
of dollars to develop the port of New Bedford in the years ahead was
pitched to the people of the Island this week as a way to increase
operating revenues for the public boat line, reduce car traffic in the
port towns of Falmouth and Hyannis and open up more space on ferries for
Island residents.

In a deal sealed in June, Oak Bluffs selectmen handed their police chief, Joseph C. Carter, a one-time check for $67,882 in overtime pay, almost equal to his current annual salary of $70,000.

"Teenagers," said Dr. Robert Millman, a professor of public health and psychiatry at Cornell University, "have a basic and profound fear of the future. They don't know if they'll make it. The message is you make it if you're tough enough; otherwise, you fail."

Golf Course Hearings Loom

Ethics Commission Clears MVC Members of Conflict

By JULIA WELLS

Gazette Senior Writer

In a clean sweep that leaves the 21-member Martha's Vineyard
Commission intact for an intensive development review of the Down
Island Golf Club project, the state ethics commission has cleared
five members of the commission of conflict of interest.

"I've been cleared," said commission member James
Athearn yesterday.

Festival Orchestra Plays to Applause of Crowd

By MANDY LOCKE

When the light of the setting sun - streaming through the
stained glass windows above the stage of the Tabernacle -
erased all but the outline of the Martha's Vineyard Festival
Orchestra, the audience suspected that something special was about to
happen.

Oak Bluffs Leader Loses Vote at MVC

Commission Rejects by a Wide Margin Rusczyk Push to Change
Commission On Kupersmith Housing Development

By JULIA WELLS

An Oak Bluffs selectman was rebuffed last week when he urged the
Martha's Vineyard Commission to reverse its decision to go to
court to compel a regional review of Connecticut developer Corey
Kupersmith's affordable housing project.

SSA Stages Forum Tonight for Islanders in Oak Bluffs

The Steamship Authority will host a public hearing tonight to discuss
a number of key issues surrounding the public boat line that was
created 41 years ago to serve the two Islands.

Topics for discussion are expected to include expanded ferry service
between New Bedford and the Vineyard, and the impact of capital
spending on fares for Island residents in the years ahead.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of the Oak Bluffs School.

Windemere Shakeup Follows Severe Strain of Financial Losses

Leaders at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital announced yesterday
that the administrator of the Windemere Nursing Home and
Rehabilitation Center has resigned.

Tom Dresser, who took over the top post at Windemere eight months
ago, resigned for personal reasons and to pursue other professional
interests, according to a WNR board member who spoke with the Gazette
late yesterday. WNR Inc. is the corporate name for Windemere.

There are no ripples or wake anymore, but the impact of no Schamonchi and no fast ferry from New London, Conn., has hit some businesses in Tisbury hard, especially along Beach Road where the ferries used to dock and disgorge tourists by the hundreds.

Bus Ridership Climbs Sharply

Vineyard Transit Authority Puts Number of Passengers on Bus Routes
at Roughly 400,000 For July and August Alone

By JOSHUA SABATINI

The Martha's Vineyard Regional Transit Authority carried close
to 400,000 people in the fiscal year from July 1, 2000 through June
30, 2001. Transit authority administrator Angie Gompert said she
estimates 200,000 people were served this July and another 200,000 in
August.