Herring Creek Farm, the storied and richly diverse Great Plains farm
in the rural coastal perimeters of Edgartown, is now set to be sold for
a record price to an eclectic group that includes two nonprofit
conservation organizations and two private buyers.
Island Charter School Prepares To Honor First Graduating Class
By JOSHUA SABATINI
The Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School is holding its
first ever graduation in June. The school, in its fifth year, has a lot
to celebrate.
Backers of a plan to build a community swimming pool are suffering
from sticker shock, having learned last month that the
38,500-square-foot complex would cost $8.85 million to construct, nearly
twice the amount projected in a study done six years ago.
An after-prom party near Black Point beach in Chilmark turned violent in the early morning hours last Sunday when police who were called in to break up the party tried arresting a teenager and were forced to retreat under a barrage of beer bottles.
The Aquinnah building inspector filed a lawsuit this week against
the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to test the question of
whether the tribe must follow local zoning rules.
"A genuine controversy exists on this issue requiring judicial
guidance," wrote Aquinnah town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport in the
complaint.
There is good news on the Vineyard Haven waterfront. Douglas Rock,
an extremely dangerous hazard to navigation, has - finally -
been marked.
The rock, as big as a Volkswagen Bug and close to the surface in
waters off West Chop, is now identifiable by a tall spile and sign that
says: "Rocks."
The marking brings closure to a struggle that has gone on for years.
New Bedford Run Fails
No on License
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Steamship Authority governors voted without dissent last week to
deny a license application from a private freight hauler to run
year-round service between New Bedford and the two Islands.
"Our focus clearly needs to remain on providing for the
Islands," said SSA general counsel Steven Sayers. Mr. Sayers was
point man in the staff recommendation to deny the license application
from Seabulk International Inc.
SSA Debate Spits Islands
Stormy Waters
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Calling a virtual mandate from some 800 people on Nantucket
uninformed, Vineyard Steamship Authority governor and board chairman
J.B. Riggs Parker said last week that he will press ahead with the
ambitious new service model for the public boat line.
"I believe I am not informed enough to make a statement on
these issues, and if I am not informed, it would be unusual to conclude
that communities as a whole are informed," declared Mr. Parker.
Harbor masters, town officials and many Island residents consider them a safety hazard and an annoyance. Users buy and rent them as recreational vehicles and for the fun of riding Vineyard waters at high speed.
The two colliding positions run to the heart of a longstanding Island and national dispute over use of personal watercraft, better known to many as Jet Skis. Now state legislative proposals governing the use of these watercraft may be changing.
A lobster pot filled with a bouquet of colorful flowers adorned the
top of the casket for one of the Island's best-known fishermen,
selectmen and friend. Hundreds stood in silence during the graveside
service for Herbert Hancock on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Hancock died April
26 at the age of 71.
An osprey flew high above Chilmark Pond. Friends and family stood
below on a grassy knoll at the Abel's Hill Cemetery.
