The gnarled grapevines that snake along two dozen rolling acres on Stoney Hill Road stand as survivors, straight rows that have withstood the cold, the creatures who would rob their fruit, and, perhaps most of all, the critics.

Dead Seabirds Are Found on Beaches, Studied for Disease

By ROBERT A. CULBERT
Special to the Vineyard Gazette

Oak Bluffs town administrator Casey Sharpe resigned unexpectedly
early this week, setting off a ripple of finger-pointing and innuendo
around town as to the cause. The announcement about Ms. Sharpe's
resignation was made at the start of the selectmen's meeting on
Tuesday following a brief executive session.

"It is with great sadness that I announce we just accepted the
resignation of Casey Sharpe," announced board chairman Duncan
Ross, adding:

Aquinnah Voters Tangle Over Budget; Town Meeting Adjourned Until
June

By IAN FEIN

Aquinnah town finances were left in tatters after a tumultuous town
meeting on Tuesday. But at the polls on Wednesday voters approved more
than $120,000 in Proposition 2 1/2 overrides, giving the town some
breathing room to balance its budget.

For the first time, this year the Martha's Vineyard Regional
High School junior prom will require not just a ticket to enter, but a
green light from a breathalyzer.

After alcohol use caused problems at last year's prom, high
school principal Margaret (Peg) Regan considered cancelling this
year's prom and revisiting the issue the next year, but at the
students' request, Mrs. Regan instead collaborated with juniors to
make prom safer.

Hospital Begins Formal Review

Plans for $42 Million New Facility Set to Be Filed in Oak Bluffs;
MVC Land Use Committee Will Discuss on Monday

By JULIA WELLS

The Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital, much in the news
this year with its ambitious $42 million capital campaign, is now set to
file formal plans for a new hospital building off Linton Lane in the
Eastville section of Oak Bluffs.

Fourth Annual Energy Day Held Tomorrow at Grange

By IAN FEIN

Should the Vineyard tax large energy users as a way to fund more
renewable energy projects?

That question will be a topic of discussion at the fourth annual
Energy Day tomorrow, when the building inspector from Aspen, Colo., will
talk about a similar energy initiative that was enacted in his seasonal
community.

Engraved on the pedestal of the Statute of Liberty is a poem by Emma
Lazarus with the famous lines "Give me your tired, your poor, Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my
lamp beside the golden door."

It is the kind of sunny spring day that lures young minds out
through classroom windows onto the playground, but the seventh and
eighth graders in Jonah Maidoff's social studies class at the
Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School are decidedly focused on
the issue at hand.

Last Vineyard Town Meeting Convenes Tuesday in Aquinnah

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

A slew of proposed Proposition 2 1/2 overrides and a couple of
requests to partly restructure town government are among the decisions
awaiting Aquinnah voters at their annual town meeting and town election
next week.