With over 50 years of inter-Island competition and more than 25 years of battling for the coveted Island Cup, it is hard to believe there is a fresh angle when it comes to the Vineyard-Nantucket high school football rivalry.

What storyline remains to be written?

Home Port Purchase Set for Decision

IAN FEIN and JAMES KINSELLA

For decades, the Home Port restaurant in Menemsha has been the
epitome of a traditional Yankee seaside restaurant, with its lobster
dinners and stunning sunset views.

On Monday night, Chilmark voters will decide whether to set aside
another Yankee tradition - frugality - and buy the Home Port
from owners Will Holtham and Madeline Moore for $3.9 million.

Construction on Islander Replacement Resumes at Full Tilt After
Hurricane

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

While work has resumed on the Steamship Authority's new Island
Home car and passenger ferry, the vessel will not be delivered until a
year from now.

The vessel, which is slated to replace the Islander on the
Vineyard-Woods Hole run, originally had been scheduled for delivery next
June.

After two months of studying a scientific report documenting a severe decline in key stocks of fish from Georges Bank to the Gulf of Maine, the New England Fishery Management Council this week was unable to agree on new measures to protect the resource from overfishing.

Meeting in West Tisbury Marks Town Turning Point

By IAN FEIN

West Tisbury voters will gather next Wednesday night for what could
mark a turning point in the rural town where landowners pay the highest
average property tax bills in the region.

Island Veteran Reflects on Meaning of Holiday

As the Vineyard joins the rest of the country this morning in
observance of Veterans' Day, Curtis S. Jones of Vineyard Haven
will stand quietly on the sidelines and watch the parade in Oak Bluffs.
Mr. Jones is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. The
88-year-old veteran served his country in Europe for three years during
World War II and spent 26 months in a German prisoner of war camp in
Poland. The camp was called OFLAG 64.

Finance Committee Assails Legal Bills

Board Reverses Position Before Meeting, Deciding to Recommend
Against Payment to Lawyer in Tax Case

By IAN FEIN

West Tisbury town officials this week brought mounting
assessors' legal bills under intense scrutiny during a flurry of
last-minute meetings before the Nov. 16 special town meeting where
voters will be asked to approve more than a quarter-million dollars in
legal expenses.

Library Group Tries Fresh Tack, but Is Rebuffed by Selectmen

By RACHEL KOVAC

The Edgartown library expansion project took another turn this week
when a joint advisory committee reviewing the $11.5 million project
asked the town selectmen for $35,000 to study the possibility of
converting the old elementary school to a library.

The proposal, which is not supported by library trustees, was
quickly shot down by selectmen.

Dropout Rate Sees a Decline

State Report Reveals Vineyard Students Are Staying in School; Strong
Network of Support Cited as a Key Factor

By RACHEL KOVAC

The student dropout rate at the Martha's Vineyard Regional
High School has been steadily declining over the past five years and now
stands at just 1.7 per cent, compared with the state average of 3.7 per
cent.

Engineering Report Targets Bridge Safety

By MAX HART

The committee charged with studying the replacement of the Lagoon
Pond drawbridge approved an engineering consultant's report on the
condition of the bridge this week, but the central question of whether
to replace the bridge in two phases or one remains unresolved.