The evening easily could have been confused with a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. The grill staff at P.J.'s Café sang along to Love Train and Don't Stop Believin' as they flipped mini burgers, pressed them in between golden buns and handed them off to hungry, fashionably clad patrons. Across the way, the pastry chef at Soigne wore a wide smile as she piled a cake rack high with mini cupcakes. "I noticed some of the restaurant people dancing in their booths," Christopher Scott, executive director of the Martha's Vineyard Preservation Trust said yesterday.

Tribe Casino Plans Remain Unchanged

Aquinnah Wampanoags Are Committed to Gaming Too; But First Mashpee
Must Convince State Legislature

By IAN FEIN

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) remains interested in
developing an off-Island casino, tribal council chairman Donald Widdiss
said this week.

But before they identify or actively pursue a specific site, tribal
members are waiting to see whether the Massachusetts legislature will
vote to allow expanded gaming - a step it has consistently
rejected in the past.

Following the discovery of a defective engine part, Cape Air
grounded its entire fleet of Cessna 402 planes this week, disrupting
travel plans for thousands of passengers and costing the respected
commuter airline hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

Mariners beware. Tides and currents have changed dramatically in Edgartown harbor since the breach of Norton Point beach in April and the federal government has no plans to establish new tide or current tables soon. The power of the current in Edgartown Harbor is not only three times faster at Chappaquiddick Point, nobody yet knows with certainty when high or low tide takes place.

The entire Oak Bluffs side of Lagoon Pond was opened to shellfishing
this week, in response to the forced closure of Sengekontacket Pond late
last week due to high levels of bacteria.

Shellfish constable Dave Grunden said he had adjusted the management
regime for Lagoon Pond to open early one area which had been closed
until August, as well as another area which had been closed for
reseeding.

Walking along the shore of Black Point Pond in Chilmark, Richard
Johnson of Sheriff's Meadow Foundation is nearly dwarfed by a
thick stand of 12-foot high reeds.

Also called phragmites, the reeds are an invasive species that have
formed a dense monoculture over what was once an open diverse habitat of
native pondshore plants. Dead reeds crunch beneath his boots, covering
the ground so virtually nothing else can grow through.

School Lunches Not All Healthy

With Child Obesity Epidemic as a Backdrop, Island Schools Begin
Paying More Attention to Lunchroom Nutrition

By IAN FEIN

On any given school day, students at the Martha's Vineyard
Public Charter School are likely to eat a rather sophisticated lunch
- featuring Japanese seaweed salad with tofu and rice wine
vinegar, for instance, or Island-grown butternut squash soup. The
healthy meals are made almost entirely from scratch by a professional
chef who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London and Paris.

What seemed like a simple, homespun plan to improve and expand the
baseball field at Veira Park in Oak Bluffs has evolved into an
acrimonious bureaucratic tangle pitting a group of Little Leaguers
against a group of neighbors worried about noise and traffic.

Appellate Tax Board Releases Findings in West Tisbury Case

By IAN FEIN

West Tisbury assessors did not discriminate against town resident
William W. Graham and their valuation system is fundamentally sound, the
Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board said last week in its long-awaited
legal ruling on a high-profile property tax case that attracted
attention across the commonwealth.