Forced to choose the assessment method that is most likely to gain
the needed approval - or else face the possibility of entering the
next fiscal year without a budget - the regional high school
district committee voted Monday to continue using the long-held
enrollment-based formula in the regional agreement, rather than the
"statutory" formula put forward by the state.

Town-Tribe Pact on Land Use Comes to Vote Next Thursday

By IAN FEIN

A much-debated land use agreement between the town and Wampanoag
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) will come back before Aquinnah voters at a
special town meeting next week.

They hustled, they fought for rebounds and they battled through a
tenacious full court press, but in the end the boys' basketball
team just couldn't match a larger and quicker team from Scituate
Wednesday, falling 73-41 in the second round of the Division 3 south
region state tournament.

Earlier in the week, the Vineyarders overcame a first half deficit
against a talented team from Carver to win their first round playoff
game at home, before going on the road to face the 18-2 Scituate
juggernaut.

The discovery last week of a dead mink on the side of an Edgartown road has brought on a furor of questions over whether a mink population still exists on the Vineyard.

The discovery of the carcass opens an environmental question that offers no immediate answer.

Gus Ben David is on the case. One of the Island's top naturalists with an expertise that spans the Vineyard's natural kingdom, Mr. Ben David received the dead mink last week from a friend. His detective work has just begun.

To those sitting in the booths near the lunch counter during one of
the final trips of the ferry Islander, the usual docking announcement
over the public address system was utterly indecipherable.

Wah, wah ,wah, it went. It didn't matter; people know the
drill.

A searing internal review prepared by two longtime Oak Bluffs
attorneys concludes bluntly that the former town administrator had no
legal authority to award personal service contracts and special one-time
bonuses to a variety of town employees.

Property owners wanting to put houses on undersized lots in Ocean
Heights and Arbutus Park may have to pay for the cost of bringing town
water to their neighbors, under a plan to avert a public health threat
that will be considered next week.

Substandard lot owners also may be required to pay for expensive
denitrifying septic systems under new regulations proposed as a solution
to groundwater pollution in the densely settled area.

Selectmen Back Late Initiative On Restaurant Alcohol Sales

By IAN FEIN

Buying a cold beer on the outdoor deck of the Aquinnah Shop may
become a reality, if town voters in the coming weeks support a
selectmen-sponsored initiative to allow the sale of beer and wine with
meals in restaurants.

Aquinnah selectmen added the question to a March 8 special town
meeting as a last-minute warrant article, which, if approved by voters,
would start the process of changing the historically dry westernmost
town on the Vineyard.

In the weeks ahead, a group of Edgartown residents plans to take a new step to preserve and protect the town's ancient ways and
roads.

As many as 30 volunteers will be sworn in by the town as byway
wardens. Their mission will be to keep an eye out for illegal dumping
and misuse.

Members Replaced, Town Zoning Board Approves Field Club

By MIKE SECCOMBE

The developers of an exclusive recreational club at Katama cleared
the final hurdle to the project on Wednesday night after a sudden change
of heart - and members - at the Edgartown zoning board of
appeals.

The board voted 5-0 to grant a special permit for the
multi-million-dollar Field Club.