Hospital Wins Critical Approval from State in Push to Expand at Oak
Bluffs Campus

By JAMES KINSELLA

Martha's Vineyard Hospital has won a crucial approval from the
state for a planned $42 million expansion and renovation at its Linton
Lane campus in Oak Bluffs.

The state Public Health Council unanimously voted last month to
approve a determination of need application submitted in July 2004 by
the hospital. Construction is slated to begin later this year.

E. Gale Huntington, the late Vineyard fisherman, farmer, school
teacher and historian, is regarded as an icon in many circles,
especially among folk musicians and those who are interested in maritime
lore.

Fewer passengers rode the Steamship Authority ferries last year, continuing a trend under way since the turn of the millennium.

The boat line, which provides the only year-round passenger and vehicle service to the Islands, carried 2,609,835 passengers last year, off 63,324 or 2.4 per cent from 2004.

Passenger traffic on the Vineyard route fell 3.1 percent.

"This is the third year we've been down three per cent," Vineyard SSA governor Marc Hanover said yesterday. "There are more people living here, fewer people visiting."

Commission Establishes Airport Manager Salary, Discounts Prior
Compact

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

Disregarding a prior agreement on airport governance, the
Martha's Vineyard Airport commission last night agreed to pay its
new airport manager outside the Dukes County employee pay scale.

The blizzard, the worst snowstorm in decades, came roaring across the water, burying Martha's Vineyard under more than two feet of snow.

Starting Saturday, Jan. 22, the storm raged throughout the following day. Winds hit 70 miles per hour, creating white-out conditions, rendering roads impassable, and essentially cutting off the Vineyard from the mainland. Schools remained closed for the following week.

Oak Bluffs Couple Gives Gift of Education

By MAX HART

Three years ago, Oak Bluffs harbor master Todd Alexander and his
wife, Kara Gelinas, were vacationing in Southeast Asia when the couple
befriended Roma, a 14-year-old girl selling water and souvenirs with her
family outside Angkor Wat, a Buddhist temple in Cambodia.

Town-Tribe Pact Moves Quietly

Memorandum of Understanding Circulating, But Still Unsigned Outlines
Inter-Government Land Use Review Process

By IAN FEIN

A draft agreement that proposes an untested joint intergovernmental
venture between the town of Aquinnah and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah) is now quietly circulating among town and tribal officials.

The simmering heat of a July weekend served as the backdrop on a
cold December night this week when the Oak Bluffs selectmen debated the
future of the Monster Shark tournament, one of the town's biggest
events of the summer.

Finance Committee Opposes Payment of Town Legal Bills

By IAN FEIN

In a joint meeting with selectmen this week, the West Tisbury
finance committee once again withheld their support for the payment of
legal bills related to the costly tax case against town assessors.

Cellular Tower Plan Referred to MVC

By IAN FEIN

Adding another twist to the pending lawsuit with Cingular Wireless,
Aquinnah selectmen last week voted to refer the proposed cellular
antennae to the Martha's Vineyard Commission as a development of
regional impact (DRI).

The commission will decide next month whether to hold a public
hearing and review the project as a DRI.