Fishermen Press Ideas for Harborfront

By RACHEL KOVAC

Commercial and charter fishermen jammed a public forum this week to
air their concerns about a plan by the new owners of the Navigator
Restaurant to relocate the dinghy docks on the Edgartown harborfront.

If you need to talk to Steve Morris this weekend, you probably
won't find him working behind the counter at his store,
Dick's Bait and Tackle, in Oak Bluffs.

If you are looking to chew the fat with Patrick Jenkinson at
Up-Island Automotive in West Tisbury, you are also probably going to be
out of luck.

And if your water heater breaks and you need Steve Amaral to fix it,
you better call another plumber.

Governors Speak Out Sharply Against Union-Backed SSA Bill

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

The Steamship Authority board of governors has formally protested a
union-backed legislative bill that would shift control of the board away
from the two Islands.

First Day Thursday for Most Students; Enrollment Is Flat

By RACHEL KOVAC

Restless children will be sent to bed early Wednesday after a
summer of beach days and evening ice cream cones. On Thursday they will
don new clothes and grab backpacks filled with pencils and notebooks. It
is that time of year again: back to school.

Vineyarders Join Nation in Aiding Hurricane Relief

By IAN FEIN

Vineyard Haven neighbors Laura Kimball and Ashley Brede planned to
spend a good part of their Labor Day weekend selling lemonade outside
their Skiff avenue homes. But when news spread of the devastation left
by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and across the Gulf Coast region,
the pair found a new focus for their end-of-summer stand.

Between security escorts for Steamship Authority ferries and two major boating accidents, the U.S. Coast Guard at Menemsha had its busiest summer in recent years on the waters around the Vineyard.

"You'd be hard pressed to find a day this summer when the boat wasn't used," executive petty officer Douglas B. Zook said of the station's new 47-foot motor lifeboat. The state-of-the-art rescue vessel designed to handle rough surf and heavy weather was received last winter.

Bus Company Severs Contract; Boards Call Emergency Session

By RACHEL KOVAC

School buses will roll on the Vineyard tomorrow, although it is
still unclear who will manage them. Under mounting pressure from a
heated labor dispute with its bus drivers, on Friday MV Coachlines
abruptly pulled the plug on its transportation contract with the Island
school district.

Key Witnesses End Longest Tax Appeal Case

By IAN FEIN

BOSTON - On the final day of a protracted property tax appeal
hearing that poses broad implications for West Tisbury, selectman John
Early yesterday undercut critical testimony from the town's
principal assessor.

Mr. Early bracketed the case as both the first and last witness to
testify in the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board hearing that began May
3 and became the longest and costliest residential property tax appeal
in the history of the commonwealth.

Katrina's Wake: Devastation of Hurricane Touches Life on
Vineyard

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

Devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina may delay the delivery of
the new Steamship Authority ferry Island Home for six months or more.

But the likely postponement of the new $30.5 million ferry for the
Vineyard is just one of the ripples reaching the Vineyard in the
aftermath of the hurricane, which authorities now say may have left
thousands dead in New Orleans and beyond.

Simmering Labor Dispute Leaves Bussing Unsettled for Start of School
Year

By RACHEL KOVAC

Vineyard schools superintendent James Weiss fielded his first
controversy this week when a simmering labor dispute between bus drivers
and the company under contract with the school district bubbled into the
public arena.