School Board Picks Three Interim Finalists

The all-Island school committee expects to finish round two next
Thursday, interviewing three finalists and hiring one to serve as the
next interim superintendent of Vineyard schools.

School board members made the cut this week, screening nine
applications and selecting two men and one woman for interviews.

Kathryn A. (Cassie) Roessel, whose tireless and enthusiastic representation of Martha's Vineyard on the Steamship Authority board of governors made her one of the best-known residents of the Island, was found dead outside her Vineyard Haven home last Saturday morning. She was 51.

State police detectives attached to the Cape and Islands district attorney's office are investigating Ms. Roessel's death, as they would any unattended death. Tisbury police chief Theodore Saulnier said Tuesday there were no obvious marks of injury on the body.

Building Inspector Orders Demolition

Mr. Moujabber's Controversial Garage Is Now on Track to Be
Torn Down Attorney Will Delay with Appeal

By JAMES KINSELLA

Push has come to shove in the long Oak Bluffs saga of the Moujabber
garage.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Oak Bluffs building inspector Richard
Mavro ordered local businessman Joseph G. Moujabber to demolish the
three-story structure, built next to property owned by Mr. Moujabber at
10 Seaview avenue extension in the North Bluff section of downtown.

Landowners React to Blind Trust Deals

By JAMES KINSELLA

Two parties who learned that they unknowingly sold property to the
Martha's Vineyard Land Bank have expressed concern about how the
land bank cloaked its identity in the transactions.

Mia Lewis, one of the former owners of 1.9 acres of barrier beach on
Tisbury Great Pond, and Judith Lane, who owned six acres off Ice House
Pond, this week questioned the strategy used by the land bank, a
state-chartered agency funded by property transfer taxes.

Revised plans to replace the storied Big and Little Bridges along Beach Road in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs were unveiled this week, and Massachusetts highway officials say they are confident the design will fit the character of the Vineyard.

County engineer Steve Berlucchi presented the plans to Edgartown selectmen at their regular meeting Tuesday afternoon.

"I think we have a much better design that Island residents will appreciate," Mr. Berlucchi said. "Everybody who has seen it so far is on board."

With five seconds left in the biggest game of his life, with crazed
fans screaming at him from every direction and with everything riding on
his right foot, E.J. Sylvia delivered.

Boat Line Governor Shuns Participation

Kathryn Roessel Withdraws Partially From Selection Process for New
Term, Frankly Doubting Her Own Prospects

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

Quoting a legendary cowboy, a sometimes teary Kathryn A. Roessel
said Tuesday that she anticipates her time as the Vineyard Steamship
Authority governor is coming to an end.

When Lorraine Clark walks into Grace Church in Vineyard Haven on the
morning of Dec. 17, Christmas officially begins.

There, packed high to the ceiling and filling almost every available
space will be over 250 large, white bags - each one stuffed with
dozens of wrapped gifts. Each bag will be marked with its own number,
and soon people will trickle in to claim them.

An investor group headed by principals in Conover Real Estate has signed an agreement to buy the landmark Navigator Restaurant and Boathouse Bar in Edgartown from its longtime owners, the Young family.

Island Land Bank Buys West Tisbury Pondfront Under Blind Trust Cover

By JULIA WELLS

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission deliberately
concealed its identity as a publicly funded government land trust when
it bought two strategic waterfront properties in West Tisbury -
one on Ice House Pond and another on the Tisbury Great Pond.