Island Transport vice-president Scott Dario said yesterday the only way his company will keep running buses for the Vineyard schools is if they can strike a deal for more money and greater autonomy for deciding snow days and disciplining drivers.

Edgartown Library Expansion Sought

Special Town Meeting Set for August 31; Plan is to Buy Captain
Warren House; There Is Desperate Need for Space

By ALEXIS TONTI

Edgartown residents will convene this month for a special town
meeting to decide whether to purchase a property adjacent to the
Edgartown Free Public Library to make room for expansion of the
century-old library.

Rental units versus privately owned homes: That's the subject
of a survey being mailed to Chilmark residents today about a proposed
affordable housing project at Middle Line Road.

The decision to seek resident input on the subject comes after
discussion at a selectmen's meeting Tuesday, and as a group of
approved homesite applicants have written a letter to the board citing
the urgent need for private home lots.

Changes Underway in SSA Priorities

An Olive Branch Toward Nantucket; Islander Meeting Will Be August
12; Can Rates Be Held Down?

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Change is the watchword these days at the Steamship Authority,
palpable and overnight change.

Alleging Contract Lapses, Schools' Bus Company Says It
Won't Run in Fall

By CHRIS BURRELL

Just one month before a new school year is supposed to get in gear,
the owner of the bus company contracted to transport students is locked
in a dispute with school leadership and says he won't roll out the
buses.

In a highly-charged letter written Friday, James C. (Jack) Dario
Jr., president of Island Transport, Inc., told Vineyard school committee
members he has decided to end the service provided by his company.

A bit of spontaneity, a little arm-twisting and a contagious spirit of generosity turned last night into another record-breaking year for the Possible Dreams Auction. The 26th annual benefit raised more than $515,000 in about three hours for Martha's Vineyard Community Services, just surpassing last year's half-million mark.

Today's lesson is turtles.

A tiny boy wearing a T-shirt, shorts and cap stands up suddenly and
shades his eyes with his hands.

"I can't see, Gus - sorry!" he exclaims.

Something really big and different is about to happen at the Colonial Inn in Edgartown, but so far, the people who know what it is - the hotel's primary owner and a Tisbury real estate outfit involved in the deal - are keeping their lips locked.

They won't say a word until tomorrow and then again Thursday at cocktail parties in the Daniel Fisher House in downtown Edgartown. Party invitations read like a movie trailer voice-over script, enticing guests to the "grand unveiling," where they will "experience the ultimate," so "come see what it's all about."

State transportation officials are committed to abolishing rotaries
across the commonwealth, but that's not stopping them from
spending more than $300,000 to construct a smaller-scaled version at one
of the historically worst intersections on the Vineyard.