Chilmark Will Vote on School Repairs

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

It's going to cost a fresh pile of money, but Chilmark
selectmen said this week that they now have a handle on the source of
the physical plant problems at the town grammar school - and are
on track to repair them.

But first voters must agree. A special town meeting is set for next
Wednesday, when voters will be asked to approve another $200,000 for
repairs at the Chilmark School.

And now another bit of bad news for the already troubled West
Tisbury town hall: Rats have taken up residence there. T.J. Hegarty,
county rodent officer, was called in and found plenty of evidence by
just taking a walk around the building. He found a network of tunnels.
"There is a well-established colony," Mr. Hegarty said
yesterday.

With a contract that expired more than a year ago and no real end in sight at the bargaining table, tension has begun to escalate between management and vessel workers at the Steamship Authority.

Union workers picketed SSA terminals on both sides of the sound over Memorial Day weekend, waving signs that put the spotlight on a simmering and now long-running dispute over manning levels, wages and retirement benefits.

Pennywise Path Development: Pressure from Many Directions

By MANDY LOCKE

Neighbors are pleading for restraint, Edgartown officials are urging
confidence and regional planners are demanding more answers.

Pressures are coming from many directions as Martha's Vineyard
Commission members scrutinize the Pennywise Path Project - the
most ambitious affordable housing project proposal to hit the Vineyard.

Huddling under what served as a gigantic umbrella, graduating senior Mario Spindola looked out from inside the Tabernacle before Sunday's high school graduation and could only smile. "It's a great day," he mused, his eyes scanning the growing crowd. "Too bad it's raining."

A California woman who owns a spectacular property overlooking the ocean in Chilmark has been told she can't rent the spot out for any more weddings. Jacqueline Carlin said she feels she has been unfairly treated and needs the rents to keep ownership of her property.

It is not unusual in Chilmark for property owners with postcard views to rent their property. But Ms. Carlin pushed the edge when she established a web site on the Internet and began marketing her land as Martha's Vineyard Great Gatsby Estate and, as an absentee property owner, began booking weddings.

When it comes to competition among the bar-keeps and restaurant owners on the Oak Bluffs harbor, the gloves have definitely come off.

MVC Powers Eyed by Court

Did the Commission Correctly Act in Refusing Gas Station? Is There
‘Tunnel Vision'? Judge Will Decide

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The unique power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to hear
evidence, weigh facts and use judgment in deciding whether to approve or
deny development projects went on trial last week in the Tisbury Fuel
Services case, which will now go to a superior court judge for a
decision.

West Tisbury Republican Plans to Topple Eight-Term Legislator

By CHRIS BURRELL

He's a Spanish teacher at the regional high school and a
part-time farmer who wakes at 5:30 every morning to feed the sheep and
collect eggs on a family farm off Lambert's Cove Road in West
Tisbury.

New Hospital's Final Number: $41.8 Million

By JULIA WELLS

The new number is $41.8 million. The final number. Leaders at the
Martha's Vineyard Hospital now say this is what they must raise or
borrow in order to replace the decrepit building that houses the
Island's only hospital.