West Tisbury Committee Wants Chilmark to Share More Financial Burden

By CHRIS BURRELL

The fight over the cost of education up-Island took a nasty turn
this week as West Tisbury finance leaders traveled to Chilmark and
pitched their hard-line solution: Pay a bigger share of the school costs
or consider leaving the regional school district.

At issue for West Tisbury finance committee members is the price tag
on operating the Chilmark School, a kindergarten to fifth grade facility
with just 45 students and a per-pupil cost of $19,820.

Island Airport Manager Raises Concerns About Massport's Steep
Landing Fee Hikes

By ALEXIS TONTI

Faced with a state plan he says could cripple regional airline
service, the Martha's Vineyard Airport manager is calling on
Massport officials to include Cape and Islands airport operators in
their review of a proposed hike in landing fees at Logan International
Airport.

Land Bank Bids for a Woodlands Preserve

Deal Would Protect 190 Acres; Developer to Build 26 Houses

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A long, bruising battle over the fate of the southern woodlands in
Oak Bluffs took a stunning turn this week when the Martha's
Vineyard Land Bank announced that it has signed an agreement to buy 190
acres from developer Corey Kupersmith, including the old Webb's
Camping Area.

The purchase price is $18.6 million.

In the Campground, a Feeling for What Oak Bluffs Will Gain

By CHRIS BURRELL

A splotch of fluorescent orange paint tags the trunk of a pine tree
standing over what was once campsite Number 92 in the old Webb's
Camping Area.

The tree is a survivor, proof that the chainsaws didn't make
it this far and a sign that the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs are
truly an arrested development.

County Board Presses Its Case

Questions on Steamship Authority Are Explored at a Meeting:
Commissioners Worry on ‘Haphazard' Ways

By ALEXIS TONTI

Citing what they believe are missteps and backtracking by Steamship
Authority management, Dukes County commissioners this week criticized
SSA managers for their imprudence and pointedly questioned the boat
line's priorities.

"There seems to be denial and avoidance, and my gut tells me
that something isn't working right," said commissioner Paul
Strauss.

It's Preseason: What's in Store? Around Island, a
Retailer Shift

By NIS KILDEGAARD

You need a scorecard to keep track of the preseason business shuffle
in downtown Vineyard Haven.

On Tisbury Great Pond, a Family Feud

By MANDY LOCKE

A divided family, hundreds of feet of unlicensed docks and the
future of a cove on Tisbury Great Pond has sparked a drama in West
Tisbury.

Complicating the story is that the family member who installed these
unpermitted docks is a town selectman. Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter
reportedly installed four seasonal floating docks on Manter family land
over the last few years. This week his older brother, Whit Manter, said
it's gone too far.

Two Seized in Airport Mobil Break-in; After Search, Four Held on
Drug Charges

By MANDY LOCKE

A burglary investigation led Edgartown police to a house of drugs
this week.

"There were more drugs in that house than at Triangle
Pharmacy," said Edgartown police sergeant Ken Johnson, about a
Plainfield Way home searched in connection with the burglary.

For the last two summers, Stanimir Vasilev hauled Vineyard tourists back and forth across Beach Road between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, practicing his English as visitors stepped aboard the purple and white Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) bus. Mr. Vasilev came to the Vineyard early and stayed late - as did hundreds of other Bulgarians arriving each summer to help Island businesses through the busy tourist season.

Passengers May Stay in Vehicles on Ferry Crossing, Board Rules

By ALEXIS TONTI

The Steamship Authority board of governors overruled senior
management yesterday and abandoned a controversial new policy that would
have barred people from staying in their cars while on board the
ferries.

The boat line governors instead approved a policy to simply advise
passengers to leave their cars and to improve safety below decks through
an expanded set of fire prevention measures.