MassHighway officials say they will put plans for a temporary
replacement for the Lagoon Pond drawbridge on hold until Island
residents decide whether to nurse the existing bridge along until a new
permanent structure is built.

The state agency also says it will involve the Island in the design
of a new permanent bridge at the outset of the planning process -
a departure from previous department policy of consulting residents only
after plans have been drafted.

Nantucket Launches Study

By JULIA WELLS

Marking a painful new chapter in the checkered history of the
Steamship Authority, the people of Nantucket voted, without dissent, at
a public meeting this week to launch a formal study of whether to secede
from the boat line which has been their lifeline for over four decades.

The study will be privately funded and led by a private group that
was spearheaded by Nantucket SSA governor Grace Grossman and port
council member Flint Ranney.

Vineyard Commissioners Clash

By ALEXIS TONTI

A week after an array of county officials criticized Steamship
Authority governor Kathryn A. Roessel for her role in the latest
controversies surrounding the boat line, Dukes County commissioner
Nelson Smith rebuked the same officials for their remarks and defended
Ms. Roessel.

Joanne Nutting is one of the 27 people who crashed a moped on the Vineyard last year and ended up in the emergency room at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital.

An Agreement in Agency Talks

Community Services and Union Reach Tentative First Accord; Joint
Committee to Study Salary Parity Issues

By MANDY LOCKE

After more than 18 months of bitter division, Martha's
Vineyard Community Services leaders, nurses and mental health counselors
shook hands Monday evening moments after settling their first union
contract.

Boiled Wool: She Designs Her Jackets with a Painterly Flair

By CHRIS BURRELL

It's hard to imagine a less inspiring genesis. But for Christy
Phillipps and her burgeoning fashion empire, it started with a couple of
old blankets.

Don't Start Cutting, Developers Warned

Kupersmith's Attorney, Vowing Defiance of Cease and Desist
Order, Is Told Criminal Charges Could Come

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Attorneys for the Down Island Golf Club have clashed head-on with
top state environmental officials, declaring bluntly that the developers
will not comply with the recent cease and desist order in the southern
woodlands.

Stanley Nelson: His Oak Bluffs Story Will Air on Public TV

By JESSIE ROYCE HILL

Early in A Place of Our Own, Stanley Nelson's documentary
about the African-American community on the Vineyard, his father states
that "we didn't come to Martha's Vineyard, we came to
Oak Bluffs."

Principal Advances Her Inquiry on Drugs, Asks Students' Help

By CHRIS BURRELL

Less than three weeks after she apologized for overstating the
problem of marijuana use by students on the regional high school campus,
principal Peg Regan has put the pot issue right back on the front burner
- at student council, the school committee and her monthly parents
meeting.

Mrs. Regan's approach this week was less about gauging the
magnitude of the problem and more about formulating the best response
from the school.