New Bedford Plan Retires Schamonchi

If Approved, Private Company Will Run Two Smaller Boats Instead,
Joining Fast Ferry

By JULIA WELLS

After a bumpy three-year journey that spawned some of the most
hostile politics in the history of the Steamship Authority, the New
Bedford passenger ferry Schamonchi will now become a surplus vessel,
boat line governors said yesterday.

Nantucket SSA Governor Approaches Beacon Hill on Boat Line Break-Up

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A gulf of tension between the two Islands over Steamship Authority
issues grew noticeably wider this week, when news surfaced that
Nantucket Steamship Authority governor Grace Grossman has privately
approached state officials about the possibility of splitting the boat
line into two separate entities.

Marijuana at School Stirs Debate: How Big a Deal?

By CHRIS BURRELL

No big deal? That may be a widely held view about marijuana on this
Island, but a discussion this week about marijuana use by students of
the Martha's Vineyard High School turned into a big deal indeed.

Just three days after an article appeared in the Gazette about the
presence and use of pot on the high school campus, school leaders
reacted sharply, not just to the message but also to the messenger, high
school principal Peg Regan.

Tisbury's John G. Rogers Is Dead at 76; Was Best Friend to
Vineyard's Animals

By PHYLLIS MERAS

John G. Rogers of Vineyard Haven, audio engineer, former Tisbury
animal control officer and longtime Steamship Authority employee, died
unexpectedly on Sunday at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. He was
76.

Everyone is talking about it. The big freeze is here and its impact
is significant.

When the Chilmark Store opens in April, it will be familiar through and through but with new faces behind the counter. Primo and Mary Lombardi of Chilmark, proprietors since 1986, sold the store on Monday to four Chilmarkers.

Avoid This List! A Good Reason for Balancing the Checkbook

By JESSIE ROYCE HILL

The daughter of a well known Island family had already bounced two
checks to Shirley's Hardware when its owner, Jesse Steere, spotted
her shopping among the nuts and bolts with her father one day.

Mr. Steere decided to confront her about the $96.89 she owed.

"She told me she'd been living in New York and
hadn't gotten a chance to pay it," Mr. Steere recalled.
"But even people who live in New York have to pay their
bills."

The West Tisbury town hall is a problem that just won't go away. Voters at a special town meeting this week will be asked to take the project back to square one, funding the design phase of renovating the 132-year-old town hall, a former school building.

Two Boards Urging State: Slow Bridge

Oak Bluffs, Tisbury Selectmen Suggest Island Might Be Better Off
Without Temporary Structure at Lagoon

By ALEXIS TONTI

The boards of selectmen in Oak Bluffs and Tisbury are urging
MassHighway officials to make plans now for a permanent replacement for
the Lagoon Pond drawbridge and to consider ways to avoid a temporary
replacement - including the closure of Beach Road for a period of
time.

Two Island Trash Districts Consider Partnership

By MANDY LOCKE

A decade after Tisbury and Oak Bluffs pulled out of the Islandwide
trash district in the midst of a bitter political battle, officials from
both districts are discussing a renewed partnership.