Project on Hold

Tabernacle Is Battlefront on Camp Ground

By CHRIS BURRELL

Don't let the tranquillity of the Camp Ground fool you.

When residents got wind of plans to put the Camp Ground in debt in
order to finance a $1.9 million, full-scale restoration of the
Tabernacle, things turned political quickly.

Two months after a district court judge ordered a culinary arts teacher at the regional high school to pay back $20,000 he allegedly stole from the school, the Vineyard schools superintendent says he doubts aspects of the police investigation, including estimates of the money involved.

Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash says he is convinced the teacher, Peter Koines, is actually paying back more money than he took.

The notice is as clear as it gets: "The Boston Seaman's
Friend Society is leaving Martha's Vineyard." On Wednesday,
Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. at the American Legion Hall, a representative from
the Seafarer's Friend will outline a plan to leave after 114 years
of serving the Island.

Island Official's Septic Permit Raises Issues of Zoning Rules

By CHRIS BURRELL

The operator of the Island's only two sewage treatment plants,
who is also a member and former chairman of the Oak Bluffs board of
health, may have sidestepped state environmental regulations when he
applied for permits to have his old house demolished and a new one built
in its place.

Joseph Alosso's property off County road sits in an area of
town called Zone 2, where strict state and local regulations protect the
town drinking water supply.

Island Commercial Flights Dip; Airport Business Still Thrives

By ALEXIS TONTI

Although airline passenger traffic on the Island is down more than
10 per cent from last year, the Martha's Vineyard Airport
continues to do strong business headlined by continued growth in general
aviation.

Airport manager Bill Weibrecht said the travel slump has not
negatively impacted the airport, where income continues to exceed
expenses. He added that the timing of the downturn comes as no surprise.

In Agency's Struggles, Historic Echoes

By MANDY LOCKE

This is not the first time Martha's Vineyard Community
Services has faced the predicament it struggles with now.

Twenty-year-old recollections paint a familiar picture of the
current battles at the Island's largest health and human services
agency.

Her voice remains low, a library voice, a bedtime story voice; a soothing, unhurried monotone whether she is talking about her six children, about the car accident she had when she was 17, or about the ghost of the late Elizabeth Vanderhoop, sister of her first husband, William Vanderhoop, who drowned in the cistern when she was four, then returned as a spirit to hover near the house.

Two Mail Units Are in Jeopardy

Satellite Stations at Alley's Store, Edgartown Visitor Center
Could Lose Delivery as Postal Service Continues to Cut Back

By MANDY LOCKE

As the United States Postal Service continues to tighten its belt,
two Island post office satellite locations are in jeopardy.

Delivery service at both Alley's General Store and the
Edgartown Visitors Center on Church street are on the chopping block as
postal officials deal with limited resources.

Mental health counselors at Martha's Vineyard Community Services are now threatening to strike as the agency remains locked in tough contract talks with unionized employees.

For seven months, tensions continued to mount at the negotiation table over pay issues.

At risk are counseling and nursing services for hundreds of Islanders served by the Island Counseling Center and the Visiting Nurse Service, the unionized units of Community Services. In a typical week, ICC handles 180 clients.

Commissioners Make It Official

No Southern Woodlands Housing; Developer Says, ‘We'll Be
Back'; Courts to Sort Out Issues in Four-Year Dispute

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The latest chapter in the four-year battle between developer Corey
Kupersmith and the Martha's Vineyard Commission ended last night
when the commission voted without dissent to reject a 320-unit housing
plan for 270 acres in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs.