Up-Island School Budget Jumps 15 Per Cent
By CHRIS BURRELL
Taxpayers in Aquinnah, Chilmark and West Tisbury will see the cost
of educating schoolchildren rise sharply next year as the proposed
budget for the Up-Island Regional School District goes from $5.9 million
to more than $6.8 million, a 15 per cent increase.
The reasons are much the same as at the regional high school, where
the budget will jump by almost 10 per cent next year. State aid is
dropping, and the cost of insurance is climbing.
SSA Receives Bids for Service
Two Bidders Respond to Request for Ferry Service Proposals from New
Bedford; One Offers Year-Round Run
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Expanded ferry service between New Bedford and the Vineyard moved
one step closer to reality this week after senior managers at the
Steamship Authority got their first look at two proposals from private
companies who have an interest in running the route.
Storm Buries Vineyard Under Tons of Snow
Northeaster Strikes on Monday, Slowing Island Life to Crawl
By MANDY LOCKE
Mother Nature showed little mercy this week - bringing the
Vineyard to a standstill beneath mounds of snow and whipping winds.
From slightly before 8 o'clock Monday morning into the wee
hours of Tuesday, snow buried all that did not move and slowed to a
crawl the few who did venture out in the blizzard-like conditions.
MVC Begins Review of Housing Plan
Ecumenical Group Proposes 32 Units on Tisbury Land
By JULIA WELLS
Calling it a new vision for the Vineyard, a novice Island nonprofit
last week unveiled a plan to build 32 units of affordable housing in 16
duplex-style buildings on the Norton family land off State Road in
Vineyard Haven.
Mac Schilcher Wins Honors on Gridiron
By JONATHAN BURKE
On June 20, Mac Schilcher, a six-foot, three-inch, 240-pound senior
who loves to hit, will represent the Vineyard on the football field one
last time. Next year, his primary allegiance will move to Wagner College
on Staten Island, where he has been recruited to play Division 1AA ball.
$100-Per-Hour Employee Raises Ire at High School
By CHRIS BURRELL
The full-time administrator's job pays $65,000 a year, but
when the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School needed a
replacement to fill in for the first five months of the school year, the
pay rate nearly doubled.
By the time the interim dean of students clocked out at the end of
January, he had earned $37,117 working from a contract that had him
working half days from September through January. That's nearly
$100 an hour or about $400 a day.
Announcing his intent to retire as editor and publisher of the
Vineyard Gazette after more than 27 years at the newspaper, Richard
Reston this week also named his successor.
Beginning in the middle of March, John W. Walter Jr., a former
executive editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will arrive on the
Island and take over the leadership role of the Gazette.
A shed and a pier in the tiny town of Aquinnah were the fulcrum for court arguments this week that will ultimately test the question of whether the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) waived sovereign immunity when it signed a land claims settlement agreement in 1983.
The settlement agreement later led to federal recognition for the tribe.
Selectmen of Tisbury Approve Police Department Expansion
By JONATHAN BURKE
After reviewing a new report by an independent consultant, the
Tisbury selectmen agreed Tuesday night to increase the police force to
13 full-time officers.
In a 2-1 vote, the selectmen agreed to a $982,000 police department
budget for the year ahead that includes funding for two new full-time
officers. With an officer leaving the force at the end of this month,
that will bring to three the number of officers that Ted Saulnier,
police chief, needs to hire.
They are the Island's most beloved bridges. The Big Bridge and
the Little Bridge are going to be rebuilt in concrete, if the state has
its way.
