The future of the First Baptist Church of Vineyard Haven is caught
in the middle between two opposing forces. Half the congregation wants
to sell the building and build a new church somewhere else. Half wants
to pursue a daunting task: Restoration of the 1885 building.

Deficit Staggers Nursing Home

Operating Loss of $500,000 Is Mainly Attributable to Loss of
Medicaid Payments from the State

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Leaders at the Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center
announced this week that the Island's only nursing home ended its
fiscal year with a staggering $500,000 operating loss, more than
$300,000 over the projected loss for the year. About half the loss can
be traced to retroactive cuts in Medicaid reimbursements.

Child Cruelty Is Vexing Issue for Educators

By CHRIS BURRELL

When a social worker from Maine came to the Island last month for
the second time in less than two years, he sat down with teenagers,
listened to their worries and feelings and walked away with a disturbing
impression: Vineyard kids, especially middle schoolers, are living in a
world dominated by teasing and bullying.

For much of the work week, Emily Bramhall inhabits a world devoted
to the creature comforts of the indoor world - stuffed pillows,
luxurious bedsheets and cozy handknit sweaters sold at her store on Main
street Vineyard Haven.

It was all the more shocking then to see Ms. Bramhall wearing a
crash helmet and scrunched into the wooden cockpit of a vessel capable
of reaching 60 miles per hour across the ice of a frozen pond.

Vineyard Varsity Teams Win Playoff Berths

By BRETT FERRY

Two varsity teams at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High
School won key games on the road Wednesday, earning berths in tournament
play.

The boys' hockey team secured a spot in the MIAA tournament by
defeating Barnstable 4-2 in a comeback victory.

"This was a huge game for us," said coach Matt Mincone.
"Definitely a tournament-type game."

Despite being outshot by the Vineyard 10-3, Barnstable led the game
2-1 at the end of the first period.

Land Bank Announces Two Purchases

By JULIA WELLS

Two purchases announced by the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank
this week will protect a piece of fallow farmland in the town of Tisbury
and a tree-lined ridge with an old brook running through it in the town
of Aquinnah.

Advisory Committee Grapples with Two Massive House Plans

By MANDY LOCKE

The Edgartown Ponds Area Advisory Committee this week began its
review of two new house proposals for the margins of Edgartown Great
Pond - the latest in the steady stream of massive home projects
hitting Edgartown these days.

Both 10,000-square-foot houses, if approved by the conservation
commission, would occupy heavily wooded lots on the western side of
Kanomika Neck - a narrow strip of land jutting into Edgartown
Great Pond.

Report Details County Trouble

Dukes County Leaders Conclude Their Internal Probe Into Facts
Surrounding Payments Made to Former County Manager

By JONATHAN BURKE

The Dukes County commissioners this week heard their two freshman
members report that new personnel bylaws, stronger supervision and
better record-keeping will be required if the county is to avoid another
mess like the one surrounding the departure of county manager Carol
Borer.

Proponents of Wind Farm Trim Proposal for Horseshoe Shoal

By MANDY LOCKE

Cape Wind Associates erased 40 turbines from its wind farm site
plans this week - freeing four square miles of Horseshoe Shoals
previously staked by the private energy developer.

The announcement came Tuesday as Cape Wind officials sealed a deal
with GE Wind Energy to manufacture the 130 turbines the developer now
hopes to erect on 24 square miles of shallow water in Nantucket Sound.

The coldest weather in years has the Vineyard in a deep freeze.
Night temperatures have dropped into single digits and afternoon highs
have stayed below freezing every day this week but one. Edgartown and
Oak Bluffs harbors are locked up in ice.