They came by the thousands. The word at the annual Feast of the Holy
Ghost was that on Martha's Vineyard, everyone can be Portuguese
for a weekend.

Chilmark Growth Points to Housing Problems

By MANDY LOCKE

Driving along South Road in Chilmark, classic New England homes dot
the main up-Island thoroughfare, remnants of a rural modesty common to
the historic fishing and farming community of 850 year-round residents.
But clusters of mailboxes along the roadway indicate a housing density
tucked just behind the wooded roadway facade.

Steamship Authority Board Members Clash Over Chief Executive Officer
Role

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Struggling with issues of governance and lines of authority, a
sharply divided Steamship Authority board of governors failed to find
common ground yesterday in an executive session that will ultimately
determine the future for boat line chief executive officer Fred C.
Raskin, who has been on the job for just four months.

Claiming a mandate from town voters that supports turning the southern woodlands into a private luxury golf course, Oak Bluffs selectmen this week officially joined forces with Connecticut developer Corey Kupersmith in a plan aimed at making the golf club a reality - even if it means leaving the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

State public health officials yesterday confirmed this year's third case of pneumonic tularemia, the rare and potentially fatal disease that killed a Chilmark man two years ago and has baffled scientists for the last three summers.

New Bedford Suit Against SSA Brings Sharp Queries from Judge

By JULIA WELLS

BOSTON - In a courtroom grilling that went on for nearly three
straight hours, a federal judge put the lead attorney for the city of
New Bedford on a hot spot this week, prodding him to produce a set of
plausible legal arguments that show why he should not dismiss the
Whaling City's case against the Steamship Authority.

Smooth sailing has all but disappeared underneath the Lagoon Pond
drawbridge these days.

Three weeks ago, bridgetender Robert Maciel detected some shaking as
cars passed over the 70-year-old bridge.

"I've been the bridgetender for 26 years, and it's
worse now than I've ever seen it," he said late yesterday
morning from his home in West Tisbury, a time of day he typically spends
at the bridge.

Holy Ghost Feast Honors Heritage of Portuguese

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Two days of celebration begin tomorrow in the annual Feast of the
Holy Ghost. Islanders of Portuguese heritage and their friends will
party, dine and parade in a festival whose traditions date back more
than half a century.

"This is our heritage," said Bobbie Ann Gibson of Oak
Bluffs, president of the Holy Ghost Association.

Commissioners Open Review of Southern Woodlands Plan

By JULIA WELLS

Battles lines were drawn last night when a Bolton developer who
wants to build a massive housing project in the Southern Woodlands gave
the Martha's Vineyard Commission its first glimpse of the project.

In fact a glimpse was all that was available, as developer Brian
Lafferty unveiled only the barest outlines of his plan to build 320
homes on 288 acres in Oak Bluffs.

The great thing about yesterday's memorial service for Francis (Pat) West Jr. was hearing the echo of his voice.