Bringing Back Norton Point

Trustees of Reservations Assume Management of Barrier Beach;
Shorebird Protection Increases but Fishing Access Preserved

By IAN FEIN

Stretching from Metcalf's Hole to Mattakesett Creek, bordered
by the calm surface of Katama Bay and the rough waves of the Atlantic
Ocean, Norton Point Beach is a spectacular place - offering
popular spots for shellfishermen and surfcasters, prime habitat for rare
shorebirds, and a vital access route for people going to and from
Chappaquiddick.

Michael Dutton resigned abruptly from the Oak Bluffs board of
selectmen on Monday, and is now expected to apply for the town
administrator position, soon to be vacated by Casey Sharpe. Mr. Dutton
has served on the board since 1999.

Selectman and board chairman Duncan Ross read Mr. Dutton's
letter of resignation at Tuesday's regular selectmen meeting,
marking the second consecutive meeting to begin with an announcement of
resignation.

Every year before the students' traditional march to the sea,
Tisbury School teacher John Custer gives a lesson on Memorial Day
- the holiday many people confuse with Veterans Day and associate
with cookouts and sale shopping, long forgetting their own elementary
school lessons on the subject.

Finding that the Dukes County commission did not act in bad faith, a
superior court judge this week overturned the treble damages awarded in
a long-standing salary dispute with the current and former
Martha's Vineyard Airport managers.

The amended judgment - which was issued Tuesday morning by the
Hon. Richard T. Moses and revises an earlier decision from last July
- is significant because it lowers the pecuniary penalties owed in
the case from roughly $600,000 to $260,000.

Arthur Railton Publishes Work of Intelligencer

By JAMES KINSELLA

Arthur R. Railton had just taken over what he had been assured was a
temporary post as editor of the Dukes County Intelligencer when he began
to make the acquaintance of Jeremiah Pease.

Gale Huntington, the founding editor of the Intelligencer, the
publication of the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society, had been
running continuing excerpts from the diaries of Mr. Pease, written from
the 1830s to 1857, when he died on the street in Edgartown.

Pascagoula, Miss. - Machines howl and scream. Bangs, loud and sharp, echo through the steel-frame building. In the shadow under six acres of roof, the tips of welders' torches gleam white hot. The noise is something like a giant dentist's office, or the New York city subway on steroids.

It is a morning in early May inside an aluminum fabrication shop in Pascagoula, Miss. Employees of VT Halter Marine Inc. are working on part of the aluminum superstructure for a vessel now under construction a few miles away at Halter's yard in Moss Point, Miss.

Selectmen Launch Water Company Probe

By MAX HART

The discovery of a $1.5 million surplus in the Tisbury water
department budget has prompted the town selectmen to launch an internal
investigation, as they try to shed light on an array of questions about
management and financial practices within the department.

Felix Neck Has a New Leader: Ms. Bellincampi

By IAN FEIN

Suzan Bellincampi's favorite animals are mollusks, and her
favorite habitats are tidal ponds and marshes.

She grows animated when talking about the wetlands, her smile wide,
eyes sparkling. There is something about the brackish water flowing in
and out with the tide that strikes a chord with her.

"I don't know what it is," Ms. Bellincampi said
this week. "I guess it's change, but with
consistency."

State Bill to Force SSA Into Binding Arbitration Riles Managers,
Islanders

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

A proposed state bill has raised the specters of lost management
control over Steamship Authority labor costs and a possible work
slowdown at the boat line this summer.

The SSA is digging in against Senate bill 2459, which would require
the boat line under certain conditions to submit to binding arbitration
on collective bargaining disputes.

Land Bank Management Plan at Old House Pond Is Unsettled

By IAN FEIN

Saying there is value in leaving some places difficult to find, West
Tisbury residents this week told Martha's Vineyard Land Bank
officials that the conservation organization will harm Old House Pond by
opening it to the public.