Fewer passengers rode the Steamship Authority ferries last year, continuing a trend under way since the turn of the millennium.
The boat line, which provides the only year-round passenger and vehicle service to the Islands, carried 2,609,835 passengers last year, off 63,324 or 2.4 per cent from 2004.
Passenger traffic on the Vineyard route fell 3.1 percent.
"This is the third year we've been down three per cent," Vineyard SSA governor Marc Hanover said yesterday. "There are more people living here, fewer people visiting."
Commission Establishes Airport Manager Salary, Discounts Prior
Compact
By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer
Disregarding a prior agreement on airport governance, the
Martha's Vineyard Airport commission last night agreed to pay its
new airport manager outside the Dukes County employee pay scale.
The blizzard, the worst snowstorm in decades, came roaring across the water, burying Martha's Vineyard under more than two feet of snow.
Starting Saturday, Jan. 22, the storm raged throughout the following day. Winds hit 70 miles per hour, creating white-out conditions, rendering roads impassable, and essentially cutting off the Vineyard from the mainland. Schools remained closed for the following week.
Oak Bluffs Couple Gives Gift of Education
By MAX HART
Three years ago, Oak Bluffs harbor master Todd Alexander and his
wife, Kara Gelinas, were vacationing in Southeast Asia when the couple
befriended Roma, a 14-year-old girl selling water and souvenirs with her
family outside Angkor Wat, a Buddhist temple in Cambodia.
Town-Tribe Pact Moves Quietly
Memorandum of Understanding Circulating, But Still Unsigned Outlines
Inter-Government Land Use Review Process
By IAN FEIN
A draft agreement that proposes an untested joint intergovernmental
venture between the town of Aquinnah and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah) is now quietly circulating among town and tribal officials.
The simmering heat of a July weekend served as the backdrop on a
cold December night this week when the Oak Bluffs selectmen debated the
future of the Monster Shark tournament, one of the town's biggest
events of the summer.
Finance Committee Opposes Payment of Town Legal Bills
By IAN FEIN
In a joint meeting with selectmen this week, the West Tisbury
finance committee once again withheld their support for the payment of
legal bills related to the costly tax case against town assessors.
Cellular Tower Plan Referred to MVC
By IAN FEIN
Adding another twist to the pending lawsuit with Cingular Wireless,
Aquinnah selectmen last week voted to refer the proposed cellular
antennae to the Martha's Vineyard Commission as a development of
regional impact (DRI).
The commission will decide next month whether to hold a public
hearing and review the project as a DRI.
For John Costa, time is of the essence.
So it is understandable if a grimace washes over his face as he
examines the boxes stacked to the ceiling of the tractor trailer that
has backed into the loading dock at the United Parcel Service (UPS)
distribution center in Vineyard Haven.
The chairman of the West Tisbury board of selectmen reversed
position last week and called off settlement talks with town resident
William W. Graham about his costly property tax case with assessors.
