A community forum on depression and suicide prevention Tuesday night revealed a startling statistic: The number of suicide attempts on Martha's Vineyard has tripled in the last year compared to the incidence in the previous 12 months.

The FARM Institute angered many of its new neighbors this week with a plan to hold a two-night summer fundraising concert for as many as 10,000 people and 2,200 cars parked on Katama Farm.

The institute officially moves into the historic town-owned farm tomorrow.

The Edgartown conservation commission, which controls Katama Farm and signed a 10-year lease with the institute for the land only two months ago, will hold a special meeting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to vote on the request.

Homegrown Forum Set to Tackle Energy Conservation for Future

By IAN FEIN

The total energy bill for Martha's Vineyard this year
will approach $65 million, according to a study conducted by an
energy consultant this winter.

And although more solar roofs are appearing on the Island
landscape, the consultant found that less than one-tenth of one per
cent of the Vineyard's energy is produced on the Island. The rest
comes from the mainland, either by boat or underwater cable.

Chilmark voters breezed through their annual town meeting on Monday
night without batting an eye, approved a $5.7 million budget and voted
in favor of the Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank and two versions of a
renewable energy resolution along the way.

But when they came to the final vote of the evening -- whether to use
$23,000 from the community preservation committee's open space reserve
fund to fight an invasive reed in Chilmark Pond -- the debate began over
how to vanquish the mighty phragmite.

Tisbury Voters Choose Thomas Pachico

By MAX HART

Tisbury voters chose the familiar over the untested
and handed selectman Thomas W. Pachico a third term in the annual
town election on Tuesday. Mr. Pachico beat challenger Jamie M.
Douglas 520-315.

Steamship Authority Sues to Block Fees:
Boat Line Seeks Superior Court Ruling
Over Hefty Falmouth Parking Fees;
Hearing Monday on Injunction

By JULIA WELLS

In a legal standoff with the town of Falmouth, the
Steamship Authority went to court this week to try to block the Upper
Cape town from imposing a set of hefty licensing fees on boat line
parking lots.

Board of Appeals in Edgartown Turns Down Library Expansion

By IAN FEIN

The Edgartown zoning board of appeals this week
denied a special permit for the Edgartown Free Public Library,
effectively killing the proposed library expansion project for at
least another four years.

Three of the five board members voted in opposition to the
project, which would have connected the Carnegie library and recently
purchased Captain Warren House by means of a 17,000-square-foot
addition.

Thirty-five years ago today, some five dozen Vineyard residents gathered in Owen Park on Vineyard Haven Harbor and walked along Beach Road into Edgartown, picking up garbage along the way. They filled six trucks with more than two tons of trash, and brought the glass they gathered to the West Tisbury dump, where they gave a demonstration of what would grow to become the Vineyard's recycling program.

A lean budget, a short spending list and a relatively
slim warrant await Chilmark voters at the annual meeting on Monday
night.

Moderator Everett H. Poole will once again take up the gavel
before voters take on a 27-article warrant. The meeting begins at
7:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Center.

William J. Weibrecht, the manager of the Martha's Vineyard Airport for the last five years, stunned members of the Dukes County commission and airport commission this week when he announced his intention to quit the job, effective May 20.