Privatizing Plan for Schamonchi

Steamship Authority Tells Union That Losses Could Be Stemmed If
Another Operator Runs New Bedford Ferry

By JULIA WELLS

After only three years of owning the New Bedford passenger ferry
Schamonchi, Steamship Authority senior managers are now proposing to
convert it back to a private operation, the Gazette has learned.

Amy Bannon is determined to get it right this Illumination Night. Wednesday night marks the 134th year for lighting up the Camp Ground, but for the Bannons, this is just their second try.

And the pressure is on.

"We made some mistakes last year," said Mrs. Bannon. "We were the dimmest cottage in the entire circle."

This time they plan on using real candles.

Katama Association president David Finley made it clear Saturday
that his association, while interested in the future of Katama Farm, is
not a part of the group of aggrieved neighbors seeking to stop FARM
Institute from leasing the 190-acre farm.

Judge Rejects Neighbors' Pleas Over Katama Farm, Supports
Current Usage

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

In a detailed decision that explicitly recognizes the value of a
190-acre, town-owned farm in the Great Plains section of Edgartown, a
superior court judge late last week soundly rejected a request from a
group of neighbors who are trying to shut down Katama Farm.

Living on the Vineyard is healthy and idyllic but it also comes with
headaches - quite literally, as it turns out.

Bad communication between the bridge and the deck contributed to the
ferry boat accident that nearly drowned a crew member a week ago. A top
inspector with the U.S. Coast Guard, Lieut. Joshua Pennington, told the
Gazette on Friday: "I blame communication overall. There was poor
communication between the crew lowering the vessel [rescue boat] and the
bridge. Typically they communicate by radio, but they weren't
using radios at the time."

Said Jack Davies: "It doesn't rain on the Chilmark Road Race."

And for the first 25 years, it didn't. Runners last year, in fact, were reported as traversing the scenic stretch of Middle Road "against a canvas of shadows and golden light." That was hardly the case this year, as runners arrived at Beetlebung Corner decked out in homemade raingear, most of it fashioned from kitchen trash bags. But Saturday morning's thick gray clouds and spotty rain didn't faze the participants; it only put a damper on the takeoff and fostered some ironic humor.

Southern Woodlands Hearing Is Set, but Developers Seem Primed to
Fight

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

On the eve of a public hearing - now set for next week -
to review a massive housing project in the southern woodlands section of
Oak Bluffs, the developers of the Down Island Golf Club appear to be
charting a fresh collision course with the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.

In the face of federal laws which leave local zoning regulations powerless, West Tisbury officials are grappling with one of the first of a likely onslaught of requests for cellular phone towers dotting the town's rural landscape.

It's a familiar fight for the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals.

Teaching Assistant Positions at West Tisbury Are Under Threat as
Budget Shortfalls Loom

By CHRIS BURRELL

Faced with a $400,000 shortfall in their budget, school leaders from
the three up-Island towns are now planning to cut back the roster of
teaching assistants at the West Tisbury School.

The Up-Island Regional School District committee will decide next
Thursday whether to lay off three teaching assistants or reduce all
assistants to a four-day work week.