A Chilmark subdivision plan now being considered by the
Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC) represents a golden
opportunity, conservation leaders said this week, to create a walking
trail connecting key public properties up-Island.

The property owners, Richard and Melanie Coleman, agreed last night
to open up their private property for Islanders hiking along the
southern side of Middle Road.

Top state environmental officials stepped squarely into the fray
around the Down Island Golf Club this week, ordering developers Brian
Lafferty and Corey Kupersmith to immediately halt all tree cutting in
the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs.

Breaking Up the Boat Line?

Nantucket Rallies Around Idea; CEO Says It Would Be Costly; Representative and Senator Cautious in Remarks

By JULIA WELLS

A quiet move by the Nantucket Steamship Authority governor to
explore the breakup of the 42-year-old boat line grew legs this week, as
the people of Nantucket rallied around their representative and the
people of the Vineyard struggled to absorb the news.

Windemere Chief Is Being Replaced

By JULIA WELLS

Leaders at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital confirmed yesterday
that the administrator for the Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation
Center will resign his post.

Philip Hickey, currently away on vacation, will remain in place as
administrator at the Island's only nursing home until early next
week.

Mr. Hickey took the helm at Windemere 18 months ago. He has a long
background in nursing home administration.

New Bedford Plan Retires Schamonchi

If Approved, Private Company Will Run Two Smaller Boats Instead,
Joining Fast Ferry

By JULIA WELLS

After a bumpy three-year journey that spawned some of the most
hostile politics in the history of the Steamship Authority, the New
Bedford passenger ferry Schamonchi will now become a surplus vessel,
boat line governors said yesterday.

Nantucket SSA Governor Approaches Beacon Hill on Boat Line Break-Up

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A gulf of tension between the two Islands over Steamship Authority
issues grew noticeably wider this week, when news surfaced that
Nantucket Steamship Authority governor Grace Grossman has privately
approached state officials about the possibility of splitting the boat
line into two separate entities.

Marijuana at School Stirs Debate: How Big a Deal?

By CHRIS BURRELL

No big deal? That may be a widely held view about marijuana on this
Island, but a discussion this week about marijuana use by students of
the Martha's Vineyard High School turned into a big deal indeed.

Just three days after an article appeared in the Gazette about the
presence and use of pot on the high school campus, school leaders
reacted sharply, not just to the message but also to the messenger, high
school principal Peg Regan.

Tisbury's John G. Rogers Is Dead at 76; Was Best Friend to
Vineyard's Animals

By PHYLLIS MERAS

John G. Rogers of Vineyard Haven, audio engineer, former Tisbury
animal control officer and longtime Steamship Authority employee, died
unexpectedly on Sunday at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. He was
76.

Everyone is talking about it. The big freeze is here and its impact
is significant.

When the Chilmark Store opens in April, it will be familiar through and through but with new faces behind the counter. Primo and Mary Lombardi of Chilmark, proprietors since 1986, sold the store on Monday to four Chilmarkers.