If a group of West Tisbury restaurateurs are successful the town may join Tisbury and Aquinnah in the ranks of the Island’s formerly dry towns.

It’s been a long time since West Tisbury residents have been able to imbibe at a local establishment. In the mid-19th century, proprietor Sanderson Manter Mayhew held a license for the sale of rum at what is now Alley’s General Store, but for a century and a half West Tisbury has been dry.

In a significant change of direction, the director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, Ewell Hopkins, is looking to large-scale affordable rental projects rather than home ownership developments as a solution to the Vineyard’s chronic housing problem.

And as money for affordable development from the traditional source, private donations, has dried up, he is turning instead to other sources, specifically the federal government and the largest national nonprofit developer of affordable rental housing.

Contract negotiations between Martha’s Vineyard’s six towns and Comcast for the provision of cable services to the Island were thrown into confusion this week after Tisbury’s negotiator appeared to suggest the town would pull out of MVTV, the local cable access channel.

Under the terms of a franchise agreement reached between the towns and Comcast 10 years ago, Comcast pays five per cent of the gross revenue it receives from Island subscribers to MVTV. That equates to about $400,000 per year.

Last week while the snow was still fresh on fields and in woods, I went out animal tracking. I am said to be a descendant of Robert Gray, who discovered the Columbia River on the Lewis and Clark expedition, and that may be, since it was water that he discovered. But it has never been suggested in family genealogy that the Kentucky tracker and guide Kit Carson was a forebear. My “track” record would clearly show that I inherited no tracking genes.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Dean’s List

Zachary Coutinho of Chilmark was named to the dean’s honors list for the fall semester at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H.

Mr. Coutinho is a junior majoring in management.

Cottage City Coffers on Empty

The financial crisis that has been gathering for three years in Oak Bluffs appears to be deepening, with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue throwing down the latest penalty flag on the field: The town must cut nearly a quarter of a million dollars from its current fiscal year budget before the tax rate can be set. Revenue projections are off — way off. And why? There is no coherent explanation and that is the most troubling part of the story.

Sheriff McCormack’s Bad Call

Winter’s Icy Grip

We know where we live this winter for sure: This is New England, no doubt about it, the place where if you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute and it will change.

Community Grants

The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard is accepting applications for its spring grant cycle. Through its grants program, the endowment seeks to raise awareness of Vineyard issues, respond to community needs, foster collaboration among nonprofit organizations and support innovative approaches to improving the quality of life on the Island.

Island nonprofit organizations with IRS 501 (c)(3) status may apply for funding for new projects as well as continuing programs that benefit the Vineyard community.