Island Veterans Groups Withering Away

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Vineyard veterans are disappearing. Membership in all three of the
prominent Island veterans' organizations is at its lowest in
decades.

As of Wednesday this week, the Steamship Authority was booked solid
for seven straight days. With sunny days and warmer weather, traffic
already has begun piling up at the Bourne Bridge. "It's a
big hurrah for the season," said Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs
terminal manager Bridget Tobin. "It's a prime weekend to
open houses."

The signs of impending summer are all around. Azaleas are out, the
oaks are coming into leaf and Tom Major is readying himself for
Entrain's Memorial Weekend gig.

It's been 14 summers now since Mr. Major decided to put
together a band based on the simple idea of "tons of drums,"
and to put his New York-based career as a freelance musician on hold for
one summer while he tried it out.

From his perch in Poole's Fish Market, which he ran for half a
century, Captain Everett H. Poole watched Menemsha harbor fade from
being one of the busiest fishing ports on the East Coast.

Embattled Dukes County manager E. Winn Davis formally resigned his
post on Wednesday.

Following a tense county commission meeting that included a nearly
two-hour executive session, the county manager, who has come under fire
in recent weeks for a failed gambit to use federal disaster funds to
repair the breach at Norton Point beach, read a brief letter announcing
his resignation effective Sept. 14.

The bluefish are in. For at least one fisherman, the arrival was
like an old-fashioned Wasque bluefish blitz.

On Monday, Ed Amaral drove to Chappaquiddick to get his line wet and
perhaps catch the first bluefish of the season. While he didn't
get the first one, he certainly got more than he expected.

Vineyard, Nantucket, SSA Managers Turn Out to Oppose State House
Bill

By MIKE SECCOMBE

BOSTON - Opponents of a union-backed move to water down the
independence of the Steamship Authority and decrease control by the two
Islands turned out in force on Boston on Thursday to fight it before the
state Joint Committee on Transportation.

In a small island community known for its largely dissent-free brand
of government, the Gosnold annual town meeting Monday promises to be
more of the same.

Gosnold town officials this week said this year's town meeting
warrant has no real hot-button issues. All 11 articles on the warrant
appear to be largely pedestrian at first reading, which seems to be the
norm in this town that includes the six Elizabeth Islands and is the
seventh town in Dukes County.

There's nothing like a deadline to keep a project rolling full
steam ahead. In this case, the deadline is a mother in law's
visit. The project to be finished in time for one of the
Vineyard's busiest weekends is phase one of a three year, $77
million plan to restore and enhance the former Harbor View Hotel on
North Water street in Edgartown.

High School Budget in Limbo as Special Meeting Plans Stall

By IAN FEIN

In a political maneuver intended to draw the attention of the state,
selectmen in three Island towns this week indicated they may
intentionally leave the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School
without a budget for the coming fiscal year.

The unusual tactic comes as part of an ongoing controversy over how
towns divide their regional school district costs.