A&P Sells Both Vineyard Supermarkets in Nine-Store Deal with
Stop & Shop
By MANDY LOCKE
After more than eight decades of selling groceries to Vineyarders,
the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) will abandon its
Island foothold - selling both the Edgartown and Vineyard Haven
stores to the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company.
The transaction - together with the sale of four others in the
state - is part of a larger move by the A&P to withdraw from
all operations in Massachusetts.
Town and Tribe Collide in Court
Case Set for Wednesday Hearing Has Far-Reaching Implications;
Outcome Hinges on Issue of Tribal Sovereignty
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Wastewater System in Tisbury Places Limits on Town Growth
By JONATHAN BURKE
The day Tisbury's new wastewater system goes online next year,
it will be running at its full capacity. That's right: No headroom
or provision for growth has been designed into the municipal system now
under construction in the Island's main port town.
This means that a homeowner will not be allowed to add a bedroom and
a restaurant owner will not be allowed more tables unless such expansion
would have been feasible under Title V septic regulations.
Mansion House Project Is Revised; Commission Drops Plans for Review
By MANDY LOCKE
The Martha's Vineyard Commission agreed last night, after a
brief discussion, to meet Tisbury Inn owners halfway - voting
unanimously to not require a fresh review of a reconstruction project
that stirred controversy in recent weeks because of design changes
following MVC approval of the project.
The latest survey of moped, bicycle and motorcycle accidents on the Island won't show the broken ribs, the punctured lungs or the "whole body rubbed raw" by a case of road rash, said Dr. Alan Hirshberg, the director of emergency services at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital.
Under pressure, John Alley this week resigned his position as a member of the Dukes County Contributory Retirement System.
"It's all foolishness and I resigned. I didn't attend enough meetings over the course of the three or four-year span," he said.
Following his reappointment to the retirement board at last week's meeting of the county commissioners, Mr. Alley, county chairman, came under fire from Noreen Flanders, retirement board chairman and county treasurer.
High School Faces Unexpected Bills
By CHRIS BURRELL
The regional high school has already racked up nearly $40,000 in
legal bills, negotiating a potential lease of school-owned land for an
aquatics center project that is still in the planning and feasibility
stages.
News of hefty legal costs connected to the proposed swimming pool
plan came amidst other troubling budget figures, showing roughly $90,000
in cost overruns so far this year.
The future of the First Baptist Church of Vineyard Haven is caught
in the middle between two opposing forces. Half the congregation wants
to sell the building and build a new church somewhere else. Half wants
to pursue a daunting task: Restoration of the 1885 building.
Deficit Staggers Nursing Home
Operating Loss of $500,000 Is Mainly Attributable to Loss of
Medicaid Payments from the State
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Leaders at the Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center
announced this week that the Island's only nursing home ended its
fiscal year with a staggering $500,000 operating loss, more than
$300,000 over the projected loss for the year. About half the loss can
be traced to retroactive cuts in Medicaid reimbursements.
Child Cruelty Is Vexing Issue for Educators
By CHRIS BURRELL
When a social worker from Maine came to the Island last month for
the second time in less than two years, he sat down with teenagers,
listened to their worries and feelings and walked away with a disturbing
impression: Vineyard kids, especially middle schoolers, are living in a
world dominated by teasing and bullying.
