Charitable Giving Declines on Island
Vineyard Institutions Worry the Squeeze Will Eliminate Services in
Competitive Market for Needed Contributions
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
It\'s known as the giving season, but as holiday lights glow
along darkened main streets and the clock winds down on 2002, an array
of vital Vineyard institutions report a troubling trend: Charitable
contributions are down this year.
Charitable Giving Declines on Island
Vineyard Institutions Worry the Squeeze Will Eliminate Services in
Competitive Market for Needed Contributions
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
It's known as the giving season, but as holiday lights glow
along darkened main streets and the clock winds down on 2002, an array
of vital Vineyard institutions report a troubling trend: Charitable
contributions are down this year.
After first voting unanimously to leave the door open for the
possibility of a jail on airport land, the airport commissioners this
week approved the master plan.
A few of the dozen people in attendance at Wednesday night's
meeting had wanted more. They argued that the airport commission owed
the public more than three weeks time to review a document three years
in the making.
Imagine an Island business where the pace of work, the cash flow and even the faces that come through the door remain constant all year round.
Post Office Studies Move for Expansion in Vineyard Haven
By JONATHAN BURKE
The Vineyard Haven post office is contemplating renovations to its
Five Corners location and would like to relocate temporarily to the
Tisbury park-and-ride lot.
Architect James Carlson told town selectmen on Dec. 10 that the
Island's primary postal facility plans to increase its size by
rearranging its own space and that of its tenants. Cumberland Farms and
Muriel W. Laverty Real Estate currently rent space from the postal
service.
MVC Votes No on Gas Station
Martha's Vineyard Commission Rejects Plan for New Station on
State Road Corridor, Eight Votes to Three
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
After a discussion that went well beyond the subject of gasoline
prices on the Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 8-3
last night to reject a plan for a new gas station off State Road in
Vineyard Haven.
Lured back to the city he left four and a half years ago, Oak Bluffs police chief Joseph C. Carter yesterday submitted his resignation to selectmen and announced he is headed to Boston next month to take over as chief of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) police department.
The Massachusetts Department of Corrections and the state Department of Public Health assigned the Dukes County House of Corrections poor marks for substandard safety and health provisions for inmates.
Dwindling state aid and rising insurance costs are fueling a regional high school budget that will cost Island taxpayers $11.6 million next year.
Early Retirement Program Attracts 26 County Officials
By JULIA WELLS
A highway superintendent, an executive secretary, a librarian and a
jail administrator are among a long list of Vineyarders who will take
early retirement this year under a program made possible by an act of
the state legislature.
Approved last spring as a cost-cutting measure and signed into law
by acting Gov. Jane Swift, the law cleared the way for towns and
counties to offer early retirement to employees.
