New Bedford Distorts Fast Ferry Picture

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The pitch came fast and hard at the last Steamship Authority meeting
for new high-speed ferry service between New Bedford and the Vineyard
next summer. David J. Oliveira, the freshman member of the boat line
board from New Bedford, said a new ferry was under construction and
would be ready to go by spring. He urged the SSA to move quickly on the
license request from Boston Harbor Cruises.

The leading critics of the 170-turbine offshore wind farm proposed for the shallow waters of Horseshoe Shoal made their way across Nantucket Sound to rally Vineyard opposition to the project.

"I've seen grocery stores take longer to get permitting in front of the Cape Cod Commission than it took for Cape Wind to get [a data tower permit] from the Army Corps of Engineers," said Isaac Rosen, executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, to less than a dozen officials at the all-Island selectmen's meeting Wednesday night.

The women wear dresses and high heels. The men are decked out in dark slacks or double-breasted suits. The parking lot is so full that cars are lining the driveway to the Masonic Hall and pulled up on the grassy shoulders of Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank has agreed to purchase one of
Chilmark's quintessential homesteads - the Hollis Burton
Engley home off Middle Road.

The question of whether claims of sovereignty entitle the Wampanoag
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to skirt local and state laws will be
decided in Dukes County superior court, rather than a federal district
court in Boston where lawyers for the tribe wanted the case tried.

Sheriff Michael McCormack Takes Case for New County Jail Public

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Amid the uncertainty of acquiring land for a new county jail on the
grounds of Martha's Vineyard Airport, Dukes County sheriff Michael
McCormack has kept busy reminding Island officials that the present jail
and its site at the gateway to Edgartown's historic district is
simply inadequate.

He launched a similar campaign when he first took office in January
1999.

Oceans and Coastline Face Environmental Troubles; Report Urges New
Policies

By JOSHUA SABATINI

A report that details the findings of the U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy halfway through its 18-month study of the nation's seas
paints a bleak picture of coastal waters.

"The oceans are in trouble," the report says. "Our
coasts are in trouble. Our marine resources are in trouble . . . all,
perhaps, in serious trouble."

Undercover police in Newport, R.I., have busted a ring of alleged
drug dealers from Martha's Vineyard, who traveled to Newport last
week to buy a supply of the highly addictive prescription drug,
OxyContin.

Rainstorms that crossed the Island last month were exactly what the
Vineyard needed. After a September that was the wettest month of the
year so far, lawns are once again lush and plants are looking healthy.

According to rainfall data collected at the National Weather Service
cooperative station in Edgartown, the total rainfall for the past month
was 6.15 inches. The Vineyard hadn't seen that much rainfall since
the 6.11 inches that fell in August of last year.

Commission Votes to Reopen Hearing on Gas Station Plan

By MANDY LOCKE

One week after the Martha's Vineyard Commission rejected a gas
station slated for Tisbury's State Road corridor, Tisbury Fuel
Service principals asked the commission to take a step back and reopen
the public hearing for their proposed High Point Lane station.

While commission members wrangled over the details of information
they hope to hear in the next phase of the public hearing, a majority of
members acceded to the developers' request.