New Bedford Suit Against SSA Brings Sharp Queries from Judge

By JULIA WELLS

BOSTON - In a courtroom grilling that went on for nearly three
straight hours, a federal judge put the lead attorney for the city of
New Bedford on a hot spot this week, prodding him to produce a set of
plausible legal arguments that show why he should not dismiss the
Whaling City's case against the Steamship Authority.

Smooth sailing has all but disappeared underneath the Lagoon Pond
drawbridge these days.

Three weeks ago, bridgetender Robert Maciel detected some shaking as
cars passed over the 70-year-old bridge.

"I've been the bridgetender for 26 years, and it's
worse now than I've ever seen it," he said late yesterday
morning from his home in West Tisbury, a time of day he typically spends
at the bridge.

Holy Ghost Feast Honors Heritage of Portuguese

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Two days of celebration begin tomorrow in the annual Feast of the
Holy Ghost. Islanders of Portuguese heritage and their friends will
party, dine and parade in a festival whose traditions date back more
than half a century.

"This is our heritage," said Bobbie Ann Gibson of Oak
Bluffs, president of the Holy Ghost Association.

Commissioners Open Review of Southern Woodlands Plan

By JULIA WELLS

Battles lines were drawn last night when a Bolton developer who
wants to build a massive housing project in the Southern Woodlands gave
the Martha's Vineyard Commission its first glimpse of the project.

In fact a glimpse was all that was available, as developer Brian
Lafferty unveiled only the barest outlines of his plan to build 320
homes on 288 acres in Oak Bluffs.

The great thing about yesterday's memorial service for Francis (Pat) West Jr. was hearing the echo of his voice.

Emotions ran high throughout the final night of public testimony regarding a Chapter 40B affordable housing development that, if approved, would place 20 homes on 4.9 acres of land near Tisbury's center.

Congressman Ties New Bedford to Full Pay for Any Ferry Deficit

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

If New Bedford and the state legislature want the Steamship
Authority to run ferry service between the Whaling City and the Islands,
then the port should agree to pay 100 per cent of any deficit incurred.

That was the opinion of Cong. William Delahunt, delivered bluntly in
a conversation with the Gazette yesterday morning.

Federal Business Loans Help Fire Recovery Effort

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Visiting the sandy lot on Main street where the Tisbury Inn stood
before it was destroyed in a December fire, Cong. William Delahunt
joined Tisbury officials and businessmen yesterday morning for a
groundbreaking ceremony.

Mr. Delahunt announced as part of the event that the inn's
owners, Sherman and Susan Goldstein, had received nearly $400,000 in
loans from the federal Small Business Administration to help rebuild
their landmark hotel.

At the westernmost tip of the Island just four years ago, the residents of Aquinnah knew the potential for total buildout loomed just ahead in an era of unbridled development.

Over the last decade, the community of 200 year-round residents watched development stretch the seams of the town's 4,056 acres, and they knew that the intensity and nature of new house construction threatened to devastate the rural character of Aquinnah.

Surfing Accident Leaves Visitor with Serious Injury

By MANDY LOCKE

A 51-year-old vacationer faces possible paralysis after being
thrashed against the South Beach shoreline by fierce waves Tuesday
afternoon.

George Medford of Ballston, N.Y., who had been bodysurfing close to
the South Beach shoreline with his son, snapped several vertebrae in his
neck when he struck his chin against the sand, officials said.