The Vineyard Gazette was named Weekly Newspaper of
the Year for 2001, the highest honor given to weekly newspapers by
the New England Press Association (NEPA). Also known as the George A.
Speers Award, the coveted honor is given out to just three newspapers
each year: one small daily, one weekly, and one alternative weekly.
The Gazette has won the award six times since 1990.
Document Trail Reveals Patterns of Quiet Collusion
During Year of Controversy Around Island Boat Line
By JULIA WELLS
Collusion: the word has surfaced more than once in recent
months during a storm of politics around Steamship Authority affairs.
When Vineyard boat line governor J.B. Riggs Parker was not
reappointed by the Dukes County Commission in a 4-3 vote late last
year, a group of Vineyard selectmen and city officials in New Bedford
cried foul, among other things accusing four members of the county
commission of collusion.
Community Services Agency Scrambles to Blunt Effects of State Budget
Cutbacks
By MANDY LOCKE
As the reality of state budget cuts trickles down to communities
across the commonwealth, Martha's Vineyard Community Services is
taking its share of hits.
"This is devastating across the board to this Island. It
shakes the foundation of the support network we've created,"
said Ned Robinson-Lynch, executive director of Martha's Vineyard
Community Services, in a conversation with the Gazette this week.
Jim Pringle and David Maddox left the Vineyard last weekend bound for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but don't expect to see the two buddies from Vineyard Haven lighting the torch, waving Old Glory or snagging medals.
State Agency Shuts Office on Vineyard; Future Is Uncertain
By MANDY LOCKE
It's much quieter these days at 1 Douglas Way in Oak Bluffs.
Barbara's not around. Neither are many of the 112 Islanders who
rely on the Department of Transitional Assistance for emergency shelter,
food stamps, health care and job placement assistance.
The search for a new chief executive officer for the Steamship
Authority took an unexpected turn late yesterday when one of the leading
candidates for the job suddenly dropped out.
A month ago, the death decree for an Oak Bluffs dog implicated in a cat-killing incident was unanimous. But last week, acting on an appeal from the dog's owners, Edgartown district court magistrate Thomas Teller spared the pet's life and overturned the ruling of all five Oak Bluffs selectmen.
State Attorney General Files Brief in MVC Case
By JULIA WELLS
The Massachusetts Attorney General sided with a Connecticut housing
developer this week in a key legal dispute that is expected to decide
whether the Martha's Vineyard Commission has the right to review
low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of
state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.
The groundbreaking case goes to the heart of the unique powers
vested in the commission by the state legislature more than 25 years
ago.
Tisbury Police Ask Voters for Staff Help
Union Wants Two Additional Officers;Issue Will Appear as April
Article on Town Meeting Warrant
By JOSHUA SABATINI
An unprecedented move by the Tisbury police union will put the
debate over staffing of the town police force before the voters at town
meeting time in April.
From the start, scientists have viewed the outbreak of tularemia on Martha's Vineyard as an ecological puzzle, never a case of bio-terrorism, despite tularemia's recognized status as a bacteria ideally suited for terrorism.
