Police aren't directly blaming bars in Oak Bluffs for the July
drowning death of a 38-year-old Watertown man, but toxicology tests
released to state police last Wednesday proved the victim's blood
alcohol level was well over the legal limit when he fell into the harbor
just steps away from five waterside restaurants that serve alcohol.

Manter Well to Secure Tisbury Water Supply Is Major Issue at Special
Town Meeting

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Tisbury residents could secure their public water supply for the
next decade or more by approving at a special town meeting Sept. 10 a $2
million project to establish the Manter well as the town's third
municipal water source.

Military veterans and Island police, firemen and emergency medical
technicians will take time out in the days ahead to remember the events
of Sept. 11, 2001. This Sunday the services begin with the dedication of
a new monument at Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven, along the Avenue
of Flags.

Observances are also planned for next Wednesday, a year after the
tragic attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Island
churches are planning services.

School Doors Open for Returning Students

At the High School: Freshmen Arrive One Day Early

By ALEXIS TONTI

Wednesday dawned cold and foggy with a light drizzle, an ideal
morning to hide under the covers and sleep in. Unfortunately for
students, that particular luxury is gone until next summer. The school
calendar does not abide the weather, and high school freshmen (back a
day early) had no choice but to face the grayness. Orientation began at
7:40 - a.m.

They Sweep Oak Bluffs Streets in the Dark and Sleepy Hours

By MANDY LOCKE

At three o'clock in the morning, Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs
belongs to Herbie Landers.

Slurred catcalls and police whistles faded hours ago to the swish of
Herbie's broom sliding across the sidewalk. A handful of
bartenders and waitresses, trudging home on sore feet, file past Herbie,
offering a "good night" and a firm slap on his stooped back.

Hearings Open on Luxury Golf Club Plan; Public Packs Hall for Hours
of Testimony

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Torn down the middle, their emotions rubbed raw after two years of
bitter debate, an irascible crowd of Oak Bluffs citizens gave the
Martha's Vineyard Commission a new earful on an old subject this
week: the Down Island Golf Club plan to convert the southern woodlands
to a luxury golf and housing project.

Last Friday, Edgartown district court clerk magistrate Thomas Teller
had to hand pink slips to two of his most loyal employees. The decision
to lay off two experienced employees comes as the commonwealth faces a
severe budgetary crisis.

Opponents to Wind Farm Mount Suit to Block Tower in Nantucket Sound

By MANDY LOCKE

Offshore wind farm opponents took their case to federal court Friday
- urging the U.S. district court to overturn the United States
Army Corps of Engineers's approval of a 197-foot monitoring tower
to be erected by private energy developer Cape Wind Associates in the
shallows of Nantucket Sound.

Heavy rains last Thursday night ended the Island's long
stretch of rainless weather, and even more precipitation arrived in the
form of showers yesterday.

Last Friday morning, the Vineyard community awoke to the first
evidence of significant rainfall all summer. There were puddles on
roadsides, and some dirt roads appeared washed out by the flash of heavy
rain.

Island Schools Set to Open New Academic Year

Enrollment Figures Show Slight Decline to 2,350 Students

By MANDY LOCKE

It's that time of year again.

Island schoolchildren are double checking their list of school
supplies and enjoying the last weekday morning of sleeping past seven
o'clock. Teachers are pinning the last of the laminated pictures
to bulletin boards and reviewing their lesson plans.

While the Island's young battle back-to-school jitters today,
school leaders can't wait to launch another academic year.