After 30 years of operating the Island's largest oil and gas supplier, Ralph Packer is quite aware that many Islanders feel they pay way too much to heat their homes in the winter.

"I start to hear it every year when it gets cold; people think they're getting ripped off" Mr. Packer said. "They are automatically suspicious when their [oil bills] go up each year"

As community preservation committees across the Island prepare their recommendations for the coming fiscal year, they report growing interest by Vineyarders in the possibilities offered by Community Preservation Act funding.

More than $3 million in requests are under consideration by preservation committees on the Island.

Town officials who oversee CPA funds have seen a surge in activity and applications.

Dave Belcher has a rock steady demeanor for a man who constantly seeks change.

The demeanor has helped him weather a lot of life’s rigors. His desire to change and to improve himself and his world has made The Trustees of Reservations’ refuge on Chappaquiddick one of the most beautiful natural experiences on earth.

Mr. Belcher will retire as its superintendent in May and move to Florida after nearly 20 years of stewardship. The Island will lose a precious natural resource when he does.

A proposal to build a sewage treatment plant for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School has resurfaced at a newly revised cost estimate of $1.5 million.

The school committee is scheduled to discuss the proposal at its meeting next Thursday, Jan. 3 at the high school. The meeting is set for 7 p.m.

The proposed sewage plant was removed from the budget amid uproar earlier this month from high school students and teachers over proposed drama and music program cuts.

Residents at West Tisbury town meeting next year will be asked if they want to use paper ballots for some votes at town meeting.

Responding to resident requests earlier this year for secret ballots, selectmen last week prepared a bylaw amendment which says a written or paper ballot “shall be taken on any town meeting article if a motion is made, seconded and approved by 20 voters (whether required to be a counted vote or not.)”

Vote totals on any paper ballot in terms of ayes, nays and abstentions will be announced by the moderator.

The Dukes County Commission is between a rock and a hard place. Faced with a looming budget deficit for fiscal year 2009 and a financial advisory board which has refused to consider an unbalanced budget, the commission on Friday voted unanimously to slash funding by 50 per cent to two county programs and 100 per cent of another.

The commission will ask the six Island towns and the town of Gosnold to contribute the balance to continue the three programs — the Health Care Access program, the rodent control officer and the county engineer.

Voters at the next Aquinnah town meeting would decide on beer and wine licenses for two Up-Island eateries, if governor Deval Patrick signs a bill enacted in the statehouse last week allowing selectmen to license restaurants to pour beer and wine by the drink.

Last week the House and Senate enacted a town home rule petition that would allow licenses for establishments that seat at least 15 people. Both the Aquinnah Restaurant and the Outermost Inn meet that criterion. If the town ballot vote approves licensing, Aquinnah’s 100-year dry run would end.

Two Vineyard Haven Raffle

Prizes Are Still Unclaimed

Two winning tickets, one for $1,000 and one for $100, remained unclaimed as of late yesterday morning in the Vineyard Haven Holiday Raffle.

Two other tickets had been claimed. One for $500 was bought at C.B. Stark and the other for $250 was bought at the Mediterranean Restaurant.

It was a year of ‘what ifs' for the teams of the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in 2007, as several teams missed the playoffs by the slimmest of margins, while others lost games in the state tournament that could have turned on the bounce of a puck or a roll of the ball.

The classic 1951 family feature film Alice in Wonderland screens Monday, Dec. 31 at 11:30 a.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre as part of the Last Night, First Day celebrations.

Based on the 1865 book by Lewis Carroll, this is the classic Disney animated version of Alice’s adventures as she follows a white rabbit into a wonderland of her own imagination. On her journey, she encounters the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and a host of other beloved characters brought to life with the usual Disney zest.