School District Takes Transportation Reins

Committee Members Vote 8-1 to Allow Superintendent's Office to
Run Busses; Costs Projected to Stay Under Budget

By RACHEL KOVAC

School committee members voted this week to allow the Vineyard
school district to continue managing its own transportation system for
the remainder of the year, but not without some hesitation.

Student Enrollment Falls for Fifth Year Running; Two Towns Drop
Sharply

By RACHEL KOVAC

School census figures released this week by the Vineyard public
schools show total student enrollment falling for the fifth year in a
row.

As of Oct. 1, the schools counted 2,219 students, 66 fewer than
enrolled last year and almost 200 fewer students than four years ago.

The most dramatic change in numbers is at the West Tisbury School
and the Oak Bluffs School, where enrollment dropped in the double
digits.

Striking a far more conciliatory tone, the Tisbury selectmen stood
their ground this week in opposing a set of proposed Steamship Authority
schedule changes for next year, also calling on boat line leaders to
play a role in creating a better traffic layout at the Vineyard Haven
terminal.

A quiet proposal to open a Dunkin' Donuts on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven was approved by the Tisbury board of health last month, but the Needham man who wants to open the shop still must apply to the town planning board for approval.

With six days left to catch the winning fish, a new name was
scrawled in chalk atop the leaderboard, capturing the hearts and minds
of all in the waning moments of the 60th annual Martha's Vineyard
Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

Ambulance Pact Benefits Town

Oak Bluffs Fire Department Owns Franchise for Off-Island Runs;
Special Fund Helps Purchase Police Cruisers, Fire Trucks

By BRIEN HEFLER

If a patient at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital needs to go off-Island for further treatment at a mainland hospital, chances are the Oak Bluffs fire department will provide the lift. For more than 12 years the town fire department has been the primary transportation provider for the hospital, ferrying patients via ambulance to hospitals throughout New England and beyond. The off-Island transports provide both a vital service to the hospital and a financial boon to the town through a special purpose fund that is used to buy equipment and pay personnel.

A green sea turtle named Quiddick that was rescued from the chilly waters of Cape Pogue Pond 11 months ago reentered Vineyard waters last Friday as a fully recovered wild animal.

A crew of New England Aquarium personnel, together with a veterinarian with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries service in Woods Hole, watched with pleasure as Quiddick and an even more rare Kemp's Ridley sea turtle named Kiwi moved from the beach to the surf. The release took place in the early afternoon at Long Point Wildlife Refuge, owned by The Trustees of Reservations.

Landowner Offers to Settle Tax Case

William Graham Hand Delivers Letter Asking the West Tisbury
Selectmen to Intervene with Assessors

By IAN FEIN

West Tisbury resident William W. Graham appealed to the town
selectmen this week to intervene in his costly tax case with the
assessors and help negotiate a settlement.

Reviewing an Edgartown town report from the 1920s, town shellfish constable Paul Bagnall said two of the highest paid town officials were the police chief and shellfish constable. At the time, he said, the constable routinely oversaw between 150 and 200 licensed shellfishermen.

Today there are 49 commercial bay scallop fishermen in Edgartown.

The decline in the number of commercial scallopers was just one of the many changes in the fishery that Mr. Bagnall, Oak Bluffs constable David Grunden and Tisbury constable Derek Cimeno spoke to this week.